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Chapter 30
When Margaret Thompson had been a girl, she would have found it outlandish ever to disobey her mother or father or go out of her way to be obstinate and rude. Now, as she sat beside the handsome and powerful Duke, watching her gorgeous and wretched niece hustle out of the dining room--seemingly uninterested in the enormous sacrifices Margaret had made throughout her life, nor in how those sacrifices now played up Margaret’s decision to assist Marta on her quest to glory—Margaret’s stomach churned with anger.
Now, it was left to her to assuage the Duke. He’d come there with Marta in mind, and now, she’d marched out of the dining room without lending him a last look of any sort of longing. No, it seemed clear that she wanted nothing to do with him. Still, Marta was young and multi-cultural and, generally, confused. Margaret wasn’t one to give up easily. If she were, she wouldn’t have made it as far as she had in this life.
Ewan’s lips had fallen open in genuine shock. Even Ewan, her silliest child, couldn’t believe how Marta had acted at the dinner table. Laura, that foolish Austrian child, continued to eat as though nothing had happened. If Margaret had had any sort of say in the matter, she would have kicked the girl out of her estate that moment. Still, her husband had told her time and time again, Margaret would officially ruin her relationship with Marta, should she require such an action. So, she powered through these wretched dinners with the likes of Laura. When she spoke English, Margaret’s stomach gurgled with anger. It was ridiculous how she could tear through the English language in such a manner. She made herself sound like a fool.
“I’m terribly sorry about my niece,” Margaret heard herself say, her cheeks burning.
Lord Remington arched his thick brow. “It’s nothing. I know she’s a difficult girl to understand.”
“I believe they do things differently in Austria,” Margaret continued. “It’s impossible for me to comprehend what she might do next.”
Ewan cleared his throat. Margaret and Lord Remington cast him dark looks. Ewan shrugged and said, “I suppose I’ll excuse myself.” As he left, he muttered to himself, “A man must know when he’s not wanted.” In Margaret’s mind, she wasn’t sure if Ewan spoke of himself or of Lord Remington.
Regardless, it didn’t matter much if Lord Remington was wanted or not. He would marry Marta, one way or another.
Laura continued to eat, seemingly without pleasure and without knowledge of the goings-on. Margaret rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t think she understands a word we say.”
“I don’t suppose so either,” Lord Remington said. He let out an ironic, unkind laugh. It was representative of Margaret’s feelings. “Regardless of her presence, I suppose we have a great deal to discuss.”
“I suppose we do,” Margaret said, heaving a sigh.
“Your Marta wants very little to do with me. It’s clear why that is. She’s rather taken with Baldwin Terrence,” Lord Remington said.
“I tried to rectify that. I had a discussion with Baldwin myself. He insisted that he wants nothing to do with her beyond friendship.”
“Yes, well. I imagine that’s not precisely true,” Lord Remington returned. “He seems the sort of man to lie and scheme his way to get what he most desires.”
“Baldwin?” Margaret whispered, a bit shocked. “I’ve known the boy throughout nearly his entire life. I can’t imagine that he…”
“It doesn’t matter what we can imagine here at this table, Margaret. We have the facts. Baldwin and Marta wish to be together, but I’m taken with Marta, and I know she will be my wife. I need something. Something to ensure she will eventually be mine.”
Margaret considered this, chewing her lower lip and feeling lost, a ship out to sea. She’d never envisioned this sort of conundrum, not when she’d initially dreamed up this match. At the time, she’d been incredibly proud of this decision, sensing that this would both please and impress her sister, so far away in Austria. Throughout their girlhood, they’d had a great deal of competition between them. When her sister had eventually moved across the continent, Margaret hadn’t been sure if that had meant she’d won or lost. Certainly, Margaret had been allowed to “keep” England but her sister had discovered a far different universe, a world Margaret could hardly visualise.
“I can’t envision a world in which Marta would choose Baldwin over yourself, My Lord,” Margaret tittered.
“We’ve arrived in that very world, Margaret. You must see it,” Lord Remington shot back. “Please, don’t bore me with your inability to think clearly. We must take positive action towards this unique goal.”
Margaret hummed and traced through her thoughts. Did she have something against Baldwin? Something that might remove him from the equation once and for all? Certainly, she’d known him countless years, enough to generate something dark against him.
Suddenly, the thought sprung up, like a seedling bursting from the soil, with all the optimism of becoming a tree.
“I’ve remembered something,” she said. Her eyes widened.
“What is it?” Lord Remington demanded, impatient. He tapped his lips with a napkin and studied her.
Margaret had the strangest impression that he detested looking at her. She supposed this was because she’d grown so incredibly old in previous years. Shestudied her face in the mirror and felt no passion.
“Baldwin is the first cousin to the Regent,” Margaret continued, attempting to press forward from this wretched thought.
“Is he?” Lord Remington returned, his eyebrows low. “Neither of them seem particularly interested in the other. It’s as though they’re complete strangers.”
“Oh, but they are,” Margaret returned. “They spoke a bit more often as children, but also recognised the distance between their sensibilities and kept a wide berth. Ironically, perhaps, I believe Marta to be entirely different from Baldwin. This difference seems to have brought them together…”
“I don’t wish to hear more about Marta’s stirring lust for Baldwin,” Lord Remington burned back.
“No, no. Of course not,” Margaret returned. “But the fact that Baldwin is the Regent’s first cousin brings us to a technicality. Officially, this means that Baldwin is required to follow the marriage act. In this case, he must receive permission from this regent to marry anyone at all.”
