Not in the best of moods when he rode up to Heathwood Castle on a well-lathered horse, Philip was in a panic. He hoped he would find Meleri in Gretna Green and not end up on another pointless trip. He was nearing exhaustion and desperately in need of sleep. He jumped down from his horse and dropped the reins. “Saddle Wellington for me,” he called to the groom before he turned to race up the steps. When he reached the top, he hurried through the front door and took the stairs three at a time, cursing Meleri Weatherby to perdition with each furious step.
He ordered his valet out of the room. “Out, damn you! Out! If there is anything I have learned to do, it is dress myself!”
He finished dressing and went downstairs to discover his friends, Harry Wellsby and Tony Downley, waiting for him. Surprising though it was to him, he was glad to see them. He needed to talk to someone before he exploded with rage. “I did not know you two had returned to the country.”
“We never left,” Tony said. “Been here the entire time.”
“Not by choice, you understand,” Harry said.
Philip gave him a brief glance. “What does that mean?”
“It means your father had a talk with our fathers, and as a consequence, we’ve been banned from London for the rest of the year,” Harry said.
“Damnably unfair consequence, if you ask me,” said Tony.
“Well, don’t think I’ll forgive you for passing information to them that they passed on to my father,” Philip said. “As it now stands, I could lose my inheritance.”
“We came an inch away from losing ours,” Tony said. “Bloody unpleasant mess, it was.”
Philip was not moved. “Whatever happened to the two of you, it was nothing compared to what my father did.” The story of his father’s visit flowed with furious energy from him.
When he finished, Tony said, “I cannot believe he actually came into the room while you were in bed with Jane.”
Philip made himself a drink and brought them up-to-date on the most recent happenings. He explained how he’d been fortunate to find even a stablehand at Humberly Hall, since all the other servants had already gone. It had been his good fortune that this man knew Agnes Milbank and where she lived. “It was my first break, and long overdue.” He looked at his friends. “Now, you can appease me for telling your fathers what you did. Come with me to Gretna Green.”
“I don’t think I should get involved in this,” Harry said.
“I second that,” Tony agreed. “This is something you need to settle alone, and if my father finds out…”
“I’ll settle it alone, but I’d like a little company on the way, and you owe me. The two of you can wait nearby while I pay a visit to the nanny’s cottage. I assure you, I want nothing more than your presence during the journey.”
Reluctantly, Harry and Tony agreed, and the three of them set off, riding at a breakneck pace. They had to change horses once more before they reached the border. By that time, it was dark, so the three of them stabled the fresh mounts and spent the night at an inn. The next morning, when they went to the stables for their horses, they discovered all three had been stolen during the night. “I can’t help wondering if this isn’t some kind of omen for me to mind my own business,” Tony said.
“Right you are, old chap,” Harry said. “I’ve got the same sinking feeling.”
“Stop complaining,” Philip said. “Horses are easily replaced.”
The three of them found new mounts and rode on, until they were less than a mile from where Agnes Milbank resided. “Tony and I will ride on into Gretna,” Harry said. “We’ll wait for you there.”
Philip nodded. “Just make sure you’re still there when I return.”
By the time he reached the road that led to the cottage he had been searching for so diligently, Philip was fair to loathing the name Agnes Milbank. He dismounted and knocked on the door. A man answered. “Agnes is not here,” he said.
“Are you her husband?”
“No, her brother.”
Philip asked question after question, but the man was tight-lipped and frugal with his answers. Having had enough, Philip grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him against the wall. “I want to know where Agnes went…in detail, and I want to know if Lady Meleri Weatherby accompanied her. Do you understand?”
“I was in Edinburgh when my sister left. All I know is what she left in her note, which wasn’t much.”
“Then show me the bloody note!”
“I threw it away.”
Philip drew his knife and pressed it to the man’s throat. “You’ve got five seconds before I use this.”
“They…they’ve gone to Beloyn Castle.”
With fate’s clock ticking against him and his father’s words ringing in his ears, Philip had no time to rest. He had to find out where this Beloyn Castle was, since Agnes’s brother managed to get inside the door and close it before Philip could get directions.
Philip rode back to Gretna and met up with Harry and Tony, who were about to have something to eat at an inn. Philip joined them, and they ordered salmon pies, the only fare on the menu. Over the course of the meal, Philip told them what he found out from the brother of Agnes Milbank. “The task before me is to find out where this Beloyn Castle is.”
The innkeeper brought them a tankard of ale and Philip gave him a generous tip. “I say, we are looking for a place called Beloyn Castle. Have you heard of it?”
“Aye, Beloyn Castle is the home of the Earl of Douglas.”
“You wouldn’t happen to know where it is, or how to get there, by any chance, would you?”
“It’s no more than a couple of hours ride from here.”
After the innkeeper left, Philip turned to look from Tony to Harry. “Any ideas on how I go about extracting her from a bloody Scot?”
“You don’t suppose there is any chance she has up and married him, do you?” Harry asked. “She did say that day that she would marry the first man she met.”
Philip had not considered that possibility. “I would not put it past Meleri to marry the first nodkin she met, but I have to believe an earl—even a Scottish one—would not rush into marriage with a chit he barely knew. But, you haven’t answered my question. How do I get her away from him?”
“Well, let’s see,” Tony said, sounding lighthearted. “You could murder the Scot and take her…but then they would put you in prison for that. Or, you could kidnap her, which would solve the first part of your dilemma, but it would be damnably difficult traveling with her thrown over your saddle and fighting you every step of the way. So, I guess that means you should appeal to her softer side and convince her you made a terrible mistake in letting her go.”
“What if she doesn’t buy it? What if she doesn’t believe a word I say?” Philip asked.
Harry shrugged. “If she doesn’t, you better start saving your coins.”
Philip finished his ale and ordered another, his brow furrowed in thought, until he suddenly said, “I think I like your other idea.”
Harry and Tony looked at each other blankly. Harry grinned a moment later and asked rather jovially, “Which one? Murder the Scot?”
“Exactly,” Philip said.
The humor drained away from both their faces as Harry and Tony exchanged glances. “By heavens! You’re serious,” Harry said, his face turning pale.
“Of course I’m serious,” Philip said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I’m sorry,” Tony said, rising to his feet, “but you’ll have to count me out of this. Lying and kidnapping is one thing, but murder…I may be a rogue of the first water, but not even I can go that far. I am sorry, Philip, but I cannot be a party to something like that.”
“Neither can I,” Harry said as he, too, rose to his feet. “I encourage you to think about what you are doing. This is not the sixteenth century. An Englishman, especially a titled one, cannot go across the border to murder a member of the peerage without expecting some sort of justice.”
Philip did not say anything more, but he was thinking his friends had shown their true colors. There was no point in trying to convince them. They were fools, both of them. They did not understand how desperate his situation was. This had to work, simply because it was the only thing he could do in order to save himself. “Go on. Get out of here. I don’t need your help or your advice.”