by Jane Ashford
“I came merely to prevent you from doing anything idiotic,” she answered. But he had touched some kindred chord in her, and she avoided his eyes.
“Of course.” He laughed. “Only that could explain this extremely unconventional journey. I assume it is not your habit to travel unattended with a single gentleman.” He was teasing her, but there were echoes of the past in his question that made Alicia fume.
“I am not! You cause me to behave in wholly uncharacteristic ways.”
“Indeed? I wonder why that is?”
“Because you are so infuriating. You haven’t the least vestige of polish or civilized manners.”
“Even yet?” he responded cheerfully. “Then London hasn’t ruined me.”
Alicia glared at his smiling, carefree face, and her lips twitched. This ride brought back echoes of their first meetings and made her humiliations seem trivial. After a few moments’ valiant battle with herself, she burst out laughing. “You really are impossible.”
“And you are adorable.”
Alicia almost stopped breathing at what she saw in his eyes.
“We shan’t get a chance like this again,” added Cairnyllan, “to ride off alone on a quest. Let us enjoy it to the full before we go home again.”
“I believe you read too many fairy tales as a boy,” responded Alicia, but she smiled.
“Indeed, I always longed for a dragon and a fair maiden in distress.” He flourished his riding crop. “I knew I should make an admirable knight.”
Thinking that this teasing comment was more revealing than he meant, Alicia smiled again and nodded. “Very well. But if we should happen to find your mother, I hope you will remember that she is unlikely to need rescuing.”
He shrugged. “Perhaps they have been attacked by highwaymen while on a country drive.”
“Don’t say such things!” Alicia could not help checking the road behind them.
The earl laughed. “I was joking. Come, let us see what our horses can do on this flat stretch.” He spurred his mount to a gallop, Alicia just behind him, and in the lively minutes that followed, both thrust objections and worries aside and gave themselves up to enjoyment of the day.
The journey went better after that. They lunched at an inn on bread and cheese and apples and rode on into the afternoon talking and laughing at one another’s jests. Alicia’s earlier thought recurred. One could indeed learn a great deal about a man under these conditions. And the things she was learning confirmed her love for Ian MacClain. She even dared to think that perhaps all was not lost.
They got news of Lady Cairnyllan and Sir Thomas about midafternoon, at an inn where the older couple had stopped to lunch. By this time, Alicia was beginning to think that they should turn back. It was very well to talk of adventuring, but if they did not start home soon they would not return to London before tomorrow, and she was not unconventional enough to wish for that. But when she suggested giving up, Cairnyllan wouldn’t hear of it. “It is scarcely two,” he insisted. “We must go on a little further.” And because she hated to disappoint him, as well as to end a wonderful day, Alicia agreed.
They rode on as the sun moved down the western sky, its light turning from white to gold and slanting into their faces. A mood of deep contentment descended upon them; they said little now, but each could feel the other’s quiet happiness.
“We will inquire at that inn,” said Cairnyllan, pointing to a low building ahead, “and if we find out nothing new, we will turn back. Riding hard, we can reach London before full night. We wasted much of the morning, remember.”
He sounded reluctant, and Alicia threw him a grateful glance. He was clearly doing this for her. Had she felt his mission was important, she might have urged him to go on without her then.
The inn, The Green Dragon, was welcoming. Ruddy light shone from all the lower windows, and inside, the front parlor was paneled in polished wood. Alicia sank gratefully into an armchair. She was not used to riding so long.
“Yes, sir, madam,” said the landlord, hurrying in wiping his hands on a cloth. He was short but very fat, and his round face glowed with perspiration.
“We are looking for some friends of ours,” said Cairnyllan, using the story he had told all along the road. “They ought to have passed here yesterday. An older couple—the woman small and dark and the gentleman tall and slender with gray hair. They were in a carriage and—”
“You wouldn’t be meaning Sir Thomas, would you?” interrupted the man, frowning.
“Sir Thomas Bentham. Yes indeed!” Cairnyllan threw Alicia a triumphant glance and leaned forward.
“You say you’re friends of his?” The innkeeper seemed suspicious.
“From London,” agreed the earl.
“Ah? Well, why don’t you go on to the house then?”
“House?” Cairnyllan looked blank, then frowned.
“That is just it,” put in Alicia quickly. “We have stupidly lost the paper on which my, er, brother wrote the direction. We thought we should never find our way.”
Alicia’s silver-blond hair and pale blue eyes seemed to have a softening effect on the landlord. “I can tell you that easy enough,” he replied, his expression lightening. “Many’s the time I’ve delivered a cask or keg to Linden—since I was a lad and my father ran this inn. For the old squire was as openhanded as his son; the Fermors are all so, they say.”
“I suppose that is why Sir Thomas enjoys visiting so much,” replied Alicia before the earl could speak. She saw that he was looking both puzzled and annoyed.
The innkeeper shrugged. “It makes it pleasant, but a man can’t help visiting his sister now and then.”
“Of course not. Sir Thomas’s sister is married to the squire?” Alicia glanced at Cairnyllan; he looked astonished.
“I thought you were friends of his,” answered the man, suspicious again.
“Actually, we are friends of the lady who accompanied him,” she admitted. “That is why we did not know the way.”
“Ah, Sir Thomas’s fiangsay. A very lovely lady.”
“Yes.” Alicia was trying not to laugh.
“Shall I point the way to Linden, then?” asked the innkeeper.
“I am very tired,” said Alicia. “It was a long ride. Might we rest here a little while? And perhaps have something to eat?”
“Of course, miss, of course.” The round little man rubbed his hands together and reeled off a list of the viands available. Alicia made her choices, and he hurried out again.
When he was gone, there was a short silence. Then, unable to restrain herself any longer, Alicia started to laugh. She put her hand over her mouth, but could not stop. Cairnyllan looked disgusted.
“Visiting his sister,” she managed after a while. “A terrible thing indeed. How could he dare anything so shocking?”
The earl moved impatiently. “Why did my mother not tell me, then? If it was nothing but an innocent visit, why keep it a secret?”
“Because you had been acting so bearish. After the way you behaved at that ball, I should have done just the same.”
“But—”
“Oh, Ian, I am sorry, but it is not a glorious adventure after all. Nothing could be more natural than for Sir Thomas to wish his ‘fiangsay’ to meet his family.” She smiled. “I certainly hope they take the news more quietly than you did.”
He sank into another chair and put his forehead in his hand. “So, I’ve been a fool again?”
He sounded so dejected that she could not agree. She rose and went to put a hand on his shoulder. “We had a lovely day.”
Cairnyllan raised his eyes. “You did not say that this morning.”
“No. This morning was…”
He laughed, and Alicia, relieved at his rapid recovery, joined him.
“So it has been a chapter of accidents all along,” said the earl a
fter a while. “I suppose we must eat our dinner and hurry back to London before your cousin assumes that we have eloped.” He paused, waiting.
Once again, Alicia had difficulty breathing. She felt as if she couldn’t possibly speak, yet it was imperative that she do so. “There is no question of that,” she managed at last.
Cairnyllan shook his head regretfully. “I suppose not. But I must say, I’ve never relished the thought of a great wedding. All that fuss and bother. Must a duke’s daughter be sent off with a flourish? Think how much better it would be to simply visit a parson and get the knot tied.”
“How can you joke?” Alicia bit her lower lip and turned away.
“We could have the bans published this very Sunday. Or I will ride for a special license, if you like. We are both of age. You could return to town as my countess.”
“Ian!”
Hearing real pain in her voice, he fell silent, then moved closer. “I beg your pardon. I thought that making a joke of the matter might make it easier to tell you what I could not seem to say earlier. I love you. Last night, I could not sleep at all. I walked about London thinking of you, and finally saw that I love you with all my heart. I believe I am the greatest fool in nature. I have loved you for weeks, but I was too stubborn to admit it.”
Alicia drew her breath in sharply, all her fears of the morning dissolving. “But you know I loved you almost from the moment we met!”
“Can you still? After the way I have behaved?” He held out a hand.
“Yes,” murmured Alicia, too happy to think of the past.
In an instant he had pulled her into his arms. At first they merely clung together, like two people who have survived some deadly peril. Then slowly, as each realized that the uncertainty was past, they relaxed. Alicia raised her head from his shoulder and met his eyes, and Cairnyllan bent his head and kissed her.
It was both like and unlike their previous embraces. The passion was there and the white heat of emotion. But a new element had been added, Alicia was flooded with a happiness greater than any she had ever felt. It seemed as she gave herself up to the kiss that nothing could go wrong for her again. And though she knew this was illusion, she reveled in the rising joy.
The earl too was elated. He could scarcely believe in his luck after the blunders he had made. He kissed her eyelids, her silver-blond hair, her cheeks, then captured her lips again, feeling the eager response along the length of her body. He had not imagined he could feel this mixture of desire and tenderness.
It was some time before they drew apart and faced one another again. Both were flushed and breathing quickly, eyes shining. What they saw in each other’s faces made them smile. “Will you marry me?” asked the earl, as if completing some superfluous form. “Will you come and live in Scotland?”
“Oh, no,” replied Alicia with a smile.
“What?” He stared at her, thunderstruck.
“I will not live in Scotland. I shall be happy to stay there a large part of the year, but I must also watch over Morlinden, and I insist on spending at least a portion of the Season in town.” She grinned impishly.
He closed his eyes and let out his breath. “Don’t do that again.”
Alicia laughed. “I’m sorry. Of course I will marry you. You may recall that I first suggested it.”
“I prefer not to, for then I must also remember that I behaved like a coxcomb.”
“Yes, you did,” agreed Alicia cheerfully.
“Must we recall it?”
“I think it will be an extremely useful reminder whenever you begin to issue commands, as you are prone to do. I shall simply look thoughtful and murmur, ‘An offer of marriage.’ I daresay that will give you pause.”
He laughed. “Doubtless. You mean to keep me in my place, is that it?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “But I think you will like the place. And I shall have mine as well, of course. Side by side.”
“I cannot believe it,” he said wonderingly. “It is far more than I deserve.”
“Nonsense! And even if it were, I deserve it!” She laughed up at him, eyes dancing.
“You do.” He smiled also, but his tone was serious.
“Even though I am a shameless Londoner?”
“My outlook on the ton seems to have been rather skewed. I would not have you different in any particular.”
Alicia could think of but one answer to this. She raised her lips to his and was immediately crushed in his embrace.
Unfortunately, the parlor door opened at that very moment, the landlord and a maid bringing in their dinner. The fat little man looked from one to the other of them with consternation, and it seemed for a moment that he would flee.
“Ah, food,” said Cairnyllan. “Just what we want, eh, ‘Sister’?”
Choking back laughter, Alicia agreed, and in a few moments they were seated opposite one another at a small table before the fireplace and being served roast chicken and vegetables and a tolerable wine.
“You will never be able to visit your mother here,” said Alicia when the servants had left them. “It is lucky this is not Sir Thomas’s neighborhood.”
“The man will forget us in a day.”
“I doubt it. That will teach you to joke about eloping!”
“It is just that Gretna Green is so close to my home,” he offered. “The thought inevitably occurs.”
Alicia pretended to throw the salt cellar at him. “If you do not stop it,” she threatened, “we shall be married in Westminster Abbey, with my father and all the other peers in their ermine cloaks and a show of fireworks over the Thames.”
“Good God!”
They were laughing together when the sound of a carriage pulling up outside made them both stiffen and strain their ears. To be found alone together in this way by anyone who knew them would be fatal.
Voices passed along the corridor. They could hear the landlord, but could not make out what he was saying. The newcomer’s tones were inaudible.
“He cannot bring them in here,” whispered Alicia. “This is a private parlor.”
“It depends who it is, and what other accommodations he has,” replied the earl. He rose, putting aside his napkin. “Perhaps I had better…”
But the door burst open, and Marianne MacClain strode into the room. “Here you are! Have you lost your minds?”
“Marianne!” they said simultaneously.
The girl looked from one to the other, then to the table and food. “Very cozy. I suppose I have made a tedious journey all for nothing? Have you discovered where Mama is?”
“At Sir Thomas’s sister’s,” answered Cairnyllan a little sheepishly.
“Which I might have told you if you had stayed to ask. Why didn’t you? And why did you tell all the servants that Mama had eloped?”
“I didn’t!”
“You were shouting rather loudly,” put in Alicia. “I expect they heard, or your butler told them.”
“Of course he did!” agreed Marianne. “And probably half the servants in London as well. I have done my best to scotch the rumors, but I don’t know how it will serve.”
“He was being foolish again,” said Alicia, her tone indulgent.
“And what of you?” replied Marianne, turning. “Why didn’t you stop him?”
“I tried!”
“And when you could not, you simply came along?”
“I thought I could prevent him from being even more idiotic.”
“Did you? And so you have.” She looked around again. “You have settled him to his dinner in the homeliest way.” Abruptly, Marianne began to laugh. She put a hand over her eyes and laughed harder. She clasped her elbows and bent double laughing. Gradually, the other two started to smile.
“Are you hungry?” wondered Cairnyllan. “Would you care to join us?”
Marianne, speechle
ss with laughter, merely nodded. The earl fetched a chair and ordered another place setting. By the time it had arrived and Marianne had been served, she was in somewhat better control. “You realize, Ian,” she said in a shaky voice, “that you have been scandalously fast. I am shocked. It is obvious you need a chaperone desperately, and you are very lucky I arrived to play duenna.”
Cairnyllan looked astonished, then amused at this reversal of positions. “I am indeed,” he agreed, smiling.
Now, Marianne was amazed. “Lady Alicia, what have you done to him? He is being almost reasonable.”
Alicia laughed. “I rated him soundly, and as a punishment, I agreed to marry him.”
“You…” The girl turned left, then right. “Are you bamming me?”
“No. We settled the matter just now.” The earl smiled at his sister’s expression.
“But this is…wonderful!” Marianne jumped up, rocking the small table perilously, and raised her glass. “A toast! To your engagement and many happy years. And to my new sister. How glad I am!”
Smiling, eyes bright, they all drank.
“And to our dragon of a chaperone,” added the earl, raising his glass to Marianne. Laughing, they drank again.
It was a very merry meal. They agreed that tomorrow they would go to Linden and make everything right with Sir Thomas and their mother. With Marianne’s arrival, the tenets of propriety were fulfilled. She and Alicia would share a room. “Perhaps you can have a double wedding,” suggested Marianne a while later. “Wouldn’t that be splendid?”
“No, it would not!” declared her brother. “Why don’t you go and ask the innkeeper about rooms, Marianne?”
“That is your job!”
He gave her a speaking glance.
She looked at Alicia, then back at him, and shrugged. “Oh, very well. But I shall not leave you two alone for long!” And with a flounce of her skirts, she went out.
Cairnyllan approached Alicia, who had moved from the table to an old sofa against the wall. “Are you all right?”