Page 62 of A Lady's Heart Deceived
And hopefully, Maggie would fall for it as hard as he had fallen for her.
Chapter Forty
Late that night, Maggie dressed in her warmest gown, then put on her cloak and gloves. November in England could be chilly enough during the day, but at night, it was positively freezing. Closing her bedroom door slowly so that it barely made a click, she quietly made her way downstairs.
As she reached the ground floor, a figure stepped out of the shadows. Piers beckoned her over. In his arms he held a heavy coat and scarf. “Your cloak won’t keep you warm enough for where we are going. Put these on.”
He handed her the coat. It was a gentleman’s greatcoat made of fine wool. Maggie rid herself of her cloak, dropping it onto a nearby chair. She slipped her arms into the coat and buttoned it up, leaving the top open.
Piers wrapped the scarf around her neck, then tucked it inside the lapels. Maggie fastened the last of the buttons.
The coat was long, heavy, and reached right to her ankles. She held her arms out while Piers rolled the cuffs up. It was like being a small child and having your maid adjust your clothing—except her family maid had been nothing like the handsome male who was currently attending to her attire.
This is the sort of night walking I like—dressed warmly and fully awake.
“There. How is that?” he asked.
She moved her body inside the enormous coat. There was plenty of room. As her nose brushed up against the lapel, she caught the trace of his manly scent. She took a deep breath in. It was unmistakably Piers.
“Is this your coat? The one you have been wearing while on our trip?” she asked.
“Yes, it is.” He pointed to Maggie’s coat and then to the one he was wearing. “I bought two of them when I went first went into the army. It’s not part of the official uniform, but they are a lot warmer than the coat they expected us to wear.”
She couldn’t fail to notice the edge of annoyance in his voice. Piers hadn’t been made for the army, for taking orders. That much was clear. He was a man with his own opinions, and Maggie could just imagine how being under someone else’s command would chafe at him.
The whole question of why he was still in the military was one he had not fully answered. There was more to it than mere unfinished business. He was unhappy. Frustrated with his life.
“I expect you got into a spot of trouble from some of the other senior officers for refusing to wear the army-issued uniform,” she said.
He snorted. “There is nothing issued about it. Officers are expected to purchase their own clothing. The logic, of course, being that if a man has the blunt to buy a commission into the British Army, he can certainly afford a woolen coat.”
And Piers being Piers, had settled on something that wasn’t quite the standard offering for a captain.
Well, done. Don’t let anyone ever try to stop you from being you.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
She nodded and followed him to the front door, a bubble of excitement bouncing around in her stomach. Sneaking out of the house while their parents were fast asleep upstairs was something her siblings and Radley family cousins had done many a Christmas at Strathmore Castle.
Piers stopped at the door. There was a rucksack, lit lantern, and blanket sitting on the floor. He bent and picked up the bag, then collected the lantern. Maggie recognized the blanket. It was the same one they had taken with them on their outing to Kenilworth Castle.
She scooped it up in her arms, determined that Piers was not going to carry everything.
Outside, he hoisted the rucksack on his back, then glanced up at the sky. It was mostly clear, with only a half moon shining its light on the formal garden which sat at the front of the main house. Maggie appreciated the colorful shrubs and carefully edged paths. It reminded her of home.
She missed her family, but these moments alone with Piers held a special significance of their own. They were full of promise. Her heart whispered all manner of sweet imaginings whenever they were close.I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right this minute.
A bank of dark gray clouds hung in the sky a little way off. Hopefully, they were distant enough not to spoil their evening expedition.
“Are those clouds going to cause us any problems?” she said, pointing at them.
“Not if we leave now. Though I must warn you that the weather in this part of the country can change quite quickly. And the last thing we need is to get caught in a rainstorm. There is a barn partway to the clearing, so if it does start to rain, we can shelter there.”
A secluded barn. How convenient.
Maggie silently began to pray for rain.
Piers patted the bag slung over his shoulder. An excited grin sat on his lips; he was like a small child on Christmas morning. His enthusiasm was charming. “I have a telescope and the latest copy of the Nautical Almanac in here. The guidebook has all the calendars and star maps we will need. I spent some of this afternoon studying it.”
