sympathy and inventing lies about respected members of society.”
The courtyard had fallen quite silent. He took a step away from them. “I am ashamed to call this my home,” he said. “Ashamed.”
He turned on his heel and walked away. They did not attempt to follow him, made no attempt to intersect his comments or counter his arguments, and he heard no whispering as he walked away. He was unsure what good his outburst had done, but he determined from then on to speak up when he heard Lady Margaret’s name maligned in public. Let people think what they would about his attachment to her – if he was willing to fight a duel for her honour, he ought to be willing to lay aside his standing in society as well.
Chapter 23
The next day, Margaret received a note from Amanda asking to meet her in one of the sheltered bays beneath the cliffs. It was not the one where Margaret had seen Molly Smith waiting for her tryst all those years ago, but it was equally sheltered. There was no word of what Amanda wanted to discuss, and no explanation for why a young woman so fond of parties and elegant outings would wish to meet under subterfuge. But Margaret was hungry for companionship and agreed at once.
She dressed in a plain riding gown and took one of the nondescript horses, hopeful that passing farmers or those strolling along the cliffs would overlook her identity. She left Poppy safely at home in the care of Carrie and rode out around noon.
The bay itself was only reached by a narrow trail that cut haphazardly down along the cliffs to a sandy beach below. It was beautiful in its own way, though Margaret preferred the wild wind atop the cliffs to the sheltered quiet of the bay below. The water was grey and calm within the rocks, far different from the crashing waves just beyond the reef. She was the first there and waited patiently while Amanda navigated the difficult trail on horseback. Amanda had a servant with her, a young footman who waited at the top of the cliffs while they spoke.
“You came alone?” was her first question when she reached the bottom of the trail and climbed shakily off her horse. “What if we had needed assistance of some sort in this wild place?” She looked around her gingerly. Margaret, who had already been sitting comfortably on a sandy boulder, patted the place beside her.
“It is not all that wild, and we have not footmen to spare at present.”
Amanda wrinkled up her nose at the offer, choosing instead to stand gingerly before Margaret on a space of green scrub grass. “I wondered if you would be compelled to lighten your staff after the recent disturbance,” she said when she was quite settled. “I thought it likely the best plan to keep gossiping tongues from wagging.”
“You would know,” Margaret said good-naturedly. It had been a long-time joke between them that Amanda was more prone to gossip than anyone alive, and so Margaret was surprised to see no smile on her friend’s face. “Is everything all right?” she asked carefully. “I imagine something is unusual to tempt you to this little bay all alone. It is not exactly the kind of place where I would expect Lady Hayton-Smythe.”
Amanda cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably. “Yes. I remember you used to talk about these cliffs – how very fine you found them, and I thought it only natural that we should meet on your ground every once in a while instead of on my own. Upon my word, one can hardly hear oneself think in the wind atop that hill.”
Margaret frowned, reading something more in her words. “You wanted to meet on my ground? Why? Is there something specific you wish to speak about?”
Amanda looked at her as though she considered her friend to be overwhelmingly dense. “Margaret, come now. Surely you do not think I would stand by and listen to all these astonishing rumours without coming to speak to you about them myself. I am interested in the welfare of my friend above all else, and I have come to speak to you about the source of these rumours and offer my assistance where I can.”
It came to Margaret quite suddenly that she understood the reason for the sheltered bay and the hidden meeting. Amanda was many things – kind and good-hearted being some of her better qualities – but she was