Page 65 of Beguiled
“She doesn’t know what happened to you,” Chalmers said. “She’d probably have refused to leave town if she’d known. She was always…very fond of you, lad.” His voice carried regret. Sorrow. “For a while, I thought the two of you might marry. It would have made me so happy if you had. Instead, Elizabeth is run to London, and you are injured.” He sounded pained when he added, “All because of her impetuous decision to marry that brute, Kinnell.”
“Don’t blame Elizabeth for that,” David said. “If anyone is to blame, it is I. In truth, she had hopes of me, and I did not come up to scratch. I disappointed her. Had I not done so, she would never have married him.”
There, he’d said it at last: admitted his guilt at failing Elizabeth. He looked at Chalmers expecting to see anger, but all he saw was regret and pity.
“Ah, I see. Well, we are none of us perfect, are we?”
“Far from it. But at least Elizabeth is away from him now. And she is strong, Chalmers. She will find a way to make a new life for herself. One in which she can be happy again.”
“Do you think so? I worry. A woman who has run from her husband is beyond society, and Elizabeth is all alone now.”
David shook his head. “She is not alone. She is with Euan MacLennan. He will not abandon her. He is not going back to some conventional life that an unexplained woman cannot fit into. He is…” David paused, thinking how to say this. “Well, he is what they call a free thinker. He will continue to help Elizabeth when they reach London, you can be sure of that.”
“A free thinker?” Chalmers sounded dubious.
David smiled, understanding the older man’s reservations. “Yes. For example, he believes that women and men are equal. That a man should not be able to command his wife in marriage, only love her.”
Chalmers frowned. “He sounds like more than a free thinker. He sounds like a radical.”
“He’s that too,” David admitted, driven to honesty. “He believes in universal suffrage and educating the masses and taking children out of factories—all those unthinkable heresies.” He smiled to show his sympathy with Euan’s ideals. “And that’s why he’sexactlythe sort of man you should want to travel with Elizabeth—someone who respects her as a person in her own right and will not take advantage of a woman on her own.”
Chalmers was quiet for a while. Then he said, “So long as he does right by Elizabeth, I’ll be eternally grateful to him.”
“He will,” David assured him. “He is an honourable man, and he did not undertake this task lightly.”
“Do you think he will be able to protect her if Kinnell finds her?”
“I hope it will not come to that,” David said. “But if it does, I have no doubt Euan will do his utmost.”
“There is certainly a chance it will come to that,” Chalmers said heavily. “Kinnell is a possessive man. He has already been at my door to interrogate me. And not only about Elizabeth. He has discovered your identity. He knows that you and I have worked together over the last few years.”
David frowned. “Do you think he realises you were complicit in Elizabeth’s flight?”
“I amsurehe does,” Chalmers said stoutly. “I said very little, but he knows I do not like him and that I do not commiserate with him over her running away.”
David smiled at that. He could well imagine Chalmers being uncommunicative, evasive and downright hostile. “I see no reason to worry too much,” he said in a calm, certain tone. “Kinnell may search for her, but there is no reason to believe he will find her. Don’t forget he has no idea where Elizabeth has gone, or who she is with. She might have gone north, south, east or west for all he knows. And Euan knows some things about hiding.”
Chalmers sighed. “I hope so.”
“The most important thing you can do for her now is to secure her financial independence. Have you made the arrangements for her we spoke about?”
Chalmers nodded. “I’ve a capital sum that’s going in trust for her. My brother-in-law is a solicitor in London. He’ll manage the trust and arrange regular payments to Elizabeth once I have her direction. All I need to do now is appoint the trustees so the trust deed can be finalised. It’s imperative it’s done as quickly as possible as I’m…not well.” He paused, then added, “Donald has agreed to be one trustee. Will you be the other?”
David didn’t hesitate. “Of course.”
“Thank you. I’ll have the papers finalised this afternoon, and then it will be done.” He closed his eyes then, as though against pain or maybe exhaustion. When he opened them again, he said, “I’m so grateful to you, David. For everything. I’ll never be able to tell you how much—”
“Please don’t,” David pleaded. He knew somehow that he would always be troubled by the nagging guilt that he might have spared Elizabeth all this if only he’d dealt with her feelings more gently.
Chalmers nodded and cleared his throat. Became businesslike. “Now, you mustn’t worry about your practice,” he said. “Donald is going to take care of everything while you heal. Are your case papers in your rooms? What’s going on?”
David began to outline the work he had on hand. After a while, the door opened and Murdo stood there, Donald Ferguson at his shoulder.
“That’s the twenty minutes that you asked for over,” Murdo said, addressing Chalmers. “Are you ready for Mr. Ferguson to join you now?”
“Yes, yes, I’m sorry to have kept you both waiting. Donald, come in.” Chalmers paused. “You may wish to join us too, my lord, if you have time to spare. We were just discussing how we manage Mr. Lauriston’s life for the next few months while he gets better.”
Murdo looked at David, a question in his dark gaze.