Chapter 41
YOU’RE LOOKING RATHER PERKY,” Margaret remarked when Florence joined her on the sofa in the parlor at White Oaks that afternoon for a cup of tea. “I would have thought you’d be harried with our abrupt return, at least for a day or two.”
It wasn’t unusual for the housekeeper and the lady of the house to be sharing tea in White Oaks. Margaret refused to abide by the strict class structure in her own home. Her servants were like family and that’s how she treated them. And Florence always had been her closest confidante.
“And you’re looking a bit dour,” Florence rejoined. “Care to share why?”
“I asked first.”
Florence chuckled. That particular answer was one they’d both used all through their childhood together.
“Very well,” Florence said in a lowered tone, even glanced toward the door to make sure they were still alone. “I confess I missed John when he left.”
“John Richards?”
“Yes. We’d just been getting better acquainted when he packed up and moved to Edgewood.”
“You like him, I take it?”
Florence grinned. “You know I had begun to despair that I’d ever meet a fellow up to my standards.”
“You’re just too picky,” Margaret teased.
“No, the men around here are either too old or too young for me.”
“Rubbish. You’re too picky.”
Florence laughed. “Very well, I do have certain standards, and John meets them all. I haven’t spoken to him yet since you returned, but now that he’s back, I expect we’ll be getting even better acquainted.”
Margaret was torn. She wanted to take Florence into her confidence but realized if she did, her friend would end up being as miserable as she was.
Then again, if she knew in advance, that would give her time to convince John to stay if she cared to try.
Sebastian was determined to leave. That didn’t mean his valet had to go with him.
John just might prefer to settle down and start a family.
“There’s something you should know, Florence. I would have told you eventually, but it might be to your benefit to hear it now instead.”
“Goodness, to go by your expression, I don’t think I want to know.”
“Very well—”
“Don’t you dare not tell me now.”
Margaret rolled her eyes. “You know why I went to Europe. I’m sure you didn’t expect me to come home married to my quarry.”
“No, that definitely bowled me over. I should tell you, there’s been quite a bit of speculation on whether you would move back to Edgewood permanently now.”
Margaret began to blush before she could get the first word out. “I didn’t actually marry Sebastian.”
“Eh?”
“Edna and Oliver know, and you’ll have to keep it a secret as well. I had to hire him to get him to return to England. Even after I explained the situation, he still refused to come willingly.”
“That doesn’t sound like Sebastian Townshend.”
“Probably because the man he used to be was buried along with Giles. His bitterness is, well, let’s just say it’s extreme, and now I understand why he feels that. Not many people know that he went to that duel expecting to die, and Giles, by all accounts, was certainly angry enough to kill him.”
“Then how did the opposite occur?”
“It was an accident, a shot meant to be fired into the air that got redirected when Giles’s shot nicked Sebastian’s arm.
Then on top of that anguish, his father disowned him.
So you can see why he didn’t want to come back here.
He was convinced he’d be denied access to Edgewood, which would make it next to impossible for him to discover any plots that might be afoot. ”
“So he suggested you pretend to be wed just to gain access?” Florence asked incredulously.
“No, I did,” Margaret said, her blush deepening.
“And yes, I know that was an outlandish solution. I confess I didn’t give it much thought at the time.
And he did try to talk me out of it, but given his attitude, I merely wanted to counter any stumbling blocks he came up with.
It wouldn’t even have come to that, if we hadn’t found out that Douglas is still so unforgiving that he considers Sebastian dead.
Douglas’s estrangement from Lord Wemyss is probably why he can’t forgive Sebastian.
The irony is, our pretend marriage wasn’t necessary. ”
“Because of the earl’s most recent accident?”
“Yes. And because Sebastian was able to talk to his father be- fore Douglas was fully recovered. He caught him off guard, as it were.”
Florence grinned. “He does have a certain effect on people. They want to answer his questions quickly just so he’ll go away!”
“The intimidation you are referring to wouldn’t have affected Douglas.
Letting him think that Sebastian knew more than he did worked, though.
He’s assured me no one is trying to kill his father, which was my concern.
Though the dratted men aren’t going to share what is the problem, if there even is one aside from rotten luck.
At any rate, Sebastian did what I asked of him and is now eager to return to the Continent. ”
“But what about your marriage? It might not be real, but everyone certainly thinks it is. Are you just going to announce that it was merely a ruse to an end?”
“That would have been an option if Sebastian hadn’t insisted we give it a good show by sharing the same room at Edgewood.”
“Maggie, you didn’t!” Florence’s scandalized expression made Margaret burn with embarrassment. “Good Lord, not that, too!”
“It certainly wasn’t intentional, but I confess I’ve felt strangely attracted to him since I first clapped eyes on him. He’s everything I can’t abide in a man, and yet, with him it seems not to matter.” Margaret leaned closer to add in a whisper, “Lust, he calls it.”
“Nonsense, you aren’t the least bit lusty,” Florence said indignantly.
Margaret burst out laughing, which relieved some of her embarrassment.
“I should hope not. But what’s done is done.
I can’t even regret it since it was so—nice.
There’s no question, though, about owning up to the marriage’s not being real.
I simply can’t. Everyone at Edgewood, aside from Douglas, knows we shared a room there just like a normal married couple.
And Douglas will eventually know, too. I had originally intended to pretend a divorce in the same manner we pretended the marriage.
I can let it be known why I married him, or not.
I’ll decide that at the time. Most of the ladies in the neighborhood consider it scandalous that I married him a’tall, so it might be a relief if I explain, so they can stop thinking I’ve lost my mind. ”
Florence sighed. “A divorce is so—”
“Yes, I know,” Margaret cut in. “Quite the stigma. But I am wealthy and my son stands to inherit a title. The notoriety of being a divorced woman shouldn’t affect that.”
Florence humphed. “I don’t know why you refuse to acknowledge the fact that you’re a prime catch, Maggie. You don’t need to bribe yourself a husband.”
“I never refuted that. I’m just too set in my ways to put myself forward in the normal manner. Too impatient, too, to deal with a traditional courting.”
“Nonsense. You’ve got the patience of a saint, or you wouldn’t have waited this long to make a proper effort to find a husband.
You should have just gone to London, enjoyed the social whirl, and let nature take its course.
You would have had yourself a husband, a real one, in no time, and wouldn’t now be facing the scandal of a divorce. ”
“I have the fortitude to weather that storm. But what about you? Are you going to let John leave with Sebastian without trying to convince him to stay?”
Florence paled with the realization, “He will be leaving, won’t he? What bloody rotten luck that your marriage isn’t a real one as we all thought.”
Margaret found herself actually agreeing, though she wouldn’t say so. If there weren’t so many extenuating circumstances for why marriage to Sebastian was out of the question, she might follow her own advice. But Florence wasn’t so restrained.
“You could ask him to stay,” she reiterated.
“I can’t be that bold. Our acquaintance hasn’t progressed that far, though I’ve been hopeful and encouraged that it soon would. Why don’t you ask Sebastian to stay? You know you want to.”
The trouble with close friends was they could read right through you. Margaret sighed. “Because I already know his answer. The reason he wants to bolt back to Europe so quickly is that he fears Douglas will demand a real marriage if he finds out we just faked one.”
“How the devil would he find out?”
“From Sebastian. He seems to think that Douglas will open the doors fully again in approval when he hears of the marriage, and that will so stick in Sebastian’s craw that he’ll confess the truth. So he intends to avoid Douglas at all costs. The man doesn’t want to be married for real.”
He was so desperate to be gone that he wasn’t even going to investigate his brother’s dilemma, whatever it was, even though if anyone could get to the bottom of that, Sebastian could. Considering that, she was surprised he’d agreed to stay for the party.
She supposed she should warn Sebastian that while it was very unlikely that Douglas would exert himself beyond leaving his room today, he might attend the dowager duchess’s party, if only to make a brief appearance.
No, she didn’t think she would. It was time for fate to step in, and just maybe, it would favor her.