A Christmas Journey by Anne Perry

will not be a comfortable journey.”
    â€œIt will be abysmal!” Fenton Twyford added. “Inverness could be knee-deep in snow, and the shortest day of the year is only three weeks away. In the far north of Scotland that could mean hardly any daylight at all. You do realize Inverness is another hundred and fifty miles north of Edinburgh, I suppose. At least!”
    â€œWhat if your train gets stuck in a snowdrift?” Blanche asked hopefully.
    â€œIt is the beginning of December, not mid-January,” Sir John Warburton pointed out. “It could be perfectly pleasant. Inverness-shire is a fine county.”
    Lady Warburton looked surprised. “When were you ever there?”
    He smiled. “Oh, once or twice. So was Fenton, you know.”
    â€œDoing what?”
    â€œWonderful country for walking.”
    â€œIn December?” Hanning’s eyebrows shot up, and his voice was sharp with disbelief.
    â€œIt hardly matters,” Vespasia interrupted. “Now is when we are going. We shall leave as soon as our packing is completed—if the trap can be arranged to take us to the railway station.”
    â€œYou are leaving, as well?” Lord Salchester said with clear disappointment.
    Omegus looked at Vespasia.
    â€œYes,” she replied.
    Isobel smiled, pride in her face, and a shadow of uncertainty. “Lady Vespasia has offered to come with me.”
    Omegus smiled, a sweet, shining look that lit his face, making him beautiful.
    â€œTo give the letter to Mrs. Naylor, if Mrs. Alvie should lose her nerve?” Blanche Twyford said bitingly. “That hardly makes of it the ordeal it is supposed to be!” She turned to Omegus. “Are we still bound by our oaths, in spite of this new turn of events?”
    Omegus turned to her. “In the medieval trials of which I spoke, and upon which I have modeled my plan, the accused person was permitted friends to speak for them, and the friend risked facing the sure punishment along with them. If found guilty, the accused person promised to undertake the pilgrimage assigned, and if their friend were sure enough of their worth, had the courage and the selflessness to go with them, then that was the greatest mark of friendship that they could show. Neither the physical hardship nor the spiritual journey will be lessened, nor the threats that face them along the way. They will simply face them together, rather than alone. And the answer to your question, Mrs. Twyford, is, yes, you are just as bound.”
    Lord Salchester looked at Vespasia. “Remarkable,” he said with very obvious admiration. “I admire your loyalty, my dear.”
    â€œStubbornness,” Lady Warburton said under her breath.
    Bertie avoided eye contact with Isobel.
    Vespasia looked at Omegus, who was regarding her with a happiness that she found suddenly and startlingly disconcerting. She wondered for a moment if she had made the rash promise for Isobel’s sake, or just so she could see that look in Omegus’s eyes. Then she dismissed it as absurd and finished her breakfast.

    The ladies’ maids would follow later with their luggage and remain at their respective houses in London. The expiatory journey was to be made alone. It would be both unfair and compromising to the integrity of the oath were the maids to have gone, as well. They did not deserve the hardship; nor were they party to any agreement of silence.
    Vespasia and Isobel departed just after ten o’clock, with ample time to catch the next train to London. Omegus saw them off at the front door, his hair whipped by the fresh, hard wind that blew off the sweeping parkland with the clean smell of rain.
    â€œI shall be waiting for your word from London,” he said quietly. “I wish you Godspeed.”
    â€œAre you quite sure it is acceptable for Vespasia to come with me? I have no intention of making this journey only to discover at the end that it doesn’t