Page 46 of The Earl’s Inconvenient Nemesis

Anthony’s eyebrows rose.

“I will admit that until recently I should have thought the two of you a terrible match, but something has changed between you . . .”

“We have become friends,” Anthony said. “I hope I do not annoy her quite as much as I once did.”

“Judging by the way she was watching you as we ate, you definitely do not annoy her like you used to,” Henry said with a sigh.

“I am glad she does not loathe me anymore and I have enjoyed spending time with Alice, but, believe me, even if Sarah and Charlie were not in the picture, there is no possibility your sister would see me as a potential husband. She as good as told me so,” Anthony said, concentrating fiercely on fiddling with his cigar.

“Oh,” said Henry. “My apologies, I . . .”

“It is fine,” replied Anthony, cutting him off. “And I should have extended an invitation to Sir Marcus. Thank you for doing so. He would make an excellent match for Alice.”

“What a beautiful room,” commented Margaret, looking around Alice’s bedroom. “It must be one of the finest in the house. It is enormous.”

“It is lovely,” agreed Alice. She loved the view from her window in particular, it was so refreshing to look out over greenery after being surrounded by buildings in London. She felt freer and more relaxed. Unless she thought about all the guests who would soon be arriving, and, in particular, the gentlemen from her list who had been expressly invited for her to inspect. This made her wince. But she needed to find a husband and this was by far the most sensible way to do so. And nothing that she had tried had worked so far, it was definitely time to try a different tactic.

Alice showed her sisters into her dressing area which connected to the bedchamber and where Beth had already unpacked her clothes.

“These must have cost a fortune. Just look at the quality of this fabric. And they are the latest designs from Paris,” said Charlotte, running her hand over one of the dresses. “This is so generous of Aunt Jane.”

“I know,” replied Alice, forcing a smile onto her face. “I just hope I manage to repay her by finding myself a husband.”

“Speaking of which, what is going on between you and Anthony?” Charlotte asked, with a wink.

“I do not know what you mean,” said Alice immediately, her cheeks turning pink.

“I think you do,” said Margaret, taking over the interrogation from her sister. “I have never known you two go more than ten minutes in one another’s company before without arguing, and now I hear you are regularly going out riding in Hyde Park and dancing together at some of the finest balls of the Season. And you could barely keep your eyes off each other during dinner.”

“I suppose he is not quite as annoying as I used to imagine,” Alice admitted, carefully. “I have come to know him better in the last few weeks.”

She saw Margaret and Charlotte exchange a look.

“You would tell us if there was something going on . . . romantically between the two of you?” asked Charlotte.

“Of course!” said Alice, forcing a smile. “But can you honestly imagine that ever happening?”

Her sisters laughed, and she pretended to join in as naturally as she could.

She knew that she and Anthony were somewhat renowned for their bickering and teasing of each other, but was the thought of them being together romantically really so ridiculous? Maybe it was, she would have thought so herself not too long ago. She was being over-sensitive, she knew, but could not seem to stop herself.

“Shall we go back downstairs and join Aunt Jane? I do not want her to be bored,” she suggested.

“Certainly, I am desperate to see if your card playing has improved since you’ve been away,” teased Charlotte. “Has Aunt Jane been tutoring you?”

“A little,” admitted Alice, “but I fear she must despair of my attention span.”

Her sisters giggled, well aware of Alice’s mind’s propensity to wander if she was not completely enthralled with what was going on and would rather be outside with her animals.

Alice closed the bedroom door behind them and gave herself a mental shake before following her sisters downstairs. They had done nothing wrong and it was not fair to be grumpy around them. They were not to know how her feelings for Anthony had changed, or what had happened between them, thank goodness. She could not help feeling disoriented though as she followed their lead back to the drawing room.

Chapter Nineteen

The rest of the guests were expected to arrive in time for a late luncheon so Alice and Anthony decided to set off early on horseback to visit her family home the following morning. Alice could hardly wait to see the horses in her family’s stables as well as the dogs and cats and it would be pleasant to ride with Anthony and feel that they were re-establishing a friendship of sorts.

Accompanying him on a horse ride was one of the many things she would miss when she was married, but it could not be helped. Anthony was not interested in her, he was going to marry Sarah and there was nothing Alice could do about that. It would be pointless to hold that against him when he was trying hard to help her and to be friends, and being back in the countryside seemed to have relaxed them and they walked out to the stables together companionably.

Two horses were being saddled up ready for them.