Munro exited the church, pondering how to get Mary Ward alone so he could follow the priest’s advice. He sidestepped into the shadows when he looked down the street and espied Sarah locking the door of the shop, Giles at her side.

To his relief, they set off in the opposite direction.

Giles had donned his new cape, Sarah her bonnet, so they’d apparently embarked on a substantial errand. Fortune had smiled on him, but there was no guarantee Mary would open the door. Indeed, how could she without a key?

Nevertheless, even if he had to speak to the old woman with a locked door between them, it was an opportunity not to be missed. Clearly, Sarah was too afraid to share her secrets. He had a feeling Mary Ward was in favor of his pursuit of her daughter. She might be willing to enlighten him, at least as to why she and Harry had abandoned three children.

His mind made up, he rapped on the glass pane, surprised when Mary appeared almost right away. Either she’d seen Sarah off, or had come downstairs to snoop.

“Mrs. Ward,” he said loudly, doffing his hat.

“Sarah’s gone out,” she shouted back.

“Aye, I ken,” he confessed. “I hoped you and I might have a word. I realize the door is locked, and…”

Mary held up a black key, a triumphant gleam in her eyes. “Knew there had to be two. Mr. North must have had one.”

Munro wondered briefly if Sarah was aware of her mother’s find, but Mary had already unlocked the door and beckoned him inside.

“I’m glad to see thee,” she said, turning the key after he entered.

He fidgeted with the hat in his hands, not sure how to begin a conversation about love and soul mates and destiny with a wizened old woman he barely knew.

Mary was still clad in the same dowdy, stale-smelling frock she’d worn on the stagecoach and he doubted the small satchel she’d carried contained any other clothing.

Inspiration struck. “Dinna be offended, but when we were bargaining for Giles’ cape, I couldna help but notice a few rather nice frocks…”

She looked askance at him. “Thou art right, but before we go to the market, there are things I must tell thee, and I don’t have much time.”

He chuckled inwardly. Mary hadn’t blinked an eye when he’d more or less insinuated she needed a new wardrobe. “They’ll be back soon, will they?”

“Nay. Gone to the school with some remedy for yon schoolmaster. Now, tell me thy intentions towards Sarah.”

The steely glint in her eye told him he may as well come straight to the point. “I’ve fallen in love with her. I want to propose marriage, but she seems determined to push me away. Perhaps she doesna have feelings for me.”

Mary snorted. “She’s as smitten with thee as thou art with her.”

Sarah had lived apart from her mother for many a year, but Mary Ward’s assertion confirmed what he suspected. “Then why does she insist on rejecting me? I’ve assured her it makes nay difference that she’s illegitimate. I realize she has commitments in Birmingham, and Scotland is far away.”

Mary shook her head. “Sarah would follow thee to the ends of the earth if she could break free of the past.”

“Then tell me what it is about the past that has her in its thrall so I can help her be free of it.”

Hopeful she was on the point of solving the mystery, he was taken aback when she said, “Tell me about thy family.”

He supposed it was natural for a mother to be concerned about the background of a daughter’s suitor, but decided it might not be wise to reveal everything right away. “My father is originally from Wales. He served in the Parliamentary army in Scotland, where he first met my mother. She’s a Highland lass.”

Mary narrowed her eyes. “Highlanders were ardent Royalists.”

He thought it an odd statement since the Civil War had ended thirty years before, and in any case the monarchy had since been restored. “Aye, she was, though I can tell ye she wasna very enamored with King Charles when she met him.”

Any trace of color Mary might have had in her wrinkled face drained quickly. “She met the king?”

He’d obviously let slip something he shouldn’t have. “Let me clarify. Our whole family had an audience with him when my father was recently confirmed as Earl of Glenheath, a title that belonged to my mother’s uncle.”

She swayed and grasped his arm.

He babbled on in an effort to explain. “…For services rendered in the restoration of the monarchy…and my mother’s heroism saving the Scottish crown jewels from Cromwell’s clutches, and…”

Mary clenched her jaw. “This will take some thought. Best we go to the market now,” she murmured. “I’d like to be buried in a new frock.”

“I expect the Headmaster will be too busy to see us personally,” Sarah told Giles as they entered King Edward’s.

Her apprentice made no reply, but he’d walked with head down, tongue stilled as they’d neared the school.

To her surprise, Battersby appeared, walking briskly towards them. “Mrs. North,” he exclaimed. “If you’d sent word, I could have dispatched a carriage.”

She’d assumed the headmaster would be pleased she’d brought his remedy so promptly, but there was anger in his steely eyes as he glanced about furtively.

Giles brushed up against her when she stopped abruptly. “Doesn’t want anybody to know,” he hissed under his breath.

It occurred to her belatedly that was probably true and Battersby was likely annoyed Giles was now aware of his secret malady. “Headmaster,” she replied softly with a deferential nod. “I have the remedy you requested.” She patted her pocket, but decided it would be wiser not to produce the sealed packet just yet with several schoolboys walking back and forth in the corridor.

“Good, good,” Battersby said in a clipped tone that suggested her unexpected arrival wasn’t good at all. “Bring it to my study.” He beckoned two boys she recognized from her previous visit. “Addison, come with me. Hogg, remain here with Raincourt. Follow me, Mrs. North.”

In the years at Blue Coat, she’d never been summoned to the headmistress’s study, but suddenly felt like a naughty schoolgirl. A knot tightened in her belly when she recalled the scars on Giles’ bottom. She put a reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’ll be back in a minute or two,” she told him.

His wooden nod and reluctance to look Addison in the eye indicated he feared the older boy. However, she had little choice and reluctantly obeyed Battersby’s command.

Once they were in the study, the schoolmaster held out his hand. “If you please.”

It was clear she wouldn’t be invited to take tea on this occasion, so she handed over the package, stammering out the instructions, all the while hoping she would actually be paid for her work.

Battersby nestled the pince-nez on his nose, tore open the seal and lifted the flap. “I detect peppermint,” he allowed, using his hand to waft the aroma to his nose. “An infusion, you say?”

“Yes, in hot water. Every evening, before bedtime. For a week.”

He raised an eyebrow, making her wish she’d never mentioned bedtime. He closed the flap, pressed on the seal, then handed the packet to Addison. “Take this to my rooms after you’ve escorted Mrs. North and her apprentice off the premises.”

She didn’t like the sly, shifty look in Addison’s eyes. She assumed he must be a prefect, perhaps Head Boy. Not every pupil she’d encountered sported the hideous yellow socks.

Battersby dug two fingers into the pocket of his waistcoat, tutting loudly when he didn’t find what he apparently sought. He opened the drawer of his desk, poked about in what sounded like a stash of coin and, at length, held out his hand to Sarah. “Sixpence should be sufficient.”

“More than sufficient,” she lied, accepting the coin. Sixpence was the exact price for such a remedy and she’d a feeling the pompous academic was fully aware of it.

“Be careful with the packet,” she said to Addison after he and Hogg had marched them along the corridor to the main doors.

Both boys looked down their noses as if contemplating what to do with a pile of dog muck they’d stepped in, then shut the door in her face.

She and her apprentice made their escape across the meadows surrounding the school.

“Hope you didn’t expect any thanks,” Giles said with a grin.

“I should box your ears for your impertinence.”

But she smiled and took his hand instead.