Darin probably would have felt terribly guilty (though just breaking curfew is hardly a lot of bail and there’s no way to prove that the boys broke anything themselves.) But every copper counts with these two and he’d still have felt horrible, except that Elizabet insisted that Josh cover Darin’s bail on the grounds that Darin wouldn’t have been out if not for Josh. (And while Sara-Beth would have objected, heavily, if say Reggie had made the offer, she doesn’t feel like she can just up and tell the baron’s daughter that they don’t need charity. Besides, Elizabet can be enough of Marisol’s daughter to go right over the top of her. If she and Josh both tell Colby to hand over the papers, there’s not much Sara-Beth can do and Sara-Beth’s smart enough to know it.)

Yes, Marisol is strict. Josh wouldn’t have ended up eating more of Cox’s knuckles if Marisol had come to bail Josh out, but it still would have been pretty bad for Josh.

But yeah, I’m sure that Josh probably went light headed with relief that it was Elizabet and Annette there and not his parents or Cox. I’m glad you like the Annette/Miguel dynamic, sure he irritates the hell out of her, but what can he really do to her? It would be a terrible scandal if he hit her or arrested her or anything of that nature. (Plus the whole he’ll be answering to his very scary cousin if he tried to do anything to his cousin’s wife.)

Plus Annette isn’t exactly helpless on her own. Cox is the big scary monster to a good chunk of the nobility and Annette is the wife he’s afraid of. There are reasons for that. (Not the least that Annette captained a women’s fencing team for many, many years. Plus she’s an excellent shot with a bow. He might end up at St. Betsy’s with an arrow “accidentally” in his butt if he tossed her in jail…)

Thanks, Van!

Miguel was pretty drunk and Elizabet is pretty smart… As Van pointed out, it’s not too hard to outwit a Bors.

Part of the reason that Miguel didn’t have Annette arrested is simple, he doesn’t want to have to put up with her until the Magistrate shows up. (And considering the Magistrate thinks Bors is every bit the idiot that Annette does… ah the wonders of nepotism… he’d need a better reason than Annette basically implied that Miguel was a moron.) And he would have to answer to his cousin if he put his wife into a common jail cell and left her there, especially considering that Josh and Elizabet would probably still be sitting there…

Brunch is not a weekly thing, don’t worry. Tawny and Cox don’t want blood on their toast. The brothers Cox arrive on Sunday and they’re having brunch together because of that. (Mostly just me having a lead in to the VISIT.)

Yes, Darin’s life has done a bit of a turnaround, even if Darin still sorta wishes it hadn’t. There are several reasons that Josh has decided to go from “I don’t want to see you to the point of getting my head busted” to “I want you around constantly.”

Josh sees how hard it is for Darin and Sara-Beth. I mean objectively he always knew that life wasn’t so great for the lower classes, but this is someone he knows. Someone who sits in class next to him. And Josh’s mind runs along the same lines as Sara-Beth’s. Use this time to build connections, the more exposure that Darin has to the upper class, the more likely it is that he will find that good job post graduation.

Josh can’t really give him money or anything, Darin and Sara-Beth hate charity like a house cat hates taking a pill, and I think Josh would understand that. But the other thing he’s doing in taking Darin out all the time is feeding him, and making sure he’s got the appropriate gear for events and things, all under the guise of “you’re my friend now and you’re stuck going to the same things that I am” which is a good way of coating the metaphorical pill.

Plus there’s the fact that the more he gets to know Darin, the more he just likes him.

Lol, if there’s ever a revival of The Princess Bride I’m sure that Josh will take him and that Darin would love it, thanks, Morgaine!

So Colby is Reggie’s brother? Hmm. So did he bring them in, like Morgaine suggested, to keep them out of trouble? Or is he on the outs with Reggie, and either didn’t know either boy or actually wanted them to get in trouble? Either way will make for a very interesting arc.

I’m guessing Darin will feel guilty for putting Sara-Beth through the stress and worry and disappointment, especially if the bail payment is steep. But I think Sara-Beth knows as well as anyone else (if not better, working at the hospital, dealing with a ton of accidents) than people make mistakes and shit happens.

And man, was I relieved to see Elizabet and Annette instead of Jayson or Cox or even Marisol (at this point, I’m thinking Marisol is a good person over all, but I’m willing to bet that she’s strict). I love that an eleven-year-old knows what’s what better than Miguel does, even if Elizabet is a hell of a lot smarter than the average eleven-year-old (and any incarnation of Bors would be a hell of a lot dumber than the average however-old-he-is). Annette was also spectacular here. She just does not take crap from anyone and it’s brilliant.

Or was Colby just shooing them off to the guard’s station to make sure they didn’t get into real trouble?

However, we all met Miguel this fine evening! Um … yay? I had to chuckle at how he was outwitted by an eleven-year-old. And Annette, of course, was FANTASTIC as always. It takes balls of steel to stand up to the captain of the guard on his own turf. Though I guess if Miguel arrested her, he’d have to answer to Cox for the embarrassment to the family, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to have to answer to Cox for anything …

(Also, Annette has to do Sunday brunch with Miguel? YUCK! How have they not killed each other?)

All in all, it seems like Darin’s social life has done quite the 180. If he’s always as calm and collected with the other noble boys as he was tonight, he’ll be fine. He’s smarter than most the rest of them put together, and it shows. Hopefully he can make some good connections from his time with Joshua and get a good job when he graduates.

(Although … I do have to wonder … Joshua goes from avoiding Darin at all costs to wanting him with him at all times … what is going on in that pretty blonde head, I wonder?)

Oh, and one last bit of advice for Joshua: If there’s ever a revival of The Princess Bride, take Darin to that. He should stop complaining in a hurry.