as my thoughts turned to a fact that I was an absolute idiot for neglecting to realize before: this young chap and I would be taking the same railway! How utterly wizard! I supposed that he would be getting off in London while I hopped the next rail to York and the rest of Northern England. I could barely contain my excitement at the thought of sharing a ride with him.

I had just looked away from him to prevent breaking the seam of my trousers when I felt the soft grasp of a hand fall upon the curve between my neck and shoulder. I shuddered with delight when I turned my head to realize that it was his hand—long, elegant fingers, perfectly manicured fingernails, no unnecessary wrinkles or protruding veins. He looked down on me from his towering height with those deep blue eyes and a half-smile sketched across his face. An uncontainable urge swelled in my chest and my loins as my excitement grew and grew.

“Hello there,” he said to me in a charming American accent. An American! That’s what he must have been hiding with his silence.

“Good morning,” I replied. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance. The name’s Simon. Could I, um, help you with anything mate? What do you need? Anything?” My nervousness and excitement made me act like a bumbling fool, but he was nothing but kind to me.

“Charmed to meet you. My name’s Anthony. I recognize you from around the Cambridge grounds,” he told me. I was so entirely awestruck I was surprised that I could even make out what he was telling me! Nevertheless, I listened on. “I was hoping you could help me in some way.”

He wanted help! “Sure thing!” I answered as quickly as possible. “How may I service you?” I said, mimicking a railway clerk.

Anthony smiled and began to explain his case. “The most asinine event has occurred. The clerk here at the station refuses to sell me my reserved ticket. He claims that they have oversold the cabins, which he said is not uncommon for this time of year, all the students leaving for home and all. Basically, I was wondering if we could possibly work something out so I could ride with you in your cabin?”

I most nearly made a mess of my pants at this opportunity.

“Why, certainly mate! I don’t see how that would be any bother to me, us being classmates and all. I have a double cabin in any case, if we even need that much space between us.”

My last statement rather slipped from my mouth and I was afraid it would scare the poor boy off, but his answer indicated no such thing.

He said, “We could be in the cabin one on top of the other and I wouldn’t mind, so long as I can get to London. Thank you so very much Simon. I’m sure we can find a way for me to repay you for this favor.” He wore a sly grin when he said this, and I could think of nothing else to do but smile back and nod as if in the hazy cloud of a dream.

We worked out a plan