Page 23 of A Lady's Heart Deceived
“How long have you been in the army?”
Maggie prayed that it was a simple and innocuous enough question to begin their conversation. She had other things she wished to ask Piers, but her instincts told her to tread carefully. He knew more about her than she did him, and she suspected that was by design.
“I joined in eighteen fourteen, but to be honest, they didn’t actually expect me to see any real fighting. Becoming an officer was something that I felt obliged to do. If I had known what it would cost me, I would have said no. But there are some men in British society who you don’t ever refuse.”
Piers fell silent after that last remark. He had been pressured into joining the army and regretted it.
So much for an innocent question. A slow shake of his head was enough to let Maggie know she really ought to change the subject. Seek refuge in the calmer waters of small talk.
“Do you spend much time in town? I mean, socially. I ask because our paths have never crossed before, and I find that a little strange,” she blurted out.
This is so awkward.
“How is that strange? I mean, you have been out of circulation for some time. How can you not be surprised that we haven’t met before?”
Maggie bit down nervously on her bottom lip. Trying to conduct a conversation with Piers was harder than it really ought to be, and those dark brown eyes of his weren’t making it any easier.
But she rallied. Radleys were not known for backing down in any situation.
“I’m twenty-six years old, so I had been ‘out’ for some time before …”
She left the rest of it unsaid, not wishing to make mention of Robert in the current discussion. Until recently, he was all she could talk about. Now a shift was taking place—one which she couldn’t muster the energy to fight.
“I know your cousin, Alex, the Marquis of Brooke. And I also know your brother James. We were all at school at Eton at the same time. And while James is a few years younger than me, the age difference didn’t stop him from giving me a bloodied nose in a fight.”
Maggie let out a gasp of surprise. Piers knew James? And they had fought. This was an unexpected revelation.
Her interest stirred to excitement; Maggie leaned forward. She was eager to hear what else Piers had to say about her brother. “Don’t keep me in suspense—tell me everything. James was always saying how much of a saint he was at school. You must give me something to use against him,” she replied gleefully.
A laughing Piers wagged a finger at her. “Oh, no. I have a horrid feeling I shouldn’t have told you that. I expect I have just broken some ancient code of the school and will be struck down by lightning at any minute now.”
“You tease! How can you possibly tempt me with such scandalous gossip and then refuse to say any more? I demand you reveal every single sordid thing that you know about my brother. James has given Claire and I plenty of stick over the years when it came to our misdeeds. Revenge is long overdue.”
“And how will you pay for this information, Miss Radley? Gossip is the currency of theton, so it’s only fair that a trade should be made.”
The glint of mischief in his eye, sent heat racing down her spine. Maggie stopped laughing, tearing her gaze away. When had flirting with Piers become part of their connection? This was dangerous.
By playing these games, they were stepping well outside the boundaries of social propriety. Far beyond what she should be doing with a betrothed man.
If you were mine, I would never allow you to travel to Coventry with another woman.
If Piers was hers, the minute he proposed, Maggie would have made plans for them to be wed with all due haste. Snapped him up as fast as she could, and never let him go.
But he isn’t married.
If her mother had been correct in her take on the situation, Piers had been engaged for well over a year—something which was almost unheard of within London high society. Maggie didn’t know of any couples who’d waited so long to wed.
She would dearly love to ask him about his fiancée. About the woman he was yet to make his wife.
Small talk. Make small talk. Something safe to set things back on an even keel.
“It’s funny when you consider who knows who in our social circle, even if you and I have only just become acquainted. You know James from school. And my mother knows Lady Denford from the Queen’s court circle. But then again, Mama is on a first-name basis with just about everyone in theton. I doubt there are few people she doesn’t know.”
“I expect that comes from being the wife of the Bishop of London. Social gatherings must be a day-to-day proposition for her. And like with my mother, those things are ingrained from birth,” he replied.
Maggie shook her head. “Actually, my mother didn’t come from polite society. Her father was a professor at Cambridge University. That’s how my parents met. Papa was one of his theology students. But they didn’t really fall in love until after my father had graduated.”
The story of how Hugh Radley had saved Mary Gray from an almost penniless existence after Professor Gray’s death was one, she had heard many times. The romance which had finally blossomed at Strathmore Castle was one she had hoped to replicate herself. She wanted to share forever with someone special.
