My Wayward Lady (29 page)
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
as admired and sought after as Alicia De Villiers. But there was nothing in his lordship's attentions toward her that betrayed the least awareness of her position as an incomparable, a woman whose very presence set the pulses of men like the Earl of Woodbridge racing. Alicia had stolen a quick look to see if Lord Chalfont was observing the besotted expression on Lord Aylward's face, but much to her disgust, he had been immersed in a discussion of musty old politics with Harriet, who was an eccentric if there ever was one. It was only to be expected that a girl who had exhibited such odd, studious tendencies in school would turn into such a raving bluestocking. Why it was a wonder Lord Aylward saw anything in her at all, poor man. Undoubtedly he was being kind to the sadly awkward thing. Alicia resolved to rescue him from his own good intentions by offering him the opportunity to devote some time to a female worthy of it.
"How nice of you to stop by, Harriet, but I do not wish to keep you from the next act. And thank you for introducing your delightful companion." Alicia bestowed another dazzling smile on Lord Aylward. "I do hope you ride in the park, my lord. Mama and I drive out every day. We have very little of interest to share with each other, but you are a fount of information and we would welcome your conversation." Lord Aylward flushed with pleasure. "Yes, I do ride and I hope, er—I mean, you are too kind." Recollecting Harriet at his elbow, he flushed an even deeper shade of red and turned in some confusion to offer her his arm.
Well pleased with her evening's work, Harriet did her best to immerse herself in the action onstage for the rest of the 269
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
evening, but even Mozart's divine music failed to erase the vision of a pair of tawny eyes, looking deep into hers.
270
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
No matter how firmly Harriet tried to put the Marquess of Kidderham out of her mind, he would keep intruding in the most unsettling way, such as each night when she lay in bed staring at the blue damask canopy over her head. Then, with all the distractions of the day put aside she was left alone to remember in far too tantalizing detail every moment, every word, every touch of their time together in the carriage from Hertfordshire.
Fortunately Lord Chalfont had gone to visit his estates in Oxfordshire so that during the day, at least, she ran no risk of encountering him in the park, at Mrs. Lovington's, or on Bond Street. In the evenings she could look forward to entering a box or a ballroom without fear of seeing his tall, powerful frame towering over the assembled multitude. Harriet was supremely grateful for this peace of mind, but at the same time, life seemed decidedly flat. In fact, it had never been so dull, and Harriet, who had never endured a minute of boredom in her life now suffered from hours of it. The only thing that did hold her interest, aside from the welfare of Mrs. Lovington's ladies, was her project to bring together Lord Aylward and Alicia, and that was progressing very well indeed. It entailed Harriet's being seen in Lord Aylward's company so often that Lady Elizabeth began to hope that Harriet was going to settle down at last, though of course she would never have mentioned such a thing to Harriet. What Elizabeth neglected to notice was that upon 271
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
each occasion when the Earl of Woodbridge escorted Harriet, whether it was to the Countess of Nayland's ridotto or Mrs. Drouet's benefit concert in the Argyll Rooms, she made certain that they invariably stopped to exchange a few words with Alicia and her mother.
Though Elizabeth was unaware of such a pattern, Harriet did explain it to Lord Aylward one evening after they had left the De Villiers' box to return to their seats for the celebrated Kean's performance in A
New Way to Pay Old Debts.
"I feel quite sorry for poor Alicia, what with Chalfont in Oxfordshire, you know."
"Sorry for Miss De Villiers?" Lord Aylward echoed in surprise. That anyone should feel anything but breathless admiration for the lovely young lady in question seemed to be beyond his comprehension.
"Yes." Harriet nodded emphatically. "For though naturally enough she is not madly in love with someone to whom she has been betrothed all her life, it is hard for her to be without his escort. One can see that it is exceedingly awkward for one accustomed to being the cynosure of all eyes to be forced to attend these things with only her mother as a companion. Of course she would never let on to such a thing, but naturally she must feel his lack of attention keenly."
"Naturally," his lordship agreed, much struck by the wisdom of her observations. This conversation inspired Lord Aylward, a most kindhearted young man who was moved by sympathy for the neglected Miss De Villiers, to ride out several days in a row at precisely the hour he knew the De Villiers' barouche would be appearing in the park. There, he 272
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
discovered the truth of Harriet's remarks, for Alicia was almost pathetically delighted to see him, or so it appeared. Each time she bade him farewell she asked after his plans for the next day with such particular interest that the earl began to take it as a point of honor to ride at her side every day. Since Lady Harriet had made it perfectly clear that one early-morning ride in the park with her brother was more than sufficient exercise. Lord Aylward felt no qualms about deserting her to accompany the De Villiers' ladies as they made their stately circuit every afternoon. Certainly Alicia herself felt no misgivings about such an arrangement. It pleased her immensely to have such an eligible and devoted gallant attending her so assiduously and showering her with the praise and adoration so notably lacking where her fiancé was concerned. To be quite truthful about the matter, she was happy to dispense with Lord Chalfont as long as there was someone of equal rank and éclat to take his place. That this person also showed a far more proper appreciation for the affairs of the
ton
than did the marquess only added to her satisfaction, and she had gone from being quite put out by Lord Chalfont's absence to quite enjoying it.
For her part, Harriet watched this growing intimacy with increasing satisfaction. She did her best to fan the flames of Lord Aylward's interest in the neglected belle by concentrating as much as possible on the lovely Alicia as a topic of conversation whenever he and Harriet happened to share a moment of private conversation waltzing at Almack's or between acts at the theater. Through Miss De Villiers's former 273
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
schoolmate, the earl soon learned that Alicia and the Marquess of Kidderham, though united by years of acquaintance and a common background, really shared very little else, their interests being so widely divergent and their characters so dissimilar as to render them almost opposites of one another.
"It is truly quite gothic in this day and age to find such different people bound together by a marriage of convenience, especially one that was contracted when they were little more than children," Harriet observed as she and the earl were performing the figures in the quadrille one evening in Lady Haslehurst's opulent ballroom.
"Surely she is not being forced against her will?" Lord Aylward was aghast.
"Not as such, but then, she is so very well brought up that it would never occur to her to question such a thing no matter how unhappy it might make her."
"Yes, she appears to be all of that and possesses a proper, dutiful nature that is extremely rare in a young woman these days." The earl agreed so readily that Harriet felt quite on the defensive. She did not think that she was so badly brought up, after all, merely less slavishly devoted to appearance than the young lady in question. But she quelled the retort that rose to her lips and enumerated instead Alicia's manifold feminine charms, which consisted chiefly of always looking exquisite and never putting a foot wrong. Lord Aylward seemed to be much struck by these revelations. Indeed, he remained in a thoughtful mood for the rest of the evening and bade Harriet adieu in an unusually 274
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
abstracted manner as though his thoughts were concentrated elsewhere.
And that should take care of that, Harriet crowed to herself triumphantly as she prepared for bed later that night.
Now all
that remains is to convince Alicia that she is truly as unhappy
as I have led Aylward to believe she is.
This part of the scheme was not so easily accomplished, for Harriet had spent more of her life avoiding Alicia and people like her than courting them. Thus it was difficult to seek out her former schoolmate without seeming quite out of character and arousing suspicion. Fortunately for Harriet, who had been racking her brain for some reasonable excuse to encounter Alicia in a way that would appear perfectly natural, she happened to run into her in Bond Street just as Harriet was emerging from Madame Celeste's, having done her best to insure Madame's continued employment of Fanny by purchasing not one, but two fetching bonnets. Expecting to make several purchases, Harriet had requested the use of the carriage that morning and was thus able to offer Alicia a place in it which, after dispensing with her maid, she accepted gratefully as the De Villiers' equipage had been commandeered by her mother who was visiting a sick friend.
As they rolled down Bond Street Harriet turned to Alicia. "I had no idea that Lord Chalfont was the one to whom you have been promised all these years. You are indeed fortunate in being betrothed to a man who takes such a serious interest in the affairs of the nation."
275
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
Alicia raised delicately arched brows. "I do not concern myself with politics." She sniffed. "I think it is so unladylike for a woman to put herself forward in things better left to the male sex."
"But you will take an interest now that it is clear his lordship plans to devote so much of his time to it. And when you are married you will be able to accompany him in making the rounds of the countryside as he is now doing, which I must say I find most admirable. Not many of his rank and property show such an active concern for those less fortunate. Why, my brother Charlie says that in the army Lord Chalfont was known for being equally as solicitous of the troops in his command as he was for his brother officers." It was a lucky shot, for Harriet could not have known the picture that this offhand remark conjured up in Alicia's discontented mind. Once again she saw the soldier begging in front of Somerset House and her fiancé, not content with giving the man money, going so far as to offer him the hospitality of his own quarters in Mount Street. She shuddered at the thought.
The unhappy pout to her lips was not lost on Harriet who could barely refrain from hugging herself with glee. "And when are you to be wed?" She inquired politely. The pout became more pronounced. "I have not the least—
we have not yet set a date," Alicia replied in a tone of finality that brooked no further questions. But Harriet could see that the seed had been planted and Alicia's visions, painted so glowingly in their school days, of herself as a leader of the
ton
were being replaced by the far less rosy picture of Alicia 276
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
immured in some drafty country house forced to play hostess to highly unfashionable and radical political leaders bent on reform.
By now, much to Alicia's relief, they had reached Hanover Square and she bade Harriet adieu and, in a most serious frame of mind, climbed slowly up the steps to the modest house the De Villiers had rented for the Season. It had never occurred to Alicia, until recently, that life with a wealthy peer would be anything less than perfect or that her husband would wish to devote himself to anything but lavishing her with the luxurious surroundings and expensive folderols she deserved. Of late, however, she had begun to have slight misgivings which her conversation with Harriet had only exacerbated.
Until this moment, Alicia had never really stopped to consider the character of the man she was marrying. It sufficed that he was of a rank and fortune a good deal superior to hers and that his lineage, though less ancient than hers, was respectable enough to make others envious. His personal characteristics, though far less important, were also such as to recommend him. His tall frame and aristocratic bearing insured that he looked the part of leader of the
ton.
Beyond that, Alicia had never stopped to consider anything else. Other than wishing that he had stayed at home and courted her more assiduously rather than going off to fight the Corsican monster, she had not wasted a second thought on his years in the Peninsula outside of assuring herself that he was attached to a sufficiently fashionable regiment. And while it had done her a great deal of good to be the fiancé of 277
My Wayward Lady
by Evelyn Richardson
one of the heroes of Waterloo in the euphoria following Napoleon's defeat, she had been too interested in seeing that he settled down and took his place in society to take much notice of that. In fact, it had irritated her when brother officers approached Lord Chalfont to share reminiscences with him or to extol his daring and courage, because these discussions had only served to draw attention away from her. Alicia had been rather annoyed at the marquess's aversion to fashionable events and his preference for the congenial male atmosphere of the clubs along St. James, but she consoled herself with her confidence in the alluring power of her own beauty and charm. After all, had she not been able to bring even the most aloof of bachelors hurrying to her side with the flutter of an eyelash? She would do the same with the marquess. As the days had worn on, however, Chalfont had remained alarmingly indifferent to her moods and desires, failing utterly to be jolted into action by her frowns or to be dissuaded from something by the hint of her displeasure. Where other men had quaked, he was impervious, taking it all in stride and leaving her with nothing to do but seethe inwardly.