Lord Grenville's Choice (16 page)

“Of course, my lady.”

Felicity spent the next moments trying to master her strong emotions. Her hurt was so deep, she could not feel it. It was as though her heart had been cut out of her chest and she was existing merely on nervous energy. She rose and fidgeted at her dressing table, wondering what she could possibly tell her son. The idea of tearing him away from a father who loved him was horrible. But there was no doubt in her mind that she was right in taking him. Aside from the fact that she loved him almost beyond reason, she would not allow him to be raised by Alex and Elizabeth.

Suddenly weak at the knees, she sat on her vanity stool. In less than an hour, her life had taken on an unreal quality that she could hardly comprehend. She felt like her house was being shelled in a battle and she was escaping. Anger was her fuel.

Her worst fears had come to be. Some part of her had always hoped Alex would learn to love her, but all these years, he had been living a double life. She could not think of that now.

She
would
protect her son. They would go to her mother’s property at Tywyn in Wales. Her mother had willed it to her outright. Foreseeing in her worst moments that this day might come, she had kept knowledge of the property from Alex.

Jack and Nanny Owen entered the room. The nursemaid had been Felicity’s nanny; she prayed that the woman’s loyalty would be to her.

“Jack, sweetheart, we are going on a long trip. It is going to be wonderful. We will stay by the sea. I can teach you to make sandcastles and we can go out in a boat. But you and Nanny Owen must be very quick and pack up your favorite toys and all your clothes. Can you be a help to Nanny?”

“The sea? Oh! I do want to see it!” Running to his mother, he threw his arms around her neck. “I cannot wait! Will it take a long time to get there?”

“Several days. But you will like it above all things. There is a ruined castle there where actual knights had a great battle!”

The words she spoke to her son made her long to be away in Tywyn already, away from London, away from heartbreak, away from Elizabeth, and mostly away from Alex. Her leaving would cut off his presence from her life like a knife amputating a limb. Though Felicity was firm of mind, her body had other ideas and fell to trembling.

“Go now! Run upstairs, have your luncheon, and help Nanny Owen.”

The woman was looking at her strangely but kept her lips clamped shut until she said, “We are leaving today, my lady?”

“Yes, Nanny. We must. Trust me: it is of the utmost importance.”

The physician walked into the room with her father on his arm. Papa’s steps were halting, but his eyes were full of fury.

He greeted his grandson, “Good morning, Jack.”

“Grandpapa! Are you coming with us to the sea?”

Lord Morecombe flashed Felicity a querying look. She nodded.

“I am,” he replied. “We must hop to it!”

In spite of the woe swirling through her, she noted a new crispness in her father’s words that pleased her. Nanny Owen and Jack left the room. Dr. Caldwell led his patient to the armchair and settled him there.

“You are going all the way to the sea?” the physician asked.

“Yes, Tywyn is on the Welsh coast. But you are not to breathe a word, if you please,” she said.

“My wife,” Felicity’s papa explained. “Her property.” Turning to his daughter, he said, “Should run Alex through with my sword.”

“If anyone runs him through, it will be me,” she said firmly. “Now Papa, did you send Hinshaw to pack your clothes?”

“Yes. He will bring carriages.”

“Excellent thinking. One for us, one for the servants and luggage,” Felicity said.

The doctor gave a little cough. “I think, if you will allow me, that I should come with you. At least part of the way. To make certain neither of you takes ill on the journey.”

“But you cannot!” Felicity protested. “To be seen to be running away with another man’s wife would ruin your professional reputation!”

He gave her a smile while resting a hand on her shoulder. “Not when that wife is accompanied by her father, her son, a nanny, a maid and a valet.”

Lord Morecombe said, “Thank you. Most welcome.”

Felicity still thought it an unwise move but admitted to herself that having the doctor along would spare her much anxiety.

“I thank you as well. What about your other patients?”

“I have a partner. I will send him a note and another to my valet to pack for me.”

“Of course. There is stationery in the library.”

Felicity waited until he had exited the room and, burying her head in her hands, tried to shore up her weakness. Things were happening so fast, she could not comprehend anything except the need to run from the pain that would surely come—and the driving need to get out of the house before Alex returned. Facing him would be more than she could handle. She never wanted to see him again.

Her father set a hand on the back of her head, murmuring shushing sounds. His comfort almost undid her control, almost softened the harsh feelings in her breast.

Two hours later, all was in hand. Now was the moment Felicity most dreaded. The coaches awaited in front of Grenville House. She called Alex’s footmen to carry down the luggage.

Alex’s aunt came into the hall. “What is all this? Felicity?”

Anabella followed her. “Why is Dr. Caldwell helping your papa to the carriage?”

“We are leaving Grenville House. Alex will know why. Or perhaps Anabella already does. I will let him tell you, as it is too distasteful to repeat.”

“But, Dr. Caldwell!” said Anabella. “He is surely not going with you!”

“He insists, as Papa and I are not quite well.”

She kissed the stunned Lady Henrietta on her cheek. “You have always been very kind to me. Thank you.”

“And you,” she said to Anabella, not troubling to hide her bitterness, “are rid of me at last.”

As she walked down the steps of her home of five years, her heart took that moment to remind her of its presence. It was being sawn in two. The pain was so severe that had the doctor not been there to assist her, she would not have been able to ascend the stairs to the coach.

{ 21 }

A
lex was very pleased with his efforts in the committee, but his thoughts flew away from that preoccupation as soon as he left the club. Tonight would be the right time to finally tell Felicity of his love for her. It was as though someone had undone the fastenings that had kept that love buttoned tight within him so that it would not show. Now his very soul had expanded.

When he reached his house, he took note that Norse seemed to be upon pins and needles. Perhaps all the female company that afternoon had affected his nerves. Before he could ascend the stairs to Felicity, his aunt darted out of the front parlor, where she had obviously been awaiting him.

“Alex! Come in here to me at once and explain yourself!”

He noted that her voice carried no teasing note and her face looked like a thundercloud. As soon as they were alone in the parlor, she shut the door and sat before the fire, forward in her chair, her hands knotted in her lap.

“What is this about Aunt?”

“I do not know. When she left, Felicity advised me to ask you for an explanation.”

“Left? She should not be out of the house with her wound!”

“Dear boy! She is not only out of the house. She has decamped! In fact, there were two of Lord Morecombe’s carriages. The first for Felicity and Jack, his lordship and Dr. Caldwell, and Nurse Owen . . .”

Alex could only grab at a few key words. “Caldwell? Where was she going with Caldwell?”

“I do not know where she was going, but the second carriage carried a few servants and all their luggage. There is not one thing of Felicity’s left in Grenville House.” Standing, she walked up to Alex, her hands on hips. “Now, you tell me why your wife has left you!”

Alex stood stunned.

Felicity has left me? Impossible!

Leaving the room, he raced up the stairs to her dressing room and threw open the cupboards. They were empty. Panic began to grow inside him. He went to her bedroom. All her perfumes and powders were gone from her vanity. The books were gone from her personal library in the corner of the room. He sped back down the stairs to the drawing room. Even her music was gone from the piano. The panic succeeded in overwhelming him. He once again joined his aunt.

“But, Aunt! She cannot have left me! There is some mistake. Some miscommunication. There must be! Did she not leave a note, at least?”

“Nothing. She seemed to think that you wished her to leave and that you would understand what it was about. Felicity referred me to you for an explanation.” Aunt’s posture had softened a bit. “You really do not know?” she asked, her brow furrowed in distress.

Alex paced the room, spun on his heel, and paced again. “She would not have left, especially with her father’s condition and her own, unless she had some very great inducement to do so. I swear to you that I did not offer her reason.” He paced some more. “No. This bears Anabella’s stamp. She has done or said something to make Felicity feel she is no longer welcome. It is my fault. I should have put my sister in her place long ago.”

“Anabella did seem to understand the reason behind it.”

Alex rang the bell for Norse.

“Send for Lady Anabella, if you please.” He gripped his hands behind his back and hoped he would be able to keep them off Anabella’s person.

“Lady Anabella is out for the evening.”

“Where has she gone?”

“Sir Winton called for her, your lordship. It appeared that they were going to a ball.”

Alex turned to his aunt again. “Which ball?”

“It might be the Covingtons.’ I was to be her chaperone. I told her I had business with you and that we would have to give it a miss. She must have sneaked out. I own I have been preoccupied.”

Alex leapt up the stairs two at a time while telling Norse to have the carriage brought around. He would find his sister immediately and put a stop to this madness! Felicity could not possibly leave him. And what was she thinking of to take the physician along?

Richards helped him make a speedy change into his evening clothes and order his hair. Alex clamored down the stairs, stopping only to allow Norse to wrap his evening cape around his shoulders and hand him his hat.

The Covington Ball seemed to be the biggest of the season. Even the outside walk was lit with candles. Fortunately, the receiving line had been disbanded. Alex looked around the ballroom for his sister and sighed when he realized he would not find her quickly. There were hundreds of people milling about, dancing, drinking, gossiping. The very first group he happened to pass was engaged in gossiping about
him
.

“Two carriages left the house, enough luggage for a trip around the world! Lady Grenville, her son, his nanny, poor Lord Morecombe who recently had a brain seizure, and that handsome doctor. You know the one. Third son of a viscount.”

Alex moved on. Soon, it occurred to him that perhaps attending a ball the night your wife was seen to leave you was not at all a wise move. He was ready to strangle Anabella.

A dowager friend of his mother’s, Lady Airdale, approached him. She was arrayed in a silver gown with white plumes gracing a silver turban. “Dear Alex, tell me it is not true. Tell me that you have not sent that sweet wife of yours away! She is one of the kindest souls I have ever met.”

He gave a short bow. “No, my Lady, I did not send her away. She has left for a short time only. A holiday in the country. She was set upon and seriously wounded at Vauxhall the other night. The air and the noise of the city do not agree with her at present.”

Putting her head to one side, she slapped her closed fan into her opposite palm, regarding him shrewdly. “Hence the presence of the doctor in the carriage.”

“Lord Morecombe has had a brain seizure. He is recovering but is also under the care of the doctor.”

“Ahh, it begins to make sense. And will you join them soon?”

“As soon as I can. Parliamentary business keeps me in town at present.” He ran his gaze over the dance floor, looking for Anabella.

“You do not normally attend balls, Lord Grenville. Is this a special occasion of some sort? You appear to be looking for someone.”

He returned his gaze to the woman and realized she was going to be a valuable ally in ridding the town of gossip about his family.

“Do not let this get about, Lady Airdale, but Lady Anabella has defied me and come out without a chaperone. I came to take her home before she gets into some mischief.”

Let Anabella’s reputation suffer! She deserves it!

“Do not be too harsh on her, Lord Grenville,” Lady Airdale advised. “She is most probably quite bored now that your wife has gone.”

“Lady Anabella is never bored,” he countered. “Now, if you will allow me to proceed, I believe I see her finally, trying to hide from me by that potted palm.”

Alex circled the edge of the dance floor, making his way to his sister. Now standing in a circle with several other young ladies, she looked up at him and smiled the way she had as a child when she had done something clever.

His anger came to a boil. “Good evening, ladies.” He gave them an abbreviated bow. “Lady Anabella, I should like to speak to you privately for a moment!”

She raised an eyebrow, fanning herself. “You have me in a quake, my lord.” Giggling, she moved away from her friends and took his arm.

As they moved toward the terrace, she said, “So you are free at last! Are you not happy now?”

He smiled for the gossips and spoke between his teeth. “Happy to have lost my wife whom I love, not to mention my dearest son?” He pinched her arm. “Anabella, I mean to thrash you within an inch of your life! What have you done?”

She stopped and looked into his face in disbelief. “You do not love Felicity! You love Elizabeth!”

“Moderate your tone or I will thrash you on the spot,” he said, still smiling. “Is that what you told Felicity?”

“No!” Disregarding him, she did not lower her voice. Picking up her flounces, she turned her back and said over her shoulder, “I did not say a thing to Felicity. She simply left. With the doctor, who unfortunately for me, adores her.”