The next morning, at eight.
Lorne sat alone in a hackney carriage, on his way to the address given in the letter.
"The divination showed that everything would go smoothly today."
Before setting off, he had performed a divination specifically for today's visit, to guard against any unexpected mishaps. Although the result had been favorable, he still felt strangely uneasy.
"A sunny, warm, outgoing writer..."
Among the women he had met, the only ones with much of a literary air were Edwina and Cattleya. But both of those pirate admirals were exceptionally aloof, the sort who kept everyone at a distance.
They were the exact opposite of warm and outgoing.
"Ah... I hope nothing else goes wrong today."
A little over half an hour later, accompanied by a clear whinny, the hackney carriage came to a steady stop by the roadside.
"Sir, we're here," the driver called from the front.
"Thank you." Lorne paid the fare, took a deep breath, and opened the door to step out.
"Let me see. It should be..."
After searching along the street for a while, he finally settled on an ordinary-looking, detached two-story house.
Since he was here to meet his pen friend, he had made no particular effort to disguise himself this time.
He lowered his head and glanced at his outfit: a clean white shirt, a crisp black coat, and a commonplace black top hat. It was a fairly typical outfit for a young man of this era.
Originally, he had intended to wear a more luxurious, more formal suit. But after giving it some thought, he had abandoned the idea.
He was meeting a pen friend, not discussing business. Being too formal might even have the opposite effect.
With the recovered gift tucked away on his person, he hesitated at the