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Jane constricted her brow. “Is this true?”
“If you ask me, he most likely… went for a game of cards.”
The cook remained mum, but no doubt, she had heard of such things before. “Does he have the meat?” Jane asked.
Margaret’s mouth dropped open in shock. She brought her hands to her cheeks and felt her heart beat wildly. “Oh, heavens! I forgot it.”
Did Margaret leave it in the field? Did she drop it when John kissed her? Oh, she needed to return to the very place where they walked because her father would be considerably cross with her if he found out.
“Margaret, how could you forget it?”
She bit her lower lip. “I… haven’t a clue. But if we return to the field this very moment, I am sure that it is still there.”
Margaret turned quickly and anxiously, wanting to fix the situation at once. But there, in the doorway, stood John, holding the sack in his hand. “You forgot this,” he said softly.
Margaret looked to Jane, then back again to John. Finally, she stepped in and took the sack from his hands. “This was kind of you,” Margaret said, a tinge of guilt in her voice.
“It was no trouble.”
“Brother, how did you know that she misplaced it.”
John cleared his throat, no doubt feeling just as guilty as Margaret did. “Margaret was left alone at the butcher shop, and I happened to be passing by.”
Jane’s voice was imbued with irony. “How convenient.”
“I do not know what she would have done had I not been there.”
“She would have walked home by herself,” Jane admonished. “Or she would have summoned a hackney-coach.”
Margaret gazed towards the ground, knowing full well that Jane was judging her. So be it. It was one of the most extraordinary afternoons of Margaret’s life! She could not apologize for that.
“I should be going,” John said.
“Yes, that is best, Brother. The viscount could be home at any moment.”
John still gazed into Margaret’s eyes, and she was in awe of the audacity of it. “Are you sure you would not care for a cup of tea before you go,” the cook said from the stove.
“It is best if I do not. Margaret, Jane, good afternoon.”
With that, John departed, and Margaret felt bereft once more! How was it that every time that he left, she felt all of her cares and worries swiftly return?
“Come, Margaret. Let us get you dressed for tea this afternoon.”
“Very well.”
With that, Margaret and Jane retired to Margaret’s chambers, and it was clear where the conversation would lead to next. “Were you not going to tell me?” Jane asked.
“I knew that you would be cross with me.”
Jane closed the door to the room and said, “Margaret, what do you think you are doing? This is dangerous, the game that you are playing.”
“It was innocent enough. John just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
“Or the wrong place at the wrong time.” Jane shook her head. “If your father catches wind of this, it could be perilous. He could banish my brother from Pelham Downs for the foreseeable future.”
Margaret muttered under her breath. “It does not seem like you want him here anyhow.”
Jane sighed weightily and walked over to Margaret’s wardrobe closet. “I do want him here. I love my brother, but I do not know if he is the right person for you to be seeing right now.”
