Page 34 of A Lady's Heart Deceived
“Robert Taylor is alive. He has a wife, and a growing brood of children,” announced Piers.
Elizabeth gasped. “Dear Lord, that is awful. I mean, he’s alive, which I suppose is good news. But the rest of it, oh, Maggie—you poor girl.”
She rose from her chair, but Maggie waved her away. Comfort and condolences were the last thing she needed right this minute. She was determined to be as cold as stone—not to give in to her emotions and most certainly not cry. The friendly warmth that Elizabeth would surely offer might well shatter Maggie’s resolve.
Jonathan slowly shook his head. “That dirty rotten cad. Why would he do such a heinous thing?”
Maggie suspected she knew the answer. Money. If she and Robert had gone ahead and married, then he would have had access to her dowry. To more wealth than he would have ever known in his life.
I can’t believe he would have been so blind as to think his past wouldn’t catch up with him.
Putting a hand to her mouth, she swallowed down a lump of bile. If they had married, she would have become the unlawful wife of a bigamist. At some point, the truth would surely have come to light, and once exposed, their marriage would have been stripped of all dignity and legal standing.
She would have been forever ruined in the eyes of polite society. Any children they may have been blessed with, condemned as the illegitimate offspring of a wicked union.
The shocking scandal would likely have seen her father forced to relinquish his post as Bishop of London. The Church of England couldn’t have its third-most powerful member being the sire of a fallen woman.
And poor Claire. No respectable man would want to marry a girl whose family was so badly tainted by disgrace.
Her sister’s prospects for a good marriage would have disappeared in an instant. The scandal would have destroyed both Maggie and her family.
Had Robert got cold feet? Was that why he had gone through with the elaborate ruse of going off to war and dying? The letter she had received was probably penned by his own hand.
“I expect Robert Taylor had his sights set firmly on the money and power that being connected to the Radley family would have brought him. He got a taste of a better life, but couldn’t go through with it,” Piers said.
Nausea rose fast in Maggie’s stomach and her throat. “Perhaps we shall be granted more of an insight into Robert and his sordid motivations tomorrow. He has agreed to meet with Piers and me at the King’s Head. Now, if you would please excuse me, I must go and lie down,” she said.
On her way to the door, Maggie stopped at Piers’s side. She reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you,” she whispered.
She wanted to say more, but the presence of his relatives had her holding back the words. As long as Piers knew she was grateful, the rest of the conversation could wait until they were alone and able to talk privately.
He leaned in close. “If it is alright, I will come and check on you a little later. I’m worried about you, Maggie.”
Her heart gave a little pitter-patter as she took in the earnest expression of concern on Piers’s face. There was a tender warmth in his regard which suggested he was more than just concerned about the state of her health. And she certainly wasn’t unaware of the change in a man’s countenance when his mind shifted from polite interest in a woman to the early stages of attraction.
“I shall be fine. But yes, please, come and see me in an hour or so. Hopefully, I will feel better once I have had a short nap.”
Captain Piers Denford was fast becoming her hero. He cared about her—that much was obvious. They had moved past the point of being merely acquaintances and travelling companions. The bond between them was strong.
In Piers, Maggie had found the one person who truly understood her predicament. The one in whom she could place her trust.
What she couldn’t trust, however, were her growing feelings for him.
Piers met with his brother a short time later in Jonathan’s study. His pangs of guilt over not including Elizabeth were tempered by the knowledge that she would understand that the tone of the conversation might not be socially polite.
Jonathan closed the door behind him. “Bloody hell. How did you keep from throttling the filthy dog? If it were me, I don’t think I could have stayed my hand.”
“Maggie fainted when she saw him the first time. All I wanted to do was get her safely back here. We were partway home when he caught up with us. To say he was cocksure of himself, and condescending would be an understatement,” replied Piers.
“I would have punched him there and then,” said Jonathan.
If Maggie hadn’t been in such a precarious state, Piers most certainly would have hit Robert. “I’m still in two minds as to whether I should go around to his house right now and have it out with him. He needs a bloody good thrashing. But I can’t do that—especially not in front of his wife and children,” replied Piers.
Catherine Taylor might well be clueless as to the sort of man her husband was, and if she was oblivious to his duplicity, she certainly didn’t deserve to find out the truth from an angry stranger. Her children and delicate condition had to be considered. There were other innocents aside from Maggie involved in this whole saga.
“What are the chances that Taylor will show his face tomorrow? Who is to say he won’t undertake a midnight flit out of the city?” said Jonathan.
The very same notion had crossed Piers’s mind. But he had moved on from that point, from thoughts of bloody revenge to worrying about Maggie and how she was feeling right now. He wanted her to know he would do everything he could to help her get through the rest of today, as well as be standing by her side tomorrow when she met with her former love.
