My Wayward Lady (31 page)

My Wayward Lady

by Evelyn Richardson

to herself. She saw it rather as helping an absent friend who was trapped in an unpleasant situation.

At any rate, her plan to bring Alicia and the earl together was highly successful. Naturally the Earl of Woodbridge did not enjoy the free and easy access to the De Villiers'

household that the Marquess of Kidderham did, but he appeared at so many of the functions honored by Alicia's presence, and was such a habitual visitor to the park that in truth he spent a good deal more time in her company than her fiancé ever had. This assiduous attention was quite driving all thoughts of her betrothed from Alicia's mind, so much so that it was rather a shock when he suddenly materialized at her elbow as she was catching her breath between dances at Lady Margrave's rout.

"Chalfont!" She exclaimed in some surprise. "This is quite sudden. I had not expected you back so soon." Though Alicia was never particularly warm, this was cool even for her. Adrian raised a quizzical eyebrow. "And here I thought you would be pleased to see me."

"Naturally I am always pleased to see you, my lord, but one expects some sort of communications, some sort of intimation when one's betrothed is returning to town." The ironic look became even more pronounced. "Warning. Alicia?"

If the marquess had hoped to discomfit her, he was not successful. Never doubting the rightness of her own views on any subject, Alicia was not easily flustered. "Yes, warning. It is excessively unnerving, not to mention ill-bred, for someone 290

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to drop in and out of people's lives without so much as a byyour-leave."

"I see."

This time the satiric note in his voice was too pronounced even for Alicia to ignore. "It is common courtesy, my lord. You would certainly not approve if I did not keep you apprised of my whereabouts, and I should never just pop up by your side like some jack-in-the-box without some sort of notice."

"No, Alicia, I believe you would never do anything so impulsive."

"Impulsive? Heavens no." Alicia was genuinely horrified by such a notion, but she was clever enough to see that for some odd reason this was not necessarily a recommendation in his lordship's eyes. "I pride myself on always being where people expect me to be, when they expect me. Unreliability is excessively worrisome, not to mention impolite. I would have thought you knew that."

"Perhaps I did not understand it so fully as I do now," Adrian responded grimly.

The significance of this rather enigmatic reply was completely lost on Alicia. "I am glad, then, that we have had a chance to clarify this. I should not want you to be anything but perfectly confident in the behavior of the future Marchioness of Kidderham."

"You are all kindness," Adrian murmured sardonically.

"Did you have a pleasant journey, my lord?" Alicia inquired brightly, completely ignoring this last remark. Lord Chalfont could not help but stare at her for a long moment before answering. He had been off immersing 291

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himself in economic affairs so grave that some discussion of them had even filtered into the drawing rooms and ballrooms of the
ton,
yet she inquired after his trip as though he had enjoyed a pleasant sojourn at a friend's hunting box. "Yes." What else was there to say? How could he explain the poor cottagers who worried about their next meal to someone whose most pressing concern was whether or not she would receive invitations to society's most select gatherings?

"Good. Having done that you have no further need to waste your time in the country." It was more of a command than an observation.

"On the contrary, in the future I plan to spend a good deal of time in the country for that is where one finds out the truth of things." At the moment, Adrian did not even know if he planned to do such a thing, but there was something in the calm way she disposed of his life that infuriated him and he could not help striking back.

Alicia paled and shut her mouth with a snap. Adrian wanted to leave. A wave of revulsion for the whole superficial way of life that Alicia represented washed over him and he felt more trapped than ever before. However, there was nothing to do but ask her to stand up with him and then make his escape as quickly as possible, but as he led her onto the floor he caught a glimpse of gleaming red curls over in a corner by one of the ballroom's marble columns. Lord Chalfont heaved a sigh of relief. She had come after all. Suddenly things did not seem so hopeless. The ballroom and the crowd that had been closing in on him just moments ago now appeared to be a gay and glittering scene, and his 292

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jaded senses felt revived. Adrian was quite surprised to feel his heart pumping and his breath coming in quick bursts as though he had just engaged in a bout of fisticuffs. Not since his salad days when he had fancied himself in love with a girl in the village had he been so affected by the sight of a woman.

Somehow he got through the quadrille with Alicia, nodding mechanically every time she made a remark, but her words were only a buzz in his ear, so intent was he on keeping an eye on the gleam of red at the other side of the ballroom. He restored Alicia to her mother and went off in search of Lady Harriet.

Lord Chalfont's patent desertion left Alicia seething with indignation. Spend her life in the country! Chalfont was mad if he thought he could bury his beautiful and charming wife in the depths of the country with no one for company except for a few greasy farmers' wives. It was insupportable! A lump rose in her throat. She could not, no, she would not bear it. Chalfont would just have to revise his ideas of their future life together.

Alicia drew herself up proudly. She would not give in to despair; after all, she had always gotten her way before. It might take more time and be a bit more difficult now that he had his mind made up, but she would win in the end. A vision of her betrothed's implacable countenance rose before her and some of her courage deserted her. While it was true she had been able to cozen her doting parents and other besotted admirers, she knew that the Marquess of Kidderham was made of sterner stuff. Suddenly the future, which had always 293

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seemed so bright, began to appear very bleak indeed. Unaccustomed tears stung her eyes. It was dreadfully unfair. She, who had been the model of all that was perfect in a woman, did not deserve this fate.

"May I have this dance?"

Alicia had been too wrapped up in her gloomy thoughts to be aware of Lord Aylward's approach and therefore she only caught the last word of his invitation. She regarded him in vague astonishment.

The Earl of Woodbridge smiled tentatively as he reiterated his offer. "I have come to claim the waltz you promised me, but perhaps you have thought better of it." Lord Aylward had never seen her look so agitated. His heart was touched by the drooping shoulders and the trembling lower lip that she was incapable of hiding. "Is something amiss?" he asked with gentle concern. "I am at your service. If I can do anything to spare you a moment's pain, I—"

"No, no..." Alicia interrupted hurriedly. She stole a quick glance at her mother who appeared to be entirely absorbed in surveying the ballroom. "I shall be delighted to have this waltz."

They glided around the floor in silence for some moments before the earl, unable to stand the look of misery in her eyes, questioned her gently, "Is something amiss? I cannot bear that someone as exquisite and charming as you should be anything but happy."

His words were balm to Alicia's wounded spirit. This was the way she should be treated, with sympathy and reverence, not with the callous indifference displayed by Lord Chalfont. 294

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A sob escaped her and her partner, sensing that she was about to break down entirely, waltzed her slowly and imperceptibly toward the open French doors leading from the ballroom onto a terrace. Once there, he released her and, taking one hand, led her into the privacy of the shadows.

"Now, I beg of you, tell me how I can help." It was too much for Alicia whose sense of ill usage had been steadily increasing. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I can not, I mean it is unthinkable that I should be expected..." She gulped and tried to regain her composure.

"Who is causing you such unhappiness? Just name the person and I shall—"

"No, no!" Alicia gasped. She had never heard Lord Aylward sound so fierce, and while it thrilled her to her very soul that he should be so ardent on her behalf, it alarmed her for she was well aware of her fiancé's reputation as a man of action.

"There is nothing to be done. I must bear it as best I can." But this thought was so upsetting that covering her face with her hands, she began to sob in earnest.

The sight of Alicia crying was more than the earl could endure. Forgetting everything but her anguish, he pulled her gently into his arms. "There, there. Do not upset yourself. I shall do whatever is in my power to make you happy again." The sobbing ceased and Alicia gazed up at him with flowing eyes. "Oh, if only you could, but it is impossible." Her tearstained countenance was more lovely, more moving than anything he had ever seen. "I cannot believe that. There must be something I can do. I will do anything. I adore you, Alicia."

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"Oh," she breathed, her eyes shining up at him. This was the way her life should be. This was what she deserved. Unconsciously she leaned toward him, willing him to worship her, to take care of her.

Overwhelmed by her beauty and the piteous expression on her face. Lord Aylward leaned down and kissed her gently, reverently.

It was at this moment that Lord Chalfont, frustrated by an unsuccessful attempt to talk to Harriet who had been led onto the dance floor minutes before he reached her side, strode out onto the terrace in search of peace, quiet, and fresh air. Seeing the couple in the shadows locked in an embrace, he halted, unwilling to intrude, but as he turned to leave them in privacy, he heard Alicia's voice whispering, "Oh, Aylward." Adrian stopped dead in his tracks and turned to peer incredulously into the gloom.

"Alicia?"

The couple fell apart as the marquess approached.

"What is the meaning of this?"

For once, Alicia was bereft of speech. She could do nothing but cling to Lord Aylward and gasp in dismay. The earl, however, was made of sterner stuff. Gently disengaging himself from her clutching hands, he strode forward to look Lord Chalfont straight in the eye. "The lady was overcome with distress and, thinking to avoid comment while she recovered, I brought her out here."

"Undoubtedly." Adrian laughed cynically, but then, thinking better of it, he stopped. This situation, if managed properly, offered the perfect opportunity to make everyone happy. 296

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From the besotted expression on Aylward's face, the man was more than half in love with Alicia, and she with him, though Adrian doubted she would ever care for anyone as much as she cared for herself.

The marquess drew a deep breath. "I understand, and I thank you very much for your concern." Now, how was he to proceed? Lord Chalfont thought frantically for a moment. There was nothing for it but to take the bull by the horns. "It appears to me that you are devoted to Miss De Villiers's welfare and—"

"No, Chalfont. It was not what you think." Alicia, who had recovered her wits enough to consider the implications that her betrothed must be reading into the tender scene, hastened to defend herself.

"I do not think anything, Alicia. I know you too well to believe you are anything but the soul of discretion, as is Aylward here." He nodded in the earl's direction. "But it strikes me that I would be doing you a great disservice in keeping you from one who is obviously a person far more worthy of your regard than I am, a man who fully appreciates the particular qualities you have to offer, qualities that are lost on a rough soldier such as I." Careful, my man, careful, Adrian chided himself. You are doing it much too brown. However, both the earl and Alicia seemed to be much struck by this idea.

Adrian continued. "The admiration offered to you by Aylward here, who is not only a man of rank and property, but one well versed in the ways of the
ton,
offers a greater compliment to you than I could ever pay, unaccustomed as I 297

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am to a fashionable existence." This delicate reference to Aylward's title was not lost on Alicia who had already realized that except for the scandal involved in breaking off with Lord Chalfont, she stood to gain far more by becoming Countess of Woodbridge than she did as the future Marchioness of Kidderham. She gazed pensively at the large Chalfont emerald that now graced her left hand.

Adrian, noting her speculative expression, did his best to hide a triumphant grin. Truly, things were proceeding better than he could ever have dreamed. It only remained to concoct an explanation for Alicia's change in plans that both Alicia and Aylward could live with.

Lord Aylward hastened to intervene. "No one could be a greater admirer of the lady in question than I, Chalfont. I hold her in the highest regard and, with your permission, of course, shall continue to do so when she is your wife." The earl turned and made as if to leave the terrace. It was a noble speech, but one Alicia, who had suddenly glimpsed a brighter future for herself, was not willing for him to act upon. "Stay a moment, my lord." She stretched out an imploring hand to him. "Do not leave so abruptly. Surely..." she paused, unwilling to let him leave yet even more unwilling to risk her spotless reputation. It was the moment Adrian had been waiting for. "Alicia, I honor your dedication to a long-standing agreement between our two families. Your willingness to sacrifice your future happiness for the sake of duty does you great credit, but I cannot stand by while you suffer. It is as obvious that you 298