Page 78 of A Scot on Duchess Square
She had just undressed, washed, and donned her nightgown when Gwenys knocked on her door. “Are you ready for me, Aunt Miranda?”
“Yes,” she said with a laugh, opening the door to her niece.
“What a perfect night this was,” Gwenys declared, dropping onto Miranda’s bed with a gleeful sigh.
Yes, the dear girl’s dreams of marrying Douglas would come true.
Miranda slipped in beside Gwenys, who was behaving like a little pup, curling this way and that in her excitement. She burrowed against her. “I’m glad we are spending what could be our last night together,” Gwenys said. “Although I am joining you as a protective measure for myself, it seems fitting that my last night here should be the same as the first night I arrived in your care. Do you remember? I was so scared, and you took me into your bed and held me in your arms until morning. I knew then that I was finally safe and out of the grasp of my awful stepmother.”
“I remember,” Miranda said softly.
“Sweet dreams, Aunt Miranda.”
“And to you, my sweetheart.”
It was not long before Gwenys was fast asleep and nudging her off the side.
Miranda smiled, knowing she would miss these nights of being pushed off the bed by her niece. But she could not fall asleep because she was thinking of Solway and what to do to make things right between them.
She awoke early the following morning, determined to talk to him before he got caught up in his work, and before Douglas’s planned meeting with Gwenys’s father.
By nine o’clock, she was washed, dressed, and had gulped down a cup of tea, ignoring her usual intricate ceremony of slowly adding in honey, milk, sugar, and a dash of lemon because there simply wasn’t time nor any longer the need to hide behind this ritual. Once done, she returned upstairs to look in on Gwenys before she went in search of Solway.
“Ah, you are up.”
Gwenys greeted her cheerfully. “Oh, yes. Douglas said he would come by at ten o’clock, and I need to hurry if I’m to be ready in time to greet him. Where are you going at this hour?”
“To find Solway.”
“Why? Does it not make more sense to wait for Douglas? He will tell you where he is and save you needless running around.”
Miranda did not have the patience to wait another minute, much less an hour. “Perhaps it is more sensible, but I cannot leave this matter undone. I must apologize to him.”
“Now?”
She nodded. “Yes. He must hate me, and I have to make amends.”
“Oh, he doesn’t hate you, Aunt Miranda. He adores you.”
“Then why did he not show up when Mr. Barrow called on us? Or last night at Berry and Gideon’s party? Why did he send Douglas in his place? Indeed, why did he not show upwithDouglas? I’m telling you, he hates me now.”
Gwenys sighed. “I’m sure he will stop by after they see my father. I’m going to pray very hard that Papa accepts his offer. Do you think there is a chance?”
“Truthfully?” Miranda pursed her lips because the honest answer was going to disappoint her niece. “No, your stepmother’s tentacles are too firmly entrenched in him. I am quite certain a journey north is in the cards for us.”
“And you are not even packed for this,” Gwenys chided her. “I prepared a bag for myself last night. But I think Lottie had better go over it with me, because I’ve probably forgotten something important. My head has been in the clouds since Douglas appeared at Berry’s soiree.”
“Ask Lottie to set out some of my clothes, too. That would be helpful.” And would keep her occupied while Miranda went in search of Solway.
“I think it makes sense for us to grab the fastest mail coach to Gretna Green or wherever else in Scotland it first stops,” Gwenys mused. “I’ll make certain Douglas secures three seats for us.”
“I’m sure Solway would give us his carriage,” Miranda said.
“Perhaps, but that will only slow us down because we’d have to rest the horses every ten miles or so. Mail coach is the better idea. Why are you frowning, Aunt Miranda?”
“I am not frowning.”
“Yes, you are. You cannot beg out. I need you with me or I’ll have no loved ones at my wedding.”
