Page 143 of Regency Whispers: Scandalous Matches

Chapter Twenty-Two

Alice had the urge to walk out of the house and keep walking. She wanted her face to be whipped by the wind, her hair flying loose about her shoulders and her skirt battering her legs. There was nothing quite like the wind as it hit the dunes on this part of the coast, and she felt the need to feel the cleansing sting as it brought colour to her cheeks.

She had not made any promises to listen to what Simon had to say, although she knew at some point they would need to discuss the future. They were still married: nothing could change that. It was only Alice’s hopes and dreams and expectations that had changed.

Before she could change her mind, she grabbed her bonnet from its place close to the door, secured it tightly under her chin and then slipped out of the grand house. There was a path through the grounds that led to a narrow lane, and a twenty-minute brisk walk would bring her to the beach.

It had been a shock to see Simon so soon after she had arrived back in Northumberland, less than a day after she and Maria had pulled up in the carriage. Maria had reiterated her invitation to Alice to stay with her, but in the end Alice had decided she wanted a few days alone. She felt as though she were in mourning, experiencing a sadness for the loss of the dream she had woven around their lives.

Now with Simon back, she did not know what to think. He must have left London soon after they had and raced up here to speak to her, but that did not mean anything had changed—not really.

As Alice stepped onto the sand, she felt a powerful sense of being home. She loved London, loved the crowds and the sense that there was always something going on, but Northumberland was where she felt she belonged.

She climbed over the low dunes and walked along the beach a little, pleased to see she had the wide expanse of sand to herself. It was hardly weather for the beach, with the wind whipping up the sand every now and then so that she had to shield her eyes.

She chose a spot near the dunes where she was sheltered from the worst of the wind and made herself comfortable. What she loved most up here was the wide expanse of the sea. The water was always dark, the sand golden white, the sky changing with the seasons, yet one thing that never changed was the horizon. When she looked along the beach in either direction, as far as the eye could see was the flat line of the sea on the horizon, as if beckoning her to new adventures.

Alice sat for a long time, trying not to think of anything.

‘I thought I might find you out here,’ Simon said, surprising her. She hadn’t thought he would follow her down to the beach.

He looked much fresher now after a bath, the soot washed from him and the grime scrubbed from his hair.

‘I like the solitude on the beach, that sense that you are the only person in the whole world when you look out to sea.’

‘It is beautiful.’

‘Was your journey too strenuous?’

‘It was not the most straightforward.’

‘Was that soot on your clothing?’

‘An inn I was staying at caught fire. I stayed to help put out the flames, but it was an old timber building, and the fire was relentless.’

Alice’s eyes widened. ‘Were you hurt?’

‘No. Thankfully, no one was. The fire started when the innkeeper was cooking breakfast, so most of the guests were up, and there was time to rouse those who were not.’

‘Did it spread to the rest of the village?’

‘No.’

‘That is something.’ Alice shuddered. ‘I always had such a fear of fire when I was a child. I used to fall asleep scared one of our neighbours would leave a candle burning and the whole row of houses would go up in flames.’

‘I had never before seen a fire like this one. It was a destructive force, ripping through the building at such a speed you cannot imagine. It felt as though one minute there was a building with four walls and a roof, the next it was just a collection of timber supports left, sticking up from the ground with nothing to hold onto them.’

‘I am glad you were not harmed,’ Alice said, fixing her gaze again on the horizon.

He placed his hand on the sand next to hers, and Alice felt the familiar spark travel through her as his finger brushed against hers.

‘How are you? Has your wound completely healed?’

‘It still pulls a little when I walk quickly, but apart from that it seems well healed.’

‘I am glad.’ He paused and then pressed on. ‘I am sorry, Alice. Leaving you like that was unforgiveable.’

She shrugged, not meeting his eye. ‘I should not be so upset. I should have expected it.’