Johanna Lindsey by Marriage Most Scandalous

Author:Marriage Most Scandalous
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-02-05T14:16:05+00:00

Chapter 25

M ARGARET BLUSHED DEEPLY upon being discovered in such a compromising embrace by the Townshend butler. The door had been wide open! She hadn’t even thought, well, hadn’t thought of anything, actually, she’d been so lost in kissing Sebastian.

She swallowed her embarrassment and asked, “Alberta is here to visit with Abigail?”

“With you, Lady Margaret.”

“Oh, dear,” she said and turned back to Sebastian, only to find that he’d slipped out the back door.

“She’s aware of who you married,” Mr. Hobbs warned her.

“Word has spread already?”

“Indeed. And she’s not alone, as usual. The ladies are all waiting in the parlor. Lord Denton is trying to entertain them. I’m sure he’d appreciate your rescuing him from that duty.” Margaret sighed. She couldn’t put Alberta Dorrien off again. Once had been unwise, twice would mean social ruin.

She hurried down the hall to the parlor, stopping only for a moment by a mirror she passed to make sure she still looked presentable. Were her lips a little swollen, a little pinker after that kiss? No, surely it was her imagination. And at least her mauve morning dress with the pink trimming was suitable for receiving a duchess. She did have to straighten the ruffles on her chemisette, though, thanks to Sebastian’s manhandling.

She could get through this, she assured herself, she really could. But thinking it was not the same as facing six of the most prominent women in the neighborhood, as well as a few of the less prominent ones. Even her old school chum Beatrice, who had moved to London with her husband several years ago, was there.

Margaret didn’t manage to utter a greeting before all eyes turned to her and she began to blush.

Denton made his excuses and escaped the moment she arrived, wincing at her apologetically on his way out the door. Then the ladies began to bombard her with what was on their minds.

“Margaret, how could you?!” was said more than once.

“Really, Maggie, him of all people?”

“There isn’t a member of the ton who doesn’t know he was given the boot by his own family. And reasonably so. Look what he did, after all.”

“Has Douglas forgiven him? Does he even know he’s here?”

Oddly enough, the ladies’ condemnation of Sebastian raised Margaret’s hackles. She found herself wanting to defend him. He could do that well enough on his own, if he’d bother to, but he wasn’t present to do so.

“He’s changed,” she said simply, letting them interpret for themselves whether that was good or bad. “And it didn’t take me long a’tall to fall in love with him. A wife must stand by her husband through thick and thin,” she reminded them pointedly.

Each of these particular ladies was married or widowed, a couple even had grandchildren. She waited until she saw at least one of them blush slightly before she added, “But no, his father doesn’t know yet that Sebastian has returned.”

“Douglas hasn’t recovered yet?” Alberta asked, indicating that she’d heard of the accident.

“No, his fever lingers.”

“It’s going to be quite a—surprise, when he finds out.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.