Page 116 of The Secret Castle in the Highlands

His lifeless body sent waves of guilty relief coursing through me. ‘Go,’ I ordered, summoning strength and burying Oscar’s face into the folds of my dress. ‘Go now, before Harris or one of our relatives arrive.’

‘But Georgina…’

I dashed my eyes with the back of my hand in a mixture of shock and relief. ‘They must not see you here.’

‘It was an accident,’ murmured Oscar, his upturned face appealing to mine.

‘Yes, it was,’ I sniffed, ‘but Gideon could be wrongly accused of something he did not do.’ My eyes pleaded with his. ‘You must leave.’

Gideon came towards me and delivered a lingering kiss to my lips.

I observed him mount Linus. ‘I will contact you by way of Amelia, my love.’

He dashed away on a blur of black, taking my heart with him as he always did.

Mason and I exchanged incredulous stares.

‘So why weren’t they able to get together after Augustus died?’ I asked Eliza.

She explained that Augustus Lapley’s brother was visiting and had seen Gideon galloping away from The Hawthorns moments before Georgina had alerted them. ‘Rylance Lapley was convinced Gideon had been instrumental in his brother’s death and swore revenge.’ Eliza settled back again in her chair. ‘For the safety of everyone concerned, both Gideon and Georgina continued their love affair in secret; that was when the Scarlet Highwayman wasn’t robbing Lapley relatives and associates and donating their spoils to the poor.’

Eliza also explained to a riveted Mason and me that Georgina and her son would have been cast aside, penniless, by her late husband’s family, if news of her affair with Gideon had become public.

‘She could have lost custody of Oscar, been denied her inheritance, been ostracised from society.’ Through a soft smile, Eliza fixed her attention on me. ‘So, Georgina and Gideon had to keep their love for one another a closely guarded secret, but it didn’t stop them in their efforts to help those blighted by that dreadful Lapley clan. They even ensured that Lizzie Bishop’s family never went hungry after her death, and Georgina recruited Blake as a stable hand.’

I knew this already about my great-great-great-grandfather, but it was so lovely to have such a thing confirmed.

‘It’s so sad they could never publicly reveal their relationship,’ I mused. ‘Am I right in saying that Gideon and Georgina passed away within two years of one another?’

‘Yes. Georgina died first in eighteen twenty-eight, when she contracted a serious chest infection,’ Eliza clarified sadly. ‘Still, at least the love they had for one another and for Oscar, as well as their support of worthy causes, is being honoured now.’

Eliza leaned forward, the relief palpable on her face. It must have been a release for her, being able to tell someone the truth after all these years.

My heart clenched. ‘It must have been terrible for both Oscar and Gideon.’

Mason edged forward beside me. ‘What I’m a little confused about is that Georgina was in her very early sixties when she passed away and Gideon would have been approaching seventy at the time?’

‘That’s right,’ answered Eliza. ‘There was a five-year age difference between them.’

Mason’s brow deepened. ‘Surely he wasn’t still carrying out his Scarlet Highwayman robberies in his mid-sixties, especially in those days when catching a cold could mean certain death?’

Eliza’s lined face broke out into an enigmatic smile. ‘He wasn’t.’

Her mysterious answer hung in the air.

My eyes widened. ‘Eliza, are you saying that someone else took over as the Scarlet Highwayman when Gideon felt that he was too old to continue?’

‘That’s right.’

A thought sprang into my head. I reached over and grasped Mason’s knee. ‘Was it Oscar? Oscar Lapley?’

Eliza’s eyes shone. ‘That’s what Georgina alludes to in the final few entries of her diary.’

Mason’s slash of white smile made my stomach flip. ‘Bloody hell! Oh, I do hope that’s true! Oscar Lapley being Gideon’s Scarlet Highwayman protégé!’

I clapped a hand over my mouth. ‘Can you imagine Alex Lapley’s face receiving that news?’

Eliza sat back in her chair, a serene air surrounding her. ‘What I wouldn’t give to see that.’