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That got his attention. His eyebrows went up and his back straightened, where he had been allowing himself to relax into his seat.
“And what would you happen to know about Rebecca?” Edward asked.
“Only this. A conversation I have recalled with young Rebecca. And from that conversation a reference to a place in…Scotland?”
Edward almost rose, hands clamped to the arms of the chair. “Scotland? What conversation? When?”
The Dowager Countess looked pained. “My dear young man. There is no use in barking a lot of questions. My correspondence with my good friend Olivia tells me that you are greatly concerned for her whereabouts and I now recall a conversation with Olivia…I mean with Rebecca, in which Scotland was discussed. Do you perhaps have property there?”
“No, I do not.”
“Perhaps Rebecca has taken a house there.”
“Where? Scotland is no little place. Do you remember where?” Edward pressed.
“Oh, somewhere close to the border, I am sure. I cannot recall what it was called. There was mention of Carlisle and the Glasgow Road, but that is all Olivia…I mean Rebecca, told me.”
So agitated was Edward that these slips barely registered. They sank into his mind for perusal later. Now, he pinched his lower lip, staring pensively into space. Carlisle and the Glasgow Road surely meant the west of Scotland. Then it hit him. Gretna, that famed place where lovers could go for a swift marriage. Rebecca was going to Gretna!
CHAPTER 41
Doctor Summers arrived by nightfall and checked on Harriet. The bump had already receded by the time he arrived and her reactions and cognizance seemed healthy. He prescribed a good night’s sleep and a relaxing day to follow. Harriet was glad, as Edward was pacing the room like a caged animal.
“I cannot bear it. You clearly want to be gone this instant. So, let us go. Now,” Harriet declared.
Edward shook his head and sat on the edge of her bed, taking her hand. A maid sat in the corner of the room, knitting and acting as a chaperon. Harriet saw her shyly look up at the gesture and gave a little smile of appreciation.
“No. I can wait. Your health is more important right now. Besides, from the look I got of Simon’s stables, he doesn’t have any decent horse flesh to spare.”
“Horses are expensive to keep and were among the first things to be sold, I fear,” Harriet said.
“They can be acquired elsewhere readily enough. But it means I couldn’t leave now if I wanted to. Not unless I intended to walk to Scotland.”
“But it infuriates you, doesn’t it? The inaction.”
Edward nodded curtly, getting to his feet, and resuming his pacing.
“As soon as I am able, I will dispatch a man to the nearest town with a post inn and arrange the purchase of some horses.”
“There is a farmer, not two miles from us, who keeps horses. He will be happy to sell or rent,” Harriet suggested.
“Even better,” Edward replied.
It made Harriet happy that she could help him. The nervous energy that was driving him was difficult to watch. He had not mentioned a specific location in Scotland, but Harriet believed that may have been due to the presence of the maid that Simon had instructed to sit in her room with her. She considered sending the maid out but knew it would get back to Simon.
I will not have the poor woman getting into trouble on my account.
“It is most curious that your mother seemed to suggest that her information was coming from Olivia, my aunt. She made a couple of slips, though at the time I barely noticed.”
“Was she close to Rebecca?” Harriet asked.
“Yes, but I cannot imagine she would be party to…” Edward looked to the maid and went quiet.
“My mother gets strange notions,” Harriet said. “I would take her words with a pinch of salt. Scotland may be a red herring entirely.”
Edward shook his head. “No, it all makes sense. A place on the road from Carlisle to Glasgow that I have recalled.”
He looked at her as though willing her to read between the lines. Harriet wracked her brain for everything she knew about Scotland. Which was not a great deal. Edward bent his head to hers and whispered.
