Lord Rakehell

by Virginia Henley

  When James glanced at Anne, she lowered her lashes and her mouth curved into a smile. Her expression gave him hope that she too would welcome him warmly.

  As the carriage bowled along the road that followed a curve in the river, the villa suddenly came into view.

  Alexandra caught her breath at the exquisite domed two-story house in its jewellike setting. “It’s a garden paradise.”

  The carriage drove through the main gate, which was guarded by carved sphinxes, and drove up to the villa, which was fronted by six Corinthian columns. James jumped out, and helped the princess alight; then he took Anne’s hand and helped her from the carriage.

  The roses that climbed up the Portland stone walls and framed the Venetian windows were in full bloom. They perfumed the air with their fragrant scent. Anne took a deep, appreciative breath. “It’s far lovelier than I dared to imagine.”

  James squeezed her hand before he reluctantly released it. “Wait until you see the interiors.” He opened the front door and the ladies went inside. “This first room on the ground floor is the Summer Parlor.” He pointed to the ceiling where the central panel was painted with a huge, brilliant sunflower. “On the ground floor of the west wing is a conservatory. At the moment camellias are in bloom.” James remembered placing the pink lily in the tempting valley between Anne’s breasts, and pictured tucking a camellia against her porcelain skin.

  Two women in crisp gray uniforms and white caps came forward and curtsied to the Princess of Wales. Alexandra smiled. “Mrs. Bailey, I am delighted to meet you.” She was grateful that James had provided her with names.

  “Your Highness, I have a staff of six: two parlormaids, two chambermaids, and two serving maids, all eager to serve you. We have no footmen at Chiswick.” She stepped back and the second woman stepped forward.

  “You must be Mrs. Gilbert.” Alix smiled inwardly because the cook was plump.

  “Your Highness, I have my own staff of kitchen and scullery maids. If you will provide me with a menu, I will see that they follow it to the letter.”

  “Please, Mrs. Gilbert, nothing so formal as that. My ladies and I have a few favorite dishes, but beyond that, you are free to decide the menu.”

  James immediately envisioned Anne sipping leek soup. I love to watch her eat. When she is enjoying the taste of something in her mouth, she always licks her lips.

  Mrs. Bailey again stepped forward. “Lord James, you are quite familiar with the villa. Would you be good enough to give the Princess of Wales and her ladies a tour of the second floor?”

  “With the greatest pleasure.” James led the way upstairs. “The villa has a unique design; all the upper rooms are connected to this central octagonal chamber. Every one of the ceilings is magnificently painted with copies of Italian masters.” He opened a door. “This blue velvet room is the study. There’s a red room and a green room, which I assume get their names from the colors of the lovely Venetian glass in their windows.”

  Anne traced her fingers over the Scottish thistles and fleurs-de-lys carved into the marble fireplace. “The artistry is exquisite!”

  “Yes, and each fireplace is different. One has lions, one has owls, and another has small, winged cherubs. I think I should let you ladies discover the villa’s charms on your own. The gardens abound with statues of Roman gods. There is even a pagan temple, and I have been told one of the buildings houses a Roman bath.”

  Anne laughed. “How very decadent. It lends credence to the rumors that the infamous Duchess of Devonshire swam naked upon occasion.”

  His imagination took flight. I warrant you are impulsive enough to try it, my beauty.

  Princess Alexandra turned from the window. “Thank you so much, my lord. I deeply appreciate your time and attention.”

  “There are sixty-five acres to explore. Harry Hargrave is very proud of his gardens. I’m sure he will answer any questions you have about the estate. Good-bye, ladies. I trust you will enjoy every day you pass here at the villa.”

  • • •

  James spent the morning in Parliament and he fully intended to return for the afternoon session to drum up support for an Irish bill he had presented a week ago to abolish the tax on salmon exports from County Donegal, but when he left for lunch, he noticed that there was a strong east wind, blowing in from the Channel. The clouds were scudding across the sunlit sky, and in spite of the stiff breeze, it was a beautiful day.

  He suddenly lost all interest in going back to the House of Commons. He knew exactly where he would spend his afternoon. The allure of Anne at Chiswick on Thames was drawing him like a lodestone. He knew deep down in his bones that resistance was futile, for once he began to think about her, his longing became an ache in his heart.

  Prince Teddy was attending the Tattersall horse auctions this week, and would shortly be off to Yorkshire so he could attend the races at Doncaster, where his friend Christopher Sykes had a breeding farm. Since the prince had asked James to spend a few evenings at Chiswick in his absence, James felt justified in passing the afternoon there as well.

  As he drove his carriage down the Great West Road along the River Thames, his anticipation grew by leaps and bounds. When he arrived at the palatial summer villa, he stabled his horses and sprinted across the lawns to the mansion.

  “James! How lovely to see you.” Princess Alix, surrounded by her ladies and half a dozen other female staff, was busy planning a garden party.

  He took her hand to his lips. “Your Highness, you are absolutely blooming. I promised the prince that I’d drop in to make sure all was well, but ’tis plain to see you are enjoying the villa.”

  James greeted his sister. “Where’s Anne?”

  “She’s in the sewing room. She’s designed us some exquisite summer dresses for the garden party, and she’s gone to see if the parasols have arrived yet.”

  He strode into the villa and homed in on the sewing room. “Good afternoon, my beauty. Grab a warm jacket and come with me. There’s a fair wind for sailing.”

  “James!” She set a blue silk parasol aside. “I thought I was the impulsive one.”

  “It must have rubbed off on me. I promised to teach you how to sail, and my word is my bond.” He glanced down at her kid slippers. “You need sturdy leather shoes too.”

  Her pulse quickened. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  When Anne returned, she was wearing a green wool jacket and riding boots. She was too excited to care about how incongruous they looked with her pretty summer dress.

  James grabbed her hand and they hurried down to the boathouse. Inside there were punts, rowboats, and small sailboats. He unfastened the rope on a sailboat, checked to see the rigging was intact, then braced his legs to hold it steady, while Anne climbed in beside him. Even in the shelter of the boathouse the water beneath them was choppy, making the boat rock from side to side.

  “The first lesson is how to hoist the sail. You take it from the sail bag, then check the rigging to make sure the lines aren’t fouled.” When Anne’s brow furrowed, he explained, “Make sure the ropes aren’t tangled into knots.”

  When she nodded her understanding, he continued. “This is the jibstay—you attach it thus. This is the forestay.” James hoisted the jib and allowed it to flap as he pushed the small sloop out into the river, head to wind, so he could attach the mainsail. “Sailors refer to this as a mainsheet. You attach it by these cleats; then you hoist it.”

  The wind caught the sail and the boat came alive instantly in the brisk breeze. Anne laughed with excitement. “Is it the same principle as a large yacht, where you run it up the mast?” she shouted.

  “Exactly.” He nodded and raised his voice above the wind. “This is the tiller. When I push on it, the boom comes around and you must remember to duck. Here, you try it.”

  Grinning, Anne took hold of the tiller, pushed on it, and laughing, they ducked in un
ison. James moved close, so she could hear him. “You change course by turning into and through the wind. That’s called tacking.”

  Her first attempt drenched them with a wave, but undeterred, she tried it again, guiding the sailboat over and around the small waves.

  James hugged her to him and, grinning from ear to ear, gave her a thumbs-up. They positioned themselves close together, just aft of the middle, and the bow lifted and took them on a run to the center of the wide Thames, with the wind directly behind.

  He showed her how to brace her feet, and lean her body windward for counterbalance. She threw her head back, as the sun blazed down, the brisk breeze played havoc with her damp, red-gold curls, and the spray wet their faces with deliciously cold, slightly salty water.

  Anne closed her eyes. She felt as if nothing could compare with the feeling of freedom that sailing evoked. Floating between sky and water freed her imagination, and her mind.

  Surely sailing was the most exciting, invigorating sport in the world. And this is only the Thames. Imagine what it would be like in the Solent or the sea!

  James watched the rapture on her face. Being with Anne made him feel alive. The wind tempered and turned to a light breeze. He reached out his fingers to brush a damp tress of hair from her eyes, and was compelled to put voice to his feelings. “I want us to be together always. Will you marry me, Anne?”

  “James!” She was breathless with exhilaration, and her eyes sparkled greener than the sea around them. “Of course I’ll marry you.” I’ve been madly in love with you for years and years.

  “You’ve made me the happiest man on earth, Anne.” He caressed her cheek tenderly. “Come on, you’d better get out of those wet clothes, before you take a chill.”

  Chapter Twenty

  W hen James and Anne sat down to dinner with everyone, Anne’s face was glowing with an inner joy. Princess Alexandra sensed her lady-in-waiting was hugging a secret to herself that she wasn’t yet ready to share.

  “Anne, your skin has a rosy blush tonight,” Frances remarked.

  Anne’s cheeks turned even pinker. “That’s from the wind out on the river. Sailing is exhilarating. I can only imagine how exciting it would be to be out in the sea.”

  Alix shuddered delicately. “I’m not a good sailor. Just crossing the Solent on our way to the Isle of Wight made me seasick.”

  James said, “Luckily, it’s just a narrow strait that doesn’t take long to navigate. The Irish Sea, on the other hand, can make a seasoned sailor sick, if a storm blows up.”

  “Did it ever make you sick, James?” Anne asked.

  “I must admit that it never did.”

  Frances laughed. “James has what Father calls a cast-iron gut.”

  “That’s rather graphic language for the dinner table. Her Highness is too well-mannered to take you to task, Frances.”

  “Anne and I are doing our best to remedy that, James.”

  “Well, I’ve always known that the Hamilton females are far too outspoken for polite society, thanks to our unorthodox mother, but I had no idea Lady Anne was cut from the same cloth,” he teased.

  “Anne has taken our mother as her role model, I’ll have you know.”

  Anne smiled into James’s eyes. “I happen to adore Lady Lu.”

  He almost reached out to cover her hand, then realized it was too overt a gesture.

  In spite of his reticence, Alexandra and Frances exchanged a speaking glance.

  After dinner, the moon rose to bathe the lovely villa gardens in light and shadow. When James suggested a stroll to the ornamental lake, both the princess and Frances declined. Each, it seemed, needed a final fitting of the gowns they would wear to the royal garden party that had been planned for three days hence.

  Without a word, Anne stood up, and the pair descended the villa’s outside staircase that led down to the gardens. The air was filled with the fragrance of roses, and the heady aroma of night-scented stocks. James took her hand in his and they strolled toward the lake. “This garden is most conducive to romance. Do you think they are giving us the opportunity to be alone?”

  Anne lifted her face to look up at him in the moonlight. “Frances has always known how I feel about you, James. Until today, she had no idea how you felt about me, but then neither did I,” she said softly.

  “Then let me make it perfectly plain.” James enfolded her in his arms, lifted her off her feet, and kissed her while she was suspended in the air. She threaded her arms about his neck, and he swung her around, unable to curb his exuberance.

  When they neared the lake, he bent to pluck a pink lily and tucked it into the décolletage of her gown. His thumbs caressed the delicate swell of her breasts; then he dipped his head to taste the silken skin of her throat.

  With one arm about her back and the other beneath her knees, he lifted her and sat down on a latticed garden seat beneath a weeping willow. Then he kissed her fiercely, and with great abandon she kissed him back.

  When their lips parted, she laughed softly. “With such gusto, we’ll frighten the ducks off the pond.”

  “They’ve gone to nest.”

  “I wish we were snug in our nest.”

  “So do I, my beauty, but it won’t be long. When we’re apart, I ache for you.” He threaded his fingers through her fiery curls and brought her mouth close to his.

  Heat leaped between them, each longing to consummate the desire that left them burning with need. James kept a tight rein on his passion. He didn’t want to frighten her, nor dishonor her. Anne was far too precious to him.

  He set her on her feet, and took her hand. “I think we’d better go in. The night and the moonlight are luring us irresistibly down paths that are better explored by married lovers.” He slipped his arm about her waist and led her toward the villa.

  “James, must you leave tomorrow?”

  “Yes, but if you are willing to rise at dawn, we can ride together. There are over sixty acres where we can lose ourselves for a few hours before the others are even awake.”

  Anne sighed. “What a romantic suggestion.”

  He bent close and whispered, “You’ll find I’m full of them.”

  • • •

  Anne slipped out of bed just as dawn was lighting the sky. She donned a riding skirt and linen shirt, and made her way to the stables. James was before her, already in the saddle, and her pulse began to race when she saw that he intended to share his mount with her.

  She eagerly raised her arms, and he lifted her before him. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, slid one arm about her waist to draw her close between his thighs, and, holding the reins in his other hand, urged the big chestnut gelding to gallop.

  Anne laughed as a red squirrel ran up a tree and began to chatter. “He’s scolding us because he thinks we might steal his chestnuts. How sweet he is.”

  James slowed the horse to a trot. “If you enjoy watching wildlife, we should have our honeymoon in Ireland at Barons Court. The house is old and rambling, but the countryside surrounding it is unsurpassed for its unspoiled beauty.”

  Anne leaned back against his powerful body, relishing the intimacy. His murmuring lips brushed against her ear and sent a delicious shiver down her spine. “I’ve always longed to go to Ireland. Tell me what it’s like.”

  “Barons Court lies in a sheltered valley at the foot of the picturesque Sperrin Mountains. The air is softer, the grass greener, and because we’ve never allowed hunting, the wildlife is abundant and almost tame. Close by the house there is a string of connected lakes that glitter like a diamond necklace in the sunshine. Mother swears she fell in love with Father the first time he rowed her through the lakes.”

  “Tell me about the wildlife.”

  “Running across our lawns we have hares, and foxes with their kits. In the woods we have does with their fawns, and badgers that dance by the light of t
he moon. In the lakes we have minks and otters that are so playful they like to swim with you.”

  “I have a confession to make. I don’t know how to swim.”

  “That’s something that should be remedied immediately. If I’d known you couldn’t swim, I wouldn’t have given you a sailing lesson.” He smiled. “It will give me the greatest pleasure in the world to teach you. I give you my word it will be second nature to an impulsive, adventurous female like you.”

  She laughed happily. “Is that how you see me?

  “Yes.” He rolled his eyes. “And naked, of course.”

  “In my dreams I’ve seen you naked,” she confessed.

  “Well, when we’ve finished our ride, you’ll get your chance to see me in the flesh.”

  “You intend to teach me to swim in the lake?”

  “Nothing so public, Lady Anne,” he said formally. Then he kissed her ear and whispered, “The Roman bath will give us complete privacy.”

  • • •

  “Don’t be afraid, there’s no one here to see us.” James pulled her inside the Roman bathhouse, shut the door, and put the iron bar across so nobody else could enter.

  “I had no idea it was so beautiful.” The square pool was lined with aqua tile, and the roof had octagonal panels of glass that allowed the sun to shine down on the water to make it glisten. Anne bent down to dip her hand in the water. “It’s warm!”

  “Yes, it’s heated with hot-water pipes that run beneath the tile. The Romans were excellent engineers. That stone table in the alcove piled with towels was actually designed for massages, administered by bath slaves.”

  “That sounds rather decadent.”

  “The Romans didn’t have Victorian attitudes. If the bathers were males, their bath attendants were females.”

  “And vice versa, I suppose?”

  He nodded and rolled his eyes. “Naked, of course.”

  Her eyes glittered with mischief. “I’ll let you be my bath slave.”