A Radical Arrangement Read Online Free PDF Page A

Comfortable .” She sounded revolted.
    “You needn’t look at me that way. I’m not to blame for this. No one can say that—”
    “Of course they cannot,” interrupted Margaret harshly. “Forgive me for expecting anything whatever. Good-bye, Philip.” She fled in a rustle of skirts, leaving her former fiancé gazing uneasily after her.
    He waited a few minutes to be sure she was gone, then returned to his room and his packing. The sooner he got away, the better.
    In her bedchamber Margaret sat numbly in the window seat and wondered what she was to do. Her mother would come up very soon and reopen the question of her marriage to Justin Keighley. She would not be able to resist her for long. Then they would bring him here again, and she would be expected to accept his offer. Margaret leaped to her feet. She couldn’t . She really couldn’t. Running to her wardrobe, she pulled out a bandbox and began to stuff a few necessities into it. Her only hope was to run away.
    * * *
    When she had packed what she thought she could carry, Margaret went to the door and softly opened it. There was no one in the corridor. Taking the bandbox and a cloak, she crept out and hurried to the head of the stairs, where she stood listening for a long moment before running down them. The front hall was also empty. She was at the front door when she thought of something that made her cheeks pale. She hesitated, then ran to the library just down the hall; she slipped in, took a certain object, and the next minute was outside and away. She would get one of the stableboys to saddle her horse. She could think of a story that would satisfy him. And before anyone noticed she had gone, she would be well away.
    She was halfway to the stables when she realized that she had no idea where to go. Who would shelter her in this dreadful situation? Margaret quickly reviewed her various relations; there was not one who would not return her immediately to her parents. She thought of her London acquaintances. No help there, either. She put a hand to her breast as she realized that for the first time in her short life she was alone. She trembled, and almost turned back. She could not manage by herself. Then she stiffened a bit and tried to think. Was there nowhere she could go?
    London was out of the question. Too many people would recognize her there; besides, she was frightened of the crowds. No, she would not go east. This decision led naturally to its opposite, and she suddenly recalled Penzance. She and her mother had visited that town several times when an old aunt was ill there. The woman had since died, but Margaret was familiar with the place and loved it. She would go west to Penzance, and once there… Well, she would worry over that when the time came. With a slight nod, she continued on her way to the stables.

Three
    Margaret’s plan was not really a very clever one. She had had little experience with any sort of subterfuge, and it was immediately apparent to Mrs. Mayfield, when she entered her daughter’s room less than a quarter hour after the girl had left it, that something was wrong. A hasty examination of the wardrobe told her all, and she hurried to lay her discovery before her husband in the breakfast room.
    “Run away?” exclaimed Ralph Mayfield. “ Margaret? ”
    His wife was working her fingers into a pair of ivory kid gloves. She had been dressed to go out for some time. “I know it seems unbelievable, but Margaret was under a great strain. We must send to the stables, of course, to make sure, but I am satisfied that she has gone.”
    “What shall we do? I must go after her, I suppose. But where?”
    “I don’t think so,” answered Mrs. Mayfield.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I think we should wait for the outcome of my talk with Sir Justin.”
    “You still intend to go?”
    “Yes, indeed.”
    “And Margaret?
    “An hour or two will make no difference. She may even have second thoughts and return in that time. In any case she