Page 64 of A Lady's Heart Deceived
Behind him, Maggie trudged through the grass. Her silence gnawed at Piers. He could just imagine her trying to find ways to broach the subject of him still being in the army. Of the truth behind why the military were keeping him.
Maggie wasn’t blind to his discomfort; nor did he suspect she was going to leave things well alone for any length of time. He hadn’t known her all that long, but patience was definitely not one of her strengths. In this situation, however, he couldn’t fault her. They were both paying the price for Piers having waited too long for the Prince of Orange to put pen to paper.
I just don’t know how much of it I should tell her. Or if, indeed, I should say anything.
He slowed his steps, allowing Maggie to catch up. If she fell too far behind, she would be out of range of the light from the lantern and not be able to see where her feet were about to tread.
“You said the skies over Scotland are stunning when it comes to stargazing,” he said.
“Yes, they are,” she replied.
Please can we just talk about the stars?
“Sometimes we go up my uncle’s old hunting lodge. It’s a wonderful place. You have to traverse a path which runs through a narrow gap in the side of Strathmore Mountain. It has high rock walls on either side. At the end, it eventually opens up into a natural amphitheater surrounded by more high stone walls. There is a lake in the middle of it. We call it the Key because if you were an eagle flying over, it would look like a keyhole.”
“Sounds fascinating.”
“That’s the best place for watching the sky. The rock walls protect you from the winds on the mountain, and on summer nights, you can lay out for hours watching the heavens.”
A pang of guilt stabbed at Piers. He was avoiding the difficult conversation and instead investing his energies in something which he hoped would keep Maggie from asking him any more questions.
They crossed the field and climbed the low rise to the clearing they had visited earlier in the day. Piers set the lantern down while Maggie spread the blanket out on the grass. He took the brass Dollond telescope and tripod from out of the rucksack and set them up on a flat piece of ground.
“What constellations have you been able to spot from here?” she asked.
“Quite a few. Tonight, I am hoping we will find the Winter Hexagon. It might be a little early for it, but you never know.”
“Ah, yes. So, for that, we need Orion’s Belt,” she replied. Maggie lifted her gaze to the heavens and slowly turned. “There is Orion.” She pointed upward and toward the southeast.
He followed where her hand was directed, nodding when he spied the hourglass shape of Orion. “Come and have a look through the telescope. You should be able to see the three stars of Orion’s Belt. They will point you to Sirius, which is the first star in the hexagon.”
“And also, one point in the Winter Triangle,” she replied.
He swiveled the telescope to face toward the southeastern sky and began searching for Sirius. Maggie came and stood next to him. Piers stepped aside and let her look through the lens.
She shifted the telescope barely an inch, then exclaimed. “I have you!”
The fact that she was able to find the star within a matter of seconds shouldn’t have come as any surprise. Maggie waved her hand, beckoning Piers closer. “That is Sirius. And if you look around it, you can see all those other faint stars which comprise this part of the Milky Way.”
She drew back, allowing Piers to take her place at the telescope. Through the lens, he could make out the bright star. “It’s fascinating to think that we are looking up at the same constellations that the ancients did,” he observed.
“Yes, and they really believed that the gods were living in the stars. And while I’m particularly fond of Greek mythology, you have to go a long way to beat the Norse gods. They were fierce creatures.”
“I’m rather partial to the nine realms. I could imagine myself living quite happily in Asgard,” replied Piers.
Next to him, Maggie softly chuckled. “Yes, all that feasting, and drinking would suit you perfectly. I can just see you as being Odin, the god of alcohol.”
Piers shot her a sideways glance. “Has anyone ever told you that you are an impertinent young lady, Miss Margaret Radley?”
She clapped her hands together and continued to laugh. “More people than I care to count. Perhaps even more than all the stars in the sky.”
You really are a delight. I love being here with you.
I love you.
Those three words pulled Piers up sharp. It was clear that his heart had decided it would no longer remain silent. It demanded to have its voice heard.
These moments alone with Maggie were wonderful, when the silly banter between them made him forget all his worries. If only it could always be like this—sharing the simple, fun things in life. Being with this woman, was his heart’s greatest desire.
