AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Harriet leafed through the stiff, yellowed pages, producing a wince from Simon who evidently valued his antiquarian book collection.
“Here it is!” Harriet exclaimed, “Greyhame House, located three miles north of a town called Grindley, on the south shore of Lake Windermere.”
She began scanning through the single-page entry. Edward looked over her shoulder. The page provided an etching in black ink of the house, a nondescript looking place that Edward supposed was replicated a thousand times the length and breadth of England.
“Why have I never heard of it? I know my assets and there is nothing in that locale.”
“Perhaps this is why.” Harriet pointed to a paragraph in the middle of the page which followed a detailed description of the house, its gardens, and immediate environs. “It says here that the house has been the property of the Lachland family for five generations. The current owner is Sir Wesley Lachland, Seventeenth Baronet. Well, current when this book was written which was in…” she looked at the first page of the book, “the year of our Lord, 1715.”
Edward was staring into space. Simon sat across the room, separating himself from the conversation but apparently unable to leave Edward and Harriet alone. Either because he wished to act as chaperone, or because he couldn’t leave others to use his library without his supervision. Now, he frowned.
“The Lachlands have some connection with your part of the world, I believe,” he said.
“Do you think so, Simon?” Harriet asked. “Simon is something of a local authority on the lineage of the English aristocracy,” she said to Edward.
“You’re right, Simon,” Edward confirmed. “It is the maiden name of my Aunt Olivia. She married my father’s younger brother, Henry. But, before becoming a Bolton, she was a Lachland.”
Simon rose and slowly came over to where Harriet and Edward studied the old book.
“The Lachlands are far from a prominent family. There is little land in the south of England that they can lay claim to. I am only aware of the name because of its prominence in the north. When one pays attention to the histories of England’s nobility, one tends to notice such movements. Most keep quite rigidly to their own parts of the country, even in our modern times when travel from one end of England to the other is a relatively safe journey of days rather than weeks.”
“They certainly are not. I had quite forgotten that Aunt Olivia was not a Bolton-born. What are the chances that Rebecca would know of Greyhame House, tucked away in a remote part of England, far from the main roads and towns?”
“You think she was…helped?” Harriet asked.
“And there can be only one person who could provide such help,” Edward said. “I think Aunt Olivia has had a hand in Rebecca’s elopement with Lucius Worthingham and has given them the location of her ancestral home as a hideaway.”
Why would she betray me? I trusted her. But then I also trusted Rebecca. She too betrayed that trust. But this goes beyond anything. It is not just betrayal but open defiance of my wishes!
Edward could feel the anger rising in him. A rebellion within a family that he was supposed to be lord and master over. Such resistance could be expected from a young girl born with the bullish stubbornness which was a characteristic of the Boltons. But from an elderly lady? A woman who was supposed to set an example to her niece of proper decorum and duty? At all turns, he felt that he was surrounded by people seeking to thwart his wishes. Mysterious conspirators looking to push him into marriage. Foolish young women hinting at blackmail and now a fifth column within the closest ranks of his own household.
Rage boiled over and he slammed his hand onto the book, cracking an ancient page in two and making Harriet jump. Edward leaped to his feet, striding the room. Simon cried out involuntarily at the damage done to the book.
“There will be a reckoning with Aunt Olivia. Mark my words but there will be a reckoning,” Edward muttered darkly.
“Edward, should we not at least hear her out first? Nothing is done without a reason. Certainly, nothing like this. So, we must ask her what her reasons were,” Harriet reasoned.
“I will throw her out on her ear! She can go back to the Lachlands and drown in their blasted Lakes for all of me!” Edward roared.
Harriet placed herself before him, hands on hips, and gave him a level look.
“No, you won’t. Because she is your dear Aunt. A member of your family and as such, under your protection. You are too much of a gentleman to do half those things. We must know her reasons and we must go to Greyhame and talk…talk I say…to Rebecca.”
Edward breathed hard through his nose, glaring at Harriet’s reasonable, calm face. The anger left him with his exhalation. A smile broke through the glower. He made to kiss her but remembered the presence of her cousin and ardent admirer. Instead, he took her hand and bestowed a demure brush of his lips.
“You talk sense while I rage. Of course, you’re right.”
Then looking beyond Harriet to where Simon nursed the damaged book, he took a breath. Apologizing to a man he didn’t particularly like was not easy. For Edward, apologizing to any man was not easy. He was not accustomed to humbling himself or admitting to a mistake. However, standing in Harriet’s gaze, he felt the need to be a better man.
“Worthingham, my dear chap. I am most dreadfully sorry. That was inexcusable. I have an extensive library of my own at Wrexham, though it is of little interest to me. Consider it yours. Open house whenever you choose.”
Simon looked at him with a gaping mouth, chagrin fighting for a place alongside amazement. “Wrexham Library is justly famous,” he said. “That is most generous.”
Edward nodded, embarrassed and wanting to move on. He turned back to Harriet who was beaming proudly.
“We have our destination,” Edward said decisively. “I received a letter from Olivia in my correspondence from Wrexham stating that she intended to take a holiday in the north. I think we will find my sister and her erstwhile ally at Greyhame.”
CHAPTER 44
