Page 85 of A Lady's Heart Deceived
Piers stared at the letter. After all he had been through, it was finally over.
A gentle hand on his arm stirred him from his musings. He met the sapphire-blue eyes of his wife. All thoughts of the army and how badly they had treated him melted away at the sight of Maggie.
“It’s over. They have granted me an honorable discharge,” he said, his voice lacking emotion.
“That’s what you wanted. Congratulations, my love. You are officially a free man.”
Piers gazed at the letter once more. Maggie was right; this was what he had wanted. What he had feared he may never receive. He was no longer an officer; he was just Piers Denford.
“I’m finding it a little difficult to believe. In truth, my army career ended the day I walked out of the Horse Guards, but actually seeing my notice of discharge, holding it in my hand, makes it now real.”
Maggie rose up on her toes and gave Piers a kiss on the cheek. He turned and stole one from her lips. Kissing his wife was fast becoming one of his favorite hobbies.
“Now, open the other letter and let’s see what the news is from Brussels. By the way, who is in Brussels?” Maggie asked.
Piers dropped the letter from the Duke of York onto the table. Later, he would find a safe place for it.
Maggie tried to snap the seal of the second letter in the same way as Piers had done the first, but she only succeeded in ripping the page. With a huff of disgust, she handed it to him. “They must have put a special seal on it to make sure it survived the long journey.”
The seal broke cleanly for Piers, and he let out a gleeful, “Huzzah!” Even Maggie’s playful batting of his arm couldn’t quell his mirth.
Every moment with this woman is a delight.
He scanned the second letter, taking in the salient points. “It’s from the Prince of Orange. He says he and his good lady wife have been busy with continuing the remodeling and decorating of Soestdijk Palace. I expect that will have cost his father some serious blunt.”
And now, King Willem was going to keep spending money on what Piers suspected would surely be a magnificent monument to his son. Something impressive that would forever mark his place on the battlefield at Waterloo.
He wasn’t entirely certain how he felt about that. Thousands had died on that rain- soaked battle ground, but only the prince was going to get a public shrine to his heroics.
“The Prince of Orange also mentions how well his son is doing, and that he and the princess are hoping for another child in the new year.”
Rumors of the prince conducting yet another extra-marital affair with a gentleman had reached Piers, but he wasn’t going to make mention of it. Nothing was going to dampen his day. Nor the spark of happiness which shone in Maggie’s eyes.
You are so beautiful. I am truly blessed.
“Oh, and they are staying in Brussels. Apparently, the princess prefers it to Amsterdam. It’s more like her home in Russia.”
That explained the postmark of Brussels on the front of the letter. Piers quickly ran his eye over the rest of the missive, not caring to take much of it in.
The second letter joined the first on the breakfast table. He might read the rest of it someday. Perhaps not.
“Are you done with breakfast, my petal?” he asked.
Maggie snorted. “My petal. Are you serious?”
In the week since they had been married, Piers had been trying various terms of endearment for his wife. Petal was his latest offering.
“Well, you are a precious flower. I thought it rather sweet,” he replied.
She drew close, her hand settling on the top of his trousers. “You don’t like sweet. Well, that is what I’m sure you said in the early hours of this morning,” she purred.
He kept his gaze on her. “Please tell me there are no footmen in here.”
She slowly shook her head, and his relief was palpable. “I sent them away while you were fetching the mail. Thought we could do with some privacy. If you get my meaning.” She batted her long black eyelashes at him and offered up a knowing grin. His wife was incorrigible.
Piers was sorely tempted. But he had paperwork to do this morning.Later.He promised himself.
“Alright, petal goes on the discard pile. We are going to have to come up with something. I can’t just call you Maggie whenever I look into your eyes.”
