nodded. “Very well, then you need not despair. You must encourage your father to make enquiries of his own into the history and finances of Lord Waddington. Perhaps you could express more interest in the match so that your father lets his guard down. After all, Lord Waddington wishes to rush the matter because he knows that he will be found out. All you have to do is open the opportunity for your father to discover the truth for himself.”
Margaret nodded. “It is a good thought,” she said slowly. “Better than I would have come up with on my own.”
Poppy came running over to her side and slipped a knight into her hand. The piece was smooth and elegantly carved. Margaret turned it over and examined it with interest. “Thank you, dear,” she said to the little girl.
Poppy ran back to the board, apparently happy only to share her game with Margaret. Amanda watched her and then turned with a quizzical smile on her face. “It is odd that you brought up Lord Waddington,” she said. “That wasn’t the person I was thinking of when I asked you about the suitors that contacted you after the last ball.”
“Really?” Margaret asked.
“Don’t mistake me – I understand how a sudden marriage proposal would be at the front of your mind, but in truth I thought there was another young man who seemed interested in you at that dance. The young officer – quite handsome I must say, and new on the social scene.” Amanda smiled. “All the young ladies were talking about him.”
“Ah.” Margaret blushed despite herself. “Captain Bateson.”
“Captain Bateson?” Amanda repeated the name with a smile. “Intriguing.”
“Actually,” Margaret hurried to correct her. “We are only friends. We’ve been friends since we were children. I don’t know if you remember me speaking about a boy named Nigel who lived on my family estate? He went away to war, and has only recently returned.”
“I do remember –” Amanda stopped short with a laugh. “I remember thinking that it was shocking for you to spend so much time with someone beneath your social status, but now that I have seen him up close I must say that you didn’t do so very badly by yourself after all.”
Margaret cleared her throat. “He’s a friend. Just a friend, as I’ve said. And besides, I wouldn’t think you a likely candidate to defend a romance between me and any untitled gentleman.”
“I am not as high and mighty as you seem to think I am,” Amanda said with a laugh. “Given the choice between a young man who is handsome and has made his own way in life – a respectable man – and the likes of Lord Waddington, I would choose the former any day. Besides, Margaret. If you really thought of him as only a friend, why are blushing so furiously?”
Margaret opened her mouth to retort, but she didn’t have a ready answer. In truth, her feelings were as confusing to her as they seemed to be to Amanda. She wondered if she had stronger feelings for Nigel than she was admitting to herself. He was a good friend, kind and brave and noble. But she would be lying if she ignored the way his eyes made her feel when they held her gaze, or the way she’d missed him as soon as he was gone.
She thought suddenly of the way he had treated Poppy. The contrast with Lord Waddington’s treatment of the child was stark, and decidedly in Nigel’s favour.
“I have larger problems at present,” Margaret said instead of answering Amanda’s question. “Perhaps when I have sorted out the present issues I can take the time to think about other suitors.”
Amanda shrugged but looked self-satisfied and unconvinced. Margaret hadn’t even told her about Reginald’s ultimatum regarding Poppy. But as she looked at the child, she couldn’t help thinking how Nigel would react in the same situation. She didn’t have to ask him. She somehow knew that he would have taken Poppy in without a second thought. He was just that sort of man.
Chapter 13
When she returned home from the tea, Margaret helped Poppy get a warm meal and then tucked her away in bed before slipping back downstairs for dinner with her father. He was sitting at the head of the table as he always did, picking austerely at the meal set out before them.
He did not speak about Reginald at first, much to her surprise, nor did he ask about the situation with Poppy.