“Yes,” Jennifer said. “Queen Victoria had the use of chloroform. Why shouldn’t Lauren?”
The midwife looked decidedly disapproving now.
“I think it’s time you left.”
“On the contrary, I’d like to stay.”
“As I told you earlier, Lady Jennifer, Her Ladyship will probably be in labor for quite some time.”
“Is there anything she needs, Mrs. Farmer? Or anything I can get you?”
“Rest and patience. The good Lord will bring this child into the world on His timetable, Lady Jennifer. Not ours. In the meantime, your presence here is scandalous. You’re a single woman.”
“It’s all right, Jennifer. Truly,” Lauren said. She looked exhausted and it had only been an hour. Her hairline was damp. Her face was pale except for spots of color on the top of her cheeks. Even her lips looked a little bluish.
She made a gesture with her finger and Jennifer bent close.
“Don’t make the dragon mad,” Lauren whispered. “She’ll be even more unbearable.”
“Are you very sure?” Jennifer asked, holding her sister-in-law’s hand.
“I am. You can go and welcome my father, who I’m sure is going to be here any minute.”
“And Harrison.”
They smiled at each other, and Jennifer hoped she wasn’t lying.
Where was her brother?
Chapter Fifteen
Since she didn’t want to disturb Gordon when he was with Sean and it was too early for lunch, Jennifer left the Hall, her destination the bench beside the loch.
Nothing here ever changed. The years passed in tranquility; the beauty of the Scottish scenery remained as awe-inspiring as it had for centuries. The loch didn’t dry up. The hills didn’t crumble. Nothing ever changed.
She’d come to this spot when it was evident her mother wasn’t going to recover from the pneumonia that was sapping her strength. She’d come here after she’d made all the funeral arrangements, since Harrison didn’t seem to want to accept any of his responsibilities. It was here she’d come when he brought his carousing friends home, some of whom had wandering hands. She’d had to slap a young man because he’d made an advance toward her. Her brother hadn’t said a word to him.
They were only a year apart, and when they were small, they’d played together and been friends. As they grew, however, they’d grown apart as well. Harrison was only too cognizant that he was the sixth Earl of Burfield. All other lesser mortals, even a sister, were beneath his notice.
She didn’t know if Mr. McBain had anything to do with Harrison’s arrogance or if he’d gained an inflated opinion of himself away at university. She suspected it was a combination of the two.
Once his education was finished, Harrison spent more time in Edinburgh and London. Nor did that change after their mother’s death. He’d attained his majority, so there was no further need for a guardian. All restrictions on the Adaire fortune were released as well. Harrison seemed to think that his only task was to live a life of hedonism.
She understood, in a sense. Adaire Hall was isolated, one of the jewels of the Highlands, but not a place that a young man might wish to spend all his time. Yet even after Harrison returned with news that he was to be married his behavior hadn’t changed. After the wedding he’d simply deposited Lauren here and gone off to live the life he’d established in London.
Now his wife needed him and he was nowhere to be found.
“Are you angry about something?”
She turned to see Gordon standing there, one hand on the back of the bench.
“Do I look angry?”
He came around the bench and sat. “As a matter of fact, you do. You’re glaring at the loch.”
“I am angry,” she confessed. “About Harrison.”
He didn’t say anything, which she appreciated. He never tried to talk her out of feeling what she was feeling or offering her a rational explanation when she was feeling emotional. She’d always been able to be herself with him.
“Lauren needs him and he isn’t here.”
He still didn’t say anything.
She glanced at him with a smile. “You’ve learned tact in the past five years, Gordon. The young man I knew would have launched into a speech about how selfish Harrison had always been.”
He shrugged. “Why say something twice when it’s already been said?”
She shook her head, her smile disappearing. “At least my mother isn’t here to see his behavior. It would have disappointed her greatly.”
He squeezed her hand. “Perhaps he’s been delayed for some reason. His carriage could’ve lost a wheel. He could have missed the train.”
“He could have been set upon by pirates. Or robbers. Perhaps