his mocking smile was awarded the warmest reception and a tumbler of scotch.
“I suppose I will see you often,” she said coldly. “As you and my father seem to be very close.”
She turned on her heel and left, knowing that she would hear about it from her father the next day. Knowing that it would not be considered proper behaviour but not caring. Maggie of the wild cliffs had lain dormant throughout the entirety of the conversation, and Lady Margaret believed she deserved at least this chance to leave with the upper hand.
Chapter 11
A few days later, Margaret received an invitation from her father to join him in his study after dinner. Lord Somerville was like that – formal even with his own daughter in his own house. It was something Margaret was trying to avoid with Poppy. She wanted the little girl to feel welcome without an invitation, to know that if she ever needed anything she could slip into Margaret’s presence and have confidence in being wanted and heard.
She put Poppy to bed and then crept downstairs to her father’s office, instinctively smoothing her hair before knocking on the door. He called her inside and asked her to take a seat in front of his desk as though she were one of his business partners arranging a meeting.
“I’m glad you made time to see me,” he began, still quite formal. “Are you quite comfortable, or should we call for some evening beverages?”
Margaret gave a weak laugh. “Father, I ate supper with you only a few hours ago. I hardly think I need anything now.”
“Very well,” he said, not showing any signs of laughing himself. “Then we can get on to business.”
“Business?” she asked.
“I had a visit yesterday from Lord Waddington,” her father said, knocking his fingers crisply against the table-top as though to punctuate each word.
“Again?” Margaret tried and failed to keep the edge out of her voice. “You two seem to have quite the friendship.”
“It is not for myself that I encourage these visits,” Lord Somerville said with patronising calm. “I think you know that I have your own best interests at heart. I have taken a few days to think about your behaviour the day Lord Waddington came to call on you, and I hope that I can expect a better showing from you in the future. Leaving abruptly with some excuse about a headache is no way to treat a gentleman caller of that calibre.”
“I hardly know the man,” Margaret retorted gently. “How am I to guess his calibre?”
“I am not speaking about the merits of personality or experience,” her father answered. “I am speaking about the things that are so obvious any young woman could see them – he is wealthy, respected, and titled. He is a man with certain gifts to his name, and I would be happy to have such a man in my family.”
Margaret felt s stab of uneasiness at how obvious her father was being. He seemed confident – too confident.
“In your…family?” she asked in a low voice.
“During his visit yesterday, Lord Waddington asked for your hand in marriage and I have accepted his proposal on your behalf. You are to marry this fine gentleman as soon as it may be arranged,” he said calmly, as though he was announcing the crop tables or a report on the recent weather patterns.
Margaret felt her mouth slip open in astonishment. “Father,” she said, “You can’t be serious.”
“Why not?” he pressed. “I see no reason why this should be shocking to you. You entertained this gentleman’s affections, and I have deemed it a just and agreeable marriage. I thought you would be happy. At the least I expected you to understand my reasons.”
“I did not entertain his affections,” she said, still reeling. “Father, he never even spoke to me about marriage.”
“Things like this need not be stated in a forthright manner,” he answered. “That is the way of the peasant classes, to speak their feeling with coarse vulgarity. You may have brushed shoulders with such people enough to expect that same treatment, but Lord Waddington is a gentleman and would not have spoken with you until he had first settled the matter with me.”
“You agreed to this,” she said, still comprehending, “without even asking my opinion in the matter.”
“I had no doubt of your acceptance of his suit.”
“Then you were misinformed,” she said. “Father, Lord Waddington has done nothing to recommend him as a loving husband. His behaviour in the one, brief conversation