My Highland Rogue

by Karen Ranney

  The night seemed to call for tears. When she embraced her daughter again, Ellen didn’t hold back this time.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Jennifer’s whole life had been a lie. She suddenly knew, exactly, how Gordon had felt. When the foundation of your life turned out to be built on shifting sands, you questioned everything.

  Taking the train to London was not an easy journey, but they would get there a day earlier than by carriage. Every day mattered.

  She kept glancing at Ellen, but she hadn’t changed in appearance. Nor was she a different person now than she’d been yesterday. Yet the way Jennifer saw her had changed.

  Their noses were the same. Their eye color was surprisingly similar. Why hadn’t she seen that before now?

  All these years and she’d never guessed. She’d thought that Ellen was simply conscientious about being her godmother. She’d never realized that all the advice, all the concern, all the love was for another reason. She was Ellen’s daughter. Yet she was Mary’s, too. She was Lady Jennifer only because of the kindness of the Countess of Burfield and her husband.

  Yet she’d loved them with all her heart. Just as she loved Ellen.

  It didn’t seem fair that she’d been given so much love, and yet it had been stripped from Gordon. She would simply have to make up for the lack.

  She thought back to all of those occasions when she’d been sent to Edinburgh to be with Ellen. Mary had been emphatic on the point, her rationale being that Jennifer needed to have a bit of experience with the world, and seeing Edinburgh and being with her godmother would provide that. When, in actuality, Mary had been insistent that Ellen get some time with her daughter.

  Would she have been brave enough to give away her child? For that matter, would she be generous enough to take the child of a friend and raise it as her own? The two important women in her life had been true examples of courage and kindness.

  She looked up to find Ellen studying her.

  “Do you hate me?” Ellen asked. “Now that you know the truth?”

  “How could I ever hate you?” Jennifer asked. “You gave me life. You’ve loved me. So did Mary. I’ve been twice blessed. I had not just one mother, but two.”

  Ellen began blinking, and Jennifer realized she was trying to hold back tears. She moved to sit next to Ellen, grabbed her hands, and held them tightly.

  “I was a fool,” Ellen said. “I was young and naive, but I thought myself in love.”

  “I think love must make you foolish,” Jennifer said. “But it also makes you brave and kind and generous.”

  The two of them smiled at each other.

  Jennifer looked down at her gloved hands. Outwardly, she probably appeared calm. Inwardly, however, her stomach was jumping and her breath felt tight. She couldn’t wait to reach Gordon, to tell him the truth.

  The journey to London seemed interminable. One good thing was that Abigail had been left behind. Jennifer could just imagine the trip with the maid’s constant complaints.

  Would Gordon want to live in London? She didn’t particularly like the city, but if sacrifice was necessary to be with Gordon, then she was willing and eager to accept whatever price she had to pay. Perhaps it wouldn’t be easy, but a great many things that mattered weren’t particularly easy. And Gordon mattered, more than anything else in her life.

  Gordon thanked his new advocate, stood, and made his way out of the office with the sheaf of papers he’d been given. He had suspected that claiming an earldom would not be an easy process, but he hadn’t realized how much paperwork would be involved. He had signed a half dozen documents attesting to what Sean had told him. His advocate had also suggested that Margaret McBride could be encouraged to testify and was sending an associate to Adaire Hall for that purpose.

  Had the countess sensed a resemblance? He couldn’t help but wonder if things would have been different if her vision hadn’t been so badly damaged.

  Circumstances had been perfect for Betty’s deception. His father had died when he was five. His mother had been badly injured. There were no close relatives to see a resemblance and because of the countess’s injuries, visitors had not flocked to Adaire Hall as they had in earlier days.

  But for Sean’s honesty, he would never have known his true identity. For that, he should probably be grateful to the man, but that emotion was currently beyond him.

  Two weeks had passed, and he was intent on getting back to work. His claim would snake its way through the courts. No doubt at some point it would reach the newspapers. Before that happened, however, he was going to call in Harrison’s markers.

  He would have to let Jennifer know. He didn’t want her blindsided by his actions. He wouldn’t be able to sell Adaire Hall, but he could empty it to pay Harrison’s debts.

  He’d write her. Somehow, he’d manage not to feel anything, and if he did, he’d simply quash that emotion before it had a chance to break free.

  The rain echoed his mood, made Edinburgh dark and gloomy.

  According to his advocate, he had a good chance of pleading his case to the court and even winning. It wasn’t enough to offset the greater loss of the woman he loved. Somehow, he would have to overcome that, but he suspected it would be years in the making.

  When they finally reached London, their first destination was Ellen’s home.

  Jennifer wanted to change her dress, fix her hair, and ensure that she looked her best. She raced through all those preparations and was slowed only by Ellen’s refusal to leave the house without a decent meal.

  “I do not consider having an apple in the train station to be sufficient nourishment. If you don’t want to faint at Gordon’s feet, you will at least take some soup.”

  She sat reluctantly and agreed to eat a hearty vegetable soup with an accompaniment of bread and butter. Ellen was probably right, because she did feel better immediately. She wasn’t nearly as shaky, and her stomach had stopped doing that curious trembling.

  Gordon was only minutes away. She was finally going to see him. All she had to do was wait a few minutes, that’s all. An hour at the most.

  Finally, they were on their way.

  Jennifer had given the driver Gordon’s address. When they pulled up in front of the town house, she was surprised for two reasons. First of all, Gordon’s residence was only a block or two from Ellen’s house. Secondly, it was the equal in size, if not slightly larger.

  “I would say that your Gordon has done quite well for himself,” Ellen said.

  “I like it when you call him my Gordon. He is my Gordon. He always has been.”

  Ellen smiled at her. She had been doing that a lot for the past two days. Could it be that she had wanted to reveal her identity for years, but been constrained by her promise to Mary?

  Gordon’s home was designed like so many town houses, in that it was predominantly brick with a black door and white framed windows, sparkling in the afternoon sun. The approach was formal, however, the path lined by an ornate wrought iron border.

  All this time she’d been thinking of Gordon living in London in a small house or flat. She’d never considered that he would own such a spacious dwelling. It was a sign of his character, perhaps, that he hadn’t bragged about his acquisition.

  Ellen’s driver opened the carriage door and unfurled the steps, helping them out to the street. Together, they walked up the broad steps to the front door.

  “I shall not be intrusive,” Ellen said. “I’ll leave and give the two of you time to talk.”

  Jennifer sent Ellen a look of gratitude.

  The door was opened by a very short man, who was very broad as well. He looked almost as wide around as he was tall. However, he was blessed with a bright smile that he flashed at them.

  “Good afternoon, ladies. And how could I be helping you?”

  Jennifer certainly hadn’t expected someone quite so Irish.

  She pulled out one of her cards and handed it to him. “I should like to see Mr. McDonnell, if it is possible.”<
br />
  “And sure, it would be possible if he was here.”

  “He isn’t here?”

  Of course, he wouldn’t be. He’d be working. Except that she didn’t know where, exactly, he would be working. When she said as much to the strange majordomo, he grinned at her again.

  “Well, now, that could be anywhere, couldn’t it? He’s got two music halls with one being built, plus a hoity-toity club with another on the way. Although I think the hoity-toity club is the best place to be looking for him. If he’s back from Scotland, that is.”

  He immediately launched into a long discussion of solicitors and travel and the appointments Gordon had evidently missed in the past two weeks, not to mention the volume of callers he’d had.

  “Do you know when he’ll be back?” Ellen asked, cutting through the voluminous explanation.

  “Well, now, he’s gone back to Scotland and him just returning from there. You could ask Maggie. She’d probably know.”

  “Maggie?” Jennifer said. “Where could we find Maggie?”

  “Where she is most of the time. At the hoity-toity place.”

  “The Mayfair Club,” Ellen said. “It’s where I found Harrison.”

  They thanked the majordomo, descended the stairs, and entered the carriage again.

  “Why has Gordon gone back to Scotland?” she asked, biting back her impatience.

  “Perhaps Maggie will tell us,” Ellen said. “The Mayfair Club is where Harrison likes to gamble. He even has lodgings there.”

  “No,” Jennifer said. “It’s where he likes to lose money, according to Gordon.”

  Thankfully, Harrison’s actions no longer needed to concern her.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  The Mayfair Club didn’t look anything like Jennifer had expected. It wasn’t appreciably different from the street on which Gordon lived. All of the carriages either parked there or letting out their passengers were fancier than most. She even saw a ducal crest on one.

  The porter at the door wasn’t Irish this time, but quintessentially English with a very proper way of speaking. There was a glint in his eye, however, as he greeted Ellen. Evidently, she’d made an impression on her first visit.

  “We should like to meet with Miss Boyland,” Ellen said.

  The porter motioned them to an upholstered bench.

  “I will see if she is available.”

  Jennifer looked around her, impressed at the entranceway and wishing she could see the rest of the club. However, from both Harrison’s and Ellen’s conversations, such establishments were not open to women, unless they were employed on the premises.

  They couldn’t hear anything. No raucous laughter or shouting. No clinking of glasses. No indication of the activities that were going on behind closed doors. The only thing that hinted that the club might be a masculine province was the faint smell of tobacco.

  A few minutes later, they could hear the click of the porter’s shoes on the marble floor. When he appeared before them, his cheeks were slightly reddened. Either the exertion up the stairs had caused him to become flushed or announcing their presence to Maggie had resulted in some difficulty.

  “If you will come with me, please,” the porter said, bowing once more.

  They followed him up a staircase that rivaled the one at Adaire Hall. This one might even be fancier, with its carved wood balusters and brass handrail. Even the risers were decorated with thin strips of embossed brass.

  The runner on the second floor was crimson, woven with blowsy roses on either side. There were four doors in the corridor, all of them closed but one. Jennifer couldn’t help but wonder what activities went on in those rooms.

  The porter led them to the open door, then stood aside, bowing once more. “Miss Boyland,” he said as a way of introduction.

  “Thank you, Ellison,” Maggie said, standing and coming out from behind the desk. “What a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Thornton. Have you come about Harrison? If you have, I’m afraid I have bad news for you. He’s no longer a member of the Mayfair Club. Nor does he have lodgings here.”

  Jennifer and Ellen looked at each other. Evidently, Gordon had kicked him out. Jennifer wondered if he’d been able to find other lodgings. If not, would he return to Adaire Hall?

  At the moment, that was not her problem.

  Maggie Boyland was not a young woman. Although she was wearing powder, rouge, and something to make her lashes appear darker, she applied the products with an expert hand. Yet there were still lines at the corners of her eyes betraying her age, as well as a softening of the skin beneath her chin.

  For some reason Jennifer had thought Maggie was Gordon’s age. Not someone old enough to be his mother.

  “And you are?” Maggie asked, her thin lips formed into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

  “Jennifer Adaire.”

  A name not unknown to Maggie, from the flash of recognition in her glance. “Oh yes, Gordon’s little friend.”

  Gordon’s little friend?

  Ellen stepped between them. “We’re here for information, and I hope you can provide it. Do you know when Gordon is returning to London? The majordomo at his house said that he had returned to Scotland. Is that true?”

  “It is. That’s as much as I can tell you. Anything more than that would be considered confidential. I couldn’t betray a trust.”

  That last was said with a quick look in Jennifer’s direction.

  She’d never had such a reaction to anyone so instantly, but Jennifer did not like Maggie Boyland. It was an instinctual feeling, and one that she would have to investigate later, but for now she forced a smile to her lips. The woman was not going to have the ability to rile her. Or goad her to say something Jennifer would regret later.

  “Are you certain you can’t tell us where he’s gone?” Ellen’s voice was positively dripping with sweetness.

  Jennifer almost rolled her eyes but kept her gaze on the floor.

  “It is quite important that we reach him.”

  “I believe he’s gone to Edinburgh,” Maggie said, unbending enough to give them that information. “Beyond that I can’t say.”

  “Have you no idea when he’ll return?” Ellen asked.

  “I didn’t say that. I said that I wasn’t going to divulge anything further.”

  “Why not?” Jennifer asked, unable to keep silent. “We mean no harm to Gordon. Surely you know that. If you know my name, then you realize that Gordon and I have had a relationship of long standing.”

  “I know that you have had a difficult relationship,” Maggie said. Her smile altered character, becoming almost a sneer.

  Once again, Ellen tried to calm troubled waters. “We truly do need to reach Gordon. It’s on a matter of some importance.”

  “I really can’t say,” Maggie said.

  “You really won’t say,” Jennifer said, stepping to the side so that Ellen was no longer between them.

  Maggie was slightly taller, which was annoying. Jennifer would have liked to tower over the woman.

  “Why should I tell you anything, Lady Jennifer? Yes, I know exactly who you are.”

  Ellen stepped between them again. “I commend your loyalty, Maggie, but believe me when I tell you that it’s misplaced in this instance. Gordon will not be pleased to learn that you’ve turned us away without information.”

  Instead of looking chastened, Maggie smiled again, a smug, self-satisfied smile.

  “My loyalty has never been misplaced, Mrs. Thornton, and it isn’t in this case. Now, if you don’t mind leaving, I have work to do.”

  “Thank you for giving us your time,” Ellen said, her voice decidedly frosty.

  Neither woman spoke as they left the office. As they entered the carriage, Ellen said, “What a disagreeable woman. She didn’t appear that way when I first met her, I can assure you.”

  “She didn’t like me, but that’s all right,” Jennifer said. “I didn’t like her.”

  Ellen gave instructions to her driver to
take them home.

  “What are we going to do now?” Jennifer asked.

  “There is nothing to do but reconnoiter. Is there anyone else in London who might know where Gordon is and when he will be returning?”

  Jennifer shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “We’ll find him. It may not be the reunion you wanted. You might have to wait a few days or even longer, but he’ll return to London shortly, I’m sure.”

  She glanced at Ellen. “If I had been more pleasant, do you think she would’ve told us? Is it my fault that she didn’t?”

  “I truly don’t think it would’ve made a difference. She’s extremely protective of Gordon.”

  Jennifer stared out the window at the passing scenery.

  “I shall send a note around to the majordomo at Gordon’s home and ask him to inform Gordon that we are in London. I’ll also give him my address so that when he returns, he’ll come to see you.”

  “If he will,” Jennifer said. “There’s every possibility he’ll avoid me. He doesn’t know the truth, you see.”

  Ellen frowned. “There’s that.” After a moment she said, “Never mind. I shall think of something.”

  Jennifer sat back against the seat. Disappointment was not a word that adequately described her feelings at the moment. It was deeper than that. She had been so excited about coming to London, overjoyed to be able to tell Gordon that nothing stood between them anymore. Now his absence felt like another barrier that needed to be torn down. She was growing excessively tired of people and situations preventing her from being with the man she loved.

  Chapter Forty

  The change in Jennifer was remarkable. It was as if someone had turned on a switch and made life appear in her eyes. She smiled. She’d even laughed in the past day. She’d stood up to Maggie in a way that had completely surprised Ellen.

  Why, though, should she be startled at Jennifer’s behavior? Her daughter was a strong woman. She’d cared for Mary without complaint, even as Harrison had ignored them all. For nearly a year before Mary’s death, Jennifer had taken on the duty of Adaire Hall, continuing when Harrison had abdicated all responsibility.