expect you to set aside your preconceptions and do the same with Lord Waddington.”
Margaret blinked back the tears. She had always thought that her parents had loved one another. There had been no evidence to the contrary, although now that she thought about it she realised that her father rarely spoke about her mother. What she had viewed as respectful silence in the face of great grief had perhaps been silence fuelled by apathy instead. It broke her heart.
She pulled away from him, shaking her head. “I thought that you cared for her,” she said quietly.
“There is your sentimental streak again,” he said with a sigh. “It is precisely what must be driven out of you, dear. You will not succeed until you are rid of it.”
Margaret turned without bidding him farewell and fled from the room. She ran upstairs and paused by Poppy’s room to peer inside. The little girl was fast asleep, breathing softly and peacefully in her canopy bed.
Margaret shut the door and went to her own room, falling down in misery by the great open window. It let in the sounds of the city all around, horses passing outside, strains of music from the theatre nearby, a chorus of faint laughs from the park where young lads sometimes played war games after dark.
She dropped her head onto her arms and let herself weep freely. She was grieving the disillusionment of her childhood, the loss of love between her parents, and something else – something she wasn’t even willing to name to herself.
Chapter 14
A week later, Margaret rode back to Cornwall with her father and Poppy and Carrie in their primary carriage. Originally they had discussed going home separately, but when Lord Somerville learned that Reginald was also heading back to Cornwall in the same week, he decided that his interests would be best served at Margaret’s side to oversee the engagement and travelled with them.
The journey was long, and Poppy fell asleep in Margaret’s arms as they rode. Margaret avoided her father’s gaze as much as possible. They had been avoiding each other all week, in fact, speaking only when it was necessary to make plans for the travel. She kept thinking about what she had learned about the loveless marriage of her parents, and he seemed unable to look at her without remembering their argument either.
The carriage ride would have provided a place for them to air their grievances again, but Carrie provided a much-appreciated buffer for their conversation, and Margaret refused any conversation of the future to happen in front of Poppy. She didn’t want the child to hear talk of a separation from Margaret. The little girl had already lost so much, and it broke Margaret’s heart to imagine her going through yet another change of guardian. It was that realisation that at last made up her mind about the matter with Reginald.
She waited until the morning after they arrived home to pen a letter to him at his Cornwall estate.
My dear sir, she began, more warmly than she meant. My father has told me of your intentions regarding our engagement, and I have given the arrangement much thought in recent days.
While it would have been far easier to give my response to you in person, that was made quite impossible by the mode of your proposal, which was directed to my father instead of to myself. As you can imagine, my father is quite in favour of our marriage, and for that reason, I was willing to entertain the possibility, even against my better judgement.
She paused, dipped her pen, and took a deep breath. It would do no good to alienate the gentleman too quickly. She continued in a more apologetic tone. You see, I am at present the guardian of a young girl by the name of Penelope. You may remember meeting her at our town house in London. I would not dream of foisting this responsibility on you as well. I have reason to believe that we are agreed on this matter, and that you would also be dissatisfied with such an arrangement.
She smiled to herself as she finished the note. Unfortunately, I am unwilling to part with the child. She will be adopted by me officially, but until that can come about I intend to become her legal guardian. This will, of course, make our marriage quite impossible, and so this letter is to officially inform you of the facts and to break off our understanding.
She signed her name,