Page 5 of A Lady's Heart Deceived
Piers had expected some repercussions from his terse letter to Miss Margaret Radley. What he hadn’t counted on was the recipient turning up on his doorstep and demanding a meeting. But considering the tone of his correspondence, and the lofty titles of her relatives, he wasn’t in any position to refuse her an audience.
He nodded to the private who had knocked on his door and announced Miss Radley’s arrival. “Please show Miss Radley in.”
Rising from his seat, he came around to the front of his desk, and made ready to receive his unexpected visitor.
His mental image of a haughty, sharp-edged daughter of thehaute tonshattered the second she stepped through the door, her black cloak billowing behind her.
While her attire might have been less than riveting, her gown an unappealing washed-out lilac, she more than made up for it with her stunning raven hair and piercing blue eyes. Piers rocked back on his heels as he took in the vision of loveliness which seemed to sail into the room. An apparition of elegant beauty which instantly took his breath away.
He quickly dusted his hands over his military jacket before standing stiffly to attention. He saluted. “Miss Radley. Captain Piers Denford, at your service.”
She halted mid-stride as their gazes met. Her lips moved silently for a second or two. It was almost as if she, too, were caught up in the moment. Taken aback by this encounter as much as he was.
Deuce. You are a beautiful woman.
Piers blinked himself out of his near stupor. He turned to his desk and began to clear papers away, making a space.
This place is a mess. I wish I didn’t have to work in this blasted department. All this paperwork it just keeps piling up.
It was times like this when he wished the army would hurry up and bring charges against him. Until he could clear his name, Piers would be chained to his paper laden desk.
He dumped a stack of the correspondence on a nearby chair before it suddenly dawned on him that he should have actually offered for Miss Radley to sit in it.
“Sorry. I won’t be but a minute,” he said, flustered. Scooping up the pile of letters once more, he searched frantically for somewhere to put them.
Miss Radley dropped her satchel onto the floor next to his desk and held out her arms. “Perhaps I could take them for you.”
Before he knew what his muddled mind was doing, Piers had handed them over. She carried the papers over to a small table which was tucked in an out-of-the-way corner of the room and placed them on it.
Piers was still trying to get his thoughts straight by the time she returned, his gaze lingering on her form as she bent and retrieved her satchel.
“I … I am so sorry for my unforgivably rude letter,” stammered Piers.
Miss Radley righted herself and gave him a shy smile. “I am the one who owes you an apology. When you said you had piles of letters stacked on your desk, I naturally assumed you were exaggerating the situation. But it is clear that you were speaking the truth. You are indeed a busy man.”
Placing her hand on the top of one of the tall piles, she sighed. “I expect there are hundreds of families all wishing to know what happened to their loved one. To their brave hero.”
“Three and a half thousand dead. Almost the same number missing. And that was just on the British and Allied forces side. From what I hear, the French lost at least twenty odd thousand. A bloody toll, by anyone’s count. Then you take in the battle which we fought at Quatre Bras two days earlier, and you can add another eight thousand to the tally of the dead.”
Her face paled.
Oh, sweet lord, what did you just say to her?
He was so used to quoting the figures to other officers and around the army barracks that Piers hadn’t thought twice about making mention of the terrible cost of the battles.
“I. Oh. I.”
Words failed him.
“It’s alright, Captain Denford. I am well aware of the terrible toll of the final campaign. I have several family members who fought in both encounters, and they have kindly given me a comprehensive account of what went on,” she replied.
Piers frowned; what fool told a young woman the gory details of battle? Especially one where her beloved fiancé was supposed to have perished.
He was still struggling to get his mental bearings when Miss Radley pulled up a chair and took a seat. She opened the satchel and withdrew a stack of papers. “As I said, I can see you are a busy man, so let me get straight to the purpose of my visit.”
Piers crossed around to the other side of the desk and sat. He accepted the notes from her. On the topmost piece of paper, a few details were written.
Captain Robert Eustace Taylor. Born City of Coventry. Date 1790?
