“No, Granny. We are going to impose, and we don’t even know if he is there!”
“Oh, he is waiting for us,” Mrs. Clifford said with a shrug. “I already wrote him, and he replied saying he would be delighted to have us.”
“You… what?” Selina couldn’t believe her ears. “Granny!”
“We must go, dear.” Mrs. Clifford got up with difficulty, holding on to her cane and with Selina’s help. “It is not polite to have people waiting for us.”
“I really can’t believe you, Granny,” Selina pouted in annoyance. “And look at what I am wearing!” She looked down to her light green simple dress, her hair wasn’t exactly made for a visit to the man who saved her life.
“Darling, we are going to see a man who has seen you in far worse condition. He won’t mind at all,” Mrs. Clifford smiled and sadly Selina couldn’t say otherwise.
* * *
Taunton was much prettier during the day, Selina decided while helping her grandmother off the carriage. The long pillars with amazing details caught everyone’s attention.
Her Mama said in another life, Selina would have been an architect and a very good one. She loved to observe and read about ancient construction; she promised herself to see the pyramids in Egypt someday.
She didn’t know if it would be possible if she married Lord Reginald Ainsworth, though.
“Don’t look so gloomy, my dear,” her grandmother said. “Otherwise Mr. McAlister will think you were forced to come here.”
“I was forced to come here, Granny. By you.”
“Don’t whine about it, dear. It’s unbecoming,” the older woman dismissed her and started walking towards the house, her cane in hand and Selina had to roll her eyes at that before catching up with her.
“We will stay briefly and return before anyone notices we are missing.”
“You worry too much,” Mrs. Clifford said, starting to climb on the stairs. “I am with you, don’t fret.”
“I cannot believe I am being the reasonable one,” Selina whispered but her grandmother listened and gave a breathless laugh at that.
Once they reached the top of the stairs, they stood for a few moments so Mrs. Clifford could breathe normally. Even before they reached the door, it opened, revealing an older man Selina recognized from the night she was there, but didn’t know his name.
“Mrs. Clifford, Miss Clifford,” He said, bowing slightly. “I am Mr. Marks, the butler of this house. Mr. McAlister is waiting for you at the back garden.”
“Oh, how exciting,” Mrs. Clifford said, and Selina smiled. It felt as if she was more excited about the visit than Selina.
They followed Mr. Marks to the back of the house, where there was a field of daffodils in full bloom and Selina smiled immediately; they were her favorite, after all.
“Mrs. Clifford and Miss Clifford are here, sir,” Mr. Marks announced.
“Thank you, Marks. You can tell Mrs. Jones she can bring the tea up.”
Selina looked at the man in front of her and blushed. In daylight, he was even more handsome than she remembered. His eyes looked greener, if possible and his smile was absolutely delightful.
“It is good to see you again, Miss Clifford, and now in good health, I assume,” he said.
“Yes, and it is nice to see you as well,” Selina told him.
He turned his attention to her grandmother. “Mrs. Clifford, it is very nice to meet you. I can see now where Miss Clifford gets her beautiful looks.” He kissed the older woman’s gloved hand and she smiled at him.
“You, young sir, are a charmer,” she chuckled. “It is very exciting; I will allow you to escort me to tea today. My granddaughter can fend for herself; I am certain.”
He laughed, offered her his arm and she took it. “It will be my honor. Miss Clifford, follow us, please.”
They were having tea in the garden, there was a cover in place already and the flowers were around them, it was very beautiful.
Mr. McAlister pulled the chair for her grandmother and then for Selina before taking a seat opposite to them.
“Thank you for having us,” Selina said.
“I am glad you are here. I rarely receive guests and I needed a break from my work.”
“What do you do?”
“I own warehouses and some other properties here and in Wales,” he told them, much to Selina’s surprise.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” He nodded and a couple of maids appeared with trays of food and tea. “Thank you.” He told the girls which pleased Selina. He was polite with his own servants and that showed good character. “My Aunt left me some money and I bought, renovated and rent the properties.”
“You are a smart young man,” Mrs. Clifford said as she helped herself with a croissant.
“I try,” Mr. McAlister said. “Please, help yourselves.”
* * *
Mr. Edward McAlister
After a delightful time with Miss Clifford and her grandmother, Mrs. Clifford told the young couple to take a stroll around the garden. She would have enjoyed it with them had her knees not been bothering her.
Edward honestly doubted they were bothering her that much. She was too much like Aunt Tennyson, always plotting something. Maybe that’s why he took such a liking to the older woman.
“Have you talked to your father yet, about your suitor?” Edward asked after Miss Clifford stopped to smell a daffodil and they resumed their walk.
“Not yet,” She sighed. “I need to come up with a plan, first. Papa is too smart, but so am I.”
Edward chuckled. “I can see that. I am sure if there’s a way to get out of this wedding, you will find it.”
“I hope so.” They stopped and she looked at the house, and so did he. “You said you renovate properties before renting. Did you renovate this estate?”
The question caught him by surprise, not many women would be interested in what he did for a living. “I did, yes. The manor was falling into pieces. The Earl who lived here was bankrupt and couldn’t afford to maintain it. I bought it and did so myself. The foundation of the house is great, I had little to do with how beautiful it looks right now.”
“I don’t think so. Not many people would pay this attention to detail,” she pointed to the pillars. “Most would have destroyed it.”
“They made part of this house’s history, I couldn’t. Instead, I restored them,” Edward told her.
“You must be very good in what you do.”
“I try my best,” he told her and they started to walk again, and he could see her grandmother looking from afar, being her chaperone but also giving them privacy to talk.
“It has been a few years since I came to Bristol, but didn’t this Estate have another name?” Miss Clifford asked, and Edward nodded.
“Yes, it did, but I changed it to Taunton to honor my mother. She passed away ten years ago.”
Miss Clifford put a hand on his shoulder. “I am sorry. My mother died five years ago, but it still hurts.”
“It does,” he nodded and she removed her hand, which was meant to be a brief comfort. “I am trying to make her proud. She raised me to be a good person and I am doing what I can.”
“If the night we met is any indicator, you are making her proud. You did much more than many would,” Miss Clifford told him. “My family and I will be forever thankful.”
“I appreciate it, Miss Clifford.” Edward looked into her blue eyes and a strange sensation hit him. He already knew she was beautiful, but she was also kind and smart. Somehow, talking to her had a calming effect on him.
They must have been staring at each other’s eyes for a while because they almost jumped when they heard Mrs. Clifford call for her granddaughter.
“Selina, time to go,” she yelled and Miss Clifford took a step back.
He noticed the blush on her cheeks and weirdly enough, on her ears, it appeared. It looked almost the same shade as her hair. She cleared her throat and yelled back at her grandmother. “We a
re coming, Granny.” She turned to Edward. “I am so sorry, we have to cut our walk short.”
“It’s not a problem.” They started to walk back.
They stayed in silence for a moment before Selina spoke. “There is going to be a ball in three days. Are you going?”
Edward vaguely remembered receiving an invitation. “I was invited.”
“Oh.” Her tone was hopeful. “I am going with my cousin. I would like to see you there. If you want, that is.”
Edward had no intention of going to the ball until that very second. It had been years since he went to a ball, but if Miss Clifford were there, perhaps it would be a good time to resume his society appearances.
“I would love that, especially if you save a dance for me.” He took a chance – Edward McAlister was no coward.
Miss Clifford’s blush became even more intense, but she nodded her agreement. “Yes, of course. It is the least I can do.”
“I will see you there,” he told her as they were arriving at the tea table.
“See you where?” Mrs. Clifford wondered.
“Mr. McAlister is going to the Grayson’s ball and we agreed to meet there,” Miss Clifford answered.
“Oh, I see,” she said and smiled. “I think the tea was a success, then.”
He looked at Miss Clifford and the moment their eyes met, there was something more happening.
The tea was a success indeed and for the first time, he couldn’t wait to go to a ball.
Chapter 6
Mr. Edward McAlister
It had been so long since Edward had partaken in a party. He hoped he had not forgotten about his Aunt Tennyson’s lessons.
He had not lived as a monk, of course. Edward had been to bachelor parties where women weren’t on the hunt for marriage. Instead, they were more than happy to be with him and leave, which worked for him just fine.
Being at the Grayson’s ball, though, Edward felt as if everyone looked at him.
He was more than aware that there were mothers instructing daughters on how to approach him and seduce him. He was, after all, a rich and an eligible bachelor at a marriageable age. Most didn’t care he had come from nothing; instead, they were very interested in his fortune.
Hence, the reason Edward stopped going to balls years ago. He didn’t want a wife, especially one who was only interested in how many pounds he made every year.
He liked to think he would never be like his mother, who had her heart broken so much she never recovered.
“Mr. McAlister!” a woman old enough to be his mother and whom he barely recognized called his name and Edward waited for her to approach him, hoping she would give him any indication who she was.
A young woman who resembled her followed closely behind looking down, with her cheeks as red as they could be. The women curtsied while he bowed his head dutifully. “I am very pleased you came to my ball.”
Relieved to know who she was, as he had met her and her husband a while before while in town, Edward smiled. “Mrs. Grayson. I thought it was time for me to show my face around a little before gossip of my looks became unflattering.”
Mrs. Grayson chuckled like a young girl. “That would never happen, sir.” She used her fancy lacy fan to hit him playfully on the forearm. “A man as good looking as you would never be a target of such rumors.” Edward smiled politely while Mrs. Grayson reached for the young woman behind her. “May I present my daughter, Miss Elaine Grayson?”
“Miss Grayson.” With both hands behind his back, Edward bowed in the young woman’s direction. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Likewise, Mr. McAlister.” Miss Grayson curtsied. She was a pretty girl, Edward thought. Blonde hair up and curls framing her face, big hazel eyes and plump rosy lips. Her petite form looked very pleasing and the white dress made her look quite angelic.
“Oh, look,” Mrs. Grayson exclaimed. “A new dance will start in a moment.”
Well, it couldn’t get more obvious than that. Mrs. Grayson wanted him to ask her daughter to dance and of course, he couldn’t deny the subtle nudge.
“That is great.” He kept his polite smile. “Would Miss Grayson like to dance?”
“Yes, she would,” Mrs. Grayson accepted for her daughter and for a second, the young woman looked at her mother in embarrassment but coached her expression. If Edward hadn’t been as observant as he was, he would have missed it. “Go on, dear. Have fun,” Mrs. Grayson told her daughter and gave her a pointed look.
It appeared Mrs. Grayson wanted Miss Elaine Grayson to enchant him and Edward would allow her to try. He hadn’t spotted Miss Clifford yet.
As they walked towards where the other couples were getting ready for the dance, Edward caught a glimpse of a familiar shade of red hair and he couldn’t understand why his heart seemed to have skipped a beat when he saw the reason he went to the ball in the first place.
Miss Selina Clifford was being escorted to dance by an older fellow, but Edward paid little attention to him. She wore her hair in the same fashion as the other women around the room, but she had added a few white daffodils on it, her light blue dress stood out among the majority of white gowns.
She smiled politely to the gentleman next to her, her gloved hands in front of her and listening to whatever he was saying.
Maybe she felt his eyes on her. Edward didn’t know, but she looked up and around the crowd until her own eyes met his.
It felt as if the world had stopped for a second, just for them, as weird as it sounded.
The smile immediately turned into a real one for both, and Edward marveled about the dimples on her cheeks and how it added to her charm.
“Shall we, Mr. McAlister?” Miss Grayson’s voice brought his attention back to her and Edward looked around discreetly to see if his interaction with Miss Clifford had been noticed at all. Thankfully, if it had, no one seemed to be obvious about it.
“Of course, Miss Grayson.” His smile was charming when he answered and a few seconds later, the music started and once more in his life, he thanked his Aunt for raising him as well as he did for he was quite a dancer.
* * *
Miss Selina Clifford
As much as Selina wanted to get closer to Mr. McAlister, it appeared every mother with a single daughter approached him and he was too polite to refuse them.
“There goes your Mr. McAlister with Harriet Fox,” Matilda whispered to Selina as soon as her mother left to get something to drink, hiding her lips with her fan and giggling at her cousin’s blush.
“Tilly!” Selina scolded her cousin. “He is not ‘my Mr. McAlister’. He helped me when I was distressed and that is all.”
“That is not what Granny told me,” Matilda said mischievously. “She said you seemed very smitten with him and now, seeing you two looking at each other from afar, I can agree with her. Last time I was too worried about you to notice it, but now I can see.”
Selina straightened herself before turning to Matilda. “I do not have the slightest idea of what you mean.”
“Please, Selina.” Matilda smiled. “You are so eager for him to come over here and ask you to dance and you have been looking angrily at every girl he has danced with. The poor man has an army of mothers pushing their daughters his way and is slowly, but surely coming here. Do not worry.”
Deciding it would be for naught to deny, Selina sighed. “I was the one to ask if he would come to the ball. He had received an invitation but I have a feeling he wouldn’t have come if I had not asked him. Am I being mad, Tilly?”
Matilda shook her head, the ringlets of her hair moving a little. “Not at all. He looks as determined to finally arrive here as you are. I think he might like you.”
“Do not play with that, Tilly.” Selina’s heart started to beat a little faster with her cousin’s words. Could it possibly be true? Was Mr. McAlister interested in her?
“I would never.” Matilda twined her arm with Selina’s. “I have watched both of you and he makes this quick expr
ession of exasperation when someone stops him. It is quite amusing for someone who is on the outside, really.”
Selina agreed. She had observed a funny expression on his face but couldn’t put her finger on it until Matilda named it. “It is quite amusing, isn’t it?”
“Without a doubt,” Matilda giggled and Selina couldn’t help it but to follow. A moment later, the music stopped and the girls started to clap.
They watched as Mr. McAlister bowed slightly to Miss Fox, said something to her as she curtsied. He turned away and found them easily. He had glanced their way as the music began again and started to make his way towards them.
A Hidden Duke For The Passionate Lady (Regency Historical Romance) Page 4
