Page 43 of Highland Jewel
“I was young, but even then I could see the hardship people were enduring.” She walked back into the center of the room. “The ‘relief centers’ the authorities had opened were nothing but a sham. Something to trumpet about.”
“And that was the beginning of the present government’s policy of harassment and entrapment,” Archibald continued. “That was when they began to try reformers for conspiracy and sedition.”
He sat on a chair as if his knees were suddenly incapable of holding his weight. “When did you start the Female Reform Society?”
“It was the Peterloo massacre that did it. Fiona and I decided after attending the memorial rally in Paisley in September.”
“You were in Paisley?”
She nodded.
“Amidst the rioting? The militia was called in.”
“We survived it.”
He ran a hand down his face, looking at Maisie again. “How did I not know? What a fool I’ve been about you.”
Maisie agreed, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. They’d appeared to reach a truce, and right now she needed his help.
Archibald gestured toward the door. “What was that about? The lieutenant’s visit. Your teary-eyed farewell.”
She took out a deep breath and tried to keep her emotions intact. Sitting on a chair facing him, she told him how Fiona had been arrested two days ago. He listened carefully to every detail that she recalled and to what Niall had revealed a few minutes ago.
“His sister.” He pushed to his feet. “That could as easily have been you they arrested.”
“It should have been me.” Guilt nudged at her once again.
“Campbell is, or was, an officer in the 42nd Royal Highlanders.” His somber expression reflected the gravity of the situation. “And he could get no answers as to where they’re holding her.”
“As you say, hewasa member of that regiment. But no more.”
Archibald massaged his neck as he paced the room, thinking it over. Maisie watched him, realizing his attitude had changed. No disrespect. No questioning her motives. He accepted her. He understood. And for thefirst time in her life, she recognized why her sister had such respect for her husband. He was a good man, willing to shift his opinion when the facts warranted it.
She decided at that moment to tell him about Niall’s offer of marriage, as well. “There’s something else.”
He listened as she told him.
“I see.” He ground a fist into his other hand. “I’m sorry that your plans have been so disrupted.”
“Our lives are not our own until Fiona is free.”
He nodded, seeming to understand.
“Let me ask some questions of people I know. See if any of them have heard or can learn anything about where your friend might have been taken.” He paused in front of Maisie. “Let’s say nothing of any of this to your sister. Isabella is worried enough about my involvement. It might be too great a shock if she were to know there are two radicals in her family.”
CHAPTER16
Glasgow, Scotland
For all the years he’d served in the military, Niall had thought himself well connected. He knew people in positions of power. Men who served with him now occupied various government offices. But Henry Brougham was in London, and no one he approached in Edinburgh could give him any information as to where his sister was being kept. No one could even tell him the charges being brought against her. She’d been arrested. But beyond that information lay a quagmire of confusion and mystery.
Colonel Tolley was the first person to put Niall onto the scent. He said to go and speak to Sir Rupert Burney. According to Tolley, Sir Rupert had solidified his position as Lord Sidmouth’s right-hand man in Scotland. He was the one with answers. Niall had been ready to choke the life out of Tolley, but he sensed that his former commanding officer was only involved in areas of administration, rather than operations.
After leaving Maisie, he’d ridden directly to Glasgow but arrived after dark. He’d beat the answer out ofBurney if he needed to. Frustrated that he needed to wait until morning to see the man, he found an inn near the City Chambers in the Saltmarket.
Sleep didn’t come easily. Niall’s body was exhausted, but his mind was racing. Pacing in the darkness of the room he’d taken, he tried to piece together the ugly chain of events. And as it came together in his head, he felt physically ill. He’d been approached by Sir Rupert Burney to serve in his organization of thugs and spies in Edinburgh. He’d refused. The radicals and reformers in Scotland were growing stronger, in spite of the efforts of the authorities to crush the rising spirit of rebellion. Then, his sister was dragged off the street and arrested. Fiona’s capture was connected. It had to be.
The next morning, when Niall climbed the stairs to the offices Burney had taken over in the City Chambers, a clerk in an outer room immediately ushered him past two bruisers with necks the size of bulls.
