She shifted in her seat. “What?”
He jutted his chin toward her satchel. “Looks like you might be going somewhere as well.”
“Oh, no. I just like to come here on occasion.”
“Hannah?”
“Yes, Mr. Berkly?”
“What’s going on?” Her expression froze. She took another swig from her tankard. A barmaid arrived and Marcus put in a simple order of beef stew. As soon as the woman was gone, he raised an eyebrow at Hannah. “Well?”
“You probably won’t like it.”
“All the more reason to tell me,” he said, attempting the most level tone he could manage in spite of the rising urge to shake her. “If there’s a situation and Lady Louise is involved, perhaps I can help?”
The evasiveness he’d seen in Hannah’s eyes earlier hardened. “What would have helped would have been for you not to leave her.”
Alarmed by her sudden anger, he absently thanked the barmaid as she set a bowl and a tankard before him. “Has she been to see Lady Croft? Was the dowager countess unkind to her in some way or—”
“Lady Croft is inconsequential now that Lord Scarsdale has made an offer for Lady Louise’s hand. It arrived this morning. Grasmere was already off arranging the settlement when…” She set her jaw and averted her gaze.
“When what?”
“She doesn’t want to trouble you with any of this, Mr. Berkly.” Uncertainty strained her features and then relaxed as she pushed out a sigh. “I’m not sure I should tell you. Happening upon you here was not an option we discussed.”
“If there’s a chance she might be in trouble, then you must give me every detail so I can help her.”
“You can’t bring her back here.” Hannah shook her head. “Not unless you marry her first.”
Marcus’s insides twisted into a tight knot. He stared at the maid. “Where is she?”
“She thought you’d gone to Berlin and with her brother away in Dorset and her father likely to look for her there, she…she decided to go to Austria and visit her grandparents until you came back and…”
Marcus sank back into his seat while Hannah droned on in a muddle of words he could no longer follow. He stared at his food and attempted to fathom the threat Louise had been faced with and the lengths to which she’d gone in order to try and escape the fate Grasmere wanted to force upon her. Christ have mercy. She’d been all alone, cornered, and desperate. And because of their last conversation, she’d chosen to go to Austria instead of following him to Berlin.
He grabbed his tankard and took a long sip before digging into his meal. “When did she depart?” he asked between bites.
“Two hours ago. She was on the noon coach to Dover.”
“What about you?”
“There was only one ticket today. We thought it best for her to take it, to put as much distance between herself and Grasmere as possible. I’m supposed to join her in Dover tomorrow.”
“I’m going after her now.” Marcus pushed the last of his food aside and met Hannah’s gaze. “Lady Louise would not be in this situation if it weren’t for me, and she definitely shouldn’t be on the road by herself. Here. Take my ticket so you don’t have to wait until tomorrow. I’ll hire a horse and ride.”
“And then?” Hannah asked, accepting the ticket.
“Then I’ll marry her and figure things out from there.”
“But I thought you told her—”
“I know what I told her, Hannah.” Marcus stood, fished a few coins from his pocket, and dropped them on the table. “I’ll be the first to admit I made a mistake.”
All he could hope for now was that everything would be well and that his decision to leave Louise behind would not end in disaster.
Grabbing his bags, he went to locate the innkeeper. “Do you have a fast horse I can use?”
“Maybe.” The innkeeper studied Marcus with the unnerving look of a shrewd businessman. “But it’ll cost you.”
