Page 23 of Marriage Most Scandalous
“Go to the devil, you odious man!”
Was that laughter she heard? No, just her imagination. She remembered that Sebastian Townshend had forgotten how to laugh.
Chapter 12
Abrisk autumn wind tugged at the skirt of Margaret’s riding habit as she walked to the stable. An avid horsewoman, she owned quite a few riding habits, one for each day of the week, and had had to restrain herself from buying even more. Edna had laid out the emerald green one for her today and attached white and green lace streamers to the top hat she wore with it.
She was quite fashionably clad, but there was no one around to appreciate it. She sighed. She’d overslept this morning. She hadn’t been able to sleep last night because she’d been so angry with Sebastian and appalled at her own behavior. She still couldn’t believe she’d tossed her good breeding out the door and thrown her dinner napkin at him. The man addled her, plain and simple.
When she’d gone downstairs this morning, the house had been quiet. Florence and Gussie had probably gone shopping in Edgeford to restock the pantry, now that she was home. A few pastries had been left in the dining room, and she’d grabbed two and wrapped them in a napkin, one for her and one for her mare Sweet Tooth.
Before she went to Europe, Daniel Courtly had been in the habit of joining her each morning on her ride. She supposed she ought to send word to him that she was home. She’d been gone so long, though, he might have started courting someone else in the neighborhood.
There were a number of ladies still available in their small social circle to whom he might have switched his attention. Actually, the circle wasn’t that small anymore. A prime location, close enough to London to make traveling there a short jaunt, but even closer to the coast and the cliffs that offered such magnificent views, the area surrounding Edgeford had received a moderate influx of new neighbors over the years who either built new homes or bought existing properties they could expand. And many of them followed Alberta Dorrien’s lead.
For a good fifteen years now, Alberta, with the esteemed title of dowager duchess, had been the social matriarch of the neighborhood, entertaining frequently, including not one but two grand balls each year that drew the ton from London. Margaret had missed Alberta’s summer ball this year while she was traveling in Europe. She’d met Daniel at one of Alberta’s earlier balls.
She sighed over Daniel. She had been selfish in continuing her friendship with him when she had no intention of marrying him. Although he was quite suitable for a husband, her feelings for him didn’t run in that direction. She liked him. She felt they were friends. Their humor was compatible. But he didn’t excite her. And so she didn’t encourage him, flirt, or otherwise lead him to believe she’d like their relationship to progress to the next stage, which was probably why he’d never made any serious overtures toward her. Perhaps they were just friends and she had only imagined that he’d been courting her.
Ned, the head groomsman, led Sweet Tooth out of the stable as Margaret approached. She was surprised that she didn’t need to wait.
“You didn’t keep her saddled all this time, did you?” she asked, her tone slightly scolding.
“No, m’lady,” he assured her. “Edna sent word that you were coming down.”
“Did she?”
Margaret was distracted by her mare, who’d gotten the scent of her and ripped her reins from the groom’s hand to reach Margaret sooner. She was nearly butted to the ground by the mare’s affection.
“She’s really missed you,” Ned was saying. “She pined something terrible that first month you were gone. Barely ate. Tried to bite me every time I got near her. I finally had to bribe her with sweets to behave.”
Margaret had to do the same, and quickly offered Sweet Tooth both pastries to get her to settle down. It helped only marginally. The mare was scolding her and greeting her in her own unique way.
“I’d suggest you ride her immediately,” Ned said. “She’s too excited by your return to stay still. Ian will only be a moment. He’s saddling up now.”
Another of the White Oaks’ grooms, Ian was her regular escort, which was necessary because Daniel usually accompanied her on her rides. “I’ll just take a quick turn about the grounds to get the wind out of her, and come back for Ian.”
“A good idea,” Ned agreed and offered Margaret a heft up, which she accepted.
Goodness, she was barely in the saddle when Sweet Tooth took off at a gallop. She loved her horse, but sometimes the mare showed her Thoroughbred breeding too much. She came from a line of prominent racers, so prominent that Margaret was contacted several times a year by breeders who wanted to bring their best studs to the mare. She refused them all. She wasn’t going to let her favorite mount become too fat to ride.
She lost her hat on that brief race around the house. At least she didn’t lose her perch. It had been close. Sweet Tooth had gone too long without a good ride. Retrieving the hat, but not bothering to attempt to place it back on her head at the right angle, she swung by the front of the house to drop it off before she collected Ian. And got detained.
Daniel was there at her front door knocking when she rode up. His smile was nearly blinding when he saw her.
“Good God, Maggie, I was beginning to think you were never coming home!”
She blushed as she dismounted. Daniel never called her Maggie. Only the people who’d known her for most of her life did. And she couldn’t imagine how he’d picked up on her childhood name when she couldn’t recall even a single time he’d heard her called that. Which meant he was giving her what he thought was a personal nickname, which was too personal for their relationship. Goodness, what could he have been thinking while she was gone?
Daniel Courtly was a fine-looking man. Blond, blue eyed, with a tall, strapping body. He was quite handsome, actually, more so than she recalled. Perhaps it was the new mustache that he hadn’t sported previously. It gave him a somewhat dashing, rakish air.
She smiled. “It’s good to see you, Daniel. How did you know I was home?”
“Found out early this morning when I came by. I’ve been in the habit of stopping by a few times each week just to check if you’d returned. I never expected you to be gone so long!”
“Neither did—”
She didn’t get to finish, because she had the breath knocked out of her by his unexpected and highly improper bear hug. A rough one, too. First the horse, now this. So much mauling in one morning was a bit much!
