Page 29 of A Lady's Heart Deceived
She put a hand to her face, praying it would cool down. Blushing like this was deeply embarrassing.
Change the subject. Ask him about his morning.
“How did your visit to the barracks go?” she asked.
Piers nodded. “Good. I discovered a few things. And then I paid a call to Holy Trinity Church, where they keep the parish registers. And that uncovered some interesting information.”
Elizabeth brushed a hand on Maggie’s arm. “I shall leave the two of you to talk. I had better go and check on the children. They are quiet, and that is never a good sign.”
As soon as she was gone, Piers ushered Maggie into the drawing room and closed the door. “The captain at the barracks confirmed that no regiments have been permanently based here for quite a few years, and he has no recollection of a Captain Taylor. But I did find a Robert Eustace Taylor in the births and baptisms at Holy Trinity Church. While we suspect that he may not have been an army captain, he certainly existed.”
Maggie wasn’t sure how she felt about that piece of news. Or if she found it to be any sort of comfort. The man who had captured her heart had lied to her. She had never really known him.
“There is also an address where his family lived when he was born. Number eighty-four, Little Park Street. It’s not too far from here, so I thought perhaps you and I could go for a walk. See if we can find anyone who might remember him, or even knock on the door and discover if the family still resides there. You did say you would like to meet Robert’s relatives,” said Piers.
She considered his offer for a moment. If the Taylor family did live at number eighty-four, and she came knocking on their door, what would she say?
Pardon me for coming to your house, but at one time I was actually betrothed to your late son. And by the way, did you know he pretended to be an army officer?
Maggie shook her head. There had to be another way to find out about his family. “Could we walk the street, and then you go and knock on the door? You could say you were an old army friend who just happened to be passing through Coventry.”
Her light mood of the morning was quickly dissipating, replaced by fear. Fear of what she might discover. Confronting the truth had her nerves on edge.
It was foolish to allow her emotions to sway back and forth. To let them feed on her insecurity.
When she met Piers’s gaze, he grimly nodded. “Alright, let’s do that. There is nothing to say that we cannot go back and visit the house again if you change your mind when we get there. I will be led by your needs.”
“Thank you. I know it all sounds rather silly, but I’m not sure how I would react if I happened to meet a member of the Taylor family. I might need a day or two to summon up the courage if they are indeed at that address. But yes, it cannot hurt to take a stroll past the house.”
His gaze drifted to the door. “How do you feel about us going now? I mean, strike while the iron is hot.”
Maggie could understand Piers’s reasons for wanting to follow through on his efforts of the morning. The sooner they knew, the sooner she could begin to deal with the truth. And then he could return to London.
“That’s a sensible idea. I shall go and get my cloak,” she said.
As she headed up to her room, Maggie’s heart was beating at a clip. Her mouth was dry. She had thought about this day for such a long time, practiced what she might say to Robert’s family, so it was surprising to discover she was more than a little anxious.
She stopped at the entrance to her room and clutched the wooden door jamb for support.
“Thank you, Lord, for sending me Piers. I don’t know if I could do this on my own.”
A few minutes later, they left the house and made their way down the hill. Turning right, they stepped into Earl Street, then walked over onto Little Park. At the corner, Maggie slowed her steps. She placed her hand flat on her chest, praying that her heart would stop beating so hard.
Oh no, please not today.
Piers brushed his hand over the back of her neck. While his fingers were warm, their touch still made her shiver.
She turned to face him. “There is something I should tell you. For a time, I suffered from strange nervous attacks where my breathing became labored, and I would feel giddy. The doctor called them widow’s wails, which I suppose fitted my mental state.”
“I’ve heard of similar things happening to soldiers on the battlefield. Of course, the military don’t openly discuss it. They regard a man affected in such a way to be a coward,” he said, placing a hand on her arm. “Thank you for telling me; I suspect that wasn’t an easy thing to do. I am here for you, Maggie. If there is any moment when you feel that this is all too much, you just have to say the word and we will go home.”
Maggie hadn’t wanted to confess her secret, but Piers deserved to know, just in case one of those attacks suddenly occurred. It had been more than a year since her last episode, brought on by stress. Right now, she couldn’t think of anything more stressful than possibly meeting the family of her dead fiancé.
No matter how much I don’t want to do this, I know I must. I have to face the past.
If she didn’t, she couldn’t ever be fully ready to move forward.
After taking a deep breath, Maggie straightened her shoulders. She gave Piers a tight smile. “Lead on.”
