Page 23 of Her Summer Duke

Please be there my dearest love.

I beg you also to reply to this letter, to free me from the misery and guilt of not knowing whether you can forgive me for my terrible deceit. Tell me, truly, if I may hold any hope of seeing you in Brighton. As my true self, Captain Halstone, I am more than capable of providing for you in the manner which you might rightfully expect, should you consent to become my wife, but dare I even think that you would consider such a proposal? I await your response, my love.

Please know that I love you utterly. If you rebuke my love, I have no idea what shall I do, how I might go on with life.

I have been in such dire pain, not knowing if you could ever pardon such deep deceit.

With enduring love,

Captain Halstone

She sat very still, the letter barely touching her fingertips. She whispered, “Captain Halstone.”

The whole thing had been much more romantic when he was a poor Ensign. There was nothing romantic about riches! Oh, Ensign Chester, how could you be so deceitful?

Her thoughts turned to the tangle she faced, with three men each wishing to share her life. Some might say that was an enviable position to be in, but Margaret would not agree. It was a torment of sorts. Lord Percy Harrington was quite rich, and quite handsome, yet there was nothing romantic about him, indeed, she could barely achieve any conversation with him. The Duke of Saltonbury was also rich, and far more handsome than any other man she knew, but beyond that, he had saved her life, not once, but twice! Surely there was merit in that. What young damsel would not want to be saved by her knight? And she had been promised to him…

She recalled the moments at the bridge, with Saltonbury, just after he had saved her for the second time. Indeed, she was still promised to Saltonbury, for he had not accepted, truly, her crying off – and no-one else knew that she had done so, or at least, tried to do so.

And at the Bridge, in her gratitude, she had told him that she would go with him to the Americas, in his exile. She was torn, terribly torn. For they were going to Brighton – she would be there before the week was out, and in Brighton, she might meet her ‘Ensign Chester’ again… But she had promised Saltonbury… And she should be true to that, she did not wish to hurt him, not after he had been so heroic, and so patient with her.

He had not contacted her, not since the night at the bridge, when he had hitched his horse to the back of the gig, and driven them back to her home, leaving her there in the middle of the night, to sneak back in, as if nothing had happened. So… she did not know when he intended to leave, or what he expected of her. In her excitement at the prospect of going to Brighton, she had quite forgotten her promise to him. Guilt filled her. She had to know. They would be leaving for Brighton in two days – if she had not already left, with Saltonbury, that was. She hurried to her room, and sat at her escritoire to pen him a note.

My dear Saltonbury…

Since I am going with you, in your exile to the Americas, would you please advise me where I must go to meet you and at what time we will board our ship? In our haste after the horrible ordeal at the River Avon, we did not discuss the particulars of our leaving England. Shall we meet at the chapel tomorrow morning for a quick marriage, for which I assume you have procured the license, for in truth, I will not go with you without the security of matrimony? I await your response.

Fondly, Lady Margaret Caulfield, Bradbury Crescent

She rang for the footman.

“Take this note immediately to Lord Saltonbury. Wait for his response.”

Margaret considered calling Lucy to help her pack a bag, but thought better of it. No one must know that she would be leaving tonight, assuming that was, indeed, what happened, or they might try to prevent her. Did she want to be prevented? Part of her did, but she would not cry off from Saltonbury a second time, she would not!

She went to the wardrobe and retrieved a small valise. The bag was so small it would hardly hold her personal items, let alone a gown or two. This was a grave time and she swallowed with the realisation that in every person’s life there does come a time of retribution. His Grace of Saltonbury had saved her life twice. The sacrifices that she would be required to make for the rest of her life would still not be enough repayment for what he had done for her.

She tossed her brush and comb into the bag, but immediately began to cry. She fell onto the bed and her sobs became muffled by the quilt. Her thoughts begged an answer, Why am I crying? But she did know the answer, Oh, Ensign Chester how could you deceive me so? Captain Halstone had broken her heart. No matter that he professed to being the same man, in her heart of hearts, he was not! If he had deceived her about his name, what else might he deceive her about? How could she trust him?