Page 29 of To Steal a Kiss

When that vile, odious man had caught them, Alice had been horrified, but it had been nothing next to hearing Nate propose to her. The poor man. Caught like a rat in a trap. At least he hadn’t accused her of arranging it on purpose. Not that she had. How could she have? Until last night it hadn’t even occurred to her that he’d spared her a second thought since he’d left her on the balcony. That she’d been wrong had been a revelation, a wonderful, joyous revelation.

She did not believe for one moment, however, that any one of those thoughts had contained a marriage proposal. That The Hunter himself should propose to Alice Dowding, of all people? No. He’d done it for Matilda. Alice knew Nate blamed himself for what had happened with his sister. Though she’d only alluded to it once or twice in passing, Matilda had given her reason to believe it, and that must be why he’d proposed. Because he had to. Because he couldn’t ruin Matilda’s friend as the marquess had ruined Matilda.

When the Marquess of Montagu had turned up, the whole thing had seemed like some preposterous nightmare. What had he been doing there? He was an intimidating presence and even Alice’s newfound determination to be brave and speak her mind had shrivelled up and died before such a man.

Now, however, it was a new day and it was time Alice took hold of her own life. She’d allowed her parents to move her this way and that, and had always done her best to be a dutiful daughter. Now, however, the rest of her life was at stake. She’d never marry Mr Bindley, not for any reason. After his behaviour last night, she was all too aware of his true nature, and such a man would only make her life a misery.

Yet, Alice would rather die than marry a man who was wedding her against his wishes, no matter if she wanted him with all her heart. So, thanks to Montagu’s influence she had three weeks before her life imploded. Three weeks before they shunted her off to some forgotten corner of the countryside in shame, never to be heard of again.

“Well then, Alice,” she said to her own reflection, straightening her spine as she regarded the pale young woman in the looking glass. “You’d better make the most of it.”

***

25th June 1814. Meeting of The Peculiar Ladies Book Club, Upper Walpole Street, London.

Matilda sipped at her tea, rather distracted and not paying much attention to the conversation. Harriet, the most serious of all the Peculiar Ladies, had of late been reading A Vindication of the Rights of Women, and was expounding on the theme.

“As Wollstonecraft says, if natural rights are given by God, then it is a sin for one segment of society to withhold them from the other.”

“Aye, a sin it is,” Bonnie said, nodding her head as she reached for a cream bun. Ruth was a wonderful hostess and always supplied the most marvellous tea and cakes for them all. “Why, my brother and my blasted cousin got to learn the most interesting things while I had to sit at home and learn to sew,” she said in disgust before taking a large bite of the cake. “It’s not fair,” she added, once she’d swallowed the mouthful down. “I could ride and fire a pistol just as well as they could, but I still can’t embroider to save my life. So why couldn’t I learn maths or the sciences? It makes no sense at all.”

There was a chorus of agreement around the room.

“I’ll tell you why,” Lucia said, leaning forward with a conspiratorial air. “Because men are devious, deceitful, and power hungry. They know if they give us an inch, they’ll discover we’re every bit as intelligent and capable as they are, and it scares them to death. So, they subjugate us and keep us where we can do them no harm, cause them no trouble… and it starts with education. A stupid woman is a good deal easier to control than an educated one.”

Everyone blinked, a little taken aback by the vitriol of that statement.

“Well,” Ruth said, looking a little doubtful. “I have to say at this point that my father gave me the best education available. Including maths and science, and I’m ashamed to say I loathed it, though I think I did a fair job all the same, but, as for men being devious and deceitful,” she added, a frown furrowing her brow. “I think that is a little harsh. Perhaps it is true of some men, but not all men are the same.”

“Exactly,” Minerva piped up. Minerva Butler was Prue’s cousin, and new to their group, but she had fit in right away. “Like Bedwin. He’s a lamb, despite what everyone thought of him.”

Everyone murmured their agreement on this score, but Lucia snorted and sat back, folding her arms, clearly unconvinced. Matilda watched her with interest. She’d spent time with Lucia of late and liked her a great deal, but the woman was a ball of barely repressed energy. She seemed restless, and always on the edge of some outburst, whether anger or a sudden urge to go somewhere and do something. Her words now made Matilda wonder if there wasn’t a man at the bottom of it, someone who had hurt her?

Any further thoughts on the matter were put aside, however, as the butler entered and announced, “Miss Dowding.”

“Alice!”

Everyone exclaimed at once, having heard that Alice had indeed completed her dare. Sadly, Ruth had been ill the previous week, and their usual meeting had been postponed, so this was the first time she’d seen everyone together. Matilda scrutinised her friend, frowning a little.

She’d expected to encounter a weeping Alice this afternoon, yet the young woman before her appeared calm and composed, if a little pale.

“Tell us everything,” Kitty demanded, pushing Bonnie and Harriet further up the settee to make enough space for Alice to sit beside her. “Was it terribly romantic?”

Alice blushed and avoided Matilda’s eye. “Yes, indeed, it was. Terribly romantic.”

Matilda watched as Alice tried to answer the barrage of questions.

Was he handsome? How did he kiss? Did he put his arms around you? What did he say?

Who was he?

“Oh,” Alice said to this last question, and Matilda listened with interest as she stammered a little. “I c-can’t tell you that. It’s a secret.”

Kitty tried in vain to prise more information from Alice, but none was forthcoming, so the conversation moved on.

“Well, then,” Kitty said, grinning. “Time for the next round of dares, I think.”

The young woman leapt from her seat, dark curls bouncing around her face as she sought the top hat which Ruth had put away in the sideboard. She passed it to Bonnie, who looked at her in surprise.