His father nodded mutely and then did the strangest thing. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took Alexander’s hand in his own. He entwined his fingers with Alexander’s and squeezed tightly. Alexander was horrified as he noticed water gathering in his father’s eyes. He gulped and waited to hear the worst.
“Yes, my son. Phillip is fine, a few bumps and bruises and a couple of burns but nothing that will put him out of action for long…I’m afraid the same can’t be said of young Lily,” his father nearly choked over the next words. “We think she followed you two and was hiding in the straw. Unfortunately I had concealed a surprise gift for your mother in the barn. Fireworks to mark her birthday ball next weekend. When your kettle blew up it scattered the burning straw. The resulting blast as the fireworks blew up all together was heard over a mile away.” He hesitated as he took a deep breath. “Poor Lily was blown through the wall of the barn. We brought her straight here of course and it seemed that she was recovering. Smith took her home with instructions that the doctor would be available to him at all times but apparently our doctor was wrong and her injuries were far greater than first appeared. He sent word yesterday morn. She passed away that same night. He has taken Lily’s body to be buried with her mother. The blast razed the barn to the ground. I have put a small memorial at the spot to honour little Lily.”
Alexander couldn’t believe his ears. A band of pain wrapped his chest and pulled tight as he turned to his distraught mother.
She nodded sadly confirming the horror he hadn’t wanted to believe.
“Our little treasure has gone to the angels Alex. We must pray for her.”
Alexander felt his throat tighten. He choked before he spoke.
“This cannot be true…You mean little Lily who sings out of key and pinches the lardy cakes from cook? Our Lily? She couldn’t have followed us because she wasn’t in the barn, unless she guessed where we were going and arrived first.” He heard his own voice rising as the panic set in. “We never saw her father. She never spoke up or told us she was there!” He began to shout wildly as his father attempted to restrain him in the bed.
Alexander tried to stop the tears falling but it was no use. Little Lily may have been a pain to put up with but he would never have hurt her and he certainly didn’t want her to die. Especially not at his hands. The thought was too horrific. He gave up fighting the tears and his father. He grabbed up the sheet as the salty droplets ran down his cheeks. He pulled the linen over his head, sank back down on the pillows and tried to make the darkness take him once again.
Chapter One
Fifteen Years Later
The nightmare of the last several hours continued unabated. The letter had reached Alexander as he disembarked ship. It had been shock enough when he stood at the dockside, now as he stared blindly at the man who dared not return his gaze, he could feel the cold breath of truth tightening its grip in the already frigid room.
“Does my mother know the full details?” His first unsteady question shattered the icy silence as he absently rubbed the scar that graced his right cheek. The skin itched but he felt himself lucky that the sword had been razor sharp. At least the wound healed neatly.
The red and tender skin was a pointed reminder to keep ones wits about them when on the battlefield even if one thought the battle was over. Searching for wounded friends among the supposedly dead enemy had almost become his own downfall. The dying Frenchman had been bent on exacting revenge and in a moment’s inattention Alexander had nearly lost an eye.
He frowned as he realized what he was doing. He forced the itch of healing skin to the back of his mind.
The man in front of him shook his head quickly and Alexander tried not to notice the cloud of dandruff that wafted onto the narrow shoulders of his family solicitor’s black coat.
“The Duchess has been given only the barest details, Your Grace, to save her further heartbreak, you understand.” The nasal tones addressing him in the unfamiliar title did nothing to quell the misery gripping Alexander’s own heart.
“And there was nothing to be done. Both of them perished instantly?” He could scarcely believe the devastating news from home.
“I believe so, Your Grace. Captain Drover was named amongst the dead, apparently refusing to leave his ship until it was too late but several of the surviving crew will attest to the night’s events. A freak wave surged against them. The vessel turned and split without warning. Being cast upon the rocks was bad luck enough but with the storm raging there was no saving them. Drover had tried to warn His Grace and the Marquis away when they launched their bid to save the ship’s crew but they insisted on their course,” his tone showed a little more sympathy as he raised his eyes the good five inches it took to look back at Alexander.
Alexander glanced down at the letters lying on the solicitor’s desk. He cleared his throat, quelling the sob of misery that was desperate to break free.
“And what of Lady Anne? Do you have news of her? She remains with my mother?” He frowned as another thought crossed his troubled mind. “Are we even sure that you are using the title correctly? There could still be an heir.” The question of his sister in law’s possible condition had to be addressed immediately. The solicitor nodded again.
“They are both at the Dower house. The Duchess moved there instantly. She said that she couldn’t bear to remain at Ormond. Lady Anne moved with her of course and she has already established that there will be no heir. She confirmed immediately that she is not...” he gave a small cough to indicate the delicacy of such remarks, “not enceinte. I believe it is her intention to move back to Lavenham. Your brother had made arrangements for her in his will but you can see the difficulties that this…the awkwardness of the situation, may throw up,” his hesitation in naming the problem was not lost on Alexander.
He frowned as he picked up the sheaf of papers from the desk. They had been grim reading the first time.
“There are no more disquieting letters lodged with you by my father? These are the only ones you have?” He waited until the solicitor nodded. “I see the local doctor issued death certificates. It’s not a name I know; he can be trusted I assume?” The doubt in his tone was tangible.
“There was no question. There were certainly no witnesses to say contrary, Your Grace. Everything was in order.” The man coughed into a crumpled linen square.
Alexander sighed deeply.
“And both my father’s and brother’s wills; they are valid? I own everything left including the Ormond jewels?” He shuffled the papers as the man nodded quickly and pointed to the bottom of two of them. “I notice these are dated and witnessed at the same time only one week before their deaths. Is that unusual?” He looked down at the solicitor to gauge his reaction.
The solicitor’s stare met his at last and then the man’s eyes slid to the scar on Alexander’s cheek. He blinked rapidly before speaking.
“No, Your Grace, not in the slightest. Ormond is well off the beaten track. Your father would always arrange it so. Saves both time and money if two things can be accomplished at once. His Grace knew that and so did your brother. Though in the circumstances I wonder why they were so anxious to…” his voice wavered under Alexander’s sudden icy glare and he stopped mid sentence.
Alexander perused the contents of the papers with interest. Their second reading appeared exactly the same as the first. Ormond now belonged to him, though for how long he didn’t yet know. Being the last in the direct Currugh line it would have come to him anyway as Lady Anne carried no child and he couldn’t help but wonder at his father’s and brother’s affirmation. He tapped his finger on the desk as he thought.
“Yes, I wonder too,” he paused, wondering about how to ask for leniency without appearing to beg. He cleared his throat and spoke with as much authority as he could muster. “I will need to see my mother and Lady Anne as well as my father’s steward before I can contemplate any further course of action. Obviously, I have only arrived this evening from Dover and
the rest of the journey will take me almost a week. You will give me a month I presume, before anything is moved forwards?” He hated the question’s obvious hidden meaning but it had to be asked.
The man behind the desk nodded briskly sending more showers of dandruff cascading onto his coat.
“For my own part there is no rush of course. I remain your solicitor for as long as needs be. For the rest I cannot say but I will endeavour to delay the inevitable as long as possible. There may be a possibility to draw up new terms or offer a settlement. You can be assured that I will work relentlessly on your behalf.”
Alexander swept his hand through his dark hair, abhorring the way it had pulled from his normally meticulous queue. His hopelessly mad gallop from the dockside to the family solicitor had done nothing for his toilette. He looked down and brushed at a drying mud spot on his coat sleeve before he lifted his head as he gave a mirthless laugh.
“Only bother if it is on your own time Carter or you can possibly afford the loss. I confess that I didn’t expect to discover this pile of damnation upon my return from France. At the moment I am at a loss as to know exactly what to do. Apart from the shock of losing my father and my brother in one fell swoop I cannot conceive how the rest of this has come about. My mother must have some knowledge of the situation but I dread asking her. It is not an interview I am looking forward to, though it must be done. I cannot begin to put things right if I don’t know what has gone wrong.” He picked up his riding gloves and glanced out of the window at the rapidly diminishing light.
Carter nodded wisely.
“Yes, I am sure that the conversation will be distressing to both of you so I should warn you that there will probably be accusations thrown. The Marquis was a little rash in some of his investments to say the least but it is not my place to lay blame. The Duke wrote notes to cover the debts incurred but I doubt that he would knowingly have gone this far. There was clearly some deception on your brother’s behalf. I would never have advised him to go down this route. A very risky business, however be assured that I will stand by you. Your father has already paid me an advance fee. He was clearly slightly wiser than your brother.” The man shook his head sagely.
Alexander narrowed his sapphire eyes as he stared at the little man before him. He lifted his chin and slapped his gloves impatiently against his thigh. No one would slander Phillip without coming up against Alexander first. His brother had saved his life as well as being his best friend and fellow adventurer. He remembered all the letters from school, the laughter in the holidays, the pain when they were separated again.
“My brother may not have been the easiest man for some to understand I grant you but he was my brother none-the-less and the best of men. There is also his wife to consider. Please do not cast any aspersions against his reputation in my hearing or anywhere else, Carter. It will not be met well if I discover gossip being bandied about the salons of the ton.” He pulled his gloves over his long fingers and flexed them inside the soft leather. “I will rest at Albany tonight and possibly tomorrow. I am hoping I can glean more information from my father’s study and then I will head directly to Ormond. You will probably have the leech at your neck by the morning. I trust you will be able to hold him off for a while,” he couldn’t disguise the bitterness in his tone.
Carter gave a low bow.
“Of course, Your Grace. The name of Ormond still holds weight. You will have several weeks before the issue becomes urgent. I can promise you that much at the very least. In the meantime I will work towards some form of settlement. There can be no harm in trying. Send word if you have any news that might help. Please present my deepest regrets to the Duchess and Lady Anne.”
Carter rushed around the desk and opened the heavy oak door, bowing low as Alexander, the new Duke of Ormond, left the room.
He ran lightly down the steps of the building, the heels of his riding boots clipping loudly in the quiet evening air. He strode to the mews at the back of the row of houses. Midnight stood quietly chewing some oats as a stable lad rubbed the big horse down with a handful of dry straw. Alexander fished in his pocket and flipped the boy a halfpenny. He smiled grimly as the boy’s eyes opened wide in wonder, then he watched carefully as the lad straightened his thin shoulders, lifted Alexander’s saddle from the rail and placed it over his horse’s back.
“Good lad,” Alexander murmured as the boy fastened the girth and tested it for tightness. The boy grinned as he gave Midnight a last wipe down his neck and then opened the stall door. He unclipped the horse from its tether and led the mighty beast to its owner. Alexander gave the lad a quick nod as he swung himself up into his saddle and turned his horse back onto the street.
The Albany was not far. He was glad that he wouldn’t have long to let his mind drift over the horror of the evening. He had hoped to make a triumphant return home. The war was over. He had survived it more or less intact and had been desperate to relax in the arms of his beloved family before deciding what he would do next with his life.
Being the younger son had never bothered him. In many ways it made his life easier. Phillip was expected to excel, to take the title, to create an heir. Alexander’s lot in life had little to do with running an enormous estate and virtually nothing to do with workers and tenants. He had expected to return home to perhaps help Jennings run his father’s stable bloodlines or to maybe create his own.
There was a small estate awaiting his arrival as soon as Phillip and his wife vacated and he was hoping to build something of a stable himself. His majestic stallion, Midnight was to be the beginning of his new career but he had arrived at port only to have his heart crushed in his chest as he read the waiting note.
He only hoped that some of the staff remained in situ. News must have spread of the double death even though the shipwreck had happened only the week before. He wondered how many already knew of his now desperate straits. Gossip could spread through London quicker than the clap spreading through the troops at the peninsular.
What in God’s name had Phillip been thinking of? He couldn’t fathom how his brother’s debts had risen so fast. Phillip wasn’t a gambler, or he hadn’t been when Alexander had left for war. Not much of a drinker either as he remembered. Their childhood forays into his father’s study had given them both a healthy education into the workings and disadvantages of imbibing too much alcohol, but it had been nearly five years since they had last seen each other. A lot could happen in that space of time.
An almost overwhelming sadness overcame Alexander. He’d not had much time to think on the loss of the two most important people in his life or what it would mean if Phillip had died before him. Losing his father had never worried him; it was the natural way of things, but his brother? He loved his brother fiercely and he knew Phillip loved him back. It had never crossed his mind that Phillip might die before him. His quietly spoken, scientific brother was completely suited to being the eldest son with the duties expected of him from the huge estate at Ormond. He rode only when he had to, he corresponded easily and he negotiated well but Alexander’s heart ached as he thought of the letter he had received from Phillip three years previously. Clearly those duties had already begun and some of them were clearly not to his liking.
It had been a dreadful note, written in a shaky script made worse by the rain that dripped through his tent, spelling out the man’s coming doom. He was to be married to Lady Anne Chartris, daughter of the Earl of Lavenham. Alexander knew immediately from the tone of his brother’s short note telling him the merest facts about his engagement rather than a letter full of hopes and dreams for the new association, that this was no love match and he had crumpled the letter in disgust as he had swallowed back the pity he held for his elder sibling.
Alexander put his dark thoughts to the back of his mind as he turned Midnight into the square and peered into the mist that had gathered as evening fell. There were no lights at the windows of the Albany, but then he hadn’t expected that there would be. If any of the s
taff remained they would undoubtedly gather in the kitchen at the back of the house. His father maintained a minimum household out of season and he doubted that, in view of the confusion surrounding the deaths, his steward would have had the presence of mind to write to inform Bottomley of his employer’s untimely demise. The letter had only reached the family solicitor a few days previously.
The horse slowed as he reached the passage leading to the stable yard behind the house. Midnight tossed his head impatiently as Alexander squinted into the shadows. Was there even anyone to attend his horse? He dismounted and led Midnight under the arched entrance. The horse’s hooves clattered on the cobbles and there was a sudden flash of a lantern. Hesitant footsteps followed the bobbing light.
“Who goes there? Master Phillip? Is that you? We weren’t expecting…” the voice faded as Midnight reared back. Alexander stepped out of the shadows.
“No, Simon. It’s Alexander.”
There was a stunned silence and then a short snort before an old man appeared from out of the stables.
“Young Master Alex? No, it cannot be. Alexander has gone to war.” The man barrelled forwards on bowed legs.
Alexander laughed with no real mirth.
“No longer, I am returned and can assure you that it’s me, Simon.” The light was thrust in his face and quickly removed as the old man looked upwards at Alexander’s towering form and gasped in surprise.
“By God and all his saints! It is Master Alex. Sir, you have grown like a beanstalk but broadened much too! I would never have believed those shoulders could have become so wide.”
Alexander smiled at the old man’s well meaning shock. The last time Simon had seen him he had been but a bony youth.
“Yes, well I am a little surprised myself considering the rations I have been forced to survive on these past five years. The catering left a lot to be desired but there you have it, I grew regardless though I confess that I am looking forward to some of Mrs. Bottomley’s lardy cake. They have been on my mind for the last five years and especially since I reached port.”
A Ring of Midnight Orchids: Flowers of the Aristocracy (Untamed Regency Book 3) Page 23
