Felicity was frustrated for she had not anticipated such a delay and those annoying flies were intolerable. They must have survived in the warmth of their hosts woolly fleeces and rose up in irritation at having been disturbed. Felicity reached a small stream surrounded by large boulders so she decided to stop and let the flock get ahead. Artemis needed to rest anyway and this was as good a place as any. The mare bent its head for a drink and Felicity climbed up the side of the streambed to a small flow of water streaming gently over a small waterfall. She cupped her hands to scoop some of the clear liquid, drank deeply and waited for a while before she continued on her way.
The delay had been an inconvenience and Felicity could not stop in Masham as long as she had wanted which was a shame, for she did not experience the censure that she had done at Ripon. She only stopped long enough to buy a large bag of juicy carrots for Artemis and two huge Almond cakes for herself at the bakery. She even dared to enter the Inn for a glass of ale and if the Inn Keeper thought she was rather a pretty boy, he would hardly see fit to mention it. She could only allow herself a half hour rest, as she knew she still had 15 miles to go and the light would be fading shortly.
Felicity swung herself back into the saddle. Her bones were beginning to ache. She had never spent so long on horseback. Even summer days riding out on leisurely picnics could not really compare to this journey and she was beginning to tire. Even more worrying was the realisation that her beloved Artemis was tiring as well. She bent forward and patted the mare’s long silky mane. ‘Good girl Artemis, you are doing fine but I am afraid I may have to leave you at Middleham and hire a hack. They have fine stables there. Papa knew the owner and they will look after you well. Don’t you worry girl it will only be for one night, I will send the groom to fetch you tomorrow.’ Felicity sighed for she hated leaving her beloved Artemis in strange stables but it was obvious that the mare had travelled enough and needed to be stabled for a much-earned rest.
Felicity however was not destined to make it to Middleham. As she was passing close to the ruins of Revaulx Abbey Artemis began to limp. Felicity jumped down out of the saddle to examine her front right hoof and to her dismay noticed that the mare had lost a shoe. Felicity knew that she could no longer ride and it was at least another four miles to Middleham. She looked around her. She could not stop here in the middle of nowhere, so she had no alternative but to start walking.
Felicity had not gone very far when the clouds that had been threatening for the most of the afternoon, suddenly burst releasing a heavy shower that had been hallmark of this entire disastrous summer and within minutes, Felicity was soaked to the skin. She made her way to a copse of trees in the distance for shelter but it was already too late. She was wet through and with the wet, the extreme cold of the November winter began to penetrate to her bones. Nothing could have been worse. The darkening clouds had brought about early decreasing light and she realised that she was not going to make it home before darkness truly fell. Had she not been so spirited she may have began to cry but she knew that would get her nowhere and courageously trudged on getter colder and colder, weakening each step of the way. The cold was insidious and slow and Felicity’s shivering changed to a hypothermic numbness. As she trudged on she began to feel faint and it was in this state that Alex found her.
Felicity heard the sound of a horses hooves rapidly approaching and turned around to observe the rider. She was relieved because she knew that she could not go much further. Perhaps the rider would send a carriage from Middleham to collect her and all would be well after all. As the rider approached, a large, dark foreboding and familiar figure loomed before her. It was Alex! His countenance was strong, like a port in a storm but his face was grim and her relief turned to dismay. He pulled up beside her and dismounted, even in the state she was in, he was the last person she wanted to see and her heart fell into the pit of her stomach. It was the last straw. All she could think of was their last meeting and she could not face anymore of the same. She finally succumbed to the cold and the shock and Alex caught her as she fainted into his arms.
Alex had not expected to find her in such a state. She had bought some serviceable gents clothes and a serviceable lightweight cape but the silly chit had not even provided herself with a waterproof garment, a must for a long journey. He put his hands to her neck, she was frozen to the bone and he knew that he would have to get her to shelter and soon. It had not taken Alex long to discover why Felicity was walking, one look at her mare told him everything. His mind snapped rapidly into action assessing what to do and then he noticed a farmstead about half a mile up the dusty road. He decided to make for it in all haste.
Alex threw Felicity up onto the black stallion and climbed up behind her. He pulled her to his warm body and surrounded her as best he could in his waterproof cape. It did not take long to reach the farmstead but he only arrived to find the farmhouse empty and deserted. He cursed to himself. The cottage was unfurnished and had stone floors, no comfort here then. He turned his attention to the huge barn off to the right and walked over carrying Felicity in his arms. He kicked the door open. This was the better option he thought to himself as he laid Felicity on a bed of straw.
Alex brought the horses indoors and tied them to a rafter at the far side of the barn. They would have to wait for his attention as Felicity was deteriorating rapidly with the cold. He had to get her out of her wet clothing. First he removed his own waterproof cape, he was slightly damp but at least he was dry underneath. He removed his caped grey riding coat and shirt and laid them down. Quickly he got to work removing Felicity’s male garb, briskly rubbing her down with his bare hands to revive the warmth and she responded with a shivering moan. He then dressed her in his own shirt and spread his grey caped riding coat over her before getting to work to light a fire. He made a safe clearing on the earthen floor and placing down some straw for kindling, he used the logs that he found piled against the wall of the barn as firewood. Then retrieving his tinderbox from Victory’s saddle, he quickly lit a fire. Although the fire could only be kept low in the wooden barn, it soon began to radiate a comforting, glowing warmth. Alex lay out all the wet clothes to dry, including Felicity’s riding habit that he found wrapped in disintegrating brown paper attached to her saddle. He rubbed down the horses and added some more logs to the fire before he could see to himself. Only then after checking that all was well did he slip under his grey coat beside Felicity wrapping himself around her and warming her body with his own.
It took well over an hour for Felicity to revive. She lay as if floating on a cloud in a distant dream as the circulation slowly returned to her extremities. She went from the sensation of cold numbness to burning pain as feeling returned to her outer limbs, then eventually the pain subsided leaving her so warm and comfortable she did not want to wake up. Eventually she opened her eyes to the tickling sensation of what seemed like feathers on her nose. She found herself nestled up against a broad expanse of hard rippled flesh the warmth of which seeped to her bones. The sound of Alex’s voice brought her out of her reverie. ‘Are you awake trouble,’ he teased looking down on her tussled curly head. She looked up in the direction of the voice. Her head was nestled on his broad naked chest and his right arm was looped around her shoulder. Felicity jumped up with a start, ‘Oh my goodness where are we?’ she gasped.
‘In a barn somewhere south of Middleham my love. I found you wet and frozen to the bone and brought you here,’
She jumped quickly to her feet and looked around her. The fire gave off an almost romantic glow and her clothes were scattered over beams and rafters airing in the warm air. She looked down at herself. She was wearing a man’s shirt that reached down to her knees, was far too big for her, and nothing else. She looked down at him. He lay propped up on his elbows, biceps bulging, his broad chest glistening in the flickering light of the fire and hair tapering to the waistband of his breeches. ‘For goodness sake,’ she exclaimed, ‘at least you could put your shirt on,’
&nb
sp; ‘Now that,’ he chuckled, ‘may be extremely difficult, ‘as I am afraid that you are wearing it.’
Felicity took a second look at the shirt she was wearing and realised for the first time that it was not the shirt she had bought in Ripon. The material was of much finer quality and felt soft against her skin and what is more it was far too big for her. Her face glowed red in the firelight at the realisation of how it must have got there and she brought her hands to her cheeks in mortification. ‘Oh how could you,’ she gasped.
‘That is novel,’ he grinned, ‘not the reaction I would have expected, considering I have just saved your life.’
Felicity was not quite sure where to put herself. He patted his hand on the straw beside him. ‘Come sit back down. I promise I will not hurt you.’
Felicity unsure of herself returned to sit down. She sat down bringing her knees to her chin and wrapping her hands around them. ‘You will be wanting your shirt back then?’
‘Eventually my love but I think we will have to wait until your own clothes are dry don’t you? Meanwhile I think we should have something to eat.’
‘You have food?’ she marvelled as she began to unwind.
He chuckled, ‘Of course I have food. I my love, do not go running off in the middle of the night unprepared. Grandmother arranged for a food parcel but I ate something at Ripon so I still have it.’ Alex jumped up and took the package from his saddlebag. He opened up the wrapping and removed a large ham and egg pie, some chicken legs, macaroons and lemonade. Alex looked over to her, ‘If you would prefer something hot I did notice a small duck pond a little way back, I could nip back out with the shotgun.’
‘No, No,’ Felicity beamed, ‘this will be just fine.’
‘Good,’ he sighed quite relieved, ‘as I did not relish the idea of going out in this weather to shoot a duck.’
The two of them tucked in to their supper and Felicity realising that he was no longer angry was able to relax. ‘I do not understand,’ she said, ‘After last night I thought you would be glad to see the back of me. Where is Richard?’
‘I will never be pleased to see the back of you,’ he corrected, ‘As for Richard, I believe he will be approaching Lealholme Manor as we speak, wet, tired, frustrated and extremely worried for he took the Great North Road and did not find you. When we do not turn up tonight, he will no doubt spend a few fraught hours but there is nothing we can do about that now. I am sure he will survive.’
Felicity bit her lip feeling a little guilty. ‘Well he should not have worried. He should have known that I would be all right.’
‘But you were not alright were you? It is lucky I turned up when I did. It is November and you would have frozen to death in the middle of nowhere.’
Felicity, already recovered from her ordeal was back to her normal self. ‘Well I did not know I would be caught in such a vicious shower did I? It was most unfortunate. If it were not for that, I would have been fine. I got this far didn’t I?’
‘Yes you did,’ he laughed, ‘but if after a horrendous year when the rain has hardly stopped, you thought you could make this journey without at least a small shower, you must have windmills in your head.’
Felicity looked around the barn in the soft glow of the firelight. ‘Are we to stay here all night do you think? It cannot be far to Middleham now?’
‘Oh I think so.’ Alex replied, ‘The rain is heavy and it is pitch black outside. There is not even a good moon to light the way. We shall just have to make the best of it, don’t you think?’
‘It is just,’ Felicity hesitated frowning, ‘It is just... I do not think Richard will quite like it if we stay here.’
Alex gave out an amused throaty laugh, ‘Since when have you worried about what Richard would like. I am sure Richard would do the same in similar circumstances and if not, well he can go to the devil. I am not going to catch pneumonia for the sake of his sensibilities. He will just be relieved that you are safe and sound.’
‘It is not that,’ she faltered, ‘if we stay here all night by ourselves he may insist that you marry me and then where would you be?’
‘Exactly where I want to be,’ he chuckled, ‘you are in a very compromising situation my love. Now you have no choice and will have to marry me, whether you like it or not. I have not changed my mind; I still want to marry you.’
Felicity sat with her mouth open, ‘But last night. Last night you said...’
‘Last night I was angry,’ Alex interjected, ‘When I first saw your wrist I was shocked and then when everything fell into place my shock turned to anger but even then I realised that your motives were pure if not somewhat misguided. What you have to realise Flick, was that I was even angrier with myself. I could not speak with you straight away and had time to reflect on the matter, and what I would have done if I had caught you and my own thoughts frightened me.’
That night I saw you, a stranger standing in my bedchamber with the moon reflecting behind you and I was ripe for murder. Goodness knows what would have happened if I had succeeded in hauling you up from that balcony. Every hour I thank God for the moment your glove slipped off your hand, for I would have beaten you to a pulp before I realised what I was at. The thought scared me and it does even now. Can you forgive me for last night Flick? I was not really angry with you. I love you. I was just so angry at the thought of what I could have done to you and I had to make you realise it. I know now that I made a real botched job of it and scared you out of your wits. I cannot even be angry with you for running away.’ Alex looked intently at Felicity, ‘so what do you say, will you marry me? I dare say Richard may force you to after tonight.’
Felicity returned his gaze with tears welling up in her eyes. ‘Richard would never force me to do anything, but yes I will marry you. I very much wanted to say yes that day in the rock garden when you first asked me. It broke my heart to refuse you but I knew I could not come to a marriage knowing what I had done, yet I could not bring myself to tell you. I am not proud of what I did. I knew I had gone beyond the bounds of propriety and if you knew about it, you would develop a loathing for me. I could only go by how I felt the day Emily told me you were a thief. Oh I have grown to rue the day I ever met that detestable girl but maybe if it was not for her, we would not have met.’
Alex took Felicity’s hand, ‘Oh we would have met,’ Alex grinned, ‘I had seen you often and I would have ensured it. My relationship with Emily was most certainly over the day I clapped eyes on you. I had admired you from afar for weeks and when I knew my way was clear I made my introductions at Almack’s. Do you remember? It was that fateful night you called me David. I would be telling you a lie if I told you that I was not annoyed but I was also curious as to why you would have said such a thing and determined to get to the bottom of it. I knew of your friendship with Emily and thought that the accusation may have been connected but I could not be sure. I deliberately forced matters to a head by calling Richard out but even then, I was still intent on having you and had no intention of injuring your brother.’
‘But if that was the case Richard could have killed you.’ she gasped incredulously.
‘It was a risk I was prepared to take. Richard and I were not of the same set but I had observed him and I knew Richard to be a man of honour. I did not think for one minute that he would kill me. I was correct in my judgment of him and everything worked out just as I had planned. I have you now and that is all that matters.’
Alex turned over her wrist and brought the disfigured skin to his lips, kissing it tenderly and sending a wave of desire through her whole being. Her reaction frightened her and she pulled her hand away. He caught it back, ‘I love this scar,’ he whispered. ‘If it was not for this scar I would never have discovered your secret and in your misconception you may never have agreed to marry me. I shall look at it every day for the rest of my life and be thankful for it.’ He looked up, ‘how did you get it by the way? Were you caught in a fire?’
Felicity sighed, ‘Oh through my
own impulsive stupidity. I was eight years old. It was a lovely sunny day and Richard and I went down to the river to play. I had read in a science book about reflecting the sun through glass to make fire and I was determined to carry out the experiment on the first sunny day we got. That day I took a magnifying glass out with me, gathered some dry old leaves and twigs on the riverbank, and made a small pile. Richard asked me what I was doing and told me in no uncertain terms that mother would be very angry if she knew I was playing with fire and tried to take the magnifying glass away from me. Anyway, I won the fight and went ahead with the experiment anyway; only it went wrong, oh so very wrong. The little pile began to smoulder and I watched intrigued, and when it did catch fire, it was sudden and the flames leapt up igniting the sleeve of my dress. I panicked but Richard dragged me to the river and pushed me in. I was not too pleased at the time for I was drenched to the skin but if it was not for his quick thinking the incident could have been much worse. It is the story of our lives really. Richard was always the sensible one and I the adventurous one. We may be twins but in personality we are nothing alike.’
Alex gave a loud guffaw, ‘So I have noticed,’ he took her arm back and kissed it again. ‘I would have you no other way but breaking into men’s boudoirs after midnight will have to stop, do you hear me?’
Felicity was forced to laugh. ‘I certainly have no intention of doing so ever again, unless,’ she added mischievously, ‘circumstances dictate the absolute necessity.’
Alex raised an amused eyebrow, playfully knocked her over from her sitting position and rolled on top of her. ‘Why you adorable wench,’ he chuckled, ‘you will pay for that. Before Felicity could know what he was at, he was covering her cheek and neck with delectable kisses. She was taken by surprise but lay there paralyzed by an overwhelming feeling of desire as his mouth found hers. His touch was no longer playful but he was kissing her with a passionate intensity she could not even have dreamed of. Unable to help herself she brought her hands up twining them through his thick dark hair and then trailed them down over the lean rippling muscles of his naked shoulders. She was aware that there was only a thin silken shirt separating her from his hard warm flesh and was lost to him as his hands moved over the silken material to explore the soft contours of her body. Alex felt the familiar pulsing in his loins as he continued to explore bringing a hand up to caress the firm soft flesh of her breast, then almost out of nowhere came the last poignant words that Richard had uttered at parting. They echoed in his consciousness, ‘If you find her first I shall trust you Alex.’ That was all he had said, but that was all he needed to say for Alex knew he had meant much more.
Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance Page 20