When, not if. Robert meant to find Harrison; she was certain of that. But whether or not he could do it was another matter entirely. She had been spared having to tell Maria and Mrs. Justice what had happened. Sergeant Major Perkins had taken care of that detail, and she was grateful that she would not have to try to manufacture an acceptable degree of distress at having “a young friend of the family” go missing. Kate sat at the dining room table now, pushing the cake Maria had served around with her fork rather than actually eating it—while Maria, Mrs. Justice, Mrs. Russell and Mrs. Kinnard discussed something pertaining to some aspect of an upcoming Lenten service. It was all she could do to stay seated. “Well, we’ll just have to go right now and see how much space there is,” Mrs. Kinnard said. “This doesn’t have to be done until the last Lenten Sunday. We have weeks yet,”
