Gunslinger's Daughter by Margaret Tanner

Author:Margaret Tanner [Tanner, Margaret]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-07-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The weeks passed, Marcus did not come near her again. Night after night she lay awake wondering what had gone wrong. Why did he turn against her? The dreadful words he had flung at her made her cringe or cry every time she thought about them.

One afternoon, a terrible thought came to her, something so shocking she broke out in a cold sweat. Could she be carrying Marcus’ child? On legs that would barely hold her up, she staggered into her bedroom to check the wall calendar where she always marked the dates of her monthly courses. This normal female thing only stopped when a woman was breeding, McGuire, red faced and embarrassed, gruffly explained after she had rushed to him one day, terrified because she found blood on her clothing. She was about thirteen at the time, and they had never mentioned the matter again.

Three weeks overdue, it surely must mean a baby. Fear almost engulfed her. What could she do? She buried her face in her hands. Who could she turn to? Why has this happened to me? I know I was wicked and shouldn’t have let Marcus have his way, but I loved him, wanted to please him. Thought he would say he loved me, that he would marry me and not worry about the differences in our social standing.

She must find Marcus, even though they had parted on such bitter terms. She choked back on her fear, forcing the tears not to fall, because once they started now they would never stop. He had to help. If he didn’t, she was doomed to a life of poverty and degradation.

There was no one home, thank goodness. She hurried outside and blinking back frightened tears, saddled Brandy.

On arrival at Stanton’s she felt too afraid to go to the main entrance; instead slunk around the back and waited until she caught the eye of a young maid.

“I have to see Marcus Lindquist. It’s a matter of life and death,” she pleaded, almost in tears. “I’ll wait out here.”

The girl left and George waited and worried, with despair building up as each minute passed. What if Marcus refused to see her after their last bitter encounter?

“Georgina.”

She nearly collapsed with relief on hearing his voice.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in a voice so cold it froze her to the bone.

Sheer desperation stopped her from fleeing his anger. She raised her head to face him and he noisily sucked his breath in.

“Good Lord, Georgina. What’s wrong?”

Tears pooled in her eyes and she stood rigid. Even though they had parted in anger and bitterness, his heart constricted because she seemed so distressed. Her green eyes, the only vestige of color left in her deathly white face, burned fever bright with a hint of tears. Something dreadful must have happened.

“I, I...” Her mouth trembled so badly the words would not come out.

“You better come into the house, you look ready to collapse.”

“No. No, Marcus please, I have to talk to you. Not here, not here.

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