Chapter 46
MARGARET TOOK PART in several conversations of which she couldn’t remember a single word. Sebastian hadn’t returned yet from his private talk with Douglas. What was taking them so long?
She should have insisted on joining them.
The marriage idea had been hers, after all.
She would have explained it all to Douglas herself, after Sebastian was gone.
She would have had to, when she announced the divorce.
She wished she could do so now in order to alleviate some of the backlash Sebastian was no doubt receiving from his father.
She had a feeling Sebastian wouldn’t mention that the pretense had been her idea.
She even had a feeling why. He seemed to want Douglas’s anger directed at him.
It was what he had expected all along, so keeping it that way prevented him from finding out if they really could reconcile.
Perhaps Sebastian was so certain his father would never forgive him that he couldn’t help but be defensive and resentful.
Actually, it could be that he wouldn’t forgive his father.
Good God, she hadn’t considered that. It would certainly explain why he had refused ever to return to England.
She was fretting herself sick on what was happening in the study. She didn’t doubt she looked it, too, so she sought out Alberta to let her know they would be leaving as soon as Sebastian returned. The duchess claimed to understand and even commiserated with her.
“Happens to all you young gels,” Alberta told her. “You let the nerves get the better of you. Why, I’ve had some of them faint, before and after the party I’ve given for them.” And with a stern eye, Alberta demanded, “You aren’t going to faint, are you?”
Margaret managed not to laugh. “I have an aversion to lying on floors, so I will most certainly restrain m’self.
But I am feeling rather peaked, so I’m going to seek my own bed.
I just wanted to thank you for the lovely party and to warn you that once Sebastian sees that I’m not feeling well, he’s likely to drag me straight home. He’s like that, you know.”
“Is he?” Alberta chuckled. “Well, some men do overreact when they’re concerned.
Don’t give it another thought, m’dear. I confess that even I was a tad nervous about tonight, but it went splendidly, if I do say so m’self.
Well, I need to rephrase that,” she added with a glower as she faced the door. “It was going splendidly.”
Margaret didn’t have to turn around to know what Alberta was talking about.
She winced, hearing Juliette’s raised voice behind her.
When she’d spoken with Abigail about a half hour ago, she’d learned that Denton and his wife had planned to attend the party, but must have been delayed in their return from London.
Alberta tsked in high annoyance, admitting, “I’ve asked that gel to stay out of my house.
Even if I wasn’t obliged to invite the Townshends, I would have anyway because I adore Abigail.
But Denton’s wife is not welcome here. I told her so as politely as I could, and when that didn’t work, I confess I was quite rude about it.
Other hostesses in the area have experienced the same predicament with that gel.
I swear her understanding of the English language is selective. She still comes and still disrupts.”
Margaret was surprised to hear that Juliette had become a social pariah.
No one wanted to shun the Townshends, but everyone seemed to disapprove of Juliette and her appalling behavior.
Denton had probably been beseeched to control his wife, but Denton had no control over her. Juliette seemed to control him.
Seeing the duchess so indignant when she was renowned for maintaining a social demeanor that never got ruffled amused Margaret.
“At least she keeps the gossips busy for a while,” Margaret said, trying to appear sympathetic.
“Which is quite the point. People should be talking about my parties, not the scandalous behavior of one of the guests, an uninvited guest, I might add. Now that you are a member of that family, I hope you can break through the language barrier and convince her to keep her outrageous antics at home where they belong.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Margaret promised.
“Good.” Alberta huffed and with a scowl in Juliette’s direction, marched off to find some consolation from her cronies.
Ordinarily, Margaret would join Juliette and try to calm her down, but Juliette hadn’t spoken to her since she’d learned of Margaret’s marriage.
If the one glare she’d intercepted hadn’t been enough to warn her that their so-called friendship was over because of it, Juliette’s loud complaints across the room certainly did.
“The traitor marries him and gets honored. Why was I not honored when I married you, eh?”
Denton didn’t appear to be embarrassed. He was too used to being the center of attention at parties because of his very vocal wife. But Abigail looked flustered. Juliette was loud enough that even Abigail, with her poor hearing, had caught every word.
So Juliette, considered her a traitor? That was amusing, Margaret thought. Before Juliette could offer even more insults and disrupt the party further, she decided to leave the room and find out what was keeping Sebastian.
She wouldn’t be surprised if he’d already left without her, especially if Douglas had demanded that he truly marry her.
She didn’t quite make it out of the parlor before Juliette focused on her next target. “And him!” the Frenchwoman snarled contemptuously. “Disowned and yet—”
The remark ended abruptly. Margaret glanced back at Juliette and then stopped in surprise.
Denton had actually put his hand over his wife’s mouth to shut her up.
Although he might be immune to the insults she leveled at him, he wasn’t going to let her slander his brother.
Bravo, Denton! Margaret wondered if Sebastian’s return had given him courage.
It was about time he took his wife in hand.
And, apparently, she wasn’t the only one who thought so.
Someone clapped. Loudly. Then someone else did. Within seconds, the entire room was applauding. Juliette looked furious and embarrassed. She broke away from Denton, snarling a French expletive that Margaret was quite glad she didn’t understand and ran out the door.
Barely managing to get out of the way before Juliette knocked her over, Margaret backed into a hard body. She turned to apologize but didn’t get the words out. It was her temporary husband standing there, and he looked like hell warmed over.
For a moment she thought he looked angry because he’d been there long enough to have heard Juliette. But, amazingly, his tone was bland as he asked her, “Did I miss something pertinent?”
“Just your brother keeping his wife from reviling you in public.”
“Good for him,” Sebastian said. “Shall we go?”
She frowned. His lack of interest puzzled her. But his expression hadn’t changed. He was furious about something, and if not Juliette...
She was afraid to find out what, so she merely said, “Yes. I’ve already told our hostess we’re going home.”
“We’ll be stopping there,” he said as he took her arm and escorted her outside.
She braced herself to encounter Juliette on the steps, but fortunately, Juliette hadn’t waited for her coach to be brought up. She’d found it herself and it was racing down the road.
And then Margaret realized what Sebastian had just said. “What d’you mean, stopping there?”
“To pick up John and Timothy and any traveling companions you’d like to bring along.”
“Bring along to where? Where the devil are we going that we need an entourage?”
“Where else but Scotland? They do still marry people up there on the spot, don’t they?”
Margaret drew in her breath sharply. “We need to discuss this.”
“There’s nothing to discuss.”
“The devil there isn’t,” she rejoined hotly. “One doesn’t just hie off to Scotland in the middle of the night. At the very least, wait until morning when you’ll see that this isn’t necessary.”
“No waiting,” he said as he shoved her into the coach that had pulled up. “If I sleep on it, I won’t be doing the ‘right thing.’ ”
“But—”
“Not another bloody word, Maggie, or you will spend this entire trip in my lap.”
She opened her mouth, but the menacing glint in his eyes arrested her and she quickly clamped it shut. This was The Raven she was dealing with now, and the dratted man was serious!