“Not at all. I may be right behind you.” His eyes were indeed getting heavy from the motion. The train was headed forward toward Edinburgh. While the weather was decent, he hoped it would stay as it was. Dry. That could all change the farther north they went.
He had gotten them their own compartment for the long train ride, so they’d have privacy. He hadn’t wanted to share with others.
Several hours later he awoke to the sound of the train stopping in a far northern village to pick up more passengers. He noted Cathryn was fast asleep, not even waking when the train made a jerking motion as it pulled out and began to pick up speed.
When they arrived in Edinburgh, he’d need to find the options available to get them to Gretna Green. Once they were married, they’d spend the night there and decide between them where they wanted to go. They could go back to Edinburgh for a day or so before moving on to the family estate in York.
“Do you know how much longer until we’re in Edinburgh?” a sleepy voice asked from across the compartment.
“We have several hours still.”
“Have you slept at all?”
He nodded. “Yes. I only awoke when the train pulled into a station. I forgot to check where it was.”
“That’s fine.” She rose and walked around the small compartment. She sat back down and gazed at him.
“Are you hungry? My valet put together a small hamper. He had to do it in private so as not to raise the cook’s suspicions.”
“Not right now,” she replied. “I think I’m going to try and sleep some more.”
“Excellent idea. I think I’ll go see if I can find us some tea.”
She smiled at him. “That sounds heavenly.”
Closing the compartment door, Charles went down one corridor of the car in hopes that finding a cup of tea wouldn’t be a challenge. He finally came upon a porter who informed him it was late but that the service should be started in a few more hours.
He turned around and made it back to their compartment. As he opened the door, he tried to be extra quiet so as not to wake her. As soon as he sat down across from Cathryn, he realized he was still tired. He arranged himself in the corner and found his eyes growing heavy. This time dreams and visions crawled into his sleep. Cathryn’s parents disapproving of the marriage and attempting to see about having it annulled. Another flash was that they were beaming that their daughter had done well in finding a husband. No, that would never happen. They wanted their beautiful, talented daughter to marry far better than the second son and brother of a duke. But here they were, on their way to marry, and that wasn’t a dream.
The next thing Charles remembered was Cathryn gently waking him up, informing him they’d arrived in Edinburgh. He sat up straighter and scrubbed his beard.
“How will we travel to Gretna Green?”
“There’s a coach. I’ve made arrangements. We need to walk to their offices and purchase our tickets and leave our luggage there since the coach won’t leave for a couple hours,” he said.
“Is their office very far?”
“No, I was told it was just outside the station.”
The walk was short, and Charles was able to get everything taken care of. A porter even brought their luggage while they were getting their tickets.
“Would you like to get some breakfast while we wait?”
“Oh, yes. We never did eat last night,” she said.
“No, we didn’t. There’s a hotel down the hill that has an excellent restaurant. Breakfast is supposed to be quite good.”
She nodded as he opened the door for her. “I could surely use a cup of coffee now.”
“Me too,” he replied. He smiled to himself as he felt her tuck her hand into the crook of his arm. There was something soothing about such a simple act. They would be okay. It was like they were meant to be together.
Finding the restaurant proved to be easy. Inside, the dining room was nearly to capacity with people who had been traveling. They were seated against a wall, and the waiter told them what the specials were. They each picked the same one, and while they were waiting, their much-appreciated coffee was brought to their table.
“Do you suppose our absence has been discovered?” Cathryn asked with a grin.
“It’s very possible since I left a letter on my brother’s desk, and you left one on your bed. Arthur rises early to get his paperwork and correspondence taken care of.”
“I don’t think either Arthur or Daphne will be surprised, do you?”
