Alice’s Shameless Spinster’s Society

by Charlotte Stone

  With her hair out of the way, her eyes widened as she noticed it was not a maid.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “I made you tea.” He started for the table.

  She narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t make tea.”

  He grinned and settled into a chair that faced her. “You’re right. I didn’t. Cook did but I assembled it on the tray.”

  Her eyes moved to the tray then returned to him. “You did not assemble it.”

  His smile widened. “Right again but I brought it in for you and think that I deserve some sort of recognition for it. What say a kiss?”

  Alice stared at him, biting her lips and obviously trying to hold back a smile. “Calvin—”

  “Very well, then come drink—”

  “One kiss.”

  He’d started to look at the tray but at her words, he turned back to her and lifted a brow.

  She looked madly tempting in the bed. She’d taken off her dress and was wearing her night-rail. The sheets were gathered under her chin and her black hair fell like a blanket over it all. Her blue eyes stood out like diamonds.

  God, I can’t wait to get inside of you.

  Alice gasped and pulled the sheet tighter.

  “Damn, did I say it aloud?” he asked. Then he shrugged. “Oh, well.” He stood and walked over to her. Then he leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek.

  She flushed and looked up at him. “That’s all?”

  He leaned over and placed his hands on either side of her body. “If I do more, I’ll be inside you, and I’ve decided that I can wait after all.” He’d wait until he was sure she was ready, until he knew she’d say yes when he asked her to marry him.

  Alice smiled.

  He hardened. Then he straightened. “Drink the tea and meet me downstairs.” Then he left the room and took a much-needed calming breath.

  * * *

  Calvin led Alice into the gardens behind Francis’ house, full of gardeners who were intent on righting the grounds back to the glory they’d once had. Flowerbeds lay empty, waiting to be filled, while dead shrubs laid in the grass and dirt covered most of the broken pathways that had become overgrown with weeds.

  Taking her hand, he walked them down one of the cleaner paths with fewer eyes and took a moment to look at her. He’d not recalled seeing Alice in the daylight. Seeing her in something that made her skin glow made his anger grow at the thought of what she’d been forced to wear. Alice was much too lovely for dark colors.

  She caught him off guard when she spoke first.

  “Does your brother disapprove of me?” she asked. Then she turned her eyes to him and shook her head. “Not that I’m agreeing to marry you. I simply wish to know his thoughts.”

  He stopped her with a pull of his hand and placed a hand on her waist. “My brother does not disapprove of you.”

  She shook her head again and looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Look at me.”

  She slowly lifted her face, and he saw the worry in her eyes. He was very good at reading people though Alice had never been one to hide her thoughts. Still, he’d used more concentration at card tables to discover that another player was troubled by the hand they’d been dealt. With Alice, it was simply plain to see that she cared. If his brother was a reason she’d reject him, he’d have to make sure he calmed her fears.

  “My brother does not disapprove of you.”

  Her troubled expression grew.

  He squeezed her hand. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” she whispered.

  He walked toward her and she instantly went backward, mimicking his every step until their feet left the path and her back hit a tree. At their new position, no one could see them. So he leaned forward and placed his head on hers and said, “What’s on your mind?”

  She closed her eyes. “He’d rather you marry a lady. You’re not of royal blood but your family holds great power. I’m just—”

  “Don’t.”

  Her eyes opened.

  “Don’t you dare make light of what you are or who you are to me.”

  Her voice was lower than a whisper. “Who am I to you?”

  Calvin knew it was time to get on the subject of why he’d brought her out to the garden. “I knew about your betrothal to Mr. Hanford.”

  The back of her head hit the tree as she pulled away from him. Anger flashed in her eyes. “How long have you known?”

  “Since you become a woman.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Isaac said the same to me. What does that even mean?”

  Calvin smiled and let his memory take over his sight. He recalled the day that Alice became a woman, at least the day she’d become a woman to every man who’d been watching her, which had been many a man since Wilkins’ had been full that afternoon.

  “It had been a windy day and since the parlor is at the entrance of Wilkins’, the moment you walked in, every man took note. You’d been laughing and your hands had been holding down the hat that had been on your head and your dress had tangled in your legs.” He remembered everything about that day. Her expression. The joy in her eyes. Her legs.

  “I don’t understand.” She was slightly annoyed.

  He held her eyes. “Your laugh made every man turn in your direction and the wind made your dress outline your legs, thigh, and your mound of Venus.” Calvin felt heat crawl up his back at the memory. He placed a hand on the tree to keep himself steady.

  Her eyes widened and she whispered, “When was this?”

  “The day before you started wearing black.”

  She placed a hand over her mouth. “I must have looked like a tart.”

  “A very delicious tart.”

  She gasped and started to move away.

  Calvin placed his hands on either side of the trees before she’d even taken a full step.

  She glared. “I was a woman long before one and twenty. So tell me, why is it that I am found to be a woman only when a man notices that I am?”

  “It’s easier to show than explain.”

  “Please do,” she replied swiftly then thought better of herself when the green in Calvin’s irises darkened and took the gold.

  “Later.” It was a promise. Then, before she could speak, he returned them to their previous discussion. “Isaac happened to notice before me because I watched him stand and walk across the room to speak with your father. The next day, you were in black work woman’s dresses.” He didn’t mention that Isaac’s eyes had found his in the room before approaching Ralph Wilkins. There was no need to inform her that Isaac was hiding her from him.

  “And that was how you knew I was engaged?” she asked. “And my father’s debts?”

  Calvin shook his head. “Ask your father.”

  “Are you saying you don’t know about them or that you won’t tell me about them?”

  “I am saying you should ask your father about his debts.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “And the day the wind pulled at my dress? Is that the reason you’ve any affection me? It is because I reminded you of all your tarts.”

  He didn’t like her comparing herself to any other woman he’d ever known because she was unlike any woman he’d ever known. “You asked me when I knew of your engagement to Isaac. You did not ask me when I first took notice of you.”

  She straightened and a lock of hair came loose from her style, swept across her face, and caught at her lips. She moved it behind her ear and Calvin vowed he’d do it himself next time.

  “When did you—”

  “Seven years ago. My father forced me and my brother to visit during the season during our break from Oxford. I walked into Wilkins’ as a guest of Father’s. We took a seat at a table, and you walked over, placed a set of cards in front of the croupier, told him your father wished him to take his meal after the next game, and walked away. I didn’t know then precisely what my feelings were, but they’ve only grown since that day.”
<
br />   She blinked. “That was it? You noticed me walk into the room?”

  “You have a very lovely walk, Alice,” he replied. “I paid for membership the next day.”

  Her eyes softened and he enjoyed the look. “That was your first day there.”

  “I know.”

  “You remember what I said to the croupier?”

  “I remember the blue dress you wore with the white lace.”

  Her smile grew.

  He liked her smile. “I remember the style of your hair and the curls that hung about your face.”

  She looked away.

  “And I recall how you used it all to gain my attention, taunting me as you circled the room endlessly.”

  Her head turned back to him. “Not true!”

  He laughed. “You’re lying.” She’d vexed him that day. She’d visited every table around him but his after that, turning her hips and flinging curls this way and that. “I remember everything.”

  “My father loathed you,” she told him, changing the subject. “You always won.”

  He took a step toward her. “I’m very good with people.”

  Her head lifted to keep her eyes on his. “It is why you run Francis’ club? My father is very good with people as well.”

  His body touched hers and because of her height, her mouth lay less than an inch away. “When did you fall in love with me?”

  She tried to retreat but Calvin’s hand went to the back of her neck and held her still.

  “Let me go.”

  “It’s only fair. I answered your questions. You should answer mine as well.”

  “I never told you I loved you.”

  “Yes, but I found out all the same.”

  “She had no right!” Her voice grew and her cheeks stained red. “Rose had no right and you shouldn’t have—”

  “I know and I regret doing so. I should never have touched your cousin. However, as I warned you, this morning was the last time you were allowed to bring up what happened between Rose and me. Now, answer my question.”

  “What does it matter?” she whispered and her pain was visible. “I don’t love—”

  “Don’t,” he growled as his fingers tightened on hers. “Don’t lie.”

  She pressed her lips together.

  “When?” he asked.

  She said nothing.

  A wind swept over them again and Alice’s hair came loose. His hand reached for it, she batted at him and tried to move it herself but he pushed her hand.

  They fought.

  He was stronger.

  She groaned in frustration.

  He moved the hair, swept it behind her ear, tilted her head back, and took her mouth.

  * * *

  .

  .

  .

  * * *

  * * *

  .

  .

  .

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  .

  Alice didn’t fight when Calvin’s mouth met hers. Neither did she fight when one of his hands moved to her hip and pulled her closer or when the other at her neck moved up into her hair, gave it a small pull and allowed Calvin to deepen the kiss.

  Heat burst all over her skin and her mind cried, “Finally.”

  She wrapped her uninjured arm around his neck and opened her mouth when his tongue pressed to her lips and shivered when his teeth bit her lower lip.

  “God, I want you,” he growled into her mouth, never breaking the kiss.

  Alice couldn’t breathe but didn’t want to stop him. She’d rather faint then stop him.

  She whimpered when he pulled away.

  His mouth kissed her jaw and right under her ear. “You’re close.”

  “What?” she whispered, unsure if she’d heard his words correctly.

  He straightened and kissed her mouth again before taking a step back. “Go to Lorena’s.”

  His hand was still on her hip but Alice could breathe and think what would be best. “I shall return home.”

  “No.” His body pressed into hers again. His other hand found the back of her neck once more and his caught hers. “Go to Lorena’s.”

  “Calvin—”

  “Or you can stay here at Francis’.”

  “Here?”

  “I’m here more than anywhere else.”

  “Oh.” Then her eyes widened when she understood. “I couldn’t stay here!”

  “Then you’ll stay at Lorena’s until your father can be found.”

  She glared at him and thought she enjoyed him much better when they were kissing. Otherwise, he was quite overbearing and even his kisses held authority but it was one she more than liked. “I’m going home.”

  A muscle clenched in his jaw. “You are not to go to a place where I cannot touch you if you come to danger. I’ve been blackballed from your father’s club, and I would not be surprised to find that Isaac has implemented guards since the moment I carried you away.”

  Alice gasped. “Do you think he told anyone you carried me away?” She’d not thought of that earlier.

  “It would be unwise of him if he plans to marry you. If would make him seem weak that I managed to enter into a place he thinks as partially his and easily stole the woman he plans to marry.”

  Alice thought his words made sense, yet still… “I don’t understand why you feel as though you need to protect me. The woman was not aiming for me.”

  “Yes, but if she is someone who wishes to hurt me then she saw us together, which would mean there is a chance that she could come for you. It’s more of a possibility than a probability but I won’t take the chance of you being hurt. If you are at Lorena’s, one of the men can get to you quite easily.”

  Alice staggered back but she was already against a tree. “I didn’t think of this.”

  “My friends and I did, which was why they introduced themselves to you.”

  Alice wrapped her arm around herself and shook her head. It was yet another reason she shouldn’t marry Calvin. “How many women do you suppose wish you harm?”

  His eyes flashed. “I don’t know.”

  “Calvin.”

  He pulled her close and spoke gently, “Please stay at Lorena’s so that I may feel comforted by knowing you are there.”

  Please.

  She smiled. “Very well.”

  He kissed her hard, pulled away, took her hand, and led her to Lorena’s door.

  He didn’t kiss her again when the door opened but his eyes held hers when he said, “I’ll see you at dinner.”

  She smiled and went into the house.

  “Alice!”

  She turned to see Tabitha standing in the entrance with the Society members.

  Tabitha rushed over and took Alice’s arms. “Alice!”

  Alice pulled in a breath at the pain.

  Tabitha let her go quickly and said, “Oh, I do apologize, Alice.” Then she took a step back, her face turned to stone, and she said, “How dare Isaac Hanford place you in black!”

  Alice felt her anger grow as well. “Indeed.”

  “And then to ask your father for your hand and say nothing of the matter to you!”

  “Yes,” Alice said.

  “When your father returns, you should tell him exactly how you feel.”

  “I will,” Alice told her, but she already knew what her father would do. He’d charm her. Then she’d agree to do something she didn’t wish to do. It was yet another reason it was best she did not return to Wilkins’ for the moment.

  Tabitha went on. “I bought you some of your possessions that I thought you would need but no clothes. All you owned was black and the others are no longer in fashion.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And I brought you Isaac’s book.”

  Alice frowned. “He left it for me?” She’d been sure he’d have taken it after the scene from earlier.

  “Left? Isaac hasn’t left Wilkins’ and I don’t think he intends to. He’s waiting for you to return. Will likely spend the night t
o make sure you do.”

  Alice was once again glad she’d decided to stay at Lorena’s.

  “And he’s brought in guards,” Tabitha went on. “There are two at each door and he started to call a runner to fetch you but I told him that I didn’t believe it a fine way to win your heart.”

  Alice didn’t want Isaac winning her heart but she didn’t want a runner forcing her to Wilkins’ either. “Thank you.”

  “I had a maid put your things in your room,” Lorena said.

  Alice looked at her and had no idea what to say at the words ‘your room’ but she did believe Lorena the greatest hostess there ever was. “Thank you.”

  “And my father is making more clothes as we speak,” Sophia said. “Until then, I’ve filled your wardrobe with a few of my own dresses that I thought would look lovely on you. I’ve so many clothes I’ve never worn but my father insists I need them all. He’ll show some rage when he sees that I’m not in them but then he’ll see how well you wear my clothes and forgive us both.”

  Alice wasn’t sure she wished to anger Sophia’s father, especially when she would be visiting his home for dinner but Sophia wore a smile, so she hoped all would be well. “Thank you.”

  Tabitha said, “I shall return to the club but you and I will speak later, won’t we?”

  Alice smiled at her. “Of course.”

  Then she watched Tabitha leave.

  Genie rushed to Alice then and took her good hand. “Come, we’ve much to discuss.”

  Alice followed and the women took chairs in Lorena’s drawing room.

  They all took seats and Alice’s eyes were caught by all the beautiful objects around her.

  “Your house is lovely, Lorena.”

  “Thank you, but it was Maura who did the décor. She found a treasure trove of pieces and artifacts in the basement. The home was left to me by my mother, who was a Lawrence. My brother inherited the Cullip home. Apparently, the Cullip and Lawrence families had been friends for many years and someone decided to store many valuable furnishings in a hidden room downstairs. I sold some of the pieces, which happened to fetch me quite a bit, but Maura filled the house with the others.”