A Chance Meeting in Glasgow

Chapter 62

Fiona couldn’t help noticing that Katherine did no more than pick at her supper.  She had news so she thought she’d attempt a conversation.  “Miss Cameron, I went to see my father at his office today.”

Katherine looked up, refocused her thoughts and turned to her young friend.  “That’s good.  He loves you and I’m sure he misses having you at home.”

“Well, he began asking questions and I admitted to him about what I’d done.  With Mr. Spears and the investigator’s reports, that is.”

“What did he say?”

“You should know that he and I think a lot alike.  With that, it will come as no surprise that he said he was going to put me in a convent. Then he said how sorry he was that of all the people I could cause trouble for, it would be you. Then he said he was going to put me in a convent in France.  Then he told me he hoped I’d learned my lesson and said never to go to an investigator again.  Then he said that since I speak French, he was going to look for a convent in Germany.”

“Well I hope you told him how much I’m coming to depend on your assistance for our good works here in Glasgow.  I have some news, too.  My brother stopped here to see me today.”

“The Baron?”

“Well, yes, I suppose.  You know, to me, he’s mostly just my brother.  Anyway, it’s…well, I absolutely have to retrieve Ceana before Mr. Spears returns.  I didn’t hold out much hope the investigator could find her, but I’m sorry now we won’t be able to pursue that path.”

“Oh, no, Miss Cameron, I stopped at the investigator’s with the sketch I made after I left my father.”

Katherine shook her head.  “Well, of course you did.”

“Oh, and there was something else my father said he read in the paper.  The shipyard announced they’re laying the keel of the Katherine, the second of the refrigerated ships for Mr. Ayson and Mr. Spears.”

“Oh.  Oh my.”

“Exactly, Miss Cameron!  I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of it earlier myself!  Tomorrow, we must go see Mrs. Ayson.”

“Well, Spears, it looks like you’re not going to die.  And the world rejoices.”

“I don’t feel good.”

“Be quiet and drain that bowl of hot tea.  Fortunate that you kept your wool cap and gloves on.  You had the captain pretty worried.   He felt like it would be a black mark on his record to lose a ship owner on a voyage, despite my assurances to the contrary.”

Andrew let out a tiny little laugh.

“Understand, Spears, my only interest is in seeing what’s going to happen in your personal life.  I plan to sell the story to Mr. Gilbert for one of his musical theater shows.”

“Agnes would’ve missed me.”

“Oh, I had a plan for that, too.  I was going to freeze your body in a sitting position so she could get you out and have dinner with you whenever she wanted.”

“You would at long last get to be witty in comparison.”

“I should have let you freeze.  Damnation, now that I saved you I’m responsible for you.  Drink some of this hot broth.”

“How’s the ship and cargo?”

“Fine.  Transferring the fish and moving the baffle has everything safely frozen solid.  I’ve got a list of things to work on for when we get back into port, but there’s nothing major.  We’ve had a wind shift and if it holds we’ll be in Glasgow by tomorrow evening.”