by Ella Edon
“Your parents get emotional?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but this does bring a tear to Father’s eye. They couldn’t bring themselves to burn it years ago, so they hung it up here. Technically, we’re not supposed to know it existed and this part of the house is out of bounds.” Robert pointed at the blonde-haired girl sitting on the right of the portrait. “That’s Judith.”
Alexander took one look at Judith, seated beside a younger rendition of Lord and Lady Crawley. They still looked old and severe, but there was a slightly more youthful look about them. Sitting around them were four people, all around Alexander’s age. It was a family portrait.
And then he realized who Judith was.
“Judith was your sister.”
Robert nodded, then he cleared his throat. “This was painted about twenty-five years ago. Judith was fifteen at the time, our youngest sibling. It was a few years before Mother became pregnant with Jane.” Robert shrugged. “I didn’t think anyone her age could become pregnant.”
“It’s entirely possible,” Alexander pointed out. “Especially if they’ve had children before. Women stop being able to bear children at different ages.”
“Really?”
“Of course. A lady can be fertile right up until her fifties, or she can be unable to bear children at twenty. Every woman’s body is different.” Alexander looked closer at the portrait. “I recognize Aunt Elizabeth. She barely changed. I take it that the bulky young gentleman close to Lord Crawley’s side is Anthony.”
Robert chuckled. “It certainly is. And that’s me.” He tapped the painting where a clearly younger version of himself was lounging across the floor in front of his parents. “Bit of a good-looking devil, if I say so myself.”
“I won’t argue with that.” Alexander chuckled. “You would have had all the women at your feet, I’m sure.”
“I did. And I enjoyed it.” Robert sighed, his smile fading. “Until Judith died. Influenza was spreading through the county too fast for anyone to keep up. It took the spirit from her faster than anyone expected.”
That was when Alexander remembered what Levington had said about a lady at Crawley. Levington was ten years his senior, but he would have been old enough to know about the family. Was the Lady who he was referring to Judith Malcolm? It was entirely possible.
But how had Alexander not known about Judith? Jane would have said something at some point, wouldn’t she?
“When did she die?”
“About twenty years ago. Judith had just turned twenty.” Robert looked wistful as he touched the painting. “She was a lovely person. Bright, spirited and fun. A little headstrong. You could always have a good time with her. She even made Father smile.”
“The baby of the family,” Alexander murmured.
“She was. Until Jane came along. She was born about a week before Judith died. It was a miracle that she didn’t die herself.”
That was lucky. Influenza didn’t discriminate, and babies didn’t stand a chance. Alexander found himself staring at Judith. She looked very familiar. If he didn’t know better, that could have been Jane up on the wall. It was very unnerving to look at.
“Do you have any designs on Jane?”
Alexander jumped and frowned at Robert, who was watching him expectantly. “I beg your pardon?”
“You’re a young gentleman, Mr. Harrison. You haven’t gone deaf.”
“I was just making sure I heard you.” Alexander folded his arms. “Everyone in this house is sure that I’ve got designs on Jane.”
“We look after our own, and we’re not stupid.” Robert’s jaw tightened. “I love Jane, Mr. Harrison. I don’t want her hurt.”
At least he wasn’t physically threatening him. Alexander was fed up with trying to defend himself. His reputation made that practically impossible. He fixed Robert with a hard stare.
“You might find it hard to believe, but I don’t want to hurt Jane, either. I would never do that.”
“I believe you. Maybe it’s because you and I were similar at one point that I believe you.” Robert blinked as he stepped towards Alexander. “But if you break your word, it won’t be Father or Anthony you’ll have to worry about.”
Alexander didn’t doubt that. Robert was quieter, but he was certainly a force to be reckoned with. He was the one to watch out for. It was clear that he deeply loved Jane, and that he would do anything for her. He actually had her best interests at heart. All Lord Crawley and Lord Tiverton had at their hearts was the family reputation and how her behavior reflected on them. Alexander didn’t know if they even cared for Jane at all.
He wasn’t exactly going to ask them about it.
“We’d better get back.” Robert stepped away and gestured towards the open door to the library. “While Father and Mother aren’t impressed with you having to stay, they want to abide by the rules of etiquette. Which means conversing in the drawing room.”
“You meant sit in the corner and squirm,” Alexander grumbled.
Robert grinned. “Only if you let them.”
Chapter Fourteen
Jane grinned as she laid the cards down on the table. She had the winning hand, again.
“I can’t see you beating this, Anthony.”
Across the table, Anthony chuckled and placed his cards down. He had a good hand, but not as good as Jane’s.
“You got me yet again, Jane. I must say, your card playing has gotten better. I’m impressed.”
“I’ve just had a lot of practice,” Jane said as she drew the pennies to her side of the table. Her pile was beginning to build quite nicely.
“Oh, really?” Anthony raised his eyebrows. “From whom?”
Jane laughed. “That would be telling, wouldn’t it?”
Anthony grunted. “As long as it’s not from Mr. Harrison, I don’t care.”
Jane wanted to argue, but she bit her tongue and said nothing. Throughout the evening, Anthony had made a point of jabbing a barb in Alexander’s direction. It was like a little game with him, as if he was a young boy, picking on the smallest child. Walter had figured out pretty quickly what his son was up to, but he didn’t tell him to stop. If anything, he seemed to be enjoying it.
Jane hadn’t. It was not fair to anyone to hear that, and it wasn’t fair to Alexander to treat him in that way. He was a guest. An unwanted guest, in her father’s eyes, but a guest nonetheless. Jane liked to think she had been raised with good manners. Clearly, her father and brother had forgotten their own upbringings. It was embarrassing to watch the two of them behave like little boys towards Alexander. Lady Crawley looked amused at their interactions throughout dinner, while Robert sat beside Jane, equally uncomfortable.
It was almost a relief when they went into the drawing room, Lord and Lady Crawley heading to the far side of the room to sit down with hefty-looking books. Rachel mumbled something about going to the powder room and hurried off, while Robert also disappeared. Alexander was nowhere to be seen, having left shortly after dessert. Jane wanted to go and find him to see how he was, but she didn’t want a lecture from her brother, who almost immediately asked her to play cards.
That had been a bit of a surprise. It had been a very long time since Anthony had asked her to play cards, and Jane ended up having to deal with an over-competitive brother who didn’t like losing. But tonight, there was a fire lit inside her. Something had Jane feeling more competitive than normal. A lot of nervous energy was bouncing around, and Jane needed something to let it out.
And she did, much to Anthony’s surprise. It felt good to beat him at something. Jane didn’t feel so stupid after sitting by him at dinner listening to him make subtle references about Alexander.
Jane wished she was brave enough to tell her brother to stop, but she knew that both her parents would side with Anthony and tell Jane it was for her own good.
“I’ll be right back.” Anthony rose as Jane began to shuffle the cards. “Don’t cheat.”
“Would I do that?”
/>
“Yes.”
Jane rolled her eyes. “You make it sound like you’ve never cheated in your life.”
Anthony grunted and headed towards the door, only to jump back suddenly when the door flung open and Rachel came charging in. She almost collided with Anthony, side-stepping him moments later with a lot of mumbling, a reddened face and looking down at the ground. She was also adjusting the sleeve of her dress. Anthony stared at her with a scowl and then left the room, shaking his head.
Jane saw her friend’s distress immediately. Rachel was pale, her hair mussed up and the sleeve of her dress was ripped. There were also some red marks coming up on her neck. She jumped up and hurried to her.
“Rachel! What on earth happened to you?”
“I...I…”
Rachel swallowed hard. Then she grabbed Jane and dragged her into the foyer. Shutting the door behind them, Rachel leaned against the wall, her hand pressed to her chest. Her voice sounded raspy.
“I got molested in the hall.”
Jane stared. “You what?”
“I went to the powder room and as I was coming back, I realized that all the candles had gone out.” Rachel was shaking. “Then someone grabbed me and pushed me against the wall. He...he started pawing at me, pushing up my skirts…”
She broke off and whimpered, clamping her hands to her mouth.
Jane gasped. “Oh, God. He didn’t…”
“No, thank God.” Rachel lowered her hands a little, but she was still shaking. “I kneed him where it hurts, and I ran. It’s taken me a while to get myself composed enough to come back in.”
Even then, she was still clearly terrified. Jane couldn’t believe that could happen in their house. She had thought everyone in the household were dependable, honest people, but Rachel had encountered someone who tried to take advantage.
Someone had to have come in from the outside. None of their servants would have done this, she was certain of that. Jane took Rachel’s hands.
“Oh, Rachel. I...I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, I do.” Rachel said tightly. “I’m going to Lord Surrey in the morning and telling him that his little helper is out of control.”
“Little helper?” Jane blinked. “Do you mean Mr. Harrison?”
“I didn’t see his face, but I recognized his voice. It was him.”
Alexander had tried to molest Rachel? Jane felt like someone had slapped her. Alexander had left dinner first. Jane had thought it was because he was fed up with the tension as much as she was. He was an outsider compared to everyone else and he did have his reputation hanging over his head, but to sneak through the house and jump on unsuspecting women? That wasn’t his method at all.
Jane didn’t believe this at all. Rachel had clearly been grabbed and groped, but it wasn’t Alexander. She moved back.
“Are you absolutely sure it was Mr. Harrison?”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“You’ve been appalling towards him since we’ve arrived here. Maybe this is another way to blacken his name further.”
Rachel was staring at her like she had never seen her before. “You’re saying this didn’t happen to me? That I made up the fact that someone molested me in your house?”
She was raising her voice now. People were going to come and look where the noise was coming from. Jane sighed. Not this now.
“Alexander Harrison is a lot of things, but he’s not someone who blows out all the candles in a hall and then grabs the next unsuspecting woman.”
Rachel’s lip curled in a snarl. “Maybe he’s a lot more violent than you think.”
“He’s got more control than you think,” Jane shot back. “And he certainly wouldn’t act with such disrespect in someone else’s house.”
The more Jane spoke, the more she saw Rachel change. She had been willing to believe that Rachel had been molested by someone, although she was still coming to terms that one of their household would even do that. But the moment Rachel mentioned Alexander, Jane was beginning to see that this was a ruse. Rachel had made it clear that she hated Alexander, and she saw him at the devil incarnate. This was just her way of blackening his name further.
“You don’t believe me,” Rachel murmured.
“Rachel…”
“I thought I could come to you for anything. That you would help me no matter what.” Rachel pulled her hands away. “I thought we were friends.”
“We are friends.”
Rachel snorted. “After that reaction, I don’t think so anymore. That man has more hold on you than I thought. You would believe the sky was green if he told you it was.”
“Alexander would not do what you said,” Jane shot back. “I know he wouldn’t.”
“Would you believe it before he got under your skirts?”
Jane slapped her. It was only after she did, that Jane realized what she had done. Rachel was looking at her with astonishment, the side of her face going red. Then the rest of her face went red and Rachel snarled at her. “I thought so. He’s got you under his spell as well.”
“Rachel…”
“I’m going to retire.” Rachel pushed away from the wall with a swish of her skirts. “I’m not in the mood to socialize with anyone, especially you.”
With that, she swept up the stairs. Jane groaned and rubbed her hands over her face. What was the point in doing that? Why did Rachel even consider accusing Alexander of something that he wouldn’t have done? Did she suspect that Jane was getting too close to him? Or did she really want to prove that he was as bad as her sister painted out?
Jane just knew that Alexander would never hurt anyone. He was a good person under his bravado. After his confession to her, she just knew he would never do that. Besides, Alexander knew that Rachel did not want anything to do with him. He knew better than to go after her.
Rachel was really pushing it now.
“Jane?”
Jane started when someone touched her shoulder. She looked around to see Alexander standing beside her. When had he turned up? She straightened and did her best to compose herself.
“Alexander. I mean…”
“It’s fine. I don’t think anyone heard the inappropriate address.” Alexander peered at her. “Are you all right? You looked a little distressed.”
“A little would be an understatement,” Jane grumbled.
“What’s happened?”
Should she tell him? Jane didn’t want Alexander getting angry, and this was something that would make him lose his temper. Jane took a deep breath.
“Rachel just told me that you molested her in a darkened hallway,” she blurted out.
Alexander blinked. He stared.
“She said what?”
“She was lying, I know she was,” Jane hurried on. “But she was very determined to make me believe that you had tried to get under her skirts.”
Alexander looked dazed. Then he looked angry. His eyes darkened as he clenched his fists.
“That little...when I see her…”
“Don’t.” Jane gripped his hand. “You’ll only be giving her what she wants, which is a reaction. She’ll delight in doing anything that makes you go after her.”
Alexander stared at her. Then he stared at her hand over his. He turned his hand over, his fingers closing around Jane’s hand. She didn’t pull away. The warm feeling of his hand around hers was comforting.
“You’re right. I’ll keep out of her way for the moment. Besides,” he added with a shrug, “I was with Robert in the library. If I had molested Rachel, I’m sure your brother would have noticed.”
That was something. Jane found herself relaxing a little.
“I tried to tell her that you wouldn’t do that, but Rachel is adamant. She’s very determined to ruin you completely.”
“She can’t do anything further to my reputation that I haven’t already done,” Alexander said. “But it’s nice to know someone has some faith in me.”
He gave her a smile, and Jane foun
d herself smiling back. Then she heard someone clearing their throat.
“What are you doing?”
Jane looked up. She hadn’t noticed Anthony come back. She drew her hand from Alexander’s.
“We were just…”
“I wasn’t talking to you, Jane,” Anthony snapped. His attention was focused on Alexander. His face was bright red. “I thought we had come to an understanding, Harrison. You stay away from my sister.”
Alexander sighed. “You do realize that I’m not one of your underlings, Tiverton. If I want to talk to Lady Jane, I will.”
