And then as Arabella was sitting down to dinner in the chair that Alasdair had pulled out for her, Maggie came rushing in, her face wet with tears, her breath coming in big gasps. Arabella stood back up and seized Maggie’s hands.
“Maggie, what is the matter? You’re distressed. Is your sister not well?”
“Oh, Miss Lovelock,” Maggie said and broke into a sob.
Arabella whisked her upstairs to her room. Maggie sat on the edge of the bed and Arabella knelt in front of her and held her hands as she cried.
Eventually, Maggie was able to choke out that her sister’s husband had abandoned her and their four children just a week earlier. Her sister had no idea where the husband had gone, but he had told her he was leaving and she would never hear from him again.
“Oh, dear,” Arabella said. She stood and sat down next to Maggie on the bed and put her arm around her shoulders. “Oh, dear.”
Maggie took out a handkerchief from her reticule and blew her nose. “She is so desperate, Miss Lovelock. So scared.”
“Well, Maggie, you should stay with her. You can help her and I will pay your wages ahead. I have plenty of money with me for the journey. I will give you enough so that you and she need not worry.”
“Oh, nae, Miss Lovelock.” Maggie was aghast. “I cannae do that. Ye need me.”
“Your sister needs you more.”
“But widnae be proper for ye ... For ye ...”
“For me to travel with two men and a boy? And one of the men, a family friend? I traveled alone with just a coachman when I came north two years ago.”
“’Twasn’t proper, neither.”
Arabella stood. Her hands went into fists at her sides. Her face got hot and she knew it was red.
“You know what isn’t proper, Maggie? A husband abandoning his wife and his children!”
“Aye,” Maggie whispered, surely shocked by Arabella’s vehemence because Arabella had never spoken this way in front of her. Maggie had never seen Arabella angry because Arabella had worked very hard to control her temper over the last two years. To model mildness and modesty for her students. And unconsciously, for the absent Alasdair.
But now knowing how pointless her own program of reform had been, Arabella was liberated. All that restraint and to what end? The doctor had not shown up at her doorstep because of Arabella’s virtue, but because her sister had sent him.
She might as well voice her fury. She truly had nothing to lose now.
“If folk spent more time worrying about things that really mattered instead of appearances, everyone’s lives would be a great deal better! What’s important is that your sister is frightened and alone. She needs to feed four children. She needs turf for the fire. She needs you!”
“Aye.”
Arabella took a deep breath. Her next words were quieter. “I hope you know I am not vexed at you, Maggie. I am angry at your brother-in-law. And your sister’s situation. I am sorry I spoke in such a harsh manner. But,” she sat down next to Maggie again, “you should know that my reputation cannot be any more ruined than it already is. Have no worries on that score. And I will be safe with the doctor.”
But as Maggie wiped her nose and thanked her, Arabella had to ponder her own unvoiced and unanswered question.Will the doctor be safe with me?
Fifteen
At breakfast, Ewen MacEwen asked Arabella if they might take the new steamboat from Dysart to Newhaven. He had been reading about steam as a propulsive force, and he thought he might be able to persuade someone on board to let him get a look at the workings of such a ship.
Paterson grunted, and Alasdair translated. They would be better off crossing the Firth of Forth at the old Queensferry crossing since they intended to skirt Edinburgh.
“Next time, Ewen,” Arabella said. “On the way back.”
“I dinnae think so,” he said, thoughtful. “I’m not sure I’m coming back.”
“I will be,” Arabella said and raised her chin. There was nothing for her in England. Alasdair being persuaded by Harry to act as her escort to Sommerleigh did not change that.
The carriage left the village of Strathlochirn with just Arabella and Alasdair inside of it. Both Arabella and Alasdair had tried to persuade Ewen MacEwen to come into the carriage with them, but he refused.
“I haven’t been this far south before. Sitting inside would defeat the purpose of traveling,” he said and climbed up onto the front seat next to Paterson.
