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Chapter One
Maggie Worthington sat sideways with her legs hanging over the arm of the chair, swinging them back and forth. How much longer must she endure listening to her mother plan her debut? Hopefully the torture would end soon. She longed to slide into her breeches and ride her horse, Penelope. The days of idling her time away with lengthy rides across the estate and helping in the stables with the horses would end once she reached London.
When she turned eighteen last year, her world had come to a crashing halt. However, her sister-in-law, Evelyn, had taken pity on her and convinced her mother to wait another year before they presented Maggie to society.
Her mother realized if Maggie’s entrance was successful, then it would be difficult to find grooms for her older sisters, Eden and Noel, since they had yet to wed. But after a year, Noel found herself engaged, and her mother refused to wait any longer for Maggie to have a season. Her mother feared the longer Maggie remained out of society, the more difficult it would be for her to tame her daughter’s carefree behavior.
Even now, her mother glared her disapproval at her abandoned manners. Maggie imagined her mother reprimanding her. Margaret Ann, sit like a proper lady this instant.
When her mother arched an eyebrow, Maggie sat up straight and placed her feet on the floor. She brushed out her skirts and smiled serenely at her mother. Her mother nodded her approval and continued her conversation with Evelyn.
Evelyn offered Maggie a kind smile, understanding her behavior because Evelyn’s sister Charlotte Sinclair, Charlie to her family and friends, suffered the same affliction as Maggie. She longed for the open skies and fresh air. Evelyn was Maggie’s biggest supporter, showing her mother and older brother Reese how they should handle Maggie differently than Eden and Noel. Her other brother, Graham, helped whenever he came to visit to keep them from making her into a proper lady. She missed him, and he was the only promising aspect of her upcoming visit to London.
“Gam, Gam, Gam,” Mina chanted, toddling into the parlor.
Maggie swept Mina into her arms. “Yes, I miss Graham too.”
Mina pointed at the door and kept singing, “Gam, Gam, Gam.”
Everyone laughed at her silliness. Evelyn held out her arms, and Maggie passed Mina off. Her niece’s arrival gave Maggie the perfect distraction to sneak away. Evelyn and Reese’s daughter, her mother’s only grandchild, kept her mother occupied enough to forget about her youngest child. Maggie must remember to reward Mina with a biscuit later.
She started backing out of the parlor, prepared to stop if anyone caught her, and almost made her escape when she bumped into somebody.
“Sneaking away, are you, squirt?” Graham whispered in her ear.
Maggie turned around, squealing her excitement. “Graham!” She threw herself into his arms.
Graham swung his sister around, laughing at her greeting. “Glad to see you, too.”
“Save me,” she whispered.
Graham chuckled. “Ahh, still dramatic, I see.”
“They are planning my debut.”
Graham gasped in shock. “How dare they?”
Maggie punched him in the arm once she realized he held no sympathy for her. “Not you too.”
“It is past time, my dear.”
Maggie scowled. “If your intention is not to help save me, then what is the reason for your visit?”
Graham gave her a devious smile. “Why, to join the torture.”
Maggie punched him again and returned to her seat to sulk. It wasn’t until her mother greeted her brother that she noticed Graham wasn’t alone. A gentleman stood by his side, watching Graham interact with his family. When he noticed Maggie’s gaze on him, he winked at her before returning his attention to her mother while Graham made the introductions.
Maggie wasn’t one to blush, but her face grew warm from the gentleman’s bold stare. Throughout the years, she’d spent time with a variety of men, from a gentleman to a stable hand. Granted, her brothers or some member of Evelyn’s family were always present, and the encounters revolved around horseflesh. However, none of them had affected her senses as this stranger.
He held himself with confidence and found amusement in her family’s antics. He even wore a warm smile when Mina captured everyone’s attention again with her chant about her uncle. Maggie’s gaze drifted over his features, and she noted his firm chin, dark hair that he kept cut short, a smile showcasing a set of dimples that probably charmed many ladies far and wide. Her gaze traveled lower to his wide shoulders and broad chest, and when her eyes continued their perusal to inspect his—
“Margaret.” Reese interrupted her scrutiny.
Maggie raised her chin and stared at her brother as if she had done nothing wrong. “Yes?”
“Graham introduced his new assistant, and you never responded.” He nodded for her to rise.
Maggie sighed softly enough that no one heard her, or so she thought. “I apologize for my wandering thoughts.”
