‘ALEX RADLEY, YOU BLACKGUARD! How could you do this to me?’ she bellowed as she pushed her way through the crowd that mingled around the dance floor.
‘Strength, Alex, just remember it will all be over soon,’ David muttered, as he walked away and left Alex standing alone to face his fate.
‘Lady Clarice?’ Alex replied as his heart began to race.
Clarice came to a halt several feet away. Her hands were placed firmly on her hips.
‘Don’t you “Lady Clarice” me, you swine. I know full well where you were last night AND this afternoon. I may not know their names, but I know what those women are, and if you think I am naive enough to accept you in these circumstances you are a bigger fool than I ever thought.’
Alex shook his head, trying to remember his lines. ‘Now, now, Clarice, don’t go jumping to any conclusions or saying anything you might regret, especially not in the present company.’
He stepped forward and tried to take her arm, but she pulled away. ‘Don’t you dare touch me, you disgusting brute.’
‘But, darling–’ he replied.
The slap, when it landed, nearly knocked him off his feet. His teeth rattled in his mouth and tears sprang to his eyes. The sound of it echoed throughout the room, closely followed by a collective gasp from the gathering.
‘I am not your darling – I never was and never will be, Lord Brooke. When I choose to marry, it shall be to a man who respects and values me, not some . . . some cad like you,’ Clarice cried. She let out a wail of distress, and with her hands covering the sides of her face, she ran from the room. A more consummate actress had never set foot on the stage.
David came to his brother’s side and whispered into his ear. ‘Time to move, Alex; I can see the earl headed this way.’
Alex blinked back the tears, and quickly followed David towards the front door. Fortunately for the Radley brothers, the gathering was a large one, and Clarice’s irate father struggled to make his way through the crowd to reach them.
Once outside, they hurried down the stairs, across the yard and took refuge on the far side of the palace gatehouse.
‘That was close; I thought he had us there for a moment,’ David said, catching his breath.
Alex leaned against the high brick wall of the gatehouse. His face hurt like the devil. ‘I didn’t realise girls could pack that much into a slap. I almost bit my tongue.’ He rubbed the offended cheek; it was still hot.
David put his hand over his mouth, but Alex could see he was laughing. ‘That was absolutely priceless, Alex; we could not have rehearsed that better. Mind you, I don’t recall us discussing Clarice giving you a good old slap to the chops – not that you didn’t deserve it. After all you have put her through, just be grateful she didn’t have a pistol.’
Poking his head out from behind the wall, Alex ventured a quick look back towards the front entrance of the palace. ‘Let’s get out of here before the earl sends some of his lads to look for us,’ he said, as he turned and trotted further down the driveway. ‘The sooner we are in the carriage and away from here, the better I will feel.’
A few hundred yards further on, an unmarked black carriage awaited them. As the Earl of Langham was not a man renowned for his charitable nature, a quick, discreet departure had always been part of their plan. As the carriage slowly made its way back to Bird Street, Alex reflected on the evening’s events. Apart from having had his face slapped in public, he had to admit he had managed to get out of a dire situation rather lightly. He was now free of the expectation to marry Lady Clarice, while her reputation had remained intact.
He hoped she had thoroughly enjoyed her improvised, theatrical exit from the ballroom Lady Clarice Langham would no doubt be the talk of most ton breakfast tables in the morning.
‘Well, at least that part of your loosely thrown together plan went well. Now you just have to convince Millie Ashton that you are serious and get her to agree to marry you,’ David noted as they climbed the front steps of their townhouse the following afternoon.
‘Yes, I have managed to achieve the highly unlikely, now I just have to pull off the near-impossible,’ Alex replied. ‘I am going to give it a couple of days before I attempt to speak to her. I would suggest it might seem a little uncouth to be jilted on one night by one young lady, only to try to woo another the next day.’
David nodded in agreement.
As he closed the front door behind him, Alex removed his coat and handed it to Phillips. ‘It’s nice to have you back, David.’
His brother shook his head. ‘I’m not staying. I had a footman pick up some more clothes for me from here this morning.’
‘But, I thought you would be staying here now; why are you going back home?’ Alex replied.
‘Because, dear boy, you need to sort the rest of this out for yourself, and besides that, I quite like being at home by myself. I’ve never had the whole place to lord over on my own before, and I don’t expect I will ever have the opportunity again, so I am making the most of it,’ David replied.
Alex shook his head. ‘Playing duke, are we?’
‘Yes, well, I shall never get the chance for real,’ David replied with a wry smile.
The idea of David disappearing back to Strathmore House and leaving him on his own disappointed Alex. He puffed out his cheeks and tried to shrug off his obvious disappointment. ‘Fine, I will do this without your help. But just remember, when I do get Millie to agree to be my wife I shall expect you to stand up for me.’
David gave him a mischievous wink. ‘Just let me know when you want me to give you some pointers for your wedding night.’ He received a slap on the side of his head for his impertinence.
He started up the stairs and Alex heard David whistling as he went into his room. He appeared a moment later with a small pile of books in his hand. ‘I don’t expect to see you at the club tonight, because if I were you, I would make myself scarce from the social scene until you have something concrete planned for your pursuit of Miss Ashton,’ David said.
With a cheery wave of his hand, and still whistling a happy tune, David went out the front door.
Chapter 21
‘Finally a proper summer’s day; isn’t it wonderful, Miss?’ Grace gushed, as she pulled a brush through Millie’s long tresses and pinned them up into a stylish chignon.
Millie sat admiring her beautiful summer dress; it had a small blue floral print through the skirt, matched with a pale-blue bodice. The flowers were then repeated around the cuffs of her sleeves, which were finished with white broderie anglaise to match the petticoat under the skirt. It was so markedly different from any dress she had ever owned; so very English in its design and construction.
When the dress first arrived from Madame de Feuillide, Millie had stood and stared lovingly at it for nearly ten minutes, before finally taking it out of the box. Whereas the evening gowns the French modiste had designed for Millie spoke of elegance and champagne, this dress promised sunshine and afternoon walks by the river.
She stood up and gave a little twirl. ‘This cotton is so light and I don’t have to have four layers of clothing on to stay warm. I just hope the rain holds off for the garden party,’ she said.
Millie was under no illusions about the weather in England. It could suddenly turn for the worse, and tomorrow she would be back in heavy gowns and a coat. In Calcutta, if it was hot and dry it would remain that way, day in and day out, for months.
She was determined that today would be a good day. One of her new friends had invited her and Charles to a garden party out of the city near Richmond. It was the perfect opportunity for widening her growing social circle.
Charles was pacing back and forth across the front entrance when Millie came downstairs. ‘Oh, finally Do you have any idea how long it will take us to get to Richmond? We will be lucky if we are in time for the party at all,’ her brother complained.
Millie rolled her eyes and checked her gloves. ‘We have plenty of time; the garden party does n
ot start for another three hours, and I am certain all the early arrivals are going to talk about is the scene from the other evening,’ she replied.
In the days following the ugly public spat between the Marquess of Brooke and Lady Clarice Langham, it had become the only thing people talked about. It wasn’t every day that the heir to a dukedom was jilted, and slapped, by an earl’s only daughter in the ballroom of a bishop. The standard for scandals of the season had been set early and high.
As they had stood among the crowd that night, Millie and Charles had watched, along with the cream of London society, as the whole unfortunate and most unforgettable scene had played out. However, unlike the rest of the stunned party guests, Millie knew there was more to the exchange than first appeared.
As soon as Clarice had dashed tearfully from the room, she turned to Charles and murmured. ‘Now I know what the three of them were discussing in the hallway. That little scene was planned.’
She had wisely kept this information to herself when discussing the matter with other people. It was enough that she had been at the now-infamous ball without adding to the constantly changing rumours as to why Lady Clarice Langham had jilted Alexander the Great.
She looked at Charles and raised her eyebrows in expectation. His brow furrowed before an expression of enlightenment appeared on his face and he smiled. ‘You look lovely, Millie and, dare I say it, almost happy,’ he said. She smiled in return. While it was against her nature to fish for compliments, Millie decided it was the least Charles could do if he expected her to sit and listen to him tell her how magnificent his new high-flyer phaeton and pair of horses were all the way to Richmond.
‘Today is going to be an excellent day; I won’t have it any other way,’ she said, as Charles opened the front door and escorted her outside to where his new statement of speed and elegance stood awaiting them. Millie silently praised herself for having the good sense to wear a light coat and scarf. A footman handed her a fine green cashmere shawl, which she draped over her skirts once seated in the phaeton.
As it was, they had little opportunity to talk on the trip, because as soon as they had left the narrow city streets and Charles had given the horses their heads, the phaeton began to speed along at a cracking pace. In between Charles swearing as he struggled to regain control of his horses and Millie’s squeals of delight, they exchanged few real words of conversation.
‘Well, that took less time than I expected,’ Charles said, as they came to a halt out the front of the stately country house. A dozen or so other carriages sat parked in the drive, while a group of footmen and ostlers from the host’s household attended to the horses.
‘Yes, but it was such fun; I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much,’ Millie replied. Charles handed the reins over to an attendant footman and then helped Millie down from the dust-coated phaeton. She brushed off her coat and removed her scarf before they went inside.
Having made such good time on the journey, they arrived earlier at the party than the friends they were planning to meet.
‘I might just go and clean myself up before the others arrive, if that’s all right, Millie? I knew I should have worn a coat,’ Charles said, watching as a maid took Millie’s coat and scarf.
She nodded and chuckled. ‘Yes, considering how red in the face you are and the state of your hair, I think it wise, dear brother. Meanwhile I might go and stretch my legs in the garden.’
Charles’ eyes lit up. ‘Did you know they have a maze?’
She wrinkled her nose in annoyance; she had been hoping to keep the existence of the maze a secret and then surprise him. ‘Yes, and I can’t wait to lose you in it,’ she replied with a laugh.
‘Hah! Not a chance. I tell you what, you go and find the entrance while I clean myself up and then we shall see who the master of the maze is,’ Charles replied, before dashing off. Millie wandered outside.
Out in the garden she stopped and offered her face to the sun’s warm rays.
I was beginning to think the sun never shone in this country.
A few other early guests mingled on the lawn. Millie was pleased to see that she didn’t know any of them, so she wasn’t obliged to go and make small talk. She and Charles could have some fun in the maze before the rest of the guests arrived.
Millie looked back toward the house, but Charles had still not reappeared. She decided to go and have a quick look in the maze first, convincing herself that it wasn’t cheating, but rather seeking a strategic advantage. She reached the two enormous grey stone pillars that stood either side of the path, marking the entrance to the maze.
She gave one last glance over her shoulder to look for Charles before taking a few tentative steps into the maze. The towering yew hedge walls immediately cut out all sound from outside and enveloped her in an eerie green world. She kept walking, and began to form an evil plan to lie in wait for Charles and surprise him.
As she rounded the second corner, she came across a man kneeling over another who was lying sprawled upon the ground. His back was turned, so she could not see the face of the kneeling man, but as soon as he spoke, her lungs seized.
‘Come on, Alex, don’t you dare die on me.’
Millie let out a cry and raced over to where David knelt beside his brother.
David raised his head, his face registered who she was and then he went still. ‘Please, Miss Ashton, go and find help; my brother has been assaulted,’ he said.
One look at the bloodied mess that was Alex’s face and Millie turned and ran as fast as she could back to the entrance of the maze. Charles had realised she had already gone into the maze and as she reached the entrance, she narrowly avoided a heavy collision with him.
‘Ooof! Steady on, Millie,’ he groaned, as she glanced off the side of his shoulder and staggered around to face him.
She waved her hands and tried unsuccessfully to stem the flood of tears that poured down her face. ‘It’s Alex, he’s been hurt. Oh, Charles you must come and help. There is blood everywhere,’ she sobbed.
He grabbed her by the arm and led her quickly back inside the maze. When they got to where she had left Alex and David, they found Alex had begun to come to. David was trying to help him sit upright.
Charles put an arm around Alex’s waist and hauled him to his feet in one swift move. ‘Bloody hell, Brooke, what happened to you?’ Alex swayed unsteadily on his feet, prompting David to put an arm under his shoulder.
‘I don’t think the Earl of Langham is quite as forgiving as his daughter, and has decided to make his displeasure known,’ David replied.
Alex mumbled something that Millie did not catch.
David nodded. ‘A couple of heavily-built ruffians were waiting for him when we got here. While I was greeting some friends, they dragged him into the maze and set to work on him. Fortunately I arrived not long after and they cleared out when they saw me.’ Alex lifted his hands and Millie could see they were covered in blood and had several large, ugly cuts.
Charles raised his eyebrows and gave a small approving nod of his head. ‘Looks like you went down fighting. The fact that you are still alive shows you must have got in a few good punches.’
‘Alex,’ Millie whispered, as she gulped down air.
David and Charles helped him over to a small wooden bench in a corner at the turn of the maze. As they sat him down, Millie heard Alex mutter to Charles. ‘Please take your sister away; I cannot bear for her to see me like this.’
Charles nodded. ‘All right, but I shall be back. We need to get this blood cleaned up as best as possible before trying to get you into the house. Millie and I will get some clean cloths and fresh water.’
‘No!’ Alex cried, and he winced in obvious pain. ‘No one must know about this. Lady Clarice has suffered enough. If anyone sees me it won’t take them long to realise what has happened. I don’t want her to know.’ He screwed his eyes closed and sat back on the bench. His breath was coming in short sharp gasps.
David looked at Ch
arles. ‘This maze comes out on the other side of the garden. If you can help me with Alex we should be able to leave without anyone seeing him,’ David said.
Charles looked at Millie and she shook her head. ‘I am not leaving.’
She reached into her reticule and pulled out a clean white handkerchief. She walked over to the bench and bent down, lifting Alex’s face gently with one hand. With slow and careful pressure, she tried to stem the flow of blood from a vicious cut about his eye.
‘Just a minute,’ she said, standing once more. ‘If we can’t get help from the house, I have something else.’
She slipped around the corner and quickly lifted her skirts. Taking her cotton underskirt in her hands, she pulled it down and stepped out. Then with one hand on either side of the seam, she tore the skirt open.
When she came back, Charles had a small knife ready. ‘Well done, Millie, always the resourceful one. Sorry about the new outfit,’ he said, as he cut her underskirt into more manageable pieces.
‘I shall buy you a new one,’ Alex said, through gritted teeth.
Millie shook her head, and began to bandage the cotton strips around his badly cut hands. ‘That won’t be necessary, Lord Brooke. Seeing you fully recovered will be payment enough.’
He attempted to brush a hand against her face, but she pulled away.
‘Don’t,’ she whispered.
Charles and David exchanged a brief look, before David gave a nod of his head. ‘Right, give me a few minutes to find the carriage and our driver, and then I will be back. Will you wait with him?’
‘Of course,’ Charles replied. ‘Millie can continue to clean Brooke up and I will keep watch for any unwanted visitors to the maze. Wouldn’t want those blackguards thinking they had not done a good enough job and deciding to come back for another go.’
David headed through to the other side of the maze, while Charles took a position at the entrance. Millie opened Alex’s shirt and wiped away the blood pooling at the top of his cravat. Taking the seat next to him, she cleaned his face as best she could.
Letter From a Rake: Destiny Romance Page 26
