She marched over to the plant, taking a frond and inspecting it. “This is new. And the flowers, and... Where did those sweetmeats come from?”
A bowl of individually wrappedbomboonshad been perched on an armrest. Lemon-flavored, by the looks of it. Eliza’s favorite treat.
None of this had appeared by accident. Margaret turned to her mother in horror.
“You purchased all of this while I was gone, took advantage of my absence to go on a spending spree,” Margaret shouted, a pit forming in her stomach. “How much did this all cost? Worse still, what other luxuries will I find elsewhere in the house?”
“Don’t you take that tone with me,” Katherine said, pointing at Margaret. “I am your mother, Margaret. Your budgeting has been too extreme. And I am sorry to say, but I will stand for it no longer, regardless of your good intentions. And these are not luxuries, as you so callously dub them. These are the necessities of life – the things that make one’s life worth living.”
Margaret was so angry she could have screamed, doing quick calculations in her mind. Six months of economizing and careful planning had been dashed away in two weeks by her mother.
“No.” Margaret shook her head, clutching her stomach. “The necessities of life are sufficient food and heat. Not sweetmeats, and not roses. How do you expect us to finance the next months of our lives?”
She pressed her eyes shut, thinking. Suddenly, she was struck with clarity, eyes flashing back open.
“Has Baron Faversham been here?”
Katherine pursed her lips, then sighed as she straightened her skirts. “The Baron is in London, yes. And he has called upon us – that much I shall admit.”
“And evidently, something happened to prompt such frivolous spending from you. You have been led to believe that these treats are things we can afford, which means...” Margaret gasped. “You told him I would marry him, didn’t you? You signed me away while I was in Wiltshire.”
Her mother’s silence was all the answer she needed. The pit in Margaret’s stomach closed in on itself, and she sank into the nearest seat. Mrs. Cooper darted to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. Was this as much of a shock to her as to Margaret? It must have been. Her mother might have betrayed her, but never Cooper.
Katherine rose and walked toward her. “If you expect me to apologize?—”
“What good would that do? An apology from you will not undo what you have done.” Margaret snapped her head up, spooking Mrs. Cooper, who took her hand away. The healed mark on her cheek prickled as if it were a fresh injury. “But there is no use wasting my anger on this. My betrothal to Lord Faversham would have come about one way or another.”
“You mean...?”
“Yes. When I was in Wiltshire, I decided that accepting Baron Faversham’s proposal would be the most realistic course of action. I intended to write him the moment I returned, once I had told you the news.”
“Oh.” Katherine sounded surprised, then relieved. All her manipulation had been for nothing. “Oh, well... Then there is nothing to be cross with one another about, you’re right. I merely nudged the situation forward in your stead to help you. But it is clear to me now that I have done you a favor, merely saved you the ink and paper, that you and I were always on the same side. Oh, most joyous day...”
Margaret did not have the energy to argue. There was no use correcting her mother. She was still guilty of betraying her.
“It was nevertheless reckless to purchase all of this.” Margaret thought back to the Duke of Langley’s words. They had been haunting her ever since she had left his estate. “Baron Faversham may have promised you an easy life as his new mother-in-law, but words are cheap, and we should not forget it. It remains to be seen if he is as generous as he claims to be.”
“Meg, you have such a pessimistic outlook on people. This is not how I raised you.” Katherine crossed the room to stand before Margaret, smiling. Had she forgotten about their rejection from society? It was the truth that people were mostly awful. “The Baron is a gentleman who will not go back on his word. He willmarry you, and we will be saved. Everything will be exactly as it once was.”
Katherine laughed, causing Margaret to look up.
“What’s tickled you now?” Margaret asked flatly.
“I am just so very glad I did not listen to Eliza. While you were gone, she swore you would return with a handsome young husband from Salisbury – a prince, she said, who would save you from the dragon. Little girls and their imaginations... She is an incorrigible dreamer, so persuasive that I almost began to regret my invitation to Baron Faversham. But Wiltshire was entirely uneventful, wasn’t it? Just as I expected.”
Margaret puffed out her cheeks, her mind flashing with the duke’s serious face.
“Not entirely uneventful,” she said. “But there were certainly no interested princes.”
“How can you stand to eat those?” Margaret asked Eliza, nodding at her breakfast. “When I was your age, just the sight of deviled kidneys made me sick.”
Eliza frowned, pointing at Margaret’s plate. “You’re eating them now.”
“So observant.” Margaret pinched Eliza playfully under the table, and her sister squealed. “Now I am a grown woman, and my tastes have changed. And I cannot subsist on cake alone, as much as I might wish to.”
“Was there cake in Wiltshire?” Eliza asked, prodding her kidneys with her fork. Her blonde ringlets had been neatly organized with a pink ribbon to match her dress – the best she owned.
“There wasalwayscake. Lady Jane has an insatiable sweet tooth. Her cook makes fresh pastries every morning for breakfast, and Lady Jane always takes sweetmeats with her tea, and then eats more cake before she retires to bed. She says it’s dire for one’s health to go to sleep on an empty stomach, and that eating a lot of sugar helps one’s humors immensely.”
