AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not about to pitch woo, you idiot,” Lord Brooks said. “I am merely getting to know her better.”
“Are you, now? Because as I see it, you’re only calling on Miss Dowding because you need her money.”
Lord Brooks didn’t meet his friend’s gaze. “Don’t be vulgar.”
Alice watched, her heart suddenly feeling very heavy.
“Tell me honestly,” Lord Robins continued. “If you were rich, would you be bothering to call on Miss Dowding this morning? Would you be pursuing a connection with her at all?”
Lord Brooks didn’t respond.
Then it must be true. Lord Brooks, like so many other men, was only interested in a woman because of her dowry.
“I don’t know why you’re dragging your feet,” Lord Robins continued in the silence. “Her father likes you, and she comes with the dowry you need. What else is there to get to know?”
“Allen,” Lord Brooks said, turning toward her. “Talk some sense into him, please.”
“If he isn’t listening to you, I doubt he’d listen to me.” Alice’s tone came out stiffer than she’d intended. Was this not the very reason she was Mr. Allen? Too many men acted attentive and even affectionate when with a woman in possession of a large dowry, but they thought and spoke as Lord Robins when in private. It very much seemed as though Lord Brooks was one of them.
They pulled up to the house, and Lord Brooks made to dismount. As he did so, he leaned in toward his friend, lowering his voice a bit. “Just promise me you’ll behave yourself while the ladies are present,” Lord Brooks said with a sigh.
“When have you ever seen me be anything other than charming and delightful when around ladies?” Lord Robins also dismounted.
Alice hadn’t brought her father’s walking stick today, as it was hard to keep hold of while riding horseback, but at Lord Robins’s words, she pictured the walking stick in her mind’s eye and held it tighter, just as she would if it were in her possession.
With resolve to stay objective and calm, Alice also dismounted.
The butler answered the door promptly—he’d probably seen them riding up—and showed them into the parlor just off to the left. Once inside, Alice pulled off her glasses and quickly cleaned them while the butler’s back was turned. Strange how dirty they seemed after only riding out of doors for a morning.
“Lord Brooks,” the butler announced them, “Lord Robins, and Mr. Allen.” Then with a bow, he left the room.
“Gentlemen,” Mrs. Dowding said, beckoning them over to where she and her two daughters sat nearer the hearth. With tea already served and more than three used plates about, Alice could only guess someone else had been calling here and had left just before the three of them showed up. A gentleman? Or simply another young woman and friend from town?
They all began forward, but Lord Robins took hold of Alice’s elbow, holding her back a bit. When Lord Brooks was a couple steps ahead of them, he whispered to Alice.
“You distract the mother, and I’ll keep Miss Cecelia occupied. That way Brooks can have Miss Dowding all to himself.”
The words sent a strange, uncomfortable lump down her throat. Alice’s gaze moved to where Miss Dowding was curtsying before Lord Brooks. Her smile was soft, as always, but there was a brightness to it Alice hadn’t seen before. It appeared as though Lord Robins had forgotten to mention on their ride over here that Mr. Dowding wasn’t the only one who liked Lord Brooks.
And why shouldn’t Miss Dowding like him? Lord Brooks was intelligent, funny, easy to converse with. He built great snowmen, and despite her antics yesterday, he truly was quite skilled at securing scarfs on slippery snow. Odd how it suddenly hurt to recall the memory.
Alice dutifully made her way over and took the open seat closest to Mrs. Dowding and very nearly sat down but then hesitated. She’d met these ladies as Lady Nightingale. But as far as the Dowdings were concerned, they’d never been introduced.
Lord Robins was already engaging Miss Cecelia Dowding in a conversation regarding the weather and lovely snow. Lord Brooks was seated beside Miss Dowding on the settee, who was saying something so low, Alice couldn’t hear. After being left to stand awkwardly for a minute, Alice finally cleared her throat—and prayed it sounded masculine enough. She’d not once practiced clearing her throat as a man before Mr. and Mrs. Clarke.
As no one jumped up and declared her a woman, she felt she must have done well enough.
Lord Brooks immediately stood, evidently catching his own lapse in decorum. “Please excuse me,” he said to the ladies; he quickly made all the introductions. Once they were over with, Lord Brooks sat once more and just as quickly returned to his conversation with Miss Dowding.
That fist-sized lump returned to Alice’s throat. She dropped her gaze and forced herself to take the seat beside Mrs. Dowding. Echoes of evenings in silence and solitude while her husband spent his time with others coursed through Alice. They crawled over her skin and weighed down her heart.
“Are you enjoying your time in Carlaby, Mr. Allen?” Mrs. Dowding asked.
Alice forced her gaze away from Lord Brooks. She was being ridiculous. She enjoyed Lord Brooks’s friendship very much, but friends was all they could ever be. Especially so long as she was wearing breeches and had her hair cut short.
She looked over at Mrs. Dowding. “Very much so, thank you.” She waved her hand, indicating the room in general. “You have a most lovely house.”
“Thank you, sir,” Mrs. Dowding said, pride evident in her voice. “This is the home my husband grew up in, and when we got married there was much that needed updating, I can assure you. But I do feel I have managed to keep the feel of the house’s roots while still giving it a more modern comfort.”
