‘Oh Mr Maitland, was that his name? I am so glad you were able to be of service to him, it makes it all so worthwhile,’ she replied gaily.
Alex smiled to himself for it was just like Felicity to say such a thing. She never realised how close she came to losing her virtue in the pursuit of someone else’s happiness and wellbeing. Her empathy for others was one of her most endearing qualities but she had the most unfortunate propensity for getting into trouble because of it. He could only be thankful that she had slept through most of her ordeal and was not aware of the situation he had found her in. A few minutes later and the outcome could have been so much different. He shuddered at the thought of it. Not wishing to add to Richard’s admonitions that morning, Alex looked down on her and smiled. ‘Let us put last night behind us. As far as I am concerned everything is forgotten.’ He quickly changed the subject. ‘For now I am going to take you to the most wonderful place in the garden, I can guarantee you will like it.’
Felicity took note of the direction they were walking and beamed. ‘I know where we are going; you are taking me to the rock garden. Oh you are right it is the most beautiful place.’
‘You have seen it?’ Alex enquired rather disappointed, ‘When was that?’
‘Of course I have seen it. I found it that day when you all went out hunting. It is such a peaceful, tranquil place. I have never seen a rock garden so magnificent. Of all the grounds it is by far my favourite place.’
Alex gave a reminiscent smile. ‘It is my grandmother’s favourite place as well. My grandfather had it commissioned for her when he first brought her home as his duchess. In the summer she still comes here to sit, but the weather it is too cold for her at the moment.’
They had reached the rock garden and Alex led Felicity to the little stone bench in the centre of it. The colour of the flowering plants was sparse this time of year but the sound of the waterfall flowing over the overhead rock gave a soothing ambience.
Felicity sat down on the bench and looked up at Alex. ‘What did you want to talk to me about?’ she enquired, with some amount of trepidation, the matter of the sapphire necklace being very much on her mind. She did not for one minute think that he had forgotten the manner of its return and he had already intimated that he would not rest until he knew the whole truth. The fact that he had remained standing did not escape her. He was a large man and looked even larger as he paced in front of her. Well if he thought he was going to intimidate her and wheedle her secret out of her that way, he was going to be bitterly disappointed. She sat on her hands looking at him as he paced in front of her and prepared herself to dig her heels in.
His next sentence therefore came as somewhat of a surprise. ‘Felicity, I cannot explain to you how I felt last night when your mother first told me what had happened. I have never experienced such fear, desperation and rage. It made me realise that I would not wish to lose you. You must realise that when I invited your family to stay with me, it was in order to get to know you better. I know that life will not be the same for me without you in it and I am asking you to marry me.’
Felicity gaped at him in complete shock for it was not what she had expected. She was undeniably attracted to him and discovered that she very much wanted to say yes. If she admitted the truth to herself, she had loved him since the day of the duel when he had deloped, and later that day at his home when he had shown her his grandmother’s portrait and explained to her the truth about the necklace. But he did not know the truth about her, he would be staggered if he knew she was the thief who had broken into his London home and stole the Stansfield necklace. Her actions had gone far beyond what was proper for a Lady of the ton. She knew how she had felt about him when she had thought him a thief. She was sickened and revolted and no doubt, if the tables were turned he would feel the same about her. She could not marry him with such a secret on her conscience, she needed to enter any marriage with truth and honesty, but if he knew the truth, he would have a disgust of her.
Alex stood watching her waiting for a response. She looked up at him with haunted eyes desperately looking for words to say to him. ‘You think you know me Alex but really you do not. I cannot marry you; there are things about me you would not like.’ She turned her head away, ‘Oh I cannot explain.’
Alex sat down beside her and took her gloved hand. ‘Nonsense Flick, nothing can be that bad, unless,’ he added jokingly, ‘you have murdered someone and stored their remains in the cellars.’
Felicity gave a feeble smile, ‘Of course not,’ she murmured, ‘but there are things about me you could not like.’
Alex laughed, ‘if you mean your tendency to jump into things with both feet without thinking about the consequences, I find that rather endearing. Do not think you could embarrass me or put me to shame for you could not. In fact I rather like your spirit and I think we would deal very well together.’
Felicity turned her head away in despair her eyes filled with tears. She had finally found the man she loved yet she could not marry him. ‘You say that now but you do not know the whole. I trip from one disaster to the other and Richard quite despairs of me. Oh.... just trust me when I say I cannot marry you.’
Alex put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her toward him. She buried her head in his coat and stifled a sob as he bent over to kiss her head. He lifted her chin and forced her to look at him. ‘Very well, I will not press you any further today Flick but I must tell you that I am not prepared to take no for an answer. If you will not tell me what is troubling you I will find out by other means but I assure you that it cannot be as bad as you think it is.’ She glanced up at him in anguish. He leaned over and with his free hand pushed an errant curl away from her face in order to kiss her tear glistened cheeks. As she made no effort to prevent him he trailed his lips slowly down the side of her face to her chin and then to her neck. He felt her succumb to him as she shuddered with sensual desire and he slowly brought his lips down on hers in a gentle but passionate kiss. Felicity felt the warmth of his body through his clothing as her breasts brushed against his chest, and as she leaned against him she could feel the rapid pounding of his heart beating to match her own. He felt powerful and comforting and she allowed herself to bask in the strength of his touch but she knew it could not last. She pulled away from him in frustration and slowly attempted to rise off the bench. Alex caught her wrist to stop her and looked into her eyes. ‘Believe it when I say it Flick, we will be married before the summer.’
Felicity could only be sad, ‘And you must believe me Alex, when I say it is not possible.’ Alex stood up beside her and drew her to him once more. He knew that Felicity was not indifferent to him, he could tell by her response to his kisses and he was determined to get to the bottom of her refusal. He kissed her once more on the cheek. ‘We shall see Flick but I think you know already that I always get my way.’ He drew her arm through his once more, ‘Come we had better get back to the house. We have promised Richard an afternoons fishing and we would not want to disappoint him and if you can find that annoying mutt we can take him along as well.’
Felicity managed to raise a smile at that and the two returned to the house.
Chapter 15
A Close Shave with a Poacher
After lunch, Richard and Felicity jumped up into the gig. Alex handed Tiber up to Felicity and the little dog sat expectantly on her lap with his short ears twitching and his little tail wagging vigorously. As far as he was concerned, he was off on an adventure to a land full of strange creeping shadows but most of all - rabbits! There was no room in the gig for Alex so he went down to the riverbank on horseback. Richard took the reins and they all made the short journey down to the river. Felicity would have preferred to walk but she knew that for Richard it was out of the question, so she happily took her place in the gig beside him. She looked at her brother who was heartily pleased to be out of doors and thought to herself that a couple of hours in the fresh air would do him no harm. He had not been able to get his boot on but
with a little ingenuity they had secured his foot in a make shift cast and wrapped it up to keep it warm.
The party reached the riverbank and Felicity jumped down from the gig with Tiber. Richard climbed down gingerly and Alex handed him his stick. Alex had chosen a spot where large boulders lined the riverbank, Richard was able to sit on the largest of them with a stone positioned as a convenient footstool, and they had even brought a cushion and a blanket for his comfort. As Felicity approached the riverbank, Tiber pranced around her feet and barked vociferously. He remembered this place and concluded that the river was decidedly not a friendly place and to be avoided at all costs. Felicity bent down to stroke the little dog, ‘Don’t worry Tiber; we are not going for a swim in the big nasty river today.’ The little dog was not to be deterred and did his level best to deter Felicity from going too close to the river edge. Felicity turned to the men. ‘I do not think Tiber is going to settle, would you mind terribly if I took him for a little walk?’
Alex and Richard who were attaching colourful fly’s to their rods looked up and Richard replied, ‘Just be careful Felicity, remember that you are not very familiar with this place so do not get lost.’ Felicity pointed to a copse of woods across a field. ‘I won’t go far; I will just explore that copse of trees over there. I will only be half an hour.’ At that, Felicity picked up a loose stick, throwing it in the direction of the wood for Tiber to retrieve. The little dog thought this an excellent game and so the two of them walked off toward the wooded corpse for a half hour of what Tiber, if he could speak, would have described as unadulterated ecstasy. The men cast their rods into the river and watched Felicity as she ran across the field toward the trees. Richard turned to Alex. ‘I am glad she has wandered off for a while, because I wanted to ask you how you got on this morning. Did you ask her? Because she has not mentioned anything to me and I really thought she would.’
Alex looked rather grim, ‘I did and she said no. She told me not to enquire, but there were reasons why she could not marry me.’ Richard stared at him in amazement and eventually retorted, ‘Nonsense! Did she say she could not or would not?
‘Oh definitely could not,’ Alex supplied, ‘She seems to think that I do not know her properly and that if I did I would not like her nearly so well. I am sure she is hiding something and I intend to get to the bottom of it.’
Richard looked meaningfully at his friend. ‘I can assure you that despite her impetuosity, there are no skeletons in Felicity’s cupboard. No, I cannot think of anything so momentous that it would inhibit a marriage between you. There is not one single reason why she could not marry you, unless of course, she found the idea of marriage to you repellent and I can tell you this Alex, I have been watching her and I am sure that she likes you well enough. No I find her refusal and her reason for it a bit of a mystery.’
Alex frowned, ‘Yes so do I, for I can swear she is not indifferent to me. No, she has a bee in her bonnet about something. Maybe she is just embarrassed about her accusations over the necklace but I can assure you that I do not hold that against her. Her loyalty to Emily although misplaced is to be commended and a quality to be highly valued. I have told her that I will not take no for...’
Alex had no time to say more for Richard felt a sharp jerk on his rod and reacted quickly to maintain control. Richard stood up, hopping on his good foot and struggling to maintain his balance. Alex put his own rod down and came over to help as Richard started to reel the fish in. The fish was obviously a large one and it was not easily going to give up the battle. Richard fought hard to keep his balance but after a few minutes and with effort the pair managed to haul in a large trout. Minutes later, he caught another one and Alex followed through with a couple of catches of his own. In fact, the river that morning was yielding it contents quite handsomely and there was not time for further conversation.
Felicity had not wandered far. She had entered the copse and followed a well-established path. Tiber was scrapping at her heels, willing her to throw the stick for what must have been the fiftieth time. She threw it again and had only gone a few yards when she stood stock-still. A beautiful stag with magnificent antlers was standing between the trees grazing. Tiber froze in his tracks then ran back to his mistress dropping his stick, whimpering and hiding behind her skirts. This creature was strange to him and what was more it was much, much bigger than a rabbit! Felicity bent down to pat the little dog, ‘do not worry Tiber he will be more afraid of you than you are of him,’ she whispered, ‘but oh what magnificent antlers he has doesn’t he?’ For a moment, the stag looked calmly into her eyes but startled by Tiber who had started to bark, it turned tail and bolted into the forest. ‘Oh you beautiful thing.’ she whispered as she watched it disappear into the depth of the foliage. ‘Oh Tiber, shame on you, you have frightened him away. Ah well,’ she sighed resignedly, ‘I doubt he would have stayed much longer anyway.’ She picked up the stick that Tiber had dropped at her feet and threw it up the path. Tiber now recovered, once again scuttled off to retrieve it.
Felicity did not get much further when she heard a rustle in the trees. She peered into the gloom to see a man about five yards away, kneeling on the ground and setting what appeared to be an animal trap. He turned around when he heard them approach. In her interminable reckless way, she stepped toward him and looked down at the vicious implement. It had two large serrated jaws with springs and had a round trigger pan in the middle. ‘Oh my goodness whatever are you doing?’ she gasped as she gazed at the man with revulsion. She was thinking of the beautiful stag she had seen just a few minutes ago and the thought of such a magnificent creature caught in such a snare made her anger boil to the surface. She called Tiber quickly to her side and grabbed him by the scruff. She could not have him as this man’s next victim. ‘Oh how wicked,’ she stormed at him her eyes blazing with fury. ‘Whatever do you think you are doing?’ she repeated when the man had returned no answer.
The man looked uncomfortable but quickly regained his composure. ‘None of your business,’ he grunted, ‘now just be running along with you missy, if you know what is good for you.’
‘I certainly will not.’ She picked up Tiber’s stick and threw it at the trap, triggering it and rendering it useless. At least now, she could let Tiber go. ‘I do not know who you are.’ she continued, ‘but I think I should inform you that you are trespassing and I am quite sure that what you are doing is illegal.’
The man looked angry and pointed at the trap. ‘Well that is where you would be wrong young miss, I would have you know that I am the gamekeeper here and I am just carrying out the landowner’s instructions. You have no idea the damage animals cause to the flora around here.’
She looked at him for a long moment. She had seen the Duke speaking with his gamekeeper just the other day. The gamekeeper was a large man with a bushy beard, a Scottish accent and flaming red hair and this man was of medium height, slim and slightly balding. ‘No, you are not the gamekeeper,’ she blurted out. ‘You are just a thieving poacher. What is more the Duke would never countenance such an atrocity.’ She pointed to the trap, ‘this is inhumane, why a poor animal caught in such an evil contraption could suffer for hours. Have you set anymore of these heinous things?’
The man sneered, ‘As if I would be telling yer that.’ Felicity realised that she had no power over this poacher but she was not to be undone. ‘No, I do not suppose you would but rest assured I have the measure of you and his Grace will be hearing of it.’
Tiber knew from experience that this man was no friend and the tone of his voice did nothing to alleviate the little dogs’ aggression so he began to snap at the poachers ankles. The poacher kicked him away with some force but Tiber was not to be deterred and renewed his attack. The man got angry and pulled his gun off his shoulder. ‘Call off your dog or I will shoot him,’ he hissed. ‘I thought I threw that piece of vermin in the river days ago anyway.’ Felicity was surprised at this confession and frightened for her pet, dragged him back to her side. ‘Oh so
it was you who threw this poor little dog into the river, what a purely wicked man you are.’
She put Tiber down on the path and pointed toward the river. ‘Tiber – Alex- Fetch! she ordered. The intelligent little dog seemed to understand and went haring off toward the river. The stranger suddenly aware of what was happening aimed his gun and shot at Tiber but the bullet landed far short and Tiber disappeared from the wood and out into the open. Felicity turned back to the poacher. ‘I suggest you get out of here and take that vile thing with you and any more you may have laid, before the Marquis returns to catch you.’ The poacher hissed and took a menacing step forward. ‘Why you interfering little busybody, what you need is a good hiding. Come here you meddling little wench and I’ll teach you a lesson.’
Alex and Richard had heard the shot and turned round to see Tiber racing as fast as his little legs would take him across the open grass. Richard dropped his rod and stood up. ‘Flick!’ he cried, as he hobbled toward the gig. Alex however, had already sprung up into the saddle and was galloping off across the field meeting the dog half way. Tiber gave an urgent bark, turned back toward to copse and ran alongside the horse as if to show him the way. When Alex arrived at the scene, Felicity was struggling valiantly with a man he certainly recognised. The man clearly found his quarry deceptively robust and not at all easy to overpower. He had managed to retrain her arms but she was kicking ferociously at his knees and shins inflicting severe pain and generally making it difficult for him to contain her.
The poacher was so intent on his purpose that Alex’s arrival took him quite by surprise. He let go of his quarry and made for his gun that he had left lying by the snare but he was too late. Alex had jumped down from his saddle and got there before him. Felicity stood there quite relieved, pleased to see him. She was beginning to fight a losing battle and what is more she knew it. Alex levelled the gun at the poacher. ‘Stay exactly where you are,’ he demanded as he beckoned Felicity to come and stand beside him. Felicity speedily obeyed and watched as Alex continued to address the poacher. ‘Well Mr Kensett perhaps you can tell me why I find you here manhandling one of my guests. I must inform you that I am extremely displeased.’
Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance Page 16