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Helen, very much aware of all the curiously watching eyes that surrounded them and her own unfortunate obligation to the woman who had obviously managed to halt her runaway mount, had almost managed to force out her grudging little speech of thanks when she heard her cousin say in a suppressed kind of voice: “But you were the first to act! You were always such an excellent horsewoman, as I remember so clearly. Will you at least do me the honor of accepting my profound gratitude, even if you do not choose to accept my apologies for—certain things I had no control over?”
Only Alexa was aware of Lady Helen’s icy blue gaze that went from one of them to the other, prompting her to give the bemused Lord Charles a smile that showed off her dimple before she said kindly: “I think I did have enough sense even then to guess at what might have happened. But as it turned out I did not stay in Colombo for much longer.” She did not say more, but turned to her golden half sister with a commendably pleasant smile and a nod that seemed to dismiss Lord Charles politely.
“I do hope that the rest of your ride will be a much more pleasant experience for you. And now I really think that I should be...”
“Please! I am sorry if I seemed quite speechless earlier, but I suppose I was taken quite unawares. However, I do thank you very much indeed for—your help.” Helen’s halfhearted attempt at a speech of thanks made Alexa shrug lightly as she said, “Por nada, as a Spaniard would say. Do have a pleasant day!” Before Lord Charles could think of anything else to say she had whirled her horse about and was gone, leaving him staring after her in a bemused fashion while his cousin raged inside herself; her mind suddenly filled with all kinds of questions and suspicions.
Chapter 32
“Oh, my lady, I’m quite sure there won’t be another ball gown there tonight as beautiful as yours! It takes my breath away, it does!”
In spite of Bridget’s raptures, Alexa continued to study herself critically in the mirrors that reflected her image from all angles. Her colors tonight were green and gold. Dark green velvet caught up in flounces by gold rosettes, revealing layers of green silk and gauze shot through with gold thread that created a shimmering effect whenever she moved. For jewels she had chosen emeralds set in gold. Around her throat, circling one wrist, dropping from her ears. And i
n her elaborately coiffed hair she wore delicately wrought gold “roses” with jade leaves. Real rose petals had provided the color that touched her cheekbones and her lips; every tiny detail helping to make her reflected image a stranger to herself. Was she beautiful? What would they think? Did she really care after all?
No matter how severe she was with herself and how coolly composed she managed to appear outwardly, Alexa could not help either the shortness of her breath or the racing of her pulses once they had actually arrived at Stafford House. In fact, she had to fight off the impulse to clutch tightly to Mr. Jarvis’s arm for support, even after Lady Margery had begun to introduce her friend Lady Travers to all of her friends and acquaintances.
Names and faces—some friendly and some more curious than anything else. Eyes took in every detail of her ball gown, her magnificent jewels, and her hair....
“Ah, that hair! Know why you seemed familiar from a distance now. Adelina, of course. No one else in our day had hair quite the same shade, you know, and she made the most of it. Hah! Sure you do too. Related, are you?”
An embarrassed daughter-in-law whispered into the ancient Dowager’s ear-trumpet, causing her to raise both her eyebrows and her lorgnette to study Alexa more closely before she pronounced irritably that no one could mistake that hair—and the young woman had Adelina’s stubborn chin as well. “You never knew Adelina, did you? Well then, you couldn’t know!” She gave a triumphant cackle. “Only reason you were born, my girl, is because Adelina tired of her flirtation with your papa and sent him back home. Didn’t know that either, did you?”
“Let’s move along, shall we?” Mr. Jarvis said firmly and proceeded to do just that, much to Alexa’s disappointment, for she had been intrigued by the old lady’s observations in spite of herself. At the next moment, however, she was terrified to realize that they were descending the stairway with a crowd of others; to be presented at last to the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland and their most distinguished guests—Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
“So that is Lady Travers? I must say that she is not quite what I had expected. Gavin, what do you think?”
“My dear sister, why ask me? I’m sure my wife or my daughters would be better informed as to the background of the morals of the—er— Lady in question!” The Marquess of Newbury gave his sister one of his bored, cynical smiles before he continued on his way past her to join a small group of his cronies who were clustered by the doorway to one of the antechambers that led off the lower floor of the Great Hall. The kind of gossip that his sister habitually indulged in held no more interest for him than its present subject, at least, not until he found that even his politically-minded friends were discussing the same Lady Travers. It was only then that he deigned to cast a casual glance in her direction, expecting to see nothing out of the ordinary.
“Isn’t that Deering standing closest to our latest beauty? Rich widow— young too, eh?”
If the world-weary Marquess did not choose to add his comments to the others, it was nothing out of the ordinary; and his silence was not remarked on by any of them either. He was usually uninterested in the latest beauties and the latest gossip, unless the gossip had to do with international affairs. There was, in fact, no change in his demeanor at all when he first looked at Alexa and in doing so met her eyes for less than a fleeting second before he turned deliberately and walked through the doorway and out of her sight.
Well, after all, what had she excepted? Her father—her real father—but a man, nonetheless, that she already knew almost too much about. She should concentrate on the knowledge that she had the advantage over him so far. Alexa was able to smile quite normally at Lord Charles when he appeared before her and even to introduce him to Mr. Jarvis and Lady Margery. So far, she had survived the worst part of the ordeal she had been dreading for the past two weeks. The Queen and her Consort had been more than kind and so had the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland. But most important, she had finally seen the Marquess of Newbury, and had found it easy not to like him—easier still to put his presence here out of her mind for the time being, while she was still feeling relieved that a certain other person had not seen fit to attend this particular function. At least, not yet!
They had decided to leave early, soon after the first quadrille, in fact. It was well known by now that the young Queen forbade the waltz at the small weekly dances she gave at the palace; and her friend the Duchess of Sutherland had tactfully arranged for two orchestras in this instance—one indoors in the grand ballroom for the Queen’s entertainment and one outdoors (if one could call it that) under the green glass dome of her conservatory, where the waltz was permitted.
Alexa was partnered by Mr. Jarvis for the first dance, Lord Charles having been cunning enough to beg permission to ask Lady Margery to be his partner. And after that it seemed only courteous to give Mr. Jarvis the opportunity to dance with his wife at least once before they left.
“Do you really believe it is wise to leave Alexa alone with that young man? I did not like the way in which he looked at her when he thought we weren’t watching.”
“My dear, I am certain that Alexa is quite capable of keeping Deering at arm’s length; no matter how languishingly he gazes at her! And in any case...”
“Ohh! And now it is not just a case of languishing glances, as you can see quite obviously!” Lady Margery was so upset that she almost forgot they were within a few feet of the Queen and Prince Albert until she felt the pressure of her husband’s fingers over hers, reminding her to be cautious.
“I do not see how we can leave the floor without drawing far too much attention to everyone concerned,” Mr. Jarvis said quietly. “In fact,” he added, “I believe we might just as well sit down and wait it out, for whatever the outcome of this, I am certain it will be quite interesting, to say the least.”
Interesting indeed! For a short, confusing space of time.
Alexa found herself not quite aware of what was happening as one event followed too closely on the heels of another. She had been dancing with Lord Charles and relishing a feeling of intrigue, especially when she began to realize that he was steering her towards the open French windows that led outside. Should she let him lead her or not? Was she going to be respectable or not?
“You are adorable. And I remember everything—from our very first meeting to what I did not intend to be our last.”
“We had some very interesting conversations, did we not?” Alexa said brightly at about the same time the voice she least wanted to hear spoke from somewhere behind her.
“Might I be excused for going from conversation to coincidence? My dear Charles—and—it is Lady Travers now, is it not? I would not interrupt for the world, except that Belle-Mere is here and is looking forward to meeting the wife of one of her very dearest friends, she says.”
Just as if he had deliberately arranged it, the music ended at that moment, leaving Alexa no alternative but to turn about and look him in the eyes. A mistake, she discovered within a few seconds before she purposefully looked away from him and back at Lord Charles, who was saying in a rather sullen voice, “Embry! Didn’t know you’d decided to tear yourself away from the country and horses! Kitty get too impatient, did she?”
