Page 48 of An Unlikely Debutante

Chapter Sixteen

Alex prowled around his study, picking up various pieces of paper that needed his attention, but unable to focus on anything. Lina still hadn’t returned. It had only been thirty minutes since he had got back to the house, but he’d hoped he would find Stormborn back in the stables and Lina rubbing him down. Neither horse nor woman were anywhere to be seen.

Flopping down into his chair, he wondered if she had left for good. He wouldn’t put it past her; he’d seen the hurt and anger in her eyes as he’d suggested she become his mistress. Never had he expected such a violent reaction.

Alex understood her reluctance. She’d told him how her father had been used and then discarded by a wealthy, titled woman looking for some amusement. Lina was concerned that would happen to her. All he needed to do was be clearer in his offer, show her how they could enjoy each other’s company for the next few weeks and then both continue with their lives enriched and emotionally unscathed by the experience. If they both went in with their eyes open, knowing this affair would have an end date, it wouldn’t hurt either of them.

A small voice in the back of his mind scoffed at him. Already he was panicking that he might not ever see Lina again, that he’d driven her away with his proposition. The idea he could give her up after they’d become even closer was difficult to accept, but of course he would have to. No matter how much he liked Lina, how much more he liked himself when Lina was around, the only way they could realistically be together was if she became his mistress. He might dream of a future where Lina stayed on at Whitemore House for ever, where they were bound together by law, but that couldn’t be anything more than a dream.

Running a hand through his hair, Alex wondered if he was being selfish. He knew there were different standards for men and women. A titled, unmarried gentleman was almost expected to have a mistress or lover, whereas for an unmarried woman to be entangled with a man there were often consequences. But they would be careful. No one from Lina’s normal life would ever know anything had happened between them.

The thundering of hooves approaching the house made Alex smile in relief. He had not lost her yet. She must have returned for a reason and he was fairly certain that reason was the mutual attraction they shared.

‘Alex!’ Lina shouted, her voice panicky and breathless. ‘Alex!’

A surge of concern powered his stride and he was out through the front door within a few seconds.

‘There’s been a carriage accident, on the road from Pottersdown. I think it’s your aunt, she’s hurt quite badly and trapped. You have to come now.’

The initial relief he had felt at seeing Lina safe and unharmed was replaced by worry. Aunt Lucy was a wonderful if slightly eccentric woman, who Alex would hate to see hurt.

‘She will need at least a few people to lift her out and a carriage to transport her here.’

‘Williams!’ Alex shouted for his butler who was hovering in the background. ‘Send out the grooms on horseback and ask the footmen to follow on foot, ask Peterson to ready the carriage and make his way to the road to Pottersdown as soon as possible.’

He dashed to the stables where one of the stable boys was in the process of taking the saddle off Ebony, the horse he had ridden during his trip with Lina. Quickly he resaddled the horse and vaulted up. Lina had already started back down the drive on Stormborn by the time he reached the front of the house and he pushed Ebony to catch up. Behind him he heard the footmen and grooms hurrying to follow.

He and Lina rode side by side as they turned from the drive on to the road, neither saying anything. Now wasn’t the time to bring up their argument from earlier that afternoon. Perhaps once Aunt Lucy was safe and settled they might be able to discuss things further.

As they sped towards the scene of the accident, they passed the coachman, who waved and pointed and assured them he would be back to help within minutes. And then Alex saw the carriage.

‘Aunt Lucy,’ he called, jumping from Ebony and throwing the reins to Lina.

‘Darling boy, help your poor aunt out of this wreck, wouldn’t you?’

Despite the obvious injury to her leg Alex was relieved to see his aunt hadn’t lost her wicked grin and the sparkle in her eyes.

‘You do know how to make an entrance, Aunt Lucy,’ he scolded her softly as he pulled himself in through the window of the coach after ascertaining the door would not open.

‘I like to keep you on your toes, young man.’

Crouching in the enclosed carriage, Alex took a moment to find his balance on the tilted floor before moving in to look at his aunt’s leg.

‘You won’t be dancing this Season,’ he said quietly. Aunt Lucy had hitched up her skirts to her knee and the entirety of her lower leg was swollen and discoloured. He was no doctor, but he was certain she had broken it, possibly in multiple places.

‘Nonsense,’ Aunt Lucy said, gritting her teeth as Alex gently tried to move her leg from where it was wedged against the buckled seat. ‘I’ll be waltzing with the young gentlemen in a few weeks, mark my words.’

Outside Alex heard the clatter of hooves as the first of the grooms arrived and wondered how best to put his men to work. They would have to lift Aunt Lucy out of the carriage and for that to happen it would be easiest if they could remove the door since it couldn’t be opened.

‘Histon, ride to the village and fetch the doctor,’ Alex instructed. Aunt Lucy was going to need something for the pain before they attempted to pull her out. ‘Paulson, Yates, set to work removing this door. It’s wedged shut and we need it off before we can even attempt to get Lady Grenville out.’

‘It won’t be long, Aunt Lucy,’ Alex said, turning back and once again trying to lift her swollen leg from where it was wedged.

‘Tell me,’ Aunt Lucy said, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. ‘Was that pretty young thing that found me the young lady Georgina has told me all about in her letters?’

‘Yes—Miss Lina Lock.’

‘I can see why you might need a chaperone.’