Page 20 of Lady for a Season
She was silent.
He shook his head and laughed again, but it had a sob within it. “Oh, thatiswhat you wanted. I must play a part. I must not fail or –”
“If you were married, if there were an heir…”
He stopped pacing and stared at her. “Married?”
“It would secure…”
He sat down in the window seat, legs suddenly weak under him, stared out over the gardens he had not seen in eight years. “I must play a part long enough to marry and sire an heir and then what? I can be safely locked away again?”
“If you marry and sire an heir, the title and the estate will be safe and you… if you feel able to take your place, you could…”
“Be free?”
Silence.
“You are allowing me a chance to escape my gaol? If I can do what you ask, if I can fool everyone, if I can behave myself well enough, then perhaps I will be allowed to remain free? Is that what this offer is?”
She looked down.
“I will take that as your assent.”
“Then you will do it?”
“I have one request.”
“Anything.”
“I need Maggie here.”
“Who?”
“Maggie. She is at Ivy Cottage. Bring her here.”
“We cannot have someone here who knows –”
“I cannot do this without her.”
“Why?”
He could think of many reasons, but one above all. “Because she is the only person who cares for me.”
“She –”
He held up a hand to stop her. “I cannot do any of what you are asking without her.” His voice cracked and his eyes welled up despite himself. “Bring her to me or I will truly run mad.” He felt his breathing grow rapid, so that he was panting, a dizziness creeping over him.
She took a step backwards.
“Send for Maggie,” he repeated, turning his back on her so that she might not see the tear that was rolling down his face. “I will not leave this room until you do.”
He heard the swishing silk of her skirts as she left the room. Would she send for Doctor Morrison, to have him locked away again? Or for Maggie, to set him free? He leant against the cold wall, touched the peeling paper. Could he do it, even with Maggie by his side? Could he do what was being asked of him, after eight years locked away? He did not know, yet he had to try.This was the first time he had been offered a chance to escape, to reach out for a different life, to be free of the word he had been tarred with.
Lunatic.
Could he escape that word now? It might be his only chance, but without Maggie, he would fail. He needed her strength to find his own.
He needed her here.
