His Lady Peregrine (9 page)

Georgiana tilted her head
toward the parlor. “If you have something to say, let’s go in
here.” But she held up her hand. “I’m not saying it will change
anything between us. I’m only agreeing to listen.”

“
That’s all I ask.” Though
his heart yearned for more.

Once seated in a
high-backed chair, for Georgiana refused to share the settee with
him, Percy removed his hat, played with the brim nervously, and
tried to form the needed words to convince her of the truth. “First
let me apologize for any discomfort this… this situation may have
caused.”

“
May
have caused?” She raised one
eyebrow.

He nodded. “Yes, of
course, well… You see, it was as I explained in my
note—”

“
Which note?”

“
The… the first one. That
is, at first it was the first one. Then the second one was… I’m not
really certain how—”

“
Please state your point.
I have other things to which I must attend.”

“
Certainly. What happened
was… the dowager, uh, you met her at the—”

Georgiana narrowed her
eyes. “I’m aware of her, yes.”

“
She accompanied her son
and daughter-in-law to our home, and when she crossed the hall, I
offered her my arm and—”

“
You offered her your
arm?”

He lowered his eyebrows.
“It seemed the polite thing to do.”

“
If you say
so.”

“
When I offered her my
arm, she reached out to take it and fell.”

“
Fell.”

“
And hit her
head.”

Georgiana’s mouth gaped.
“I do hope she’s not too badly injured.”

“
That’s the problem. It’s
as I explained in my note.” He eyed her. “The second one. Somehow,
someway, after she struck her head, it affected her reasoning and
she believes me to be her…” He swallowed. “Husband.”

“
What?”

“
I don’t really know how
it happened. Just all of a sudden. She… I…”

Georgiana sliced a hand
through the air. “This is preposterous.”

“
I beg your
pardon?”

“
To come in here and tell
me such a wild tale.”

“
But I
haven’t—”

“
If you did not wish to be
in my company any longer, a simple note saying such or even a short
visit and a few kind words would have sufficed. But to
have—”

“
No!” He stood. “Please,
you must believe me. The physician said that if I didn’t play
along, something terrible might befall her. It would be entirely my
fault. The guilt — it would have eaten away at me.”

She closed her eyes
briefly. “How could I have fallen… No. I need you to leave.
Now.”

“
Please, Georgiana. My
Lady Peregrine.”

“
Do
not
ever
refer to me as such ever again. Leave my house”. She pointed
to the doorway.

“
But—”

“
Go!”

Percy stuffed his hat on
his head and did her bidding. Once in his carriage, he blinked back
tears that threatened. So that was it. His brief time of joy was
over? No, he couldn’t believe it. But with that awful woman
residing at his house still believing he was her husband, Percy
couldn’t risk coming to see Georgiana again anytime soon at another
try of convincing her. Because he wasn’t finished trying.
No.
There must be a way
to convince her. There had to be. He’d found the woman of his
heart, and fight for her he would!

Percy returned
home,
his heart heavy and aching.
Georgiana had been so adamant that he not try to see her again.
He’d longed to convince her otherwise.

Miriam screeched from the
parlor. “Get out and leave me alone!”

What was going on? He
rushed toward the open doorway but stopped when he heard another
voice.

“
I can’t believe what
you’ve done!”

It was Amelia. He took
another step closer.

“
I’ve done nothing,” said
Miriam.

“
Mother Croome, please
don’t continue with this. You’re going to hurt him.”

“
I’m doing nothing of the
sort, Amelia.”

“
Please don’t do this. If
you don’t tell him, I’ll—”

Percy edged closer but
nearly stumbled and caught himself as he grabbed a nearby small
table.

“
Is that him? My love?
Have you returned?” Miriam’s voice increased in volume with each
word.

Percy sighed. Might as
well get it done with. He’d not be able to sneak past the doorway
now. He turned the corner and entered the room. Amelia stood, her
hands fisted at her sides. Miriam was on her usual perch on the
settee, a scowl on her face.

“
Finally you’ve come
back.” Miriam’s mouth transformed into something resembling a smile
and she reached out her hand. “Come and see me, my
darling.”

Percy’s quick glance at
Amelia showed a ridge of muscle along her jaws where she clenched
them together.

“
Yes, I’ve come back.” Not
wishing to sit anywhere near her, Percy took the chair opposite,
reminded as soon as he sat down that Georgiana had refused to sit
with him.

Miriam glared at Amelia.
“I think it’s time you leave now.”

“
But—”

“
Leave,
or I might have to have words with Conrad, telling him you’ve
aggravated my
condition.
How do you think he would respond to that,
hmm?”

Amelia tapped her boot on
the carpet. “Very well. For now. But this isn’t finished.” She
stomped out of the parlor and slammed the door.

Percy winced. Not only had the door closing
been loud, but now he was stuck in the room with her. Alone.

Miriam slumped against the
arm of the settee. “Oh, I was so worried when I didn’t know where
you were. You mustn’t cause me such pain.” She raised her hand to
her forehead and moaned.

Fresh waves of guilt
poured over him. Against the physician’s wishes, Percy had left the
house, left Miriam, and now she was in pain. What if his attempt to
make things right with Georgiana had pushed Miriam over the edge?
What if her condition worsened?

Or she
died?

Much as he loathed her,
didn’t want anything to do with her, he couldn’t do that. He might
never recover from the guilt.

“
Please, come
closer.”

Percy gripped the arm of
the chair, not wanting the leave the safety of being a few feet
away from her.

“
I beg of you. I… I’m not
feeling well.” Miriam laid her head down on the settee arm and
pulled her legs up on the other cushion.

He closed his eyes briefly and then took a
slow breath, hoping to relieve the pressure building in his chest.
How was he to get out of this predicament? With slow movements like
those of a man walking to the guillotine, Percy stood and edged
closer.

Miriam wiggled her fingers
in invitation to take her hand. Percy did, trying not to think
about actually touching her. If he imagined it was Georgiana, would
it make it any easier?

Since she was lying down now, he had to
either bend over in an uncomfortable position to hold her hand or
kneel down.

Fifty-one-year-old knees
weren’t made for standing in awkward positions, so kneeling it
would have to be.

Once in place, he took her hand, closing his
fingers over it, but not too tightly as to convey any
enjoyment.

“
I’m so relived you’ve
returned to me. I’d started to despair you might have left me. For
good.” A tear traveled down her cheek.

How was he to comfort her
so her condition wouldn’t worsen but not appear to have feelings
for her?

“
I’m in need of an
embrace, my darling. Would you mind?” She held out her
arms.

Oh no, not that!
After the way she’d tried to seduce him earlier,
he had no wish to go through it again.

Another tear joined the
first and she sniffed. “Please. I beg of you…”

His stomach clenched. Why
did guilt have to be such a strong emotion? “Very well.” He leaned
forward, ready to accept a light embrace.

“
I knew it! I knew you
still loved me!” She tugged him close.

He could barely breathe.
“Please, Miriam, I can’t—”

She pressed a kiss to his
cheek, and he recoiled. With the same surprising strength she’d
shown earlier in the day, Miriam grabbed his head on each side and
turned him so he was looking directly at her. She pressed her lips
to his. He tried to think of something else. Anything else! But
when her slimy tongue snaked its way into his mouth, he nearly
jumped.

“
Oh Percy, you’ve made me
so happy.”

Why did this have to be
happening?

Wait…

He leaned back and grabbed
her arms, holding her still. “
What
did you just say?”

Her gaze didn’t quite meet
his. “You’ve made me so… happy.”

“
No.” He
sat back on his heels. “You addressed me as
Percy.
”

She shook her head. “No.
you’re mistaken.”

He stood. “I know my own
name, madam.”

She sat up quickly. “Why
are you calling me that? Come back and let’s—”

He held out his hand as if
warding off something evil. But perhaps he was. “You know who I am.
Who I really am?”

“
I don’t… that
is—”

A brisk knock on the door
preceded Amelia and Conrad. Amelia glanced from Miriam to Percy.
“Forgive our intrusion, but we heard shouting. Is everything…” She
eyed her mother-in-law and then looked at Percy, her eyebrows
raised in question.

Percy stepped toward the
couple and safely away from Miriam. “Your mother just addressed me
by my name. My
real
name.”

“
What?” Conrad widened his
eyes. “Mother! Is this true?”

She forced out a huff.
“I’m admitting nothing.”

Amelia grabbed her
husband’s arm. “Conrad, it’s true. I’d guessed what she was up to
and confronted her.”

“
Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“
Because you were having
such feelings of guilt about it all. That perhaps—” Amelia glanced
at Miriam and shook her head. “But you needn’t feel bad any longer.
As you can see, your mother appears to be quite
healthy.”

Percy switched his
attention to Miriam. It was true? She sat up straight, pressed a
wrinkle from her dress, and then reached up to smooth a wayward
lock of hair from her eyes. She seemed to care about her
appearance. When she’d been ill,
pretended
to be ill, she’d appeared
to not care about anything except her discomfort. And keeping Percy
near.

“
Has this been a farce all
along, then?” Percy clenched his hands at his sides, longing to
pummel the woman.

Miriam stood, her face
transforming from the teary-eyed lovelorn woman into a scowling
harridan. “All right. It’s true.”

Shock rolled through
Percy. “But the physician. He said if I left, you might not
recover. Had you fooled him too?”

With a shrug, Miriam waved a hand. “I simply
paid him enough and he went along.”

“
But why? Why would you do
this? I barely know you. Was it only for your amusement? Have I
done something to offend you in some way that you felt you needed
to punish me?”

She took a step closer,
reached out her hand, and then lowered it again. “It was…” She
glared at Conrad and Amelia as if wanting them to leave.

Percy shook his head.
“They aren’t going anywhere. I’ll
not
be alone with you
again.”

“
Fine. If I must say the
words in front of my son, so be it.”

Percy crossed his arms and waited.

“
When I saw you at your
family’s picnic, I was… intrigued.”

He narrowed his eyes.
“What do you mean?”

Miriam bit her lip and had
the decency to blush but didn’t answer.

“
If I
may be so bold?” Amelia stepped forward. At Percy’s nod she
continued. “It seems Mother Croome saw you, desired you, and came
up with a way to…
have
you.”

Conrad gasped and clasped his hand over his
mouth.

Percy, suddenly unsteady,
plopped into the same chair he’d occupied before. Feeling deflated,
he slumped down. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“
No,”
said Amelia. “You
would
have been had she succeeded. Now, though, you are
free to pursue the woman you really want.”

Miriam stomped her foot.
“That awful Lady Ollerton? She’s worthless.”

Percy jumped up, rage
suddenly giving him strength. “You will not speak of her that way.
Ever. I happen to love her.” He pointed at Miriam his hand shaking.
“And if your scheme has ruined my chances with her, may God help
you, because I’ll—”