Chapter 33
Struan didn’t sleep much. He wanted to. He wanted to stay in the same bed with Ellie until…well, until forever. But she was sleeping soundly and he didn’t want to wake her with his restlessness.
He hated that Ellie found out she was pregnant on her own. That sort of news should be joyful, not terrifying. He vowed that he’d do everything in his power to ensure that she and the baby would thrive.
Breakfast would probably be a good start. He dressed quickly, and made his way down to the kitchen, surprising the cook and maids. He asked for a tray of bread, butter, and jam, with tea. Nothing that took extra effort.
“I’ll take it upstairs myself,” he informed the maid who assembled it. He didn’t want more people than necessary bothering Ellie while she was in a new place.
Sunlight was peeking through the drapes when he returned to his bedroom. Ellie stirred when he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Good morning,” he said, reaching for her hand, lying on the pillow next to her unbound hair. He liked the scene, and hoped to see it again, possibly every day.
“Did I sleep too long?”
“No. But I did bring you up some breakfast. If you can eat in the mornings?”
She wrinkled her nose, seemingly taking stock of her body’s temperament. “I think some bread would be all right.”
“Luckily, that’s what we have.”
She sat up and ate carefully, slowly. She was pale, and certainly didn’t have much appetite, but she didn’t get sick. After she finished, she said, “I’m afraid I have no clothing other than my gown from last night, which is hardly appropriate.”
“I had some of your new clothes sent here when the seamstress finished them,” he admitted. “You’ve got plenty. And I hope you’ll be sending for the rest of your things later today.”
“I will. And I need to speak to Mairi! And you may want to summon your friends again. I assume everyone left last night.”
“They did, shortly after we, um, went up here last night. The men would have taken Mairi back home and one of them will have kept watch.”
“I still can’t believe you just told your friends to watch Mairi, and they did it without asking why.”
“They’re soldiers. They know that when one of us asks for something to be done, we have a good reason.”
“Hmm. Well, she handled the news better than I thought she would. But maybe call off the dogs today?”
“I’ll call them off when it’s safe, and not one moment before.”
* * * *
A hour or so later, in the warm, wood-paneled parlor, a now properly clad Elspeth found a another copy of Walton’s guidebook.
“You seem to be interested in London,” he said dryly. “Was that the plan before you let me in on the secret?”
She looked serious. “Speaking of secrets, Mairi and I might have uncovered something about Averill,” Elspeth told him. “It explains my father’s obsession with guaranteeing she’s successfully married, and why he’s spent so much money on her.”
“Go on.”
She held up the guidebook. “When Averill was sixteen, she visited family in London for the better part of a year. The idea was to allow her to see the city and get exposure to the social graces she’d need after her debut and then on the marriage mart.”
“All right.” None of that sounded particularly groundbreaking.
“After she returned home, she would go on and on about her time in the city. She’d talk about her favorite places. The glow of the colored lanterns in Covent Garden.” Elspeth opened the book to a page she’d marked. Struan read it and, yes, there was the same description.
“Now go to the page about Bond Street.” He did.
“I’ll tell you what it says,” she announced, her eyes closed. “‘The exquisite shops of Bond Street, lined up like so many cakes, contain delectable wares.’”
He frowned. The same phrasing as in the book. “Did you memorize this?”
“No, but Averill did. She said these things,” Ellie explained. “Exactly these things. She never varied, she never added to the descriptions. If anyone asked, she might say something vague and change the subject.”
“What’s your point?”
“She never was in London. She bought Walton’s guidebook and read it to memorize enough to convince people she was.”
“Where was she, if not London? And why lie about her location?”
Ellie’s hands dropped to her stomach. He understood immediately.
“Holy Christ. She was with child? That’s why she vanished for a year?”
“Yes. But not to London,” Ellie said. “Mairi did some snooping. She was at a cousin’s in the countryside in County Monaghan. Remember I told you my father’s family was from Ireland originally? It was out of the way enough so she could hide her pregnancy.”
“And the child is still there?”
Ellie shook her head.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did she miscarry? That must have been awful.”
“No. Let me clarify.” Elspeth’s jaw tightened. “From what Mairi was able to find out, Averill bore a healthy baby but had no interest in keeping it. She demanded it be given up in such a way that it would never be traced back to her.”
Struan’s own muscles tensed. Averill’s callousness shouldn’t have surprised him, and yet… “And then what?”
“Then she came back to Edinburgh to prepare for her social debut and this engagement…gauntlet. Just as if nothing ever happened.” Ellie shrugged, but it was clear she was deeply upset by the story.
“Maybe it’s better. For the child, I mean.
Maybe they’ll have been taken in by a family that truly wanted a child…
” She trailed off. “I’m being naive again, aren’t I?
It’ll be an orphanage or a workhouse for them. Assuming they’re still alive.”
Struan wished he could tell her differently. “These are the most likely outcomes, I’m afraid. But now that we know, we can discover the child’s fate, good or bad. We owe them that much.”
“But what’s to be done? The child could be practically anywhere in Ireland or even England now. If they’re still alive.”
“Let me put my resources to work.”
“I know you’ll spare nothing.” Elspeth nodded, then added, “I’m very disappointed in Averill.”
He fought a sudden urge to laugh. Coming from Elspeth, that seemingly meek phrase was more on the order of a vile curse.
* * * *
By afternoon, Struan had sent word to the other men to meet at his home.
Ellie (accompanied by Michael the footman) traveled to her house to retrieve Mairi so she could join the planning.
Struan didn’t relax until both women returned.
He didn’t trust McGregor at all. Luckily, after their mutual revelations last night, Ellie had finally decided to stay with him—hopefully forever.
And he hoped to hell Mairi would see reason too, since she was also at risk.
Struan was sure the man would marry her off or sell her at the first opportunity.
So when he saw Michael helping both sisters out of the carriage, he sagged in relief then hurried to the front door as if he were the footman.
“Get in here,” he barked ungraciously.
Oddly, Mairi smiled at this. “I wish it to be known that while I am independent, I’m not an idiot. We’ll all be safer here, won’t we?”
“Yes,” Struan agreed, shutting the door behind them as they entered. “Thank you for your practicality.”
“It’s my one virtue,” Mairi said.
“Not your only one,” said Ellie. “Plus Father is so consumed with the planning for the masquerade that he wouldn’t notice if we danced out the door. Come, Mairi.”
Ellie showed her sister up to a guest room where she could settle in.
Shortly after, they all met in the parlor, and Ellie had naturally taken on the role of hostess, pouring tea and cutting up a poppyseed cake the cook baked. Kai and Duncan were both enthusiastic about the cake. Calan was more interested in the coffee. Thane brooded.
“How much of the situation does everyone know?” she asked Struan in a low voice. “I mean, do they know about the origins of our marriage?”
“Just recently, yes. I had to tell them.”
“You mean since you followed me to Edinburgh?”
“Well, as a matter of fact,” Struan said. “Calan knew the truth the whole time.”
Ellie glared at Calan. “Really.”
“’Fraid so,” Calan replied, having overheard them. “People often confess things to me.”
“But you didn’t tell me the truth when you first met me at the church so long ago.”
“It wasn’t my truth to tell.”
Ellie took the plate of cake away.
“What?” Calan protested.
“Can I have another slice?” Kai asked. “It’s delicious.”
“Yes, of course,” Ellie said, bestowing a smile on him. She served him another slice…which he then slid over to Calan.
“Kai was quartermaster,” Struan explained to an outraged Ellie. “It was his duty to make sure his men got provisions.”
“None of you deserve cake,” she muttered.
“Wait, what about me?” Duncan asked.
“You’re fine,” she allowed. “You’re helping watch over Mairi after all.”
“So is Calan,” Duncan pointed out.
She wrinkled her nose. “Technically.”
“I don’t need watchers,” Mairi said from the doorway. “Especially now that I’ve decamped to this house. Thus far, no one has even attempted to kidnap me into a life of slavery.” She was wearing a lovely maroon gown. Her hair was pulled back in a loose knot, as casual as if she were at her own home.
“You sound disappointed,” Struan said, unfazed.
Mairi accepted a gigantic slice of cake from her sister. “Not really. After all, if I ever want to experience slavery, I could always get married. Is that coffee? Could one of you lot pass down the pot, please?”
Calan rolled his eyes but slid the tall silver pot down the table.
Struan looked over the group. “Thursday evening is the masquerade, when Mr Farquhar and Averill McGregor will announce at midnight that they will be married.”
“Farquhar will have propose to her first. They’re not engaged yet,” Ellie said.
“They’re not?” Duncan asked, surprised.
“Averill wants a public proposal, as a spectacle. Big scene, him on one knee, all of the theatrics. And then they’ll announce a date for the wedding at Farquhar’s family church.
It only seats about sixty, so everyone present at the party will hope that they receive an invitation to the ceremony and then the wedding breakfast.”
“Sorry you didn’t have a wedding breakfast,” Struan told Ellie.
She waved it off. “It saved the household extra baking. The fancy cakes take forever.”
Calan leaned forward. “So this party is the finale, and once Averill McGregor is safely engaged, we can expect that her father will do anything to pay off his debts. Including selling another daughter, or succeeding at killing his son-in-law, in the hope of getting his hands on whatever inheritance comes to the widow.”
Struan nodded. “So I’d like to surprise him during the party somehow. Catch him off guard, well before he’s ready to move. Any suggestions?”
“Do you want to be subtle?” asked Kai. “Or are we interrupting the festivities?”
“I don’t care.”
“If you spoil Averill’s evening, she’s liable to kill you,” Mairi warned them all.
“Never mind Averill,” Ellie said. “My concern is that there is little to confront my father with. It’s all hearsay and whispers. Yes, he has debts, but that’s hardly unusual. Or are we going to tell the world how he paid off his first debt to Struan?”
“No,” said Struan. “I won’t allow your name to be dragged through the mud as a result of this.”
“It’s our biggest advantage,” Thane said. “He has to keep that secret. We don’t.”
“I won’t have Ellie talked about that way. I may have blustered to McGregor about it once, but I can’t really let it happen.”
“Does he know that?” Calan asked. “Or would he believe you’d expose him?”
Ellie burst out, “Of course he believes Struan will expose him! That’s why he tried to kill him!”
Duncan stabbed a piece of cake with his fork. “So he might try again. But probably not during the biggest night of his family’s social calendar.”
“All right.” Calan stood up. “We have one evening to neutralize McGregor and ensure he won’t try to do something stupid. We could attempt to remove him from the main party and have a little chat with him in some secluded spot in the house. Where’s a safe place for that?”
“My bedroom on the top floor,” Ellie said. “No one will be on that floor because the servants will be working. And he never goes up there, so he won’t have any advantage once you get him in there.”
“What are you dressing up as for the party?”
“Cap o’ Rushes,” Ellie said.
“I’ll be Hypatia of Alexandria,” said Mairi. “And I made Catriona agree to come too, to counterbalance Averill’s vapid friends. She already owns a black cat mask and a black gown.”
“And Averill?”
“Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty,” Ellie supplied.
“She’s not subtle, is she?” Calan asked.
“Her outfit certainly isn’t,” Mairi agreed. “I imagine you’ll appreciate it.”
Calan ignored that jibe. “Struan? What’s your costume?”
Struan hadn’t thought about it. “I don’t have one.”
“He doesn’t really need one. Lots of guests will simply wear silk or lace masks to match their gowns or suits,” said Ellie. “And I expect none of you gentlemen will want to be encumbered by extra props.”
“Correct,” Duncan grunted. “Unless it’s a sword.”
“So don’t worry about what you’re wearing. Worry about what you’ll do.”
Struan said, “I think our best plan is to find some opportunity to get McGregor alone, then escort him up to the top floor where we can have our talk.”
“There are enough of us to keep an eye on him all evening,” Calan said. “We’ll watch and give a signal if any of us sees a chance to divert him.”
“I could say I found a cache of silver coins upstairs,” Mairi offered. “Or something like that.”
“Keep that idea handy,” Duncan said. “I’d hate to use such an obvious lure unless we have to. But we may have to.”
They continued to discuss options and possibilities. Struan caught Kai’s eye at one point and both men stepped away to another part of the room.
“Kai,” Struan said. “After all this is done, I need you to find something for me.”
“Of course. What is it?”
“A child.”
It was an indication of just how well Kai had performed his duty as quartermaster that Struan thought him the best person for the task, strange as it was. And to Kai’s credit, he barely paused before saying, “I assume you mean a particular child, so I’ll need details.”
Struan gave him what he could. A now deeply upset Kai absorbed it all, and said, “And the mother’s getting engaged Thursday night in front of the whole city?”
“So we are told.”
Kai, normally so mild-mannered, gave a thin little smile. “Let’s make it a night to remember, then, shall we?”