A Ring of Midnight Orchids: Flowers of the Aristocracy (Untamed Regency Book 3)

by Jackie Williams

  Phillip nodded.

  “I agree that she arrives at the most inconvenient times but father says we must put up with her. Smith is a sad and harsh man. His wife died in an accident only weeks before he took the farm at Ormond. He had come from a holding in Oxford. The young Lord who owned the land was trying a new method of feeding cows on a rotating field system but he had not been careful enough. The cows were starving. Annie Smith had been walking across a different field when a herd of ravenous cows broke through a fence to find new grass. She was trampled and crushed in the stampede. Smith has taken it very hard. Father is worried that he will take out his anger on the girl. I think that father should run Smith off the land if he is that worried about Lily but mother won’t hear of it. She calls Lily her Little Treasure! Good grief!” He shook his head in wonder at his mother’s pet name. “She’s afraid that Smith would abandon the girl and then it would mean we would probably end up having her stay with us permanently. At least she’s only around during the daytime at the moment. Can you imagine if she were about all the time?” He snorted disgustedly.

  Alexander held back a shudder as his head warred with his heart. Having Lily in the castle permanently would cause havoc to his normal boyhood activities. No more midnight or mid-morning excursions to cook’s delicious smelling larder. No more sneaking into his father’s study to try out the abominable brandy; though he wouldn’t actually miss that experience, Phillip had suggested that they try the port next and he was quite up for that. No more sliding down the polished wooden banisters. No more sneaking up to the loft to steal peeks at the martin’s eggs. As it was they had been forbidden to use the tunnel leading from their father’s bedroom to the beach.

  In feudal times it had been built into the castle as an escape route for an endangered Lord but now it was a fun way to arrive at the beach undetected. That was until their father had spotted Lily disappearing into his wardrobe. Alexander had been rather shocked to find himself on the end of a sharp telling off for leading the girl into a dangerous passageway, one that according to his father, due to its age and disrepair, could collapse at any moment. Both boys had been forbidden to use the secret passage ever again. Life would become intolerable if she interfered anymore and he didn’t think he could bear the thought of playing with the girl more than necessary already.

  There was a sudden movement in the shadows and, as if listening to the conversation, Tabitha the farm cat jumped down from the wooden crate at his side and presented him with a dead mouse. She dropped it at his feet and gently prodded it forwards with a paw.

  Phillip pulled a face but Alexander bent to retrieve his gift. He picked up the mouse by its pale pink tail and began to swing it left and right.

  The cat followed the movement with wide yellow eyes and Alexander made his swings bigger as the cat’s head swivelled comically, her eyes never leaving her prey. He was about to drop the mouse again when the little grey creature flung off over the haystack leaving Alexander holding its now worm like tail.

  “Ugh! How disgusting!” He yelped as he dropped the pink tail before he looked over at the hay where the mouse’s tailless body had landed. Suspicious rustlings came from in the corner beneath the dry grass. “Go find them, Tabby. Go find dinner, eh?” he urged the cat into the hay after live vermin. “But please don’t bring it back to me next time.” Alexander looked up as Phillip stared down at the forlorn pink tail lying on the floor.

  Phillip sniggered at his brother’s horrified expression.

  “That will teach you to play with your food…or rather the cat’s food.” He bent over the cart wheel once again and gave it a small shove. It moved an inch or two easily and he added more wood to the fire before he stepped back to ponder his experiment once again.

  Alexander watched as the cat prowled forwards slowly and then sprang into the pile of hay, tearing at it furiously as it searched for its prey. Alexander drew in a sharp breath as the dry grass flew in all directions but it all landed a good few feet from the fire. He breathed a sigh of relief. Phillip had swept the floor around the base of the cart and beneath the silver tray to make sure that their fire remained contained and there was no danger of it catching the rest of the straw alight but there was always a slight risk.

  Alexander laughed as Tabitha sprang into the air and let out a yowl of frustration as her breakfast had obviously escaped her. He knew exactly how she felt.

  Phillip glanced over his shoulder and laughed with him when the cat stalked off to another corner of the barn her nose and tail both held high in the air. The feline looked most put out.

  It was only as they quietened their bellows of laughter that they heard a strange clunking sound. Neither of them recognized it and for a moment they looked quizzically at each other. The noise came again then rapid knocking sounds could be heard a second later and Phillip’s eyebrows shot to meet his hairline.

  His eyes opened wide.

  “My God, the valve, I forgot to open it!” he managed to splutter a second before he launched himself over the top of Alexander, shoving him hard into the earth floor and covering both their heads with his arms.

  Alexander was about to shove back, thinking this must be some new form of wrestling game when the mighty explosion came. He only had time to realize that the kettle had blown apart and that fire was leaping around them while super heated steam sprayed in an ominous hiss across the back of Phillip’s coat, when there was a strange fizzing, a screaming swirling sound and then yet another much bigger explosion.

  Even Phillip’s protecting arms couldn’t save him. His whole face was covered in blisteringly hot sparks as Alexander felt his and Phillip’s bodies lift from the ground simultaneously and land several yards from their starting point some few seconds later, knocking all the wind from his chest as his head lurched forwards and hit his brother’s elbow. Both boys yelled out in pain and for a few seconds there was a nearly deafening cacophony of noise. Screaming, hissing and ear splitting explosions whizzed around them while stars danced in his eyes and then there was nothing as blackness enveloped him.

  Lily stared with big round eyes at the two older boys. The hay covering her head was itchy but she fought the desire to scratch. If Phillip discovered her presence, he was likely to shout at her and she didn’t like that. Alexander would probably pull his eyebrows together in that horrid dark line they sometimes made and even though he never shouted she disliked his frown even more than Phillip’s raised voice.

  She had guessed that they were coming to the barn when Alexander had avoided her after breakfast but she could smell the soap he used in his morning ablutions as he hid behind the tapestry in the little hallway behind the kitchen. He had then rushed out of the house and off towards the garden making a long circuit so as not to be seen by his father or mother who sat finishing their meal in the breakfast hall.

  Taking a good guess at where he was off to, Lily grabbed up two lardy cakes from cook’s fresh and still warm batch and after tucking them into her pocket, scampered directly to the master’s room in the west wing. She listened carefully outside the great door before she decided that the bedroom was empty and then she slid inside the room.

  Jackson the valet had probably gone to have his own breakfast while his master ate and the maids had clearly done their work as the bed was made and drapes drawn back from the windows. She ignored the temptation to leap onto the middle of the huge bed to bounce up and down for a few minutes but walked across the room and turned the key in the wardrobe door. She inhaled the Duke’s scent, marvelling that his clothes smelled exactly the same as Alexander’s before she slipped into the vast wardrobe. She carefully parted the line of white shirts and dark jackets and opened the secret panel at the rear.

  She climbed down into the room behind the wardrobe. It was small and looked less than inviting but she had seen the boys disappear through the panel in the wardrobe once before and knew exactly what to do. She turned quickly and made sure the Duke’s shirts hung without creases and closed the wo
oden door.

  A narrow slit of a window let in a slither of light and she could make out a fireplace that looked far too big for the size of the room. A dusty table and chair sat beneath the window but she couldn’t imagine anyone sitting at it. There was barely enough gap to let in air let alone light to do anything constructive. There was a short bed covered with a dusty blanket pressed against the side of the room and she stared at it, trying to imagine how the tall frame of the Duke fitted into it.

  She bypassed the bed, walked slowly into the shadows at the side of the chimney and grabbed the lamp and tinder box that someone had left in an alcove. It took only a few flicks of her wrist to light the wick of the lamp before she pressed the secret stone on the underside of the mantle.

  The panel at the side gave an echoing click and opened just enough for her to slide through into the darkness beyond. Cool air wafted at her hair as she walked quickly down the steep stone steps and along the narrow passage, avoiding the piles of fallen stones and heaps of muddy soil. She ignored the alcoves and side turnings and in a just a minutes she was through the tunnel and standing at the back of the cave that opened in an outcrop of ragged rocks at the back of the beach. The entrance was hidden by the angle of the rocks and she leaned forwards, peering around checking that her way was clear.

  The sea was a perfect blue under the cloudless sky but she ignored the sparkling waves that rushed up the sand in a frothy white surge, turned up the cliff path, and ran towards the stone outbuilding that stood on the hill. The closed door was still locked tight and she sighed a relieved breath that she had made it before the boys. She climbed up through the low window and nibbled at the corner of her lardy cake as she lay in wait beneath the straw.

  She didn’t understand why the boys took pains to avoid her. It wasn’t fair as they let Geoff join in with everything but was a pointless effort on their behalf anyway as she knew exactly where they were nearly all of the time. She only didn’t bother following them if Mr Lovell the tutor was expected. He didn’t look much older than either Phillip or Alexander but she liked him even less than she liked Alexander’s frowns. He shooed her out of the schoolroom while switching his thin cane at her bottom every time she tried to sneak in.

  Lily loved both Phillip and Alexander of course, but she had decided that she was going to marry Alexander when she was grown up enough. She liked how his dark hair matched her own and how his eyes were the colour of the evening sky.

  She smiled at the thought of their wedding game only the week before. It had been such fun and he had looked so handsome as he stood reciting the lines that Captain Phillip spoke before him. The strange noise that reached her ears as Alexander said ‘I do’ sounded exactly the same as when her own father ground his teeth if he was angry but that must have been a figment of her imagination. Alexander had absolutely refused to kiss her after the ceremony too and instead insisted that she walk the plank to await rescue from a deserted island, but she hoped that one day he would. Maybe one day he would hold her hand and kiss her the way she had once seen Grady the butler kiss Sarah the maid. Sarah had turned very pink and had then smiled shyly up at Grady but Lily thought she would grin like mad if Alexander ever kissed her.

  The barn door opened a crack and the two boys slid in. They began fiddling with a cart Phillip had dragged to the barn only a couple of days before. For once little Geoffrey wasn’t with them and she wondered why as she watched Phillip grunt and strain to fill cook’s biggest kettle with water from the butt beside the door. She pulled out the second lardy cake and bit a piece while she peered nervously as Alexander lit the fire on the tray beneath. The boys seemed happy with their game but it was a little boring for Lily whose legs had begun to cramp what with squatting for so long.

  Alexander’s face had been a picture when Tabitha had arrived a few minutes later and gave him her prize. Lily stuffed her hand in her mouth as she tried not to laugh out loud but his face had been even funnier when the mouse’s body separated itself from its tail. It wasn’t quite so funny for her when the poor little creature’s dead body landed right atop her head.

  If she hadn’t had her mouth full of her cake and her hand she might have screamed. As it was she merely poked Tabitha hard with a bony finger when the cat came to retrieve its dinner. Tabitha’s yowl of surprise nearly made her yell out with laughter again but she was distracted by sudden odd clumping sounds coming from inside the big kettle.

  She glanced out of the straw to where the two boys should have been but all she saw was Phillip flying through the air to land squarely upon Alexander’s stomach. Alexander let out a great ‘Oomph” and then there was a sudden almighty bang.

  Lily didn’t even have time to scream in surprise. The very next second the loudest noise she had ever heard sucked all of the goodness from the air surrounding her and flung her into the stone wall of the barn. She didn’t stop there but carried on as the wall burst outwards and flew through the air with her. She landed with a painful thump amidst the rubble and lay there panting for breath as all the air sucked out of her and then came whooshing back just as quickly. A million fireflies danced around her. She tried to bat them away as they stung her face but her limbs felt far too heavy. She lay there and stared up at the blue sky. Thick clouds blocked the sun and the air seemed strangely charged, almost thick. She tried to lift her head but dizziness and the sound of her own heartbeat were the only things she could even fathom.

  When big arms came to lift her she looked up drowsily into the face of Alexander’s father. His mouth was moving slowly. She wanted to laugh because he looked like the big mackerel the boys had pulled from the sea only the week before. His mouth opened and closed close to her face and she thought she was laughing but no sound came. She closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing but she didn’t know if she was doing it right. There was a strange ringing in her ears and her chest hurt with each pull. She decided she didn’t like the pain. She tried to take another breath but she felt something heavy on her chest. She could feel herself being moved around on a cool surface and the ringing in her ears hit her again. She yelled for it to stop but her voice seemed to echo around inside her head. Someone was washing her face but the water was too cold. She shouted again, her voice straining to be heard but the silent torturer carried on and Lily gave up fighting.

  She would go to sleep. When she woke she would feel better and everyone would take more notice. She settled back into the darkness and waited for morning to come.

  The sound of his father’s voice woke Alexander some four days later. His head was still thumping and his face still sore with a myriad of needle like burns.

  “No, my dear, you can cry all you like but the boy has to be taught a lesson. I know he never expected anything like this to happen but it did. We are lucky that the magistrate didn’t haul him up in front of the judge for murder. He could have made a solid case if pressed. As it is we don’t know if Alex will survive. Better that Phillip is out of the way for the moment.”

  Alexander cowered back into the pillows. He hadn’t meant to murder anyone least of all his brother, Phillip. His heart thumped loudly in his chest as he felt a cooling cloth dab at his stinging face. Then the cloth wiped a particularly sore spot on his forehead and he couldn’t help but yelp in pain.

  There was a rush of rustling skirts and his mother crooned.

  “Alex, speak to me darling. You’re safe in your bed at home. Speak to your mother, tell me that you are well.”

  Alexander gulped. It was time to face the music. He opened one eye and then realized that he couldn’t yet open the other. It seemed to be glued shut. He raised his fingers to touch puffy skin as he peered up at the pale countenance of his mother and the stern but relieved face of his father.

  “I’m sorry,” was the first thing he stammered but his father smiled gently.

  “You have nothing to be sorry for Alex. Phillip confessed all to us as soon as we knew that you were both alive. We have been waiting anxiously for you to wake up
.”

  Alexander glanced at the tears on his mother’s face.

  “What happened? I thought Phillip was about to rough me up but then there was a bang and a few seconds later the most enormous explosion. We were flung through the air but I recall nothing afterwards. Where is Phillip?” He began to turn his head, looking for his brother in the next door bed.

  His father cleared his throat.

  “Phillip is not here. We have sent him to school. I felt that your tutor wasn’t exerting enough control over the boy. Young Mr, Lovell already teaches at the school two days a week. He has gone back permanently with Phillip so you needn’t worry that he’ll be alone. The other boys and tutors will whip him into line. He needs a hard lesson Alex but he will become a better man for it.”

  Alexander swallowed. His father’s normally passive features had unfamiliar creases covering them.

  “But why father? I am fine. Phillip protected me. He never meant for the kettle to overheat. We were watching Tabitha hunt for mice and misplaced the time. Phillip simply forgot to open the valve,” he tried to explain in a husky voice as he worried about his brother among a crowd of older boys. Phillip would hate it. Unless he was adventuring with Alexander, he was the quiet, learned type who loved to sit and read and discover new things. A school of loud and possibly rowdy boys wouldn’t suit Phillip at all. Alexander was only too glad that Mr. Lovell had accompanied his brother.

  He noticed tears leaking from his mother’s eyes and she lifted a small square of silk to dab them away. She looked as though she were about to speak but couldn’t. He frowned up at his father, shocked to discover the hopeless expression there.

  “Father, what happened?” Anxiety rose in his stomach as he struggled to sit upright. There was something more, he knew “Phillip is alright isn’t he?”