Hidden Between The Lines

Chapter 1-3

“With the extra money that I gave you, pick up some fine sherry for lunch today. We seem to be low on it, and I want to make sure Lord Symington has the very best sherry.” He gave her his usual wave of the hand to dismiss her.

“Yes, Father.” She could hardly contain a laugh from relief. “Oh, yes. We certainly must think of Lord Symington.” Rachel gave a quick curtsey and hurried to the opened front door. She wanted to fly down the front steps of the manor to her horse, but instead walked calmly, with great effort, toward it.

Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Edith's small manor. Harold raised his hand and motioned for a footman to help her down from her horse.

“You have made me late for my appointment with Lady McLean. But soon,” he sighed deeply, “I will have no need of the widow McLean, and her money.” He almost spat out the word 'McLean'. “Until then, I must appease her. She is such a plain, boring, simpleton. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to dismiss her attentions until you are married, and I have the money safely in my hands. After all, Lord Symington is a very old man, and he may die before you marry him. Oh, well, I must be off.” He gave a slight nod to Rachel.

Rachel waited until Harold's horse was turned, and his back to her, and then flew up the steps of the manor. She burst through the door and raced into the foyer startling Edith, who was coming down the staircase. Edith's eyes grew wide, “What is wrong?” She ushered Rachel into a small parlor off the foyer and closed the two doors.

“What has happened? What is this?” She asked looking at the dress in Rachel's hand. “Wait.” She walked to the door and opened it as she looked into the foyer. She quietly pulled the doors closed again. “We're alone, but speak softly.”

It took every bit of restraint for Rachel to explain what had happened in a quiet, soft tone.

After Rachel had finished, Edith sat for a moment in thought. She leaned her face close to Rachel's and said, “It is just after nine o'clock.” She patted Rachel's hand. “We still have time to make our plans work.” Edith stood up, opened the doors, and called out. “Millie, come to the parlor at once.”

A young girl, wearing a white cap that kept her dirty brown hair from falling about her pudgy face came into the room. Her small, brown eyes went from her mistress to Rachel and back again.

Edith seemed unnerved at the young girl who seemed to be too interested in Rachel's disheveled appearance. “Have Albert ready my carriage,” she paused for a moment. “No, have him ready the buggy so that he can take us into town quickly.” She took the torn dress from Rachel and held it up so that Millie could see it. “We have to get this frock fixed immediately so you look fit when Lord Symington calls.” She turned to Millie, “Hurry now.”

“Yes milady,” Millie curtseyed and left the room.

“I do not trust that one,” Edith said softly. She placed Rachel's ripped dress next to her on the sofa and continued “She is one of the servants whom Lord Symington sent over just recently. He told father she was very poor and needed work. Lord Symington said he had too many servants. You know father and his kind heart. He agreed to have her work here for a while until he could find her another position.”

After a short period, they heard the rumbling sound of the buggy pulling up to the front doors.

Millie appeared in the doorway so quietly it startled them. “Your buggy is 'ere, milady. Would you be needin' my 'elp?” Her eyes narrowed into small slits.

“No,” Edith replied in a firm, authoritative voice. “We can manage things quite well. I want you to help Mrs. Dawson in the kitchen.” Quickly, she motioned for Millie to go. “Leave and shut the door behind you.”

“Yes, milady.” Millie curtsied again, lingering a bit longer before she left the room. Slowly, she closed the parlor doors. It was a moment before they heard the floor creak as Millie walked down the hallway to the kitchen.

“Quickly, we must leave now.” Edith grabbed Rachel's arm, and the two raced out the door to the awaiting buggy. Before getting in, Edith walked toward the back of the buggy.

“'Tis all there, milady.”

Edith looked up into the smiling face of the coachman, Albert. She nodded and smiled back. Albert had covered Rachel's trunk in the back of the buggy so no one could tell what was there. “To town, Albert, we have to get back here as quickly as possible.” She yelled loudly so that anyone, especially Millie, who she knew would be listening, could hear her.

When Edith was confident that no one could see them from the manor, she ordered Albert to veer off the road to town and take a road less traveled in another direction. She knew he was loyal and would not question any orders given to him.

Once they were on the road, they kept a watchful lookout for any other carriages that might be traveling near them.

“I see another carriage coming our way,” Albert peered back at Edith and Rachel.

“What? Oh, this cannot be. We cannot be seen. It may be one of Lord Symington's men.” Edit said excitedly. “Is there another road we can take to avoid it?”

“Yes,” Albert said. He jerked the reins, turning the buggy. He headed across a field of wildflowers at a fast clip. “I can cut 'cross here to get to another road. There be a little hill coming up. Hold on.” He yelled back to them.

The ride through the wildflowers was a bumpy ride, causing the two women to hold onto the side of the buggy until it finally stopped on a small dirt road. Albert turned and smiled at the two disheveled women. He headed the horses down the dirt road walking them at a normal pace.

“No one uses this road much,” Albert smiled back at his two passengers.

“Thank you,” Edith said regaining her composure.

“Edith,” Rachel looked over at her cousin sitting quietly next to her. “I am afraid when they find out what happened that you may get into trouble.”

“Nonsense,” she squeezed Rachel's hand. “I am to be married to a wonderful man. Our banns will be posted in a couple of days. I will be more than safe with him.”

“He is a kind and generous man. And, I know he loves you very much.”

“Yes, I know.” Edith leaned forward to gaze into Rachel's face. “He is quite a bit older than me. I believe he said he was twenty-seven.”

“Older?” Rachel threw her head back and laughed. “I was supposed to marry a man in his seventies.”

“You cannot call Lord Symington a man. He is more like a toad.”

The both laughed heartily at the comment, when Rachel grabbed at her throat and gasped.

“What?” Edith gripped Rachel's arm.

“I left my torn garment at the manor.” She cried out.

“I thought you had grabbed it. But I had put it on the divan next to me.” Edith moaned into her hand. “It is my fault.”

“It is not your fault. 'Tis mine.” Her blue eyes widened in terror.

“Millie will have found it by now and will be on her way to alert Lord Symington.” Edith ordered Albert to stop.

“What are we going to do?” Rachel's eyes began to brim with tears.

“Well, first things first, we must protect Albert.” She looked over and smiled at the man who had been with her family for over twenty years.

“Don'tcha worry bout me none, milady,” he nodded to her. “I'll be taken ya to wherever ya needs to be.” Albert's brown eyes narrowed with determination.

“Albert, I cannot risk having the anger of Lord Symington fall upon you,” she patted the older man on his shoulder. “How far is it for you to walk back to Brekmore Manor? Would it be too much of a walk for you?”

“I am a fit man in my forties, and the walk would be doing me good, milady.” He said, as his shoulder length, black hair whipped about in the wind.

“All right,” she nodded. “Just say that we ordered you to stop and pick some berries for us, and when you got out, we grabbed the reins and left you there.”

“I'll find where we went off the road. I'll take me some branches and cover the wheel tracks of the carriage where we turned off onto that field.” He looked up sheepishly, and smiled at the quizzical looks from the two women. “I knew a sea captain who told me that the Indians across the Atlantic cover their tracks that way. Clever lot they are.”

Albert jumped down from the carriage and after helping the two women onto the driver's bench he handed Edith the reins. “You be careful.” He pointed down the road. “Keep going that way and you'll come to a main road.” He walked away from the carriage and headed up the steep hill.

“Be careful, Albert,” they yelled after him. He didn't turn around, but raised his arm and waved.

“Will he be alright, do you think?” Rachel's voice filled with concern.

“He will be fine. He is a very clever and brave man.” Edith snapped the reins, and the horses began to move. “Now we must hurry to the rendezvous point and hope that your intended will be there waiting.”

“Waiting?” Rachel c****d her head in question. “Isn't it too early for him to be there?”

“He said he would be there waiting for you hours before you could get there,” she shrugged. “Let's hope that is true.”

They had been riding for quite a while when Rachel suddenly grabbed Edith's hands. “Slow down!” Rachel yelled and pointed toward the horizon off to their right. “Look at the dust being kicked up over there. Someone has noticed us. It is a covered carriage. Oh, no! It looks just like Lord Symington's carriage.”

“You are right,” Edith slowed the horse down to a canter. “Look, they are headed our way.”

“This cannot be good.”

“I am going to get off the road.” Edith turned the horses and headed toward a dense copse of trees.

“Yes, good idea! They will not see us in there.” Rachel turned and looked back at the speeding carriage. “Maybe we should go a little faster. I would stay on the grasses so that there will be less dust.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

The carriage chasing them seemed to have picked up speed and continued at a fast pace toward them. Edith had to slow the horses at the entrance into the woods because of the low-hanging branches, and the ground covered with fallen debris.

Cautiously, they entered the woods as the branches grabbed at their bonnets and tugged at their clothing. They stopped at a clearing in the woods that was wide enough to turn their carriage around, and waited.

But the approaching carriage seemed to be getting louder and coming right at them. Rachel looked around for an escape route, but there was too much fallen debris to dare go any further into the woods. The two cousins looked at each other for a moment and then threw their arms around each other. The coach was now coming through the forest and would be upon them in minutes.

“Rachel!” A familiar voice yelled out to her. “It's me!”

“Phillip?” Rachel whirled around. “It's Phillip,” she said with relief.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Edith sighed as she pulled away from Rachel.

“We saw your carriage at the top of the hill and followed you here,” he leapt off the coach and ran toward her. He extended his arms and Rachel quickly fell into them.

“How on earth did you spot us from so far away?” Edith asked.

He produced an army telescope. “My friend here is a navigator and always carries this and a sextant in his case.”

“But how did you know we were on our way.” Rachel held him tightly.

“Yes, we are much earlier than we had planned,” Edith said holding the reins to the skittish horses tightly in her hands.

“I hired a coach, but didn't want anyone driving it unless it was someone I could totally trust.” He turned toward the man exiting the carriage. “This is Sir Horace Black. Let me introduce Lady Brekmore and my future wife, Lady Ramsford.” They all nodded cordially toward each other. Phillip continued, “Horace got the coach earlier than we had planned so we stopped at a small inn to get some refreshments. Looking back at it now we were lucky that it was full with travelers.”

“Why is that?” Edith asked.

“Three men came in a short while after we had been there. I caught a glimpse of an elderly man looking everyone over that was in the inn. We were facing the warmth from the hearth, and they sat directly behind us. After a short while, a servant girl raced into the inn. The girl was so winded she barely got her words out.”

“Millie,” Edith gasped.

Phillip continued. “There was a slapping noise. I can only guess that one of the three males struck her. Between her sobs, she told them that his future wife had lied about where she was going, and she suspected that she had run away. A man asked her if she knew where they went, and she said no. There was another slapping sound, and the girl ran out of the tavern crying.”

“I will have her dismissed the moment I get back to the Manor,” Edith gripped the reins even tighter. “I must hurry so that I can stall them as long as I can. Get her trunk from the back and put it on your carriage. You must leave now and hurry.”

Horace helped Phillip carry the trunk to the back of their carriage and secure it. He quickly threw open the door to the carriage and helped Rachel climb in.

Phillip walked to Edith and gave her a slip of paper. “He is a family friend who will be sure to relay your letters to each other in the strictest of confidence. I have written his name and address for you. I might add I have paid him quite well to do so.” He walked to the carriage and climbed in next to Rachel.

“Edith,” Rachel called out to her from the carriage window. “I shall write to you and let you know how well things are going. Do not worry about me. I will be fine. But I am so worried about you and what may happen to you if Lord Symington finds out you helped me.”

“Please, Rachel, do not waste your time worrying about me. I will be fine as well. It is you I will worry about.”

Rachel sat inside the carriage trying to fight back the tears at leaving her Edith. She pulled away from the window for a moment to regain her composure and then for the last time stuck her head out the window and shouted. “I love you, Edith. I will miss you terribly.”

“And I you.” Edith's voice broke into little sobs. “Now, let's get going.” She grabbed the reins and headed toward the forest opening.

“Be careful.” Rachel yelled after her.

Edith could not reply because she was choking back the tears.

“We must hurry,” Phillip said. “He might have put things together and may be out looking for us by now. This is some adventure, is it not?” His voice filled with excitement. “I am whisking away my Lady Fair to safety. Protecting her from the evil clutches of that vile old man.”

Rachel cried softly into his coat. “Now, now,” he patted her shoulder. “Stop crying, soldier's wives don't cry. You will see her again. We are only going away for a couple of years, not forever. And, with any luck, that rank old man will have died off. To think he thought he could have you. It is just too ridiculous to think about.” He shook his head and laughed.

“Phillip, we have to hurry.” Horace leaned down from the driver's seat. “You have the special marriage license your father obtained, right?”

“Yes, let's get moving.” Phillip reached down and gently squeezed Rachel's hand.

“Hold on, this is going to be a very bumpy ride.” Horace snapped the reins, and the horses burst into the clearing and down the road to the chapel.

It was an hour before they pulled up to the quaint little village, and less than fifteen minutes before they left the Vicar's cottage as man and wife.

Rachel rested her head on her new husband's chest as their carriage sped toward the wharf where their ship lay harbored. She placed her hand over his heart and closed her eyes. Rachel felt his arm tighten around her shoulders. She smiled and snuggled deeper into the safety of her husband's arms. They were safe. Nothing could hurt them now. Nothing.