Chapter 25
MARGARET BLUSHED DEEPLY upon being discovered in such a compromising embrace by the Townshend butler. The door had been wide open! She hadn’t even thought, well, hadn’t thought of anything, actually, she’d been so lost in kissing Sebastian.
She swallowed her embarrassment and asked, “Alberta is here to visit with Abigail?”
“With you, Lady Margaret.”
“Oh, dear,” she said and turned back to Sebastian, only to find that he’d slipped out the back door.
“She’s aware of who you married,” Mr. Hobbs warned her.
“Word has spread already?”
“Indeed. And she’s not alone, as usual. The ladies are all waiting in the parlor. Lord Denton is trying to entertain them. I’m sure he’d appreciate your rescuing him from that duty.”
Margaret sighed. She couldn’t put Alberta Dorrien off again. Once had been unwise, twice would mean social ruin.
She hurried down the hall to the parlor, stopping only for a moment by a mirror she passed to make sure she still looked presentable.
Were her lips a little swollen, a little pinker after that kiss?
No, surely it was her imagination. And at least her mauve morning dress with the pink trimming was suitable for receiving a duchess.
She did have to straighten the ruffles on her chemisette, though, thanks to Sebastian’s manhandling.
She could get through this, she assured herself, she really could.
But thinking it was not the same as facing six of the most prominent women in the neighborhood, as well as a few of the less prominent ones.
Even her old school chum Beatrice, who had moved to London with her husband several years ago, was there.
Margaret didn’t manage to utter a greeting before all eyes turned to her and she began to blush.
Denton made his excuses and escaped the moment she arrived, wincing at her apologetically on his way out the door. Then the ladies began to bombard her with what was on their minds.
“Margaret, how could you?!” was said more than once.
“Really, Maggie, him of all people?”
“There isn’t a member of the ton who doesn’t know he was given the boot by his own family. And reasonably so. Look what he did, after all.”
“Has Douglas forgiven him? Does he even know he’s here?”
Oddly enough, the ladies’ condemnation of Sebastian raised Margaret’s hackles. She found herself wanting to defend him. He could do that well enough on his own, if he’d bother to, but he wasn’t present to do so.
“He’s changed,” she said simply, letting them interpret for themselves whether that was good or bad. “And it didn’t take me long a’tall to fall in love with him. A wife must stand by her husband through thick and thin,” she reminded them pointedly.
Each of these particular ladies was married or widowed, a couple even had grandchildren. She waited until she saw at least one of them blush slightly before she added, “But no, his father doesn’t know yet that Sebastian has returned.”
“Douglas hasn’t recovered yet?” Alberta asked, indicating that she’d heard of the accident.
“No, his fever lingers.”
“It’s going to be quite a—surprise, when he finds out.”
That was an understatement, but Margaret decided that some optimism was in order and said, “We’re hoping it will be a pleasant one.”
Abigail arrived to save her from having to answer any more unpleasant questions. If there was one thing Abbie was still quite good at, it was dominating a conversation and keeping it neutral. Though she did mention her delight over Sebastian’s return and marriage.
Beatrice, however, cornered Margaret and whispered, “I think it’s very brave of you to marry such a blackguard.”
Margaret managed not to roll her eyes. Beatrice was considered a very fashionable blonde and an incorrigible gossip. She’d had her London season and had married before it was even over. Already she had two children to show for it.
“Bea, do you even remember Sebastian?” Margaret asked curiously. “As I recall, you moved to Kent with your family not long after he’d already left England. Had you ever met him prior to that?”
“Well, no, actually. But I certainly heard an earful about him this morning when I called on the duchess.”
“I can imagine. But there was nothing brave about my marrying him, I do assure you. He is, quite frankly, one of the most handsome men I’ve ever known. And charming. I really couldn’t help but fall in love with him.”
“Really? But what about Daniel Courtly? They say he’s shattered over this, that he was courting you himself before your trip to Europe, and now’s he’s gone off to London to nurse a broken heart.”
“Nonsense. Daniel and I were just friends. Any courtship involved was purely in his mind. He never once implied he had serious intentions.”
“Goodness, I’ll need to set a few ladies straight on that, then.”
Margaret smiled to herself. She hadn’t expected to find a good use for an avid gossip. But then she hadn’t expected to be accused of breaking Daniel’s heart, either.
The ladies stayed for lunch, of course. The hour was that late, they had to be invited. And they lingered afterward. Margaret had no doubt they were hoping for a look at the black sheep of the family, but he remained conspicuously absent.
Her suspicion was confirmed when Alberta said in parting, “I believe a party is in order. Marrying abroad as you did, we missed the prenuptial festivities. No, no, Maggie, you have your hands full here,” she added when Margaret started to look appalled.
“I’ll see to everything. Say this Friday at my house?
And no excuses. You and your husband will be the guests of honor. ”
“This isn’t the best time for a party, because Douglas isn’t well enough to attend,” Margaret pointed out.
But Alberta was too used to getting her way to agree and simply said, “Nonsense, Douglas might be quite well by then, and if he isn’t, he certainly wouldn’t want to stand in the way of your new husband’s reintroduction to society.”
Margaret groaned. There was nothing she could say to that. Mentioning that Sebastian probably wouldn’t agree to come was out of the question. You just didn’t say things like that to Alberta Dorrien.
But the dowager duchess did surprise her with one final remark, which she whispered. “I haven’t seen Abbie look so perky in years. Obviously having her grandson home is responsible, so I do hope all works out well here when Douglas is on his feet again— for her sake.”
So did Margaret, with all her heart.
Margaret took a break later that afternoon from sitting at Douglas’s bedside. He still hadn’t awakened, though if he’d done so briefly she might not have noticed, she was so distracted by her own thoughts. Sebastian figured in those thoughts, too prominently.
It wasn’t the first time Margaret missed having a mother she could talk to about such things.
But hers had died so long ago that she had no memories of her.
Eleanor had tried to fill the role from time to time, but she’d been too young herself to know how, and anything of a “mature” nature that she’d tried to impart she’d merely picked up from her friends who didn’t know any better either.
So Margaret knew next to nothing about lovemaking that she could state clearly was a fact and not hearsay, other than what she’d gathered from nature.
But she knew there was no comparison there.
Animals were governed by a different set of rules or no rules, merely instincts.
Yet people had choices, and aside from needing children to carry on lines, they still chose to make love regardless.
So they must like it or they wouldn’t keep doing it.
Would she like it? She blushed, remembering how intrigued she’d been by Sebastian’s suggestion of a trade. But she shouldn’t even be thinking about it. She knew in her heart it was wrong to trade sex for money. She’d come up with that blasted money for him somehow!
Besides, she didn’t even like Sebastian, merely found him handsome.
She was attracted by his looks. But she was repelled by his personality.
And there were her old reasons for not liking him, a dislike that had been compounded since she’d met him again.
And yet, what he made her feel . . . She couldn’t deny that those few minutes in his arms had been sublime and more exciting than anything she’d ever experienced.
Her dratted curiosity was urging her to find out more about those exciting feelings. That was the trouble.