. . . I have no one to blame but myself.” I stepped past him and hurried toward the gate.
“Margaret, wait—”
I spun back around. “I never gave you leave to use my name. But that doesn’t matter, does it, because your title allows you to do what you want? You speak of your cousin taking what he wants and how you despise him for it, but how have your actions been any different?”
He stepped toward me. “I did what I did because it was the right thing to do.”
“According to you.”
“I was protecting you.”
“I did not ask for your protection. I do not want it. Surely I am not the first woman to set my sights on Mr. Northam. Yet you cannot have gone ensnaring all those who have come before. Unless. . . .” Had he? Perhaps I was not the first woman he had engaged himself to.
“Of course not. It was nothing like that.”
“Then I can only assume you singled me out because I would not pay heed to your advice.”
He frowned. “I admit I thought you would see reason given time.”
I had been correct. All of this—everything—it had all been to prove himself correct, to feed his conceit, to purposefully mislead and hurt me. “I congratulate you on your superior judgment; you seem to understand my character better than even I do. Your efforts were not in vain; you have proved your point well. If there is nothing else, I will return inside.”
I didn’t wait for his response.
I found my father in the study precisely as Lord Williams had said. “How did you find the estate?” I asked, moving toward him.
“Lord Williams is a most attentive landlord. Not one of his tenants wants for necessities and comfort.”
“I am glad to hear he cares.”
My father frowned. “Is something the matter?”
“Being here, that is all. I’ll be in the music room. There were a few songs there I have not seen before.” And it was the only place other than my bedchamber where Lord Williams did not seem to bother me.
I worked my way through one song a few times, but my mind was only partially concentrating on the notes. How long must I stay here and face the humiliation of my own weaknesses? How long before my mother wrote, requesting our return? Alice had to get better soon. My mother’s letter would give us a better idea of Alice’s expected recovery than Louisa’s, since Louisa most certainly received her updates from Daniel.
I stopped the piece without finishing and began to softly play my mother’s favorite song, hoping like a child that the song would somehow carry to her and persuade her to write. It didn’t seem to be enough, though. My heart still ached for home. So I began to hum and finally to sing.
I sat after, my hands silent on the keys. Though I was no less alone than before, I felt as though she’d heard, as though she were just in the other room listening.
How I wished to be home.
I rose to retrieve a different song when low voices sounded in the hall, almost as though in an argument. The next moment, Lady Williams walked into the room. “That was beautiful, Miss Brinton. You don’t mind if I sit and listen, do you? It has been such a long time since we have enjoyed such superb music in this home.”
I set the piece I’d picked up back down. “Not at all.” It was her house, after all.
“Did you hear that, Gregory? For goodness’ sake, come in and sit down. There’s no point lurking in the hallway.”
Lord Williams walked in, his face a mask of disapproval. “I can’t stay. I was passing, that is all.”
“Nonsense, dear. You’ve been lingering for the past ten minutes. We Williamses never could resist music, could we?”
His frown deepened. “Excuse me, I have some business to attend to.”
“It can wait. Miss Brinton was about to sing us a new song.”
He sat in the chair his mother had indicated without looking at me. Embarrassed by his obvious reluctance to stay, I stepped away from the music. “In all honesty, I had not meant to be heard.”
“But you have such a lovely voice,” Lady Williams said. “What if Gregory joined you in a duet? It has been too long since I’ve heard him.”
I looked at him in surprise. He sang?
A movement outside the window drew my attention, but when I looked, nothing was there. I refocused on Lord Williams. Why couldn’t he be the