Letter From a Rake: Destiny Romance (12 page)

‘If you must know, Miss Ashton, my brother and I are not on speaking terms at present,’ he continued. ‘We had a falling out last night and I left him at a club with some friends, while I went elsewhere.’

‘Oh, I am sorry to hear that, I hope it’s not too serious and that you will be friends again soon,’ she replied.

Alex picked at a piece of fluff stuck on his jacket. It would be impossible to explain to her the reason for his current estrangement from David. Everyone in the
ton
believed that nothing would ever come between the two older Radley brothers and that for them to have a serious falling out would be simply impossible.

How very wrong they were.

‘Yes, of course,’ he replied without thinking, while his mind was occupied in designing horrid and bloody ways to kill his brother and successfully hide his body.

‘So when do you want to start?’ she asked.

‘Pardon?’

Millie shifted in her chair and turned to face him. He had not been paying attention and it seemed she knew it.

‘Miss Ashton, I am not myself today and my manners appear to have stayed in bed, so once again I must apologise for my behaviour,’ he said.

‘Millie,’ she replied with a smile. ‘Actually I think you have done remarkably well to come here and sit through Lucy’s lesson. Charles would have pinned a note of apology to my door and taken to his bed for a week. For someone who prides himself on being an excellent pugilist, he can be a bit wet.’

Alex stifled a laugh. ‘One must not speak ill of the self-inflicted near-dead, Millie,’ he teased. He saw her eyes light up when he said her name, and the temptation to place a kiss on her lips nearly overcame him.

You are so beautiful; you are going to break more than one heart this season.

The season. Oh no.

It may be months away, but when the season hit its peak, London would be full of eligible young men and women. If he didn’t begin a concerted campaign to claim her soon, he would be caught up in the crush of other bachelors vying for her attention and that simply would not do. This intriguing girl from the other side of the world was going to be his; the longer he sat next to her, the more he became convinced of it. A girl like Millie Ashton only came along once in a man’s lifetime. He would be a fool not to seize his chance and make her his bride.

You are woolgathering again, Brooke; speak to her before she notices.

‘Next Wednesday, we shall rehearse while Lucy has her lesson. That, coupled with the lessons your mother arranges with Mr Roberts, should have you the mistress of the waltz in no time,’ he said.

‘Good. I look forward to it, though I think Mr Roberts will still ask for some form of payment, since we are utilising the services of his pianist,’ she replied.

‘Leave the light-footed Mr Roberts to me, Millie; I shall make sure he earns double his usual fee. We should aim to have you ready for your first public waltz at my cousin the Earl of Shale’s ball on the first Monday in April. It is usually the Easter event, but they are having it early this year as Rosemary, his countess, is with child.’

He reached out and took hold of her hand once more. ‘Enough about dancing and men with sore heads, what about you, Millie Ashton? I want to hear about your life in India, it must be so very different from here.’

They spent the next ten minutes talking about India and Millie’s childhood. He questioned her at length about the long sea voyage to England, and how she must find the cold of London a sharp contrast to the heat of the subcontinent.

‘Apart from the shock of realising just how cold snow really is, I think I have learnt to adapt to it rather well. It’s the things I could not bring with me that I miss. I left all my friends behind, and my horse. Then there are the silly things I didn’t realise I would miss, like the colour of the Hooghly River and the smelly, noisy spice markets.’

‘London smells, if you had not noticed,’ Alex replied, trying to make her smile.

Millie nodded her head. ‘Yes, it does: damp and musty, most of the time. Mother keeps promising me that it will be better in the summertime, but I somehow doubt that London will suddenly transform into an oasis of colour and sensual delight just because the sun finally manages to break through the clouds. With any luck I shall only have to endure one winter in England before I go home.’

He froze. Did she just say she was planning to leave England?

‘You are going back?’ he asked, as a sense of overwhelming sadness filled him. How could she leave and not return? How could she leave him?

Because she doesn’t know the first thing about you and if she did she would run a mile. What girl in her right mind would want to be wedded to an illiterate fool like you?

He swallowed, and tried to beat down the rising panic as it swelled within him.

‘I am sure once you have seen more of the countryside and the beautiful spring flowers you will feel differently,’ he replied.

She shrugged her shoulders and leaned forward to watch Mr Roberts instruct Lucy on a new dance. The sound of Lucy’s laughter echoed throughout the room as she struggled to master the steps.

‘That looks like fun,’ Millie said.

Alex bit his lip in frustration. He was contemplating the loss of the one girl who had ever stirred his heart and she was making a quip about some trivial dance.

‘It would be such a shame for you to leave before you really got to know and love the place.’

And me.

Millie shook her head. ‘Our family came back to England to ensure there was an heir to the Ashton title close at hand. My mother was also keen to come home, though I never realised how much she hated it in India until we reached London.’ Millie sighed. ‘But it doesn’t matter if I stay here or not. England has not exactly welcomed me with open arms. I would rather go home.’

For the first time in his life, it occurred to Alex that other people did not see England, and especially London, in the same way he did. For Millie this was not home – her heart remained many thousands of miles away. He could not imagine leaving England, never to return.

‘What if your family won’t allow you to return to India? What will you do then?’ he asked.

She turned and gave him a quizzical look, and he knew what she was thinking. What did it matter to him what she did with her life? She puffed out her cheeks and shrugged her shoulders once more.

‘I don’t know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead, so please don’t speak of it to anyone in my family. It was careless of me to have mentioned it at all. It’s simply that the idea of going back keeps turning over in my mind. Perhaps this coming season will resolve things for me. Who knows? I may meet some dashing young man who sweeps me off my feet and carries me away to his castle in the Scottish highlands,’ Millie replied.

She gave Alex a friendly pat on the arm, but it did little to quell his growing uneasiness. Until she came to realise that her future was already sealed with him, she would not give up the dream of returning to India. He would have to make her see that she could be happy in her new home. And that he had a large and imposing castle at his disposal. Granted, it was in the lowlands, but it was a castle none the less. He would be more than happy to share it with her, along with his heart.

Finally, the music came to a halt and with her lesson over, Lucy walked over to greet them. Alex watched as his sister’s gaze took in how closely he and Millie were seated, and he saw a disapproving look appear on her face. It was the same look she always gave him when one of her friends got a little too friendly with him. He had broken more young girls’ hearts than he cared to admit and it had cost Lucy several friendships. The list of girls who had cried themselves to sleep over Alexander the Great was long.

He wasn’t a fool, though. He knew full well that several girls had befriended Lucy in order to get closer to him. He understood the attraction he presented to the unmarried misses. What sensible girl would not use Lord Brooke’s sister as a means to get close to the future Duke of Strathmore? Many had tried, and all had failed. Then he had met Millie. She had not thrown herself at him, there had been no batting of pretty eyelids in his direction or sudden swooning. She was different.

She had stood up to him in Hyde Park and called his bluff. She knew his back was not injured, but rather than make a scene, she had placed her friendship with Lucy ahead of her hurt feelings and accepted his apology. She was a newly discovered delight, and if Lucy thought he was about to take a step backwards, she was seriously mistaken. Millie would be his, and Lucy was going to have to accept it.

‘You are such a skilled and elegant dancer, Lucy,’ Millie said, clapping her hands in appreciation. ‘I must remember not to dance too close to you in future. That way no one can compare your light feet to my flat ones.’

Lucy laughed and took Millie by the hand, pulling her to her feet. ‘Come, you must meet Mr Roberts, I have told him all about you and he is eager to make your acquaintance.’ As Lucy walked arm in arm with Millie across the ballroom, Alex followed slowly behind, humming to himself. When Lucy looked back at him, he met her wary look with a warm smile. He was too busy formulating a plan to woo Millie to allow his sister’s concerns to bother him. Millie was the one he had to win over, and only after she had fallen in love with him and accepted his suit would he dare to share his humiliating secret with her.

‘Did I mention that we have a family castle in Scotland, Miss Ashton?’ he muttered under his breath, making a mental note to drop it into the conversation at the next opportune moment.

The row between the Radley brothers continued unabated. David approached Alex several times over the next few days, but each time he attempted to speak to his brother, Alex held up a hand and gave him a firm, ‘Don’t bother’ before walking away.

Alex knew David felt guilty about what had happened at the Silken Slipper Club, and that it had been the brandy talking, but Alex still found himself unable to put the embarrassment he had endured that night behind him. David, his lifelong champion and protector, had exposed him to the scorn of the world. For the moment, Alex’s pride was wounded and he was in no mood for forgiveness.

Seated on his magnificent midnight-black gelding, as he joined the rest of the early, morning Hyde Park riders, the Marquess of Brooke was the epitome of a young English peer.

Under his black greatcoat, his cravat was tied correctly, but far more loosely than the current fashion dictated. Refusing to conform to the strictures of the dandy set, he insisted his neckcloths be only lightly starched, allowing him full movement of his head when he rode. His tight buckskin breeches clung to his strong legs, showing every muscle. Below the knee, his riding boots hugged his calves tightly, the result of an elegant marriage of expensive English leather and a masterful valet. Neither dandy nor buck, Alex Radley dressed to suit himself and others were left to follow in his wake.

One of the benefits of being out of sorts with his brother, and therefore not out every night, was the newfound sensation of waking early and feeling well each morning. He smiled as he recalled the look of surprise on the stable master’s face when Alex appeared in the yard just after dawn and ordered his horse be ready within the hour for an early-morning jaunt.

Watching as a steady stream of the
haute ton
arrived with their horses and grooms in tow, Alex pondered the events of the afternoon several days earlier. The time he had spent with Millie in the ballroom at Strathmore House had been a major revelation. She was the first girl who had made him question the way he lived his life.

He had lain awake on his bed for several hours after returning home, recalling every word she had said to him. The memory of his hangover still fresh in his mind, he had made the uncharacteristic decision to stay home for the evening, ignoring the raised eyebrows of his valet, Phillips, when he informed him that he would not be venturing out. When sleep finally claimed him, he had dreamt he was holding Millie, his hands on her hips as she swayed to the music from an invisible orchestra. It had been a long and sexually satisfying dream.

The snort of his horse and the stamp of its hooves on the hard cold ground stirred him from his musings.

‘Sorry boy, I know you didn’t come out here to stand and watch everyone else get a good run down the Row. Time to stop wasting the morning,’ he said as he dug his heels into the side of his mount and the horse set off at a light canter.

Further along the sandy track, he let his horse have its head and the beast responded by stretching out to a full gallop. The biting wind slapped against Alex’s face and he blinked away the tears that formed in his eyes. He laughed with pure joy. It was marvellous to shake the cobwebs from his mind.

The sound of pounding hooves caught his attention and, glancing over his right shoulder, he saw another rider on a grey gaining on him. He spurred his horse on, intent on being the first to reach the unofficial finish line at the Lodge.

‘Come on Brooke, my sister can ride faster than you,’ the other rider bellowed.

Alex looked again and saw Charles Ashton drawing alongside on the grey.

‘Bloody hell, Ashton, you ride like the devil,’ Alex replied with a roar. He dug his heels in once more and leaned forward in the saddle.

Faster and faster the two horses raced. Over the sound of his horse’s heavy panting, Alex could hear the cries of other park visitors urging him on to victory. With the blood pounding in his ears, he gripped the reins and urged his mount on.

He reached the Lodge a half-length ahead of Charles Ashton and, punching the air, let out a loud whoop of delight. ‘Huzzah, the victory is mine!’

He eased back in the saddle and loosened the reins as his horse slowed from its gallop to a trot. Charles drew alongside and offered Alex his hand.

‘Well done, Brooke; first time I’ve been beaten in years. That’s one determined beast you have there.’

Alex shook Charles’s hand and looked down at his mount. ‘From my father’s estate in Scotland. I expect he has been champing at the bit to get out and have a good run.’

He threw his leg over the saddle and dropped to the ground. Charles followed suit. The sweat-soaked horses wandered off to the nearby grass, nuzzling the ice-covered ground in search of young sprouts.

‘I haven’t seen you in the park before. Do you ride here often?’ Charles asked.

Alex shook his head. ‘I am ashamed to say that this is the first time in months I have been up to make the early ride, but I promise henceforth you shall see me here every morning.’

Charles smiled. ‘Excellent; then a rematch is on the cards. I nearly had you at the end.’

Alex picked up the reins of his horse as he and Charles began the long walk back along the track towards their grooms. He had to give Charles his due: he was a superb rider, much like himself. Fearless and prepared to let the horse have its head when it counted. Few other riders were willing to trust that their horse had as much hunger to win the race as they did. It was little wonder Alex never lost.

‘So who taught you to ride like a mad man?’ Alex replied.

Charles stopped and fixed Alex with a hard stare. ‘Necessity.’

Alex furrowed his brow. ‘What?’

Charles sighed. ‘I came across a leopard on a forest trail a few miles from our summer home one year. My horse took off like the wind, with me grimly holding onto the reins for my life. So when I ride now, I just imagine that day and I am never beaten.’

Alex raised an eyebrow.

‘Well, almost never,’ replied Charles with a smile. ‘How about yourself?’

‘Rode like a reckless fool since the day my father first put me on a horse’s back. I am sure he thinks one day I am going to come off and break my bloody neck, but it hasn’t happened so far,’ Alex replied.

They continued on the track back to the main gate and their waiting grooms. As he handed over the reins, Alex gave his horse one final pat on the neck.

‘So, are you off home for breakfast?’ he asked.

Charles shook his head. ‘No, we eat early in our house. Millie was just wandering into the breakfast room as I left. She and our father are going to the British Museum this morning to see the Elgin marbles and if I know Papa, he will want to be there when they open the doors. I hear everyone is flocking to see them. Myself, I am spending the morning with my tailor; Mama says I need more evening attire for the season.’ He gave a clear sigh of disgust. ‘I don’t think there could be anything more tiresome.’

‘Quite,’ Alex replied, attempting to sound uninterested. ‘Well, I suppose I had better head home and see what is on the breakfast table. This fresh morning air has given me an appetite. Same time tomorrow, Ashton, and let’s see how close you can get your nag to my fine steed.’

Alex bade Charles goodbye and he followed his groom out the main gate. But instead of heading home to Bird Street, he hailed a hack and headed up Park Lane. Leaning back on the leather bench, he began to formulate a plan. If there was one person in London who would appreciate a visit to the British Museum, it would be his history scholar of a brother Stephen. If they happened by pure chance to encounter a young lady and her father who were also visiting the museum that morning, he would claim it as the most fortunate of coincidences.

‘I am pleased to see you happy,’ Mr Ashton said as Millie smiled broadly.

Millie and her father had arrived at Montagu House, home of the British Museum, early. With a small tip to the attendant, they were admitted to the viewing room half an hour before the official opening time. With only a small number of people in the room, Millie was afforded an unobstructed view of a twenty-foot section of the Parthenon Frieze.

‘They are stunning and I have been longing to see them since the day we arrived. Especially the Parthenon Frieze. I cannot believe they managed to ship over two hundred feet of it; it must have cost Lord Elgin an absolute fortune,’ she replied.

The museum guide, who was accompanying them, gave her a patronising smile. ‘The young lady need not concern herself with the vulgarities of money, as the British government now owns them,’ he said.

Millie sucked in a breath and replied haughtily. ‘And I expect since the government spent thirty-five thousand pounds on them, they will be staying in England permanently?’

The guide gave Mr Ashton a quick look, and he shook his head in response.

James whispered in Millie’s ear. ‘The man is only trying to do his job. Let him show us around for a little and then I shall pay him off. I am certain you know as much as he does about the marbles, but chances are the man has a family to keep.’

Millie nodded and gave the man a small apologetic smile.

‘You were saying?’ she said.

A carriage bearing the livery of the Duke of Strathmore stopped out the front of the British Museum in Great Russell Street, and Alex and his brother Stephen stepped out.

‘Remind me again why you are taking me to see the marbles when I have already seen them twice?’ Stephen asked, as he hugged himself to keep warm in the bitter cold.

Alex sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘Because, dear boy, you know all there is to know about these things, so I won’t need the services of a museum guide,’ he replied, waving his arm in the direction of the museum’s front door.

‘But I told you everything I know at home and you memorised it; you never forget anything,’ Stephen replied.

After arriving at Strathmore House following his ride in Hyde Park, Alex had roused his younger brother from his sleep and made him tell him everything he knew about the Elgin marbles. After a hasty breakfast he had bundled Stephen out of the house before anyone could enquire as to where they were going.

‘I know, but Miss Ashton is here with her father and it would look odd for someone like me to be on my own at the museum at any time of the day, let alone at this hour. You, my boy, are the best excuse I could possibly have: what better way to impress a young lady than to show her how good a brother I can be?’ Alex replied.

‘You could have brought along David; Miss Ashton has already met him.’

The steely stare Alex shot his brother said it all.

Stephen stepped in close. ‘Just so you are aware, I think Papa suspects something is amiss with you and David. Don’t be surprised if he summons you both home and makes the two of you have it out. By the way, what is the problem?’

Alex put a friendly arm around his brother’s shoulder. ‘None of your business, imp. Now let’s go inside, and just remember who will be paying your annual allowance in your old age. We wouldn’t want you living in penury simply because you didn’t help me to impress Miss Millicent Ashton, now would we?’ he said.

The brothers exchanged a laugh, knowing full well that Alex could never refuse his youngest brother anything.

‘Why do you want to impress her?’ Stephen replied. The look on his face belonged to one who was yet to discover the delights of the opposite sex.

‘Because I need to, and that is all you need to know,’ Alex replied.

‘Alright, but I want an onion pie and a hot chocolate after we have finished here. Actually, make that two pies, I’m very hungry,’ Stephen said with a grin.

‘Done.’

Millie and her father had examined several large sections of the Parthenon Frieze before Mr Ashton finally gave the exasperated guide a large tip and sent him on his way.

‘He has gone, happy now?’ he said as the guide headed back to the front door.

‘Thank you. It is hard to appreciate their beauty when someone is continually prattling on in your ear. Besides, it’s a centaur, not a “man-horse”,’ she sniffed, pointing to a panel depicting a centaur and a Lapith in battle. Millie was very particular about the correct terminology when discussing matters of history and mythology.

Noting that the centaur was missing one of its arms, Millie wrinkled up her nose in disappointment. While Lord Elgin had claimed he wanted to preserve the marbles, it was common knowledge that in removing them from their original location, many pieces had sustained damage. Even if some day the British government gave the marbles back to their original owners, she doubted they would survive the long sea voyage again. She pointed to a seated statute of a man that was missing its head. ‘I thought marble was supposed to be white, like the Taj Mahal, but some of these are almost black.’

‘It is dirt, Miss Ashton. You must remember the marbles were on the side of a Greek temple on top of a windswept mountain for over two thousand years,’ a deep male voice murmured into her ear. She turned and was surprised to see Alex standing next to her. A smile found its way to her lips.

‘Good morning, Lord Brooke,’ she replied.

Alex gave her a bow. ‘Good morning.’ After shaking hands with Mr Ashton, Alex motioned for a young man to step forward.

‘This is my brother, Lord Stephen Radley,’ he said.

Millie looked at the young man and noted the strong resemblance to Alex. Lord Stephen gave a bow and then looked to his brother. Alex cleared his throat.

‘As I was saying, the marbles date back to around four hundred BC, so one would expect them to have weathered somewhat over that time. But I am of the understanding some items were damaged during their journey here, especially the ones that went down with the brig
Mentor
; they spent nearly two years at the bottom of the sea.’

Millie’s eyes widened with delight.

‘I had no idea you were a man of the classics, Lord Brooke,’ Mr Ashton replied. ‘It is refreshing to meet a young man of your status who takes an interest in the ancient world.’

Alex gave a nod of his head. ‘I feel it is important to obtain such knowledge and pass it on to young, impressionable minds.’ He glanced in his brother’s direction, as Lord Stephen let out a snort.