"You know, things are going to change."
Lucien looked at Matthew in disbelief. His eyes were watery and unfocused, his tie and jacket long gone, his hair disheveled.
Matthew continued, "The furniture, the dishes, even the bloody walls. It's all going to change."
"Matthew I doubt that, she's lived there for years."
"Yes but you're getting married. Jean's in charge now."
Lucien looked thoughtful for a moment and downed the rest of his glass of whiskey. "You know Matthew, maybe that's not a bad thing."
Lucien grinned at Matthew, who rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless."
Lucien and Jean were heading to a court house in Melbourne in the morning in a vain attempt to get married in private, away from the prying eyes of Ballarat. They hoped to return a few days after and quietly resume their lives as Doctor and Mrs. Blake. However, Matthew and Frank were having none of it. Jean was not pleased with the idea of having him out drunk all night before the wedding. Matthew had to promise to have him back sober at a reasonable hour and Charlie had to promise to hold Matthew to it. A large part of the Ballarat police force was in attendance in a bar open well past legal closing hours, along with several of Lucien's associates and a few long-time patients. Even Patrick Tynneman stopped by, awkwardly finishing half a drink before surprising Lucien with a clap on his back and "It's about bloody time," in parting.
The bar keep pulled out a bottle and reached for Lucien's glass. Matthew put out his hand. "No, I think that's enough. Jean will have my skin if I don't bring him back in one piece."
"I think it's a little late for that," someone in the crowd observed, as Lucien swayed a little on his bar stool.
"Why don't we walk back to my place, it's not far from here," Frank said. "We can make some coffee and sober him up, and you can take him home."
Matthew nodded, "Good idea. I'll settle up the tab and we can get going."
The assembled men of Ballarat filed out the door on to the street, startling a woman standing out front. In a scarlet red blouse with lipstick to match, Alice Harvey was hard to miss. Glancing up from lighting a cigarette a look of alarm crossed her face. She looked nervously over her shoulder but it was too late. A gaggle of women came around the corner with Jean in the center. Rose and Alice had conspired to take Jean out while Lucien was off with the men. It took some convincing but some of her friends from the sewing circle had agreed to join them, and the husband of one of the ladies offered to have a friend keep a room open for them in a nearby pub. They had mostly spent the evening chatting but, unaccustomed to going out much, it hadn't taken more than a few shandies to get most of them tipsy. Now Alice stood out in front, trying to explain away their presence.
Alice stammered. "Chief Superintendent, uh, gentlemen. I didn't realize this is where you were going to be. We were just heading home." Some of the ladies giggled. Rose stood behind her, looking smug.
Frank grinned, all too happy to have some fun at their expense. "All of you? Heading home, at the same time? At 12:30 in the morning."
Alice glared at him, "If I'd known this was a police interrogation I would have robbed a bank first."
His reply was cut short by a quiet voice from the back of the crowd. "Jean?"
Frank covered his face with his hands. This wasn't going to end well. Lucien staggered out in the direction of the women.
"Lucien!"
Jean moved to the front of the group and glared at him. Lucien just stood there, swaying slightly and smiling sheepishly. He took Jean by the hand and she quickly pulled it away.
"Matthew, you promised!"
"It's alright Mrs. Beazley," Frank assured her, "We are just taking him to sober up. I promise he'll be fit for duty in the morning."
Jean gave Frank a dubious look and then turned her scrutiny back to Lucien. "Where's your jacket? And your tie?"
Charlie stepped out of the group, avoiding eye contact with Jean. "I'll uh, I'll go and find it," and Charlie disappeared from sight.
Jean sighed in exasperation and attempted to smooth down Lucien's rumpled collar.
"Fine then, I'll see you back home," and then, loud enough for the assembled crowd to hear, "In the morning."
Lucien grinned and took a step closer to Jean. There, on a public street in downtown Ballarat in the middle of the night, he took Jean's face in both his hands and kissed her, long and deep. Jean clutched his arm, briefly oblivious to the howls coming from both parties. A comment from one of the members of her sewing circle about the secrets Jean was keeping caused her to look away, her face bright red. Lucien just kept grinning.
Jean put her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look, trying to regain some control of the situation. "I'll see you later then."
Without another word Jean turned around and walked away, taking shelter in the company of the other ladies while a hand on Lucien's shoulder dragged him back in the direction of Frank's house. Without so much as a parting glance, both parties headed off into the night.