Spring Blossom by Jill Metcalf Read Free Book Online Page B

to
see to a simple task.”
    Jennifer was often puzzled by Margaret’s
abrupt leap from being reasonable to being completely shrewish but
she tried to soothe her sister. “She has extra chores today and you
know she has to do all of the cooking now.”
    “Father should never have let the cook go,”
Margaret muttered.
    Jennifer had wondered about that, but she
shrugged her bony shoulders as her sister paced the room.
    “Anna is not attending to her duties,”
Margaret continued harshly. “Father should have let her go and kept
the cook!”
    “And then we would have even more chores to
do. At least Anna helps with the cleaning.”
    Margaret whirled to face the girl, her anger
reaching its peak. “Well, we need more help in this house?”
    Jennifer tried to puzzle out the possible
reasons for Margaret’s bad temper, knowing that when she was this
irritated it was best to leave her alone. It was definitely time to
go. “I didn’t fire the servants, Maggie,” she said quietly and fled
the room.
    With Jennifer’s departure, Margaret turned
to her dressing table and perched on the delicate bench, trying to
tamp down her agitation. This was just another business meeting,
she told herself yet again as she reached for her brush and
attacked her waist-length blond hair.
    But she knew it wasn’t.
    Through the years she had often visualized
her reunion with Hunter Maguire – at first with pleasure, later
with trepidation and now with icy fear. She had carefully noted the
reactions of men when they were introduced to her, and she was well
aware of all the signs of distress. Hunter would be no different,
although he might be more deeply shocked than the others. After
all, he had known her before and would expect her to be beautiful.
Yes, Margaret expected his reaction to her ugliness to be quite
something.
    And that was just as well. She suspected he
had come for more than a peek at the grown-up Downing girl. Perhaps
he was thinking of a match; she had, after all, told him she would
wait for him. It would be better if he was put off immediately, for
there was no sense in prolonging the agony. Margaret could not
marry him. Not ever. With shaking hands she threw the brush back on
the table.
    She was losing control and she didn’t
understand why. She had learned to control her emotions months
ago.
    But Hunter Maguire was not just another
guest. He was the only man she had known as a friend and, even as a
girl, she had gone out of her way to make him notice her. She had
fancied him as handsome beyond anyone she had known and had even
day-dreamed about marrying him one day when she grew up. Well, the
time she had longed for had come, but all of her dreams had now
been shattered.
    Whirling suddenly, clutching her middle,
Margaret raced for the chamber pot beneath the bed and dragged it
forward just as her stomach reacted to the turmoil within her.
    The faithful Florence found her on her knees
beside her bed. “Margaret?” Concerned, she rushed to her sister’s
side.
    But even as Florence knelt and lightly
touched her back, Margaret was turning away in shame, struggling to
regain control. “Please go away,” she whispered. “I’m fine
now.”
    The usually reserved Florence was too
worried to be put off. “You don’t seem fine,” she said. “You
haven’t been fine for weeks now.”
    Margaret, who normally dealt gently with his
shy, delicate sister, struggled with her impatience, needing to be
alone. “I’m sorry, Florence. Don’t be worried. I am really quite
all right.”
    “What’s wrong, Maggie? Why were you ill?”
And then with sudden insight, she added, “You haven’t been well
since father told us Mr. Maguire was coming to visit.”
    Margaret tried to laugh that off as she
turned toward the dressing table again. “Don’t be a ninny,
Flo.”
    “I thought you liked Mr. Maguire,” Florence
whispered, truly confused and concerned for her sister’s well
being.
    Margaret turned toward her, a smile pasted
on