to do a favour for a friend. Molly had to bear years of shame for it, and the entire village knows the price she paid.”
“The village, perhaps, but that is not everyone,” her father answered drily. “Think of the people who really matter – the ones you always so conveniently forget: London, and the larger cities around it. Those people don’t know a fisherman’s daughter named Molly Smith, and they don’t know how wild you were in your youth to form friendships with those beneath your status. They will believe this, and it will lose me everything I have worked for.”
“I’m so sorry you are exposed to ridicule,” Margaret said humbly. “I would not have wished this on you for the world. But you and I know what is right. We know that the child is not mine and that but for me, she would have been forced into a miserable existence. Isn’t that enough?”
“It isn’t,” he said, putting a hand to his head. “Our good name is ruined, and your reputation is gone forever, Margaret. I know this information is new to you, but I have had a long carriage ride to think it over and I can see no way around it. You are going to have to send the child away.”
Margaret took a step back from him, her hands shaking. “No. We have had this discussion before, and I am as resolute now as I ever was. The bully who put this story into the paper is to be condemned, not an innocent little girl. I will not send her away.”
“There are places where she could be quite happy,” Lord Somerville cried. “You speak as though you’re saving her from a dark life. But in reality, you are only foisting her on some family who will be less impacted by her bad reputation. If you send her away, people may believe that you are not her mother after all.”
“Exactly,” Margaret said, coming forward with her hands clasped in front of her. “That is precisely why I cannot send her away. She has lost her mother, and I have taken over the role of guardian in her life. I love her and I want her to know that she is loved and treasured. Certainly, I could find an orphanage where they would feed and clothe her and teach her how to survive in society. But I could never fill the loss in her heart that would come from yet another abandonment. I won’t do it, Father.”
“You will.” He stopped just in front of her, his eyes flashing. “If you do not, this will never go away. It may come to pass that if you do not send the child away, I will be forced to send you away in her stead.”
He stared at her for a long moment and then stormed out of the room. Margaret sank to the floor, burying her head in her hands, and sobbed until she felt her heart would break.
Chapter 21
In the days that followed, the matter did not improve. Margaret avoided going to the village for a few days, hoping that gossip would flourish and be shrivelled up without the need for her to be present. But then the maids began to bring news of whispers even in the village close to home. People began to wonder if Molly Smith had taken the fall for Lady Margaret’s indiscretions, even though Molly had been clearly pregnant and everyone had witnessed her with the child.
Margaret was desperate to shield Poppy from the rumours and the snide remarks. She kept the child at home with her, only allowing her outside when there was no one else visiting or nearby, and forbidding the servants from saying anything about what had happened in the child’s presence.
Still, the little girl seemed to know that something was wrong.
“Why is Carrie so quiet, Aunt Maggie?” she asked one day, struggling over an endearing little bit of needlework she had been learning under Margaret’s tutelage. “She doesn’t talk to me.”
“She’s busy right now,” Margaret said quickly, but afterwards she pulled Carrie aside and asked her what was the matter. The maid had looked decidedly uncomfortable and then admitted that in town she was being persecuted for her position in the confidence of the infamous Lady Margaret.
“What are they saying?” Margaret asked.
Carrie shook her head, miserable. “I don’t want to repeat nonsense like that,” she said in low tones. “It doesn’t deserve to be spoken aloud.”
“Carrie,” Margaret said gently. “I would understand