Her mouth had gone dry. From Harriet’s description, she had expected a plain-looking man with spectacles, and that he would be much older, closer to middle-aged. The duke was young, barely thirty, and he was very handsome.
How could Harriet discard this man for someone else?
Alice swallowed hard. Elizabeth smirked and took her arm.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
“You know him?” Alice squeaked.
“My cousin is married to his. We see each other at social gatherings regularly.” Elizabeth tugged her arm a little harder. “Come on.”
Alice allowed herself to be almost dragged across the room. As they got closer, her legs began to shake as the duke’s eyes fell on her. Oh, my. Those eyes. They were hypnotic. Alice had never seen anything so beautiful as the hazel-green eyes that took her in.
Then the duke was looking at Elizabeth and gave her a smile that made Alice want to swoon.
“Miss Rogers.”
“Your Grace.” Elizabeth curtsied and flashed him a smile. “I trust you are well.”
“Very. I take it you’re chaperoning us tonight?”
“Yes, I am.” Elizabeth nudged Alice forward. “Your Grace, this is Harriet Green. Harriet, Charles Fraser, the Duke of Hampshire.”
Alice couldn’t stop herself from staring. The duke surveyed her with a smile that made his eyes twinkle. How could Harriet have said this man was boring? Then again, she hadn’t spoken to him yet.
Remembering where she was and what she needed to do, Alice curtsied, putting on a smile she knew Harriet would throw his way.
“Your Grace.”
“Miss Green.” Hampshire reached for her hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”
“Likewise.” Alice swallowed and pulled her hand away. Her knuckles felt like they were on fire. “I’m looking forward to this evening.”
“So am I.” The duke ushered her towards a set of stairs. “I think you’ll find this play very entertaining.”
Alice hoped so. She was more worried about being distracted by the duke sitting next to her for several hours.
***
Hampshire was pleasantly surprised. His previous encounters with Harriet had been interesting, to say the least. Harriet was loud in voice but she had a ready smile and was popular among Society. Everyone adored her. And Hampshire was intrigued.
Needless to say, just like most of the other single men around him, he wanted to know more. So when he had offered to take her to the theatre, something he loved to do himself, Hampshire had been delighted when Harriet accepted.
As they sat together now, Elizabeth Rogers just behind them, Hampshire took advantage of the angle and the darkness to survey Harriet. There seemed to be something different about her, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. The mannerisms were the same, the way she talked was the same, but the smile was different. It was softer, somehow more genuine. Her hair looked to be a different colour but it could have been the light. She also looked a bit fuller in figure. Hampshire wasn’t about to complain, but it was a subtle difference.
Harriet had changed in the few short weeks he had been away dealing with his affairs. Hampshire wasn’t sure yet if that was a good or a bad thing.
The performance was interesting. Hampshire had been looking forward to it and saw Harriet watching with rapt attention. He thought he had heard somewhere that Harriet didn’t like the theatre, but that wasn’t the impression he was getting. At the interval, Harriet made a comment about going to the powder room and left with Elizabeth. They didn’t come back until right at the start of the second half. Hampshire had thought, for a moment, that he had been stood up and Harriet had run. But then she came back, and Hampshire felt himself easing down from running out in a desperate attempt to find her.
He wasn’t the most interesting of men, but he wasn’t about to be walked all over.
Chapter 3
Her Invitation
P eople had warned him that Harriet would break his heart if he even courted her. Hampshire hadn’t seen any indication of that.
At the end of the performance, at which Harriet stood and applauded enthusiastically, Hampshire led the two ladies out of the box and down the stairs. Harriet leant on him to steady herself. Hampshire liked that she was using him for support.
“What did you think of the performance?” Harriet turned a smile up to him and the duke felt his chest tighten. This was a lovelier smile than the one he was used to.
“It was engaging, and I enjoyed it immensely.” Then she wrinkled her nose. “Some acting wasn’t really up to scratch, though.”
“How so?”
“I mean, the actor playing the hero’s little brother. He was rather wooden.” Harriet rolled her eyes. “And even when he was being joyful he seemed to have a permanent scowl on his face.”
Hampshire was surprised she had noticed that. Other people would have been focused on the play and not on the actual actors. Harriet was, obviously, not other people. “I’m not surprised about that.”
“Why?”
“He’s the little brother to my friend, the Marquis of Essex. He thinks himself a very good actor and puts himself forward to all these plays where there would be as many wealthy people in the audience as possible. But he’s just living a fantasy.”
Harriet raised her eyebrows. “He prefers to be an actor when he doesn’t need to do anything except stand in a room and look perfect?”
“Odd, isn’t it?”
Harriet shrugged. They were now in the foyer where everyone else was filing out into the cool evening. “It’s nice he’s chasing a dream. But he doesn’t seem to have caught up with it.” She winced. “My apologies, that was callous of me to say.”
Hampshire smiled and squeezed her hand. “Don’t be. I’m sure his family will have something to say about it. All of them were watching tonight.”
“Oh, dear.” Harriet giggled. “I wouldn’t want to be in the room when that happens.”
She was relaxed and happy. The duke couldn’t believe how changed she was from when they first met. Harriet was a complicated creature, but she intrigued him. He liked someone who wasn’t plain, quiet, and predictable. Harriet was fun, she was shrewd, and she was sweet.
Hampshire didn’t want the evening to come to an end. He glanced at the clock and then at the door. “It’s getting late. Would you like me to take you home?”
Harriet stopped and stared at him. Did her eyes just widen in shock? Then Harriet was shaking her head. “There’s no need. Elizabeth and I are getting a carriage. We’ll be fine.”
“I insist.” Hampshire had been raised by his father to be a gentleman. You always saw a woman home in his book if you were courting them.
Elizabeth helped him out by rolling her eyes and nudged Harriet. “Oh, go on, Harriet. Nothing’s going to happen when we have a knight looking after us.”
Harriet gave her friend a glare and shook her head at Hampshire. “Ignore her.”
Hampshire chuckled as Elizabeth glared at her. He gently tugged on Harriet’s hand. “Come. It’ll be quicker than waiting for your carriage.”
Harriet looked like she was warring with herself. Hampshire wondered what was going on in her head. Surely, a woman like her would be delighted for some more attention. Instead, she looked like she wanted to run.
As Hampshire was waiting for her to make up her mind, a white-haired woman with two female chaperones walked past, leaning heavily on her stick. She gave Harriet a big smile and a nod. “Good evening, Alice. Lovely performance, wasn’t it?”
Hampshire blinked. Alice? What was going on? Harriet mumbled something and nodded back. The woman moved on with a nod at Hampshire, her companions staying close. Hampshire frowned at Harriet, who looked pale. “Alice? What was she talking about?”
Harriet’s mouth opened and closed. Elizabeth then jumped in. “Mrs Lazenby has bad eyesight,” she said airily. “She’s just got Harriet mixed up with he
r sister.”
Hampshire stared. What was going on? He turned to Harriet, who looked like she wanted to sink into the floor. “Sister? You never said you had a sister, Miss Green.”
“It’s never come up in conversation,” Harriet recovered quickly and shrugged. “She’s my twin sister. We’re nearly identical but there are differences when you know where to look.”
“But Alice is practically a wallflower,” Elizabeth added with a glare in Harriet’s direction. “She barely attends anything nowadays. The girl’s on the way to spinsterhood already.”
Hampshire noticed Harriet’s face go bright red. He smiled and squeezed her hand. “If she’s as pretty as her sister, I very much doubt it.” He was meant to be polite and get on Harriet’s good side. But he only managed to have Harriet’s blush get even darker, and she pulled her hand away.
“Can we go?” She asked briskly, her sudden calm demeanour stiff and cold. “I’m getting chilly.”
Then she and Elizabeth hurried towards the front doors, leaving Hampshire staring after them, trying to figure out what had just happened.
***
“Alice!”
Alice winced. Why did her sister calling her name today grate on her nerves? She groaned and pressed her fingers to her head. All she had wanted to do was send off some letters that she had put off for a while, not listen to Harriet squawk about her evening at the opera with the Earl of Lancaster. Alice was still suffering from a headache from her evening, this was the last thing she needed.
The doors to the front room burst open and Harriet came charging in. A letter was in her hand. She looked triumphant when she saw Alice at her desk by the window.
“Alice!”
Alice grimaced. “Would you stop screaming my name like it’s going out of fashion, Harriet? I’m not deaf.”
“I didn’t know where you were.” Harriet sat on the couch near the desk. She looked like she hadn’t slept but she was bright-eyed. “How did it go last night with the duke? Was it as boring as I thought it would be?”
In spite of herself, Alice found herself smiling. Even with the blip of the lovely Mrs Lazenby calling her by her real name, it had been enjoyable. She had been on her guard for a lot of her time in Hampshire’s company so she didn’t slip into her true self, but Alice had found herself relaxed and enjoying the evening, regardless.
She couldn’t understand why Harriet would call the man boring. He was handsome, charming, and witty. And that smile could have women on their knees.
“It was actually a pleasant evening. The performance was good, and the duke was good company.”
Harriet stared at her. Then she threw her head back and laughed. “Good company? Alice, that man is boring! He makes me want to yawn.”
“He’s not boring at all,” Alice protested.
Harriet grunted. “Well, seeing as you’re boring yourself, you two are probably made for each other.”
Alice gritted her teeth. Her sister was teasing her, but this felt like going too close to too much. She bit back a retort and turned back to her writing. “What do you want, Harriet?”
“I’ve just got a letter from the duke.”
Harriet tossed it from the couch, and it spun across Alice’s letters, bumping into her inkpot. Alice caught the pot and the letter before both took a tumble. Alice swallowed a curse as the ink splashed onto her hands and brought out her handkerchief. Her hands were going to stain now. “What does it say?”
“Read it.”
“I’ve got more important things to worry about.” Alice held up her ink-stained hands. “Just give me the condensed version.”
Harriet rolled her eyes. “He says he thanks me for a wonderful time last night.” Harriet smirked. “There’s also an invitation to go up to his country estate next month for a two-week stay.”
“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Alice dabbed at the stains. She was going to need to put her hands into soapy water to get the rest off of her. “You’ve always said you wanted to travel.”
“Not that far. It’s is a long way.”
“You do realize that Lancashire is even further away?”
Harriet flapped her hand dismissively. “The earl is worth it.”
“And the duke isn’t?”
Alice was still confused as to why Harriet preferred someone of a lower status; and one as handsome as the Duke of Hampshire. Alice had met the Earl of Lancaster and, while handsome, he didn’t measure up to the duke in any way.
Then again, Harriet and logic didn’t really mix.
“Besides,” Harriet added, “Lancaster has asked me to his country home and I’m leaving next week. I can’t be in two places at once again.”
Now Alice knew why Harriet had been searching for her.
Chapter 4
No Longer
Straightforward
S he shook her head, shifting away from her sister in her seat. “Oh, no. No, Harriet. I’m not doing it.”
“Come on, Alice. You’ve done it once, and it sounds like it went well.” Harriet’s eyes were glinting. “You can do it again.”
To see the duke again. Alice felt her hands get clammy. She would be delighted if she saw Charles Fraser again. There was something about him that had her heart tripping over itself. No one had ever made her feel like the most beautiful woman in the room.
But then again, he was believing a lie. Alice didn’t want to feed more into that lie if she could help it.
“Harriet, all you have to do is write to the duke and tell him that you’re not going to be available, but you can make other arrangements with him before he leaves.”
“Not a chance,” Harriet scoffed. “I don’t want to be around someone who’s boring. I want fun and I won’t waste my time with him.”
“Then simply tell him you can’t continue to be courted by him. It’s not that difficult and you can do it in a letter.”
“But then I’ll look like a fool, a tease,” Harriet whined.
Alice couldn’t believe her sister couldn’t understand that she would look like a tease if she did carry on this charade. “You think you’re going to look like a fool? I’m going to look like a fool when he finds out that his beau’s twin sister took her place last night because she couldn’t be bothered to cancel!”
“I told you that you needed to get out and have some fun. And you did.” Harriet shrugged. “Now you’ve got the chance to have some more time with the duke. He might even propose marriage.”
At the suggestion of marriage, Alice began to panic. “Don’t say that, Harriet. He thinks I’m you!”
“I know. But you can tell him the truth afterwards.”
Alice stared at her sister. Harriet had no idea how much trouble both of them had put themselves into. She didn’t see the consequences and thought everything would be all right if they explained the situation after a proposal. Alice knew once the duke found out, he would retract the proposal, and Alice would be alone again. She wouldn’t be shamed like that.
“Come on, please, Alice?” Harriet sat forward, holding her hands almost as if in prayer. “Help me out here. Help your sister.”
Alice knew she should say no. But Harriet knew how to lay the guilt on thick. Once she had what she wanted the first time, it was very difficult to get out of it.
This was going to end very badly.
***
This was not going well at all. Alice wished she had taken the courage to say that she couldn’t make it. But Harriet had practically pushed her into the carriage and sent her on her way, telling their parents Alice was going to stay with some friends in Lincolnshire.
Alice wished she could tell her mother, at least, what was going on. But Annabelle Green would be furious with what they were doing. Alice didn’t like confrontation.
When Alice arrived, she had expected a few guests in the evening but just her and the duke during the day. That wasn’t the case. During the day, Hampshire was accompanied by his friend George Baker, the Marquis of Middlesex, who
acted as chaperone. Alice liked the marquis and felt relaxed when he was nearby. He and Hampshire were more like brothers than friends and Alice enjoyed their company.
But it was the evenings that Alice didn’t like. She wasn’t one for parties, and the duke threw one every evening. Different people came for dinner and were up until the early hours. Alice didn’t enjoy this, but she was pretending to be Harriet; she had to keep up the persona.
It didn’t help when there were three other young women, all much prettier than her, paying close attention to the duke. They made sure they were in his conversations all the time, batting their eyelashes and smiling prettily. And the duke was lapping it up.
It was as if Alice didn’t exist. And that upset her. It was like her first Season again. She had tried, but everyone practically ignored her because she wasn’t as loud and talkative. Alice shied away from crowds, and now she wished she wasn’t so shy. Harriet would have gone over to the duke and dragged him away. But Alice couldn’t bring herself to do it.
The fourth night she was there, Alice couldn’t take anymore. No one noticed her sneak off. Alice was tired, but she didn’t want to go to bed, as the guests were very loud. So she went to the library, a place that had captivated her the moment she had stepped inside. Hampshire had an extensive collection, and Alice liked books. She could spend days in there and not get bored.
Selecting a book, Alice sneaked over to a window seat, settled in an alcove, and began to read. She even drew the curtain across so she wouldn’t be disturbed. The three girls who kept the duke’s attention liked to follow her about and try to get a reaction out of her. Alice wasn’t in the mood to be bothered.
She was sinking into the book when the door opened and footsteps came into the room. Alice stiffened. She wouldn’t be seen, but this meant she couldn’t read in peace. Maybe she should let them know she was there and make her escape.
Regency Romances for the Ages Page 83