Chapter Three

 

The last of the guests left by late morning and Alice felt relief as she turned to go back inside after standing at the front of the house with her parents and Emily to see off Lady Sherwood. Luckily the woman had not had the chance to share in one of her lengthy tales; Alice was most certainly not in the mood. Her head ached due to reoccurring thoughts and dreams of a dark-haired man with cold brown eyes peering down at her from some great height, as if she were some sort of tiny insect and he a spider.

“Alice, meet me in the drawing room, please,” Mrs. Huntington said in a voice that brooked no argument.

Alice sighed. What could her mother want now? She was much too exhausted to listen to her excitement about the possibility of Emily’s upcoming marriage. Then again, the woman’s voice did not sound excited but rather like the times she had plans to give Alice a tongue-lashing. What she could possibly have done this time, she had no idea. Perhaps it had something to do with her actions the previous night. Between bumping into the tray of beverages and stepping on Lord Blackmoore’s foot, she had to look the bumbling fool. Alice, however, thought her performance had just the right touch of clumsiness without overdoing it. What better way to keep the eligible men away?

Once inside, she followed her parents into the drawing room. It was not lost on her that her sister was not present. Not that she envied Emily, for they got along handsomely, but she was the favored child, something that Alice had orchestrated through her own actions. Not by choice, but by need.

She made her way to one of the sofas and brushed a bit of dust from her gray dress. Although it was not one of her newer gowns, it was one of her favorites, and as severe and matronly as every other that hung in her wardrobe. Convincing Emily to wear a more revealing dress had its purposes, just as the high-necked gown she wore now had its purpose. Whatever she could do to keep away any prospective husbands was exactly what she wanted.

Mrs. Huntington took a seat across from Alice, which was a sign that what she had to say was not going to please Alice. When Mr. Huntington sat next to his wife, Alice knew for certain whatever they wished to discuss would be quite unpleasant indeed.

“Now, Alice,” Mrs. Huntington said in a firm voice, “we have been more than accommodating for the choices you make in your life.”

Alice groaned inwardly. They had this talk at least once a month, and she had grown tired of them long ago. However, she had to concede that what her mother said was true, they had been more than accommodating, though they tended to harp on it more often than was necessary. “Yes, Mother, and I am appreciative of that.”

“Be that as it may, we realize how our complacency in allowing you not to marry could have affected your sister’s ability to marry.”

Alice’s jaw dropped. “How so? Is Lord Ashbury not interested in courting her?”

Mr. Huntington moved to the edge of the seat with a scowl. “That is not the point here.” He sounded angry, and Alice wondered what had set him off. “The point is that it could have hindered her. Too often, people look at one sister and believe the same for the other.”

Alice waved her hand as if the swat away his words. “Oh, rubbish. How often do you see two spinsters in the same family?” The idea was so ludicrous, she actually laughed aloud.

However, she soon regretted the words, for her flippant attitude sent her father into a rage. “This is not a game, Alice! Not only has your choice to refuse anyone who has come courting been shameful to both myself and your mother, your inability to move about a room as a lady has only magnified it. What, pray tell, did they teach you at that finishing school? It certainly was not how to walk through a room with grace and elegance. At times you are more a bumbling oaf than a lady of wealth!” Her father was yelling by the time he finished, and Mrs. Huntington had to lay a hand on his arm to make him sit back down, for he had risen to his feet at the same rate his voice had risen in volume.

Anger as hot as lava boiled in Alice. She somehow tempered it and forced tears to her eyes. Anger had never gotten her anywhere with her parents, but tears always seemed to work. “But, father, I do not want to be this way!” she cried. “I cannot help when one of the footmen get too close to me at the same time I turn around. Nor can I help walking into things when I am asked to remove my eyeglasses.” She turned a glare at her mother, who looked down at the floor. “I do the best I can. I wish you could see that.” She sobbed into her hands as she peeked through her fingers.

Her parents glanced at each other. Her mother bit at her lip and her father sighed.

“This immaturity needs to stop,” Mr. Huntington said, though his voice was much softer than it had been previously. “You are an adult now, and you are acting like a child.”

Alice sighed. He was right. She was an adult now, and her childish antics would not get her what she wanted. Instead, she needed to figure out another way to convince her parents that the best thing for her was to remain a spinster. But how?

“I am sorry,” she said with a sniffle. “You are right. I do act like a child. I promise I will do my best to act the adult I am and to be more watchful of my actions.”

“Good,” her father replied. “I am glad you have come to your senses. You have received better instruction from us. Plus, you are much too intelligent to act so immaturely.”

“Yes, you are correct, Father,” she agreed once again. “Thank you.” She knew he was right; she was too intelligent. As a matter of fact, she was intelligent enough to come up with another plan to remain unwed.

***

The stables were a favorite place to go when Alice needed a moment to think. Although the garden was beautiful, it was also too open to prying eyes, and she needed to be somewhere private to focus on her problems and not on whether or not someone might be watching her. It was not a matter of whether or not she thought anyone could simply look at her and know what she was thinking, but rather that she could not help but wonder if perhaps it were possible. Plus, she tended to talk aloud as she thought, thus the chance someone was to overhear her was too great a possibility.

With most of the guests gone, the stables were now nearly empty, minus its residents, of course. Her father had a team of horses, four in total, for when they journeyed in the family carriage. Each member of the family also had his or her own horse to ride, though Alice preferred to walk or take a carriage. Not that she left Glassberry Manor often. If it wasn’t the rain keeping her trapped inside the confines of the house, then her parents and their unwillingness to supply her with a companion was another.

“If you refuse to marry,” her father had said when she asked about having a companion, “then I will not allow you the benefit of a companion.”

“You do realize that by marrying, you then have a companion,” her mother had said, “and that man can accompany you to wherever it is you would like to go.”

Why she would need a companion in the first place was what Alice found ridiculous. She was a grown woman, and now that she had reached the age of spinsterhood, she should have been able to be out on her own whenever she pleased. That was how she felt at any rate, and she had voiced that opinion on more than one occasion. Society, of course, dictated otherwise. Marriage was sought after and expected for all women, and those who chose not to marry were not true women. If a spinster was not a woman, then Alice had no idea what she was.

Alice walked up to the familiar beam in the far back corner where an old bench sat. She ran her hand along the wood lightly. Tears came to her eyes as the familiar images flickered in her mind of a day long ago when she had first met Thomas.

Thomas had only been in the employ with the Huntington family a few months when Alice came upon him shoeing one of the horses. She had watched him as he completed his task and found herself staring at his muscled arms as he held the animal’s leg in place. Although his physique showed great strength, his stance in dealing with the horse was soft and caring. The combination of the two was highly intoxicating, and Alice could not take her eyes off him.

As she watched in wonderment at the young stable boy, a horse whinnied beside Alice and Thomas looked over his shoulder and glanced her way. His blond hair covered his face, and as he still held the horse’s leg, he blew at the hair so it billowed out before him.

For whatever reason, Alice laughed, which in turn caused Thomas to laugh. He then released the animal’s leg, turned, and proceeded to trip over the small stool that sat behind him. This brought Alice to a fit of giggles, and Thomas’s face reddened so much she wondered if he would end up in some sort of fit.

“Miss,” he said as he bowed deeply to her, “I did not see you there.”

“No, I could not imagine how you could have unless you somehow have the ability to see behind you.”

The memory of the grin that followed made her heart skip a beat, even today as she stood just inside the doorway. A single tear ran down her cheek as the memories flooded her mind. How she missed him.

“Thomas, every day I wish you would come riding back into my life,” she said to the empty air before her. Then she repeated the last words she had ever spoken to him, “I await your return.”

“I beg your pardon?” a male voice asked behind her.

Alice spun around, her heart in her throat at the thought that someone might have overheard her one-sided conversation. However, her fear became anger when she saw the owner of that smooth baritone voice.

With the bright sun shining behind so his features appeared in shadow, Lord Blackmoore looked the overbearing god he certainly believed he was. However handsome she might believe him to be, he had proven time and time again that he had no redeeming qualities whatsoever, at least not those which impressed Alice. Other women might find him interesting, perhaps even a bit exciting, but she was immune to his roguish ways.

He entered the stables and the light adjusted, allowing her to see his features a bit more clearly. Yes, she could see how women might swoon in his presence with his straight nose and deep cleft in his chin. How many women had brushed back that wave of brown hair that fell over his forehead?

She straightened her back and lifted her chin, for she would not allow him to intimidate her—or captivate her. He might be titled, but he was certainly no better than she. As a matter of fact, if what she had heard about his conquests when it came to women was true, she would consider herself much better than he.

“Lord Blackmoore,” she said in as haughty a voice as she could muster. Why was she struggling to breathe as she took in his well-fitting coat and breeches? Or was it the chiseled line of his jaw or the plump lips? What was the matter with her? Was she some sort of child to think in such a way? “How dare you sneak up on me. Why are you here?”

He laughed, and it was a pleasant sound, not at all mocking as it had been in every other encounter they had had in the past. Today it was foreign to her ears. “I am here to collect my horse. However, I am glad I have the opportunity to see you once again before I leave.”

Alice crinkled her brow. What insidious plans did this man have? “See me? Why on Earth would you want to see me?” Had he somehow lost his mind overnight?

“But of course,” he replied with an easy smile that made her feel as if she had turned too quickly. “I have always had an interest in speaking to you.”

It was Alice’s turn to laugh. “What was it you said last night?” She tapped her finger on her lips as if thinking, though the words were burned into her brain they were so offensive. “Oh, yes, ‘no man—and certainly no woman—stops me from anything I wish to do’. I would not think of stopping you from retrieving your mount, if only to have you gone from my home at the earliest possible moment.”

A darkness crossed his face. Or was it a cloud from outside blocking the bit of sun that shone through the upper window? Whatever it was, it was gone before Alice could be sure she had even seen it.

“I do regret those words,” Lord Blackmoore said sadly, his tone causing her to believe she had misread the previous look. “I must admit that I spoke without thought to how my words could be taken.”

“Oh, I doubt very highly you meant anything but exactly the words you said,” Alice said as she flicked away a bit of straw that clung to her gown.

He chuckled. “Perhaps. However, I would like to put that all behind us. Let us have a fresh, new start.” His smile was disconcerting and she found herself wondering what he was up to. He leaned against a heavy beam. “So, to whom were you speaking just now?”

Alice narrowed her eyes at him. “That is none of your concern,” she snapped in an attempt to keep herself from running away and finding a safe place to hide where no one would be able to find her for the remainder of the day. How could she have allowed someone to overhear her? She was typically much more careful when she reminisced here.

“Indeed, you are correct. It is none of my concern. I only asked as a way to start a conversation.”

So, what is it you want? Alice wondered to herself as she raised her defenses. He had never shown an interest in conversation with her before, so why the interest today? “It seems to me,” she said aloud, “that you have a tendency to find yourself alone with women quite often, or so I understand.”

This time his laughter was boisterous. “I do not deny it,” he said firmly. “I have had my fair share of women. Yes, the rumors are true.”

Alice sniffed. “I am not like other women, My Lord. I do not indulge my time in listening to gossip. I prefer to make my own judgments about people.”

“Is that so? However, you listen enough to know with whom I spend my time? That seems a bit of a contradiction.” The half-smile played on his lips was almost a sneer. “Perhaps you do care more for what the gossips say than you admit. What if I were to tell those gossips how you are here alone with me without a chaperone?” Then his face pinched for a mere second and his pleasant demeanor returned once again. “Damn,” he whispered, apparently not wanting her to hear, though she had. “No, this is not the best way to end such a pleasant conversation.”

Oh, but this man was a frustration, twisting her words and running from hot to cold and back to hot within a few seconds. She did not care to continue this, or any, conversation with the man. “Of course, the best way to end this conversation would be for you to get on your horse and leave.”

“Well, I was hoping to perhaps ask your father if I could walk with you through the gardens…”

To this Alice doubled over in laughter. “Walk with me? Why would you be interested in walking anywhere with me?” She pulled at the drab gown she wore knowing it did nothing to compliment her looks. “Do I look the type of woman who desires the company of an earl? Or one an earl would desire to have in his company? No, My Lord, I believe it would be much better if we steered clear of one another from this moment forward.”

He shook his head and went to the stall where his horse had been stabled, the black mane flying here and there as the horse whinnied at its owner. “Very well, then perhaps tomorrow?” He did not wait for her to reply, but instead threw a finely crafted saddle on the horse’s back and soon had it strapped expertly into place.

Alice pretended not to notice how the man’s arm muscles strained against the sleeves of his coat or how his leg muscles held firm as he reached over to readjust the strap. “I must insist…”

“Ah, very well, if you insist, then I will be here tomorrow at three in the afternoon. I will inform your father as soon as I ride to the front of the house.” He then put his foot in the stirrup, pulled himself onto the horse and added, “Until tomorrow, Miss Huntington,” he said with a nod.

All Alice could do was stare after the man. How dare he make such plans without waiting for her to turn him down? She turned and kicked at a pile of straw.

“Oh, and another thing…”

Alice spun around. He had done it again! He had come up behind her without her hearing him. “My Lord,” she said in the fiercest voice she could generate to hide not only her startled state, but also a small amount of excitement as she struggled to keep her emotions in check, “Again, I must insist…”

He jumped from the horse and she pulled back fearing he meant to take advantage of the fact they were alone in the stables—although he had yet to be even the slightest bit improper. As he walked to stand directly in front of her, she found herself holding her breath. He would not dare!

His arm shot out and Alice almost swooned on the spot. Just the scent of him made her realize the reason he was able to have any woman he wanted. “I almost forgot my bag,” he said as he reached around her, grabbed a leather saddlebag that hung from the half-wall of the stall and threw it over his shoulder. The half-smile he gave her was one of a man who had won a bet or proven a point, almost a sneer, and she had to hold herself from slapping him.

“Well, then I hope you have a pleasant journey,” she snapped. With that, she walked around him and toward the stable doors, her head held high. Then she turned one last time. “And as for tomorrow,” she said in a haughty tone, “I will not…” She took a step back and did not see the stool that sat on the floor behind her. If it had not been for Lord Blackmoore reaching out to catch her, she would have ended up flat on her backside and her gown would have been covered in straw and dust, as well as what was in a nasty pile the Earl’s horse had just plopped onto the stable floor.

“You really should be more careful,” he said as his eyes bore into hers.

She yanked her eyeglasses from the hand he held out. “Thank you,” she replied curtly, though the feel of his hand lingered on her arm in not an unpleasant manner.

He gave her an amused smile. “Until tomorrow.” He trotted around the corner of the house and was soon out of sight.

She glared at the stool and held back the urge to give it a good swift kick. Typically, she planned her acts of clumsiness and was quite proud of the results. However, when it happened of its own accord, and especially in the presence of a man such as Lord Blackmoore, it only made her want to lash out at whatever she could.

Well, come tomorrow, she would find a way to be sure he did not wish to continue visiting her. For no matter what the man thought, she could easily outsmart him, for she was much more intelligent than he. There was no doubt in her mind of that fact.