Twisting her head, Mary looked at her friend, “Surely, you are jesting? Have you seen him? He will suck all the life out of me. And if I do stay here, I will still be under the bondage of my parents, no matter how far we move away.”
Turning away from the beginning of the warm sunset, Mary flattened her lips. “I need to run, Tina, there is no other option for me. I know that they are making plans for my marriage, even now, with the lord saying that he will be in London for a week. I would prefer to be a vagabond than to be married to a man that I know I will never love.”
Sticking a finger in her high-necked dress to tug her collar out, Tina cleared her throat. “If you feel that strongly, Miss, I will help you run, but where though?”
With her eyes stuck on a fraction of the stone wall, Mary said, “Far away, as far as I can go. Ireland, the United Colonies, even Scotland.”
“I don’t know about those first too, but I can tell you about Scotland,” Tina said, “Do you know my heritage, Miss?”
Shaking her head slowly, Mary felt ashamed that she did not know what she should have known about her friend. A friend that she had lived with for over ten years. “I am dismayed to say that I don’t, why though?”
“I was an orphan at eight years old,” Tina said without a hint of sorrow. “My aunt Linda, who lives close to the borders, took me in. She is a lovely woman. If you go there, you might be able to stay there for a few days until you decide what to do and where to go.”
Mary’s chest immediately filled with hope, and she felt the emotion clogged her throat. “Really?!”
Flagging her down, Tina said. “Hush, hush, please, speak softly. I was raised with her, and I was raised Catholic which I had to hide from your parents to work here. But yes, it may be possible.”
The word ‘may’ dampened her spirit. “Why do you say ‘may?’”
“I haven’t written to Aunt Linda for ages and I don’t know if she still lives there,” Tina said abashedly. Her mouth twisted into a slant. “And if I do write a letter, it would take weeks to get there and by that time you would be married off. Even if I do get a response, your parents would intervene and figure out where you are.”
Mary knew what her maid was saying and nodded. “It might be wise to leave that avenue alone. What do I do then?”
Pausing to think, with a tiny furrow in her forehead, Tina face cleared and she grabbed Mary to tug her into the rooms. “Where are the sets of maps that your father gave you last spring?”
Catching on, Mary went to the drawer were a hand drawn and very expensive map of the county of Northampton, where her home of Harlington rested, and took it out. Unfolding it, she looked over the delicate lines that marked the various town borders to the part where it marked the border of England and Scotland.
Handing the map over to Tina, Mary sat as her maid studied it. Watching keenly, Mary saw when light leaped into Tina’s eyes and she placed the paper on the table with her finger jabbed at the spot.
“I need a quill pen,” Tina said hurriedly. “I’ve found where my aunt lives. Thank God, she is near a river or I would have never found her.”
As she reached for a pen and an ink well, she heard knocks at her door. Mary froze temporarily before gesturing to Tina to put the map away. Just as she did, the door was pushed open and her mother, Rebecca, came in and looked at the two of them.
“Am I interrupting something?”
“No, Mother,” Mary said while shaking her head, “Tina was just telling me about her favorite childhood doll.”
“It was a raggedy thing,” Tina said smoothly. “I carried it everywhere I went until it became so torn it had to be thrown away.”
“I see,” Rebecca said quietly, “and what was the purpose of that story?”
“Nothing much,” Mary said. “We just happened to get on the topic of our childhood. What may I help you with, Mother?”
“Your father and I need to speak with you in the prayer room,” the lady replied. “I don’t think it will take long. Tina, please be free to prepare a bath for Miss Thompson before supper.”
Standing and curtsying, Tina nodded, “Yes, My Lady.”
Following her mother, Mary’s palms dampened as she began to wonder why this meeting was called. Had her parents reconsidered this marriage? Were they going to listen to her and do away with it? She spared a moment to look over her shoulder to Tina and mouth, ‘Mark it’, before she took the corridor after her mother. She needed to know where to go if her parents were indeed going through with this marriage.
They got to the prayer room where her father was sitting. His hands were clasped on his lap and his face was nondescript. His calmness did not sit right with Mary, but she had to hear what was on his mind before her feelings could be corroborated.
“Mary,” he said, “please sit.”
Nodding, she did as was told to and smoothed her skirts under her. Rebeca took her seat by her husband and rested her hand on his knee.
“Mary,” her father began, “three days ago you expressed very vociferously about not marrying Lord Blackmore. We sensed your distress and wondered if we were doing the right thing.”
A surge of hope began to build in her chest as her father continued. “We prayed about it for three nights on end, and we have come to the conclusions that…” Mary held her breath in “yes, you will marry Lord
