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Casting his mind back to his last visit to Dodsworth, he recalled the young Alice. A mere child and bestowed with girlish prettiness. Seeing her earlier in the week, during the parade, he had been struck by her beauty. Rarely did the young women trouble his military eye. He had recognised her immediately, bringing back memories of her playing with dolls. Edmund felt pangs of sympathy towards the Aubreys, but he also felt other emotions towards their daughter, ones he typically suppressed.
“I have a proposal,” said Edmund standing up. “As you know from my last letter, I wish to settle on my estates in Buxton. Since my regiment was disbanded at the end of the war, I haven’t taken to being colonel of a militia regiment. The calibre of men and their lack of battle experience is wearisome. I wish to retire and marry, however, I have little time or inclination to engage in romantic courtship to find a suitable spouse. Might I make a suggestion to solve all of our problems?”
* * *
Alice lay on her bed, as she had done for most of the day. She clutched a third sodden kerchief to her face and held back another flood of tears.
She remembered little of the previous evening. The cold light of day and sobriety only served to heighten her sense of doom. She did recall quite vividly the despair on her father’s face and the horror on her mother’s. Despatched to bed, Alice had continued to be sick, as she had been on the journey home. Instructed to remain in her room, she had been given a paltry plain breakfast, which she could not stomach eating. Worse, neither of her parents saw fit to visit her, such was their fury.
A guest had arrived, she had heard the butler announce his arrival, but could not discern his name through the thick door. She hated mysteries, picking up a book she tried to read, without success.
The bedroom door swung open and Alice’s mother entered, her face stern and unyielding. Scrambling to her feet, Alice kept her eyes on the rug at her feet while her mother eased the door shut.
“You are very fortunate, child,” her mother began. “With good luck and timing, this disaster in the making will hopefully be averted before it has started.”
“I do not understand, Mama.” Alice peeked from underneath her unruly fringe. Her mother remained unusually stiff in posture, hands clasped before her waist.
Jane took a deep audible breath through her nose. “You are to be married, as soon as it can be arranged.”
Married! A hundred questions rushed through Alice’s head all at once. Who? When? How could so much have been decided in one day? Such a decision could not have come from her parents. They wouldn’t have arranged anything without consulting her first. She was their only child and special.
Her lower lip quivered with growing apprehension. “No! That cannot be possible. I haven’t met anyone.”
Her mother’s face maintained a stony expression. “You lost the right to have any choice in your marriage last night, young lady. Your father and I are greatly relieved. You wanted to marry a soldier—an officer—it seems you are to be granted your wish.”
Aghast, Alice swayed on her feet. It could not be the officer she had only met the previous day. “I am to marry… Lieutenant Mosley?” stuttered Alice. She felt repulsed at the thought of him touching her.
“Nonsense. Luck has blessed you with a far better match. You are to wed Colonel Edmund Seymour,” said her mother with much aplomb.
“The colonel!” Alice’s legs gave out and she sat on the bed. Which colonel? The one she’d seen on the parade? It could not be him. Her parents didn’t know him. Somebody else. One of those ghastly retired officers who sought out young women. No! Absolutely not. She sprang back up. “I don’t know a Colonel Seymour. I’d rather stay a spinster. I refuse to marry.” She spoke with force, projecting her voice with vehemence.
Jane took a step forward and stared straight into Alice’s tear filled eyes. “You will do as you are told.”
Alice could not comprehend how her mother kept a stoic face. Not a jot of give in her expression. Usually, if Alice resorted to tears, her mother caved into her demands. She gritted her teeth. “No, Mama, please. I cannot!” Alice stamped a foot.
“This is an excellent match for you, Alice,” reiterated Jane.
Alice had never seen her mother so determined, forthright and unyielding in tone and demeanour. Throughout her childhood, her mama had lavished much attention on Alice. Providing her with an extensive wardrobe, books and visits to the assembly rooms to hear music or dance. If she desired a purse or trinket, her mother obliged. Alice suspected the generosity was due to the lack of siblings. Her birth had been traumatic and ended any hope of further offspring. Instead, her mother treated Alice as if she were many children. Now, her mother had taken on a different mantle and it startled Alice to see her refusing to countenance her daughter’s obstinacy.
Alice stuck her chin out. “What if I do not co-operate?” she asked almost belligerently.
“Then you will leave this house,” said Jane firmly. “We might be able to salvage your dear father’s reputation and the wealth it brings to this household, but only if you are out of sight. Perhaps we might find you a post as a governess in some remote part of the county. Or maybe a position abroad.”
Alice’s eyes widened as her heart exploded in a panic of beats. Rocking on her toes, she replayed the scene in the alleyway. She had been caught with a man on his knees at her feet, touching her. How terrible it would be to have such gossip prattle about the town. She let out a sob of understanding. Her parents only sought to protect her and find a solution. She could not blame them. Her mother’s bearing told Alice the decision was irreversible.
With a growing sense of defeat, Alice sniffed. “I would have it not so, Mama. I do wish there is some other… I don’t want to make any more trouble… I’ve been foolish,” she mumbled. Finding the courage, she looked directly at her mother. “I’ve told lies and been very selfish.”
Her mother’s face softened slightly and she gave Alice a small encouraging nod.
Alice sighed deeply. “Very well, Mama. If it is what you and Papa wish.”
Jane frowned. “No, Alice. It was never our wish to have you marry through such circumstances and not for love. However, you have made this situation out of your own foolishness.”
Alice wiped away a tear on her cheek. She had to move on and deal with her situation as befits her maturity. She wasn’t a child. She had to count her blessings and hope her parents had chosen wisely.
“What is this colonel like? Was he the one I saw at the parade?”
Her mother gave a small nod. “Yes, he mentioned he saw you there.”
