A Most Unconventional Courtship

by Louise Allen

  ‘And then Frances, who had been wonderful, burst into tears too, and the maid, so when the Argos came alongside there were three wailing women, Chance looking like the perfect pirate, a real pirate at the wheel, me in men’s clothes and only the doctor to give any appearance of respectability to the entire crew.’ She curled up and hugged her knees tighter in an effort to push the hideous embarrassment away.

  ‘Whatever did the captain say?’

  ‘It took ages to convince him we were not escaped lunatics, or a decoy by pirates or a floating orgy. Then he put a skeleton crew on board to sail us back to Corfu and he went after the Plymouth Sound.’

  ‘Did they find it?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ Alessa said. ‘I suppose we’ll hear sooner or later.’

  ‘You do sound depressed,’ Kate said anxiously. ‘I would have thought you’d be thrilled to be rescued and back safely with no one hurt. Wasn’t it exciting? Lord Blakeney seems to have been an absolute hero.’

  ‘Oh, yes,’ Alessa agreed wearily. ‘He was wonderful.’

  ‘What’s wrong, then?’ Kate shot a glance at the children, but they were totally absorbed. ‘The Count didn’t…you know…take advantage of you?’

  ‘No. He announced that he was going to marry me, but fortunately his pride in his own masculine charms is such that he expected to seduce me easily once he got me home. He would not stoop to rape.’

  ‘Well, thank goodness for that.’ Kate studied her in silence. Alessa dropped her cheek on to her knees and looked out over the town. ‘And? You weren’t raped, no one was injured, you have got home safely. Why are you drooping about like a wet hen in a thunderstorm? Is it because your aunt wants you to go back and stay with her at the Residency now you are certain the children are all right?’

  ‘No. Not that.’ The misery was welling up, hot and tight in her chest. She had thought she could keep it inside and not betray how she felt, but Kate’s astringent sympathy was undermining her resolve. ‘We have been back for two days and Chance hasn’t been here. He hasn’t written. Nothing.’

  ‘Um, is there any reason—any urgent reason—why he should be coming to speak with you?’ Kate asked. ‘Other than common courtesy, of course.’

  ‘No! Yes. Possibly. Kate, I don’t know. I do not understand what happened. I do not understand how I feel or what it meant to him. I don’t know what happens next.’

  ‘Do you want to talk about it?’

  ‘I think so, only it is so embarrassing…’

  ‘Lord love you child, nothing you can say is going to shock me.’ She raised her voice. ‘Dora, Demetri! Alessa and I are going down to my apartment. You’d better go and play in the courtyard.’

  ‘Right, now tell me all about it,’ she demanded when they were sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace, a glass of wine in their hands.

  Alessa took a deep gulp for courage. ‘I told you the Count tied me up in a cabin and Chance picked the lock and hid in the privy and then we were able to escape?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well, we made love. In between him breaking in and hiding in the privy. Only we didn’t, you know—I mean, I think I’m still a virgin.’

  ‘Let me get this right.’ Kate frowned in concentration. ‘You had your hands tied to the bed head and he had his hands tied behind his back and you were only able to untie him after the Count freed you so you could go to the privy?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So his lordship had no clothes on?’

  ‘No! He was fully dressed.’

  ‘Then he has my heartfelt admiration. I think you had better tell me exactly what he did do.’

  Blushing and stammering, Alessa stumbled through the barest outline. ‘I didn’t know that people did that sort of thing. I mean, is that normal?’

  ‘Very,’ Kate assured her. ‘Perfectly normal. You’ve got a good man there.’

  ‘But I haven’t got him, that’s the problem,’ Alessa blurted out. ‘I love him and I thought perhaps if he had made love to me when he couldn’t enjoy it himself it meant he cared for me and wanted to please me.’ To pleasure my lady. ‘But why, then hasn’t he come and said anything? He hasn’t even offered me a carte blanche. Not that I’d accept one,’ she added hastily.

  ‘That’s a poser, I agree.’ Kate chewed her lip thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know enough about these smart ladies and gentlemen and what’s the done thing. But do you think he thinks he needs to have your aunt’s blessing? Or at least ask you formally up at the Residency, to make it all respectable, sort of thing? And you did say your aunt has taken to her bed and isn’t intending to get up until tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh, yes, that must be it. Chance is very conventional in some ways, you know. Oh, thank you Kate, that is such a relief.’ Alessa felt an almost physical weight lifting off her heart. He couldn’t have made love to her so selflessly, spoken to her so tenderly, if he didn’t feel something for her. Tomorrow, when she went to the Residency, then he would say something.

  Chance spent the day, as he had the previous one, closeted with Sir Thomas, Mr Harrison and the senior naval officers in port. They traced routes on charts, measured distances and interrogated him for every detail he could recall until his brain ached.

  ‘Yes, definitely modern rifles,’ he confirmed when the senior gunnery officer looked up from his lists and queried what Chance could recall of hand weapons. ‘All mixed up with flintlocks and some incredible long-muzzled objects that looked antique to me.’

  ‘Right.’ Admiral Fortescue ran an eye over his notes. ‘And this pirate who was at the wheel when Argos picked you up—where is he now?’

  ‘I have no idea,’ Chance said firmly. ‘I would have had one hell of a job managing without him, and although he was only helping us to save his fat hide, I still owed him a debt, so I let him slip away.’

  ‘Very well.’ The admiral looked down his beak of a nose disapprovingly. ‘Let us go over the description of the hidden harbour one more time.’

  Finally, at about seven o’clock, the meeting broke up. Sir Thomas ushered out the naval men and Chance found himself slumped at the long baize-covered table opposite Mr Harrison.

  It occurred to him that the man was looking less than his normal composed and efficient self. He would be tired, of course, they had spent two intensive days in talk and analysis; but even so, he was looking positively haggard. Chance felt a spurt of fellow feeling—he could sympathise with any man in that state, just at the moment.

  He did not expect the suggestion to meet with agreement, but he asked casually, ‘What do you say we take a bottle of claret down to the billiard room and knock a few balls about?’

  The other man looked down blankly at the piles of paper littering the table, raked one hand through his usually neatly ordered hair, and said, ‘I’m damned if that doesn’t sound a good plan. Just let me get these locked away safely.’

  ‘I’ll ring for the wine; see you down there.’ Chance strolled down to the billiard room and began to chalk a cue, brooding pleasurably on the prospect of seeing Alessa in the morning.

  She had had two days to recover and to be reunited with the children; it would have been insensitive to intrude on that, and unwise considering the touchy state of Lady Blackstone’s nerves over the involvement of the young women in that adventure. She had the comfort of knowing that Frances had been with her every moment, but her niece had vanished, only to reappear in his company and in male clothes.

  And the doctor knew about it, and the captain of the Argos had seen Alessa in male attire. Chance felt confident that neither would gossip, but he could understand her ladyship’s anxieties. Everything would go much more smoothly once he explained his intention of a secret betrothal, which could then be made public on their return to England. There could be no suspicion then that he had found it necessary to propose as a result of anything that had happened abroad and Alessa’s character could be established in society first.

  He was pleasurably recalling those heated momen
ts in the cabin when Harrison arrived, along with the footman and the wine. ‘Fine, thank you, leave it.’ The secretary seized the bottle and poured himself a large draught, which he swallowed at a gulp before slopping some into Chance’s glass.

  Chance felt his eyebrows rise. Harrison was a moderate drinker at all times, silent to the point of being self-effacing, and always composed. Now he looked like a man who had experienced a nasty shock.

  Chance began to pot balls at random. ‘We’ve had a tough couple of days. I feel my brain’s been through a ringer,’ he tossed back over his shoulder.

  ‘Sir Thomas is like that, thorough. I’m used to it.’ The secretary took another gulp of wine and began to chalk his cue.

  ‘Play for love, or do you want some money on it?’ Chance enquired, filling both glasses and pushing one into Harrison’s hand. The secretary sank it without apparently noticing he had done so.

  ‘What the hell, money if you like. What’s the point of saving my salary if I can’t use it how I want?’ He sent a red violently across the table to strike the cushion.

  ‘Want to talk about it?’ Chance offered, refilling the glasses. ‘I’m not given to gossip.’

  ‘Women!’ Harrison said wildly. ‘What’s the point?’ He refilled his glass and stared owlishly at Chance. ‘All right for you, you’re an Earl, I’m just a damned secretary.’

  ‘Is this about Miss Trevick?’ Best to cut to the chase. Chance began to wonder if he’d overdone the wine. He had intended to loosen the man up a little; at this rate he was going to be carrying him to bed.

  ‘How do you know?’

  ‘I’ve got eyes in my head,’ Chance retorted. ‘What’s the matter, have you fallen out?’

  ‘The Lord High Commissioner, my worthy employer, his Majesty’s representative in the Eastern Mediterranean, He Who Must Be Obeyed—Sir Thomas is arranging a marriage for her. To a Viscount, if you please.’

  ‘Then she must turn it down.’

  ‘Won’t.’ Harrison shook his head sadly. ‘Good girl, Maria, dutiful. Her mama wants her to make a good match.’

  ‘You are a good match.’

  ‘I’m not. The family is all right, but I’m just a secretary.’

  ‘Well, you will be a great administrator yourself someday. How did Sir Thomas start? The same way as you, I’ll be bound.’ Chance said bracingly. ‘Have you told her you love her?’ Harrison nodded morosely. ‘Does she love you?’ Another nod. ‘Right. You go and tell Sir Thomas and she can tell her mother. Neither of them can want her to be unhappy.’

  ‘They’ll browbeat her, tell her about duty and family and—oh, hell, I’ll just go and shoot myself.’

  Chance whisked the bottle out of sight, now seriously worried. ‘Don’t do that. It makes a mess, it’s unfair on the servants and Maria will break her heart and probably go into a decline.’

  ‘Hadn’t thought of that.’

  ‘Can’t you compromise her?’ Chance could hardly believe he was saying this. It must be the effect of being in love.

  ‘Shouldn’t think so. No idea how to go about it. I never was much of a rake, and she’s too well brought up to go and wander in the garden in the moonlight. What would you do? You seem to understand this romance business.’

  Chance potted two more balls to give himself time to think. They dined late at the Residency to make the most of the cool of the evening. ‘Do the young ladies still have a rest before dinner as they did at the villa?’

  ‘Yes.’ Harrison glanced at the lock. ‘I expect Lady Trevick will be waking them up shortly.’

  ‘Excellent. We haven’t a moment to lose. Here, drink this.’ Chance poured the remainder of the wine into Harrison’s glass and pressed it into his hand. ‘Now, we’ll just undo your neckcloth, and unbutton your waistcoat and pull out your shirt a bit…’ He stepped back and eyed the result. The secretary blinked back at him. ‘Perfect. Come along, no time to lose. Do you know which is Miss Trevick’s bedchamber? Show me.’

  Chance bundled his befuddled companion up the stairs, along the passages to a door where the secretary stopped. ‘This one. But what have you done that to my clothes for?’

  Chance opened the door. ‘In you go, and give the girl a damn good kissing.’ He shoved the bemused secretary between the shoulder blades and propelled him into the room.

  ‘What? Henry, darling—’

  Chance shut the door and leaned against it. So far, so good. He thought Alessa would approve.

  He did not have long to wait. Lady Trevick swept round the corner to rouse her daughters. Chance did his best to look shifty and stood in front of the door. ‘Good evening, ma’am.’ He kicked the door panel with a backward flick of his heel and coughed loudly.

  ‘Lord Blakeney, what exactly are you doing here?’

  ‘Er, got lost, ma’am. Looking for Har…I mean to say…’

  ‘Have you been drinking, Lord Blakeney?’ Without waiting for an answer, Lady Trevick reached for the door handle and turned it. There was a cry of alarm as the door opened.

  ‘Mama!’

  ‘Mr Harrison!’

  ‘Now isn’t that romantic?’ Chance observed, following the outraged mother into the room. ‘But damned indiscreet of you, old chap.’

  ‘Madam, I love your daughter. I beg the honour of her hand in marriage.’

  Was he sufficient witness to ensure success? Chance glanced down the corridor and saw Lady Blackstone emerge from her room. ‘Ma’am, I believe Lady Trevick would welcome your support,’he said earnestly, guiding her towards Maria’s bedchamber. ‘All very unfortunate, but true love, you know how it is.’

  He hung around, keeping out of sight until he heard Lady Trevick emerging with Lady Blackstone. ‘I shall have to agree to it. She seems to love him very much, and unfortunately Lord Blakeney saw it all.’ She looked back into the room. ‘Mr Harrison, I think you had better have a word with Sir Thomas. At once.’

  Chance leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes with a smile of pure mischief. Harrison would be happy, poor chap, once he had been mauled by Sir Thomas and lectured by his future mother-in-law. And Alessa would be impressed by Chance’s romantic and unconventional behaviour.

  He strolled off, whistling, to change for dinner. He was looking forward to tomorrow, to telling Alessa how he felt about her, to watching her face as he told her he loved her. To holding her, warm and vibrant in his arms.

  The next morning the children were wide eyed with delight at being collected in the Residency chaise, luggage piled behind and the kitten in a basket on Dora’s knee. Alessa had a momentary qualm about Lady Trevick’s attitude to cats, but mostly her mind was dizzy with thinking about Chance and how it would be when she saw him again.

  She had hardly slept the night before, and when she had her dreams were full of him, romantic in white shirt and pirate sash, or naked, holding her in the water, or making love to her so tenderly, despite the cruel lashings on his wrists or—

  ‘Alessa! We’re here!’

  Disorientated, she stared around her. The front entrance, of course. They were guests.

  She settled the children in their rooms and found they had been allocated one of the local girls to look after them. She understood all about cats, and the appetite of small boys, and carried them off to the kitchen courtyard where Dora could play safely with the yet-unnamed kitten and Demetri could try his charms on his friend the cook.

  Alessa changed into one of her fashionable new morning gowns, feeling trussed up round the ribcage and scandalously unclad everywhere else in the floating fabric. She had Peters to look after her again. Their eyes met in the dressing-table mirror and Alessa asked anxiously, ‘Do I look all right?’

  ‘You look beautiful,’ the maid assured her, tweaking little curls out at Alessa’s hairline. ‘He will admire you.’

  ‘Who?’ Peters merely looked coy. ‘Peters, I wish to be suitably dressed to please my aunt.’

  ‘Yes, Miss Meredith. But that doesn’t stop a gentleman admiring
you, does it?’

  For goodness’ sake! Does everyone know? Am I that obvious?

  Alessa directed what she hoped was a suitably repressive look at the maid and went downstairs to the sitting room used by the young ladies. Frances was there in animated conversation with Maria and Helena and they jumped to their feet and ran over to hug and to kiss her. She had never had female friends of her own age before; their uninhibited pleasure at seeing her touched and startled her.

  ‘We are so glad to see you,’ Helena exclaimed. ‘Frances has been telling us all about how brave you were.’

  ‘She was wonderful too.’

  ‘And Maria has such good news. Go on, tell Alexandra.’

  ‘I am betrothed to Mr Harrison.’ Maria went pink and tears welled up in her eyes. ‘It is like a dream and entirely due to Lord Blakeney. But you must not tell anyone it was all his idea, because we do not want to cause trouble for him.’

  ‘But what did he do?’

  ‘Incited Henry to compromise me in my bedchamber yesterday evening. Darling Henry was too scrupulous to declare his feelings when Mama and Sir Thomas wished me to marry someone else, but Lord Blakeney was so clever. He made Henry tiddly, then he pushed him into my chamber and waited outside looking suspicious and saying he was looking for Henry when Mama came along. So she burst in—and Henry was kissing me.’

  ‘Good heavens,’ said Alessa blankly. ‘And I thought Lord Blakeney was so conventional.’

  ‘He wasn’t on the pirate ship, was he?’ Frances pointed out.

  ‘Oh, Maria, Helena, I cannot begin to tell you how swooningly handsome he was in those loose trousers and the white shirt with a great scarlet sash with a cutlass stuck through it. And we used to think the Count dashing!’

  ‘Excuse me, ladies. Lady Blackstone wishes Miss Meredith’s presence in the morning room.’