The Realm of Silence (The Golden Redepennings #3)
Jude Knight

“I like not only to be loved, but also to be told I am loved… the realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave.” George Eliot
Susan Cunningham’s pleasant life as a fashionable, dashing, and respectable widow is disrupted when her daughter disappears from school, chasing a French spy up the Great North Road. When Susan sets out after her, her childhood friend and adult nemesis, Gil Rutledge, insists on coming too.
Gil Rutledge has loved Susan since she was ten and he a boy of twelve, despite her clear wish to have nothing to do with him. If he can serve her by rescuing her daughter, he will. And if their old friendship can be revived, even better. He has no right to ask for more.
Gil and Susan must overcome danger, mystery, ghosts from the past, and their own pride before their journey is complete.