Good job using a situation to very, very clearly characterize your protagonist. I don’t know if I’d like him as a friend, but I like him as a character.

Nice debut, comrade! What does it say about me that I’m hoping Lucielle has been “unavoidably detained” by Jack the Ripper?

“The cobblestones clacked respectfully under his shoes…”

Delicious.

Marcus Billows … good name.

The first paragraph seemed unnaturally stilted to me, but I’d guess it’s to set a tone for your main character: clinical, methodical, orderly, almost mechanical.

A critique: “exasperatedly” seems unnecessary, what with him pinching his nose and all. I’m from the “show, don’t tell” camp, so I think the pacing, the pinching, the sighing makes his exasperation clear.

I like the list of what he’s missed. Also, the antiquated emphasis granted by capitalizing Important Words.

Names generally present the most difficulty for me, so I’m glad Marcus has proven to be a winner thus far. Over-adverbing is a problem which occurs from time to time, and I will have to keep a weather eye out for it in the future.

And Thank You to Aure, Lita, and THX for the comments. It’s encouraging to see things going so well from the beginning.

this character is quite uptight. I agree with THX, not a good friend, but a good character.