Ever since I’d learned that Gage had been in Greece during their struggle for independence from the Turks, I’d been curious to know why. I wanted to understand what had happened to make him so closemouthed about the whole thing. Until now, he had always resisted telling me more. Would he still?
He pushed another loose hair back from my cheek and traced his finger down to my jaw. “I will tell you everything you want to know,” he promised me with haunted eyes. “But not tonight. Please. It’s . . . too much.”
I nodded, wanting to be understanding, but also feeling frustrated at his continued evasion. However, I knew he was right. It was late. And if this story was as troubling as I suspected, as the pain in his eyes seemed to indicate, then perhaps it was better to save it for a time when our emotions were not already so raw from everything that had happened this evening.
So I allowed him to put it off a little while longer, hoping I wouldn’t later regret it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
It was almost midday the next day when Gage rushed into the drawing room of the town house on Charlotte Square, where Alana and I were relaxing. Having already quizzed me on what had happened between Gage and I the evening before, she was working on a piece of embroidery for the new baby while I read a copy of Debrett’s Peerage, trying to work out the tangled web of relations among our suspects in the British peerage. Gage didn’t wait to be announced, nor even take the time to remove his greatcoat.
I sat forward at the sight of him, instantly knowing something was wrong. “What is it?”
His expression was grim as he lifted a folded sheet of paper. “Another body.”
I shifted to the edge of my seat. “Where?”
“A village called Beckford in the Borders.”
I glanced at Alana. “That’s just south of Kelso. Not far from St. Boswells.”
“I know. I looked at a map,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“But what does that mean?” I asked in confusion. “It’s so close to Dryburgh Abbey. Is that just a coincidence?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. His gaze sharpened. “But I would like to find out. Can you be ready to leave in an hour?”
I looked at Alana again, who had been silently listening to our exchange. Her eyes were wide, but she said nothing. “I shall do my best.”
He nodded and began to back from the room. “I’ll call for you at one o’clock.”
? ? ?
Even with the help of Alana’s maid and another girl from belowstairs, Bree and I were barely ready to leave when Gage came for us. I could only be grateful I’d packed light.
My sister did not help matters by beginning to weep immediately following Gage’s departure from the drawing room. Soon she had me biting back tears of my own between issuing instructions for the maids. I’m sure we looked a sad mess when Philip entered my room to find out what the fuss was all about. His eyes were wide with that panicked look some men seem to get whenever faced with an emotional female. Normally he handled my sister’s strange moods while she was expecting quite well, but apparently two near-sobbing females were too much for even him.
When Gage’s carriage arrived, I embraced Alana tightly and promised her I would return soon, long before her time came to give birth. Even so, it was hard to drive away after seeing her in such a state. I hoped her extreme agitation was only because of the baby and that it would pass soon; otherwise I would feel horribly guilty for leaving her so upset. In the end, it was Philip’s reassuring smile that had finally convinced me to allow Gage to help me up into his carriage. I knew he would always take care of her, and that he would send for me if I was needed.
I dabbed at the corners of my eyes with my handkerchief as the carriage passed under the shadow of the rock on which Edinburgh Castle perched. By the time we rounded the crenellation and skirted the Shambles and the Grassmarket on our way out of the city, I had myself much more in hand. I gave one last sniff and stuffed my handkerchief back into the pocket of my dress.
Bree studiously trained her gaze outside the opposite window, but Gage and Anderley both watched me from the seat across from us with varying degrees of uncertainty. Gage was by far the most sympathetic, while Anderley looked mildly unsettled at the sight of a tearful female. I ignored him and focused on Gage.
“Do you know anything more about the body that was taken?”