not one to fly in the face of society by expressing friendship with a woman as shunned as Margaret.
She had to meet in a secret place to avoid linking her name with that of a woman who was known as wanton and the guardian of an illegitimate child. Margaret thought for a moment of taking offence, but then she looked at Amanda’s face and thought better of it. She knew who Amanda was – sweet but shallow – and she would not fault her for that now. She suspected that it had been a true triumph of friendship for Amanda to even arrange to meet her like this, and accepted that kindness for what it was without criticising her further.
“Thank you,” she said simply.
“Tell me what happened,” Amanda said softly. “How has the town been behaving to you? What does your father say?”
“Father is angry. Surely you’ve heard that he lost his seat in parliament.”
“I know he was hoping for that.” Amanda dropped her eyes. “How is the child?”
“Penelope is doing well enough, but thus far she has been shielded from the worst of public opinion. I am continually shocked by things people will say to a simple child, to someone who has done them no wrong, to someone whose only crime was being born.” Margaret shook her head. “She keeps asking me if I am going to send her away, and I keep reassuring her that I will not leave her.”
Amanda looked at her for a long moment and then sighed. “Is that really for the best?” she asked gently. “Perhaps the wisest thing is to end this infatuation with motherhood and let the child go. I cannot help thinking that, in the beginning, it would have been better for you to have left poor Penelope at an orphanage or with some of her lesser fortunate relatives. Then, at least, she would have been raised without a dark cloud hanging over her. She would have had her reputation.”
“She would have had nothing, no family, no belonging.” Margaret shook her head. “I would not have wanted to leave her with that emptiness in her life. As it is she knows she has a place with me, and as she grows older I can tell her everything she needs to know about her mother and how very loved she really was.”
Amanda pursed her lips together. “You are still clinging to this, even when public opinion has turned so solidly against you? The mastermind of all this surely anticipated a different outcome. Doubtless, he meant to separate you from the child much more quickly. For that reason, I don’t want to recommend that you part ways. But in my heart, I wonder if he hasn’t won this round. Whatever justice might be, society demands only one outcome – and that is the child’s removal.”
Margaret had fixated on one particular part of Amanda’s speech that had taken her off guard. “The mastermind of this?” she asked. “You speak as though you know who was responsible.”
Amanda blinked. “And you don’t?”
Margaret shook her head.
Amanda gave a sad, weak little laugh. “Think about it, love. Who would stand to benefit most from the removal of this child? Who is it that wanted the child gone in the first place?”
Margaret’s lips felt dry. “My father?”
“No, dear. Your father only wanted the girl gone because someone else was pressuring him.”
Margaret understood at last. “Lord Waddington.”
“Yes.” Amanda nodded. “He is a vicious man. I heard these rumours were originally traced back to a card game where he was playing with a few other influential men from the county. Shortly after that, the report came out in the scandal sheets – and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wrote that word for word as well.”
Margaret stood up from the boulder and walked shakily over to the water’s edge, watching the tide wash up nearly to her toes and then rush out again to the sea. “I can hardly believe he would be that cruel. What did he hope to gain from this?”
Amanda stood, wordless, behind her.
Margaret shook her head. “I know that he always wanted me to get rid of Penelope. He talked as though she was the one thing standing between us, as though I would somehow agree to marry him if she was out of the picture. How could he expect this plan to work, though? Say I send the child away – then I could hardly bear to be in the company of the man who had