Captain's Lady

by Sharon Milburn

  Would Alice ever speak to him again, anyway? First he’d put her in mortal danger through his own selfishness and then what an appalling gaffe he had made the night before. “Take your stocking off and let me have a look”. As if any gently bred female would ever do anything half so shocking! He was a clod and she would be better off without him.

  The thought did little to cheer him. He’d have to apologize again and the sooner the better. Snatching up his hat, Edward remounted the bay and headed back for breakfast. He’d write to Joe Delacourt, that’s what he’d do. Meeting him in London had been an amazing piece of good fortune, the only good luck in the whole sorry episode. If Joe hadn’t succeeded where he’d failed, he’d no doubt welcome a spot of country air and relief from his pressing obligations.

  * * * * *

  For two days now Alice had tried to act normally and to treat Edward as nothing more than her employer. He’d tried to speak to her, but she’d fobbed him off with the paltriest of excuses. A headache, of all things. Even as the words left her mouth she despised herself. He’d be calling in the doctor if she used that excuse again. Best to avoid him altogether. During daylight hours she managed to be fairly successful, but from the ringing of the dinner bell to the bringing in of the tea tray there was little she could do but put on a brave face and make the utmost use of her social training.

  In his turn Edward had become almost as remote and unapproachable as he’d been the day he first set foot in the house. After his first aborted attempt to talk to her all exchanges between them were formal to the point of being stilted.

  With Lady Sarah he relaxed. The two of them rapidly developed a relationship much more cordial than any expected between a gentleman and his housekeeper. She might not be treating him as another son, but he could well have been a favorite nephew and she his aunt.

  News of his presence in the county brought correspondence, morning callers and invitations aplenty. Alice sighed with relief when he dined from home, even as her gaze strayed to his empty chair. When Sir Edward returned the compliment and Major and Mr.s. Scott sat down to dine with them she could fade into the background and hope to escape notice.

  Conversations often turned to the improvements being made at The Priory. With Sir Edward’s generous free hand repairs and renovations had been mostly completed. At first he was startled to discover how much his neighbors knew of his activities, but as he mentioned to Lady Sarah after a visit from a particularly inquisitive neighbor, he’d expected differences between country life and his autonomy as a captain.

  “I fear this interest is the result of living almost in each other’s pockets, with little chance of a change of scene or company.”

  Lady Sarah considered his statement for a moment.

  “That’s true to a certain extent, but there’s another side to the coin. When we know each other and like what we see, as you’re obviously liked, sir, neighbors become a source of support, as well as help or guidance when we need it. There’s little chance of you becoming lonely, or feeling the want of friends.”

  Edward’s eyes flickered toward Alice, then away again. If she’d not been looking at him at that precise moment she would have missed the fleeting expression she saw in them.

  “I take your point, ma’am, although I think that there are different ways of being lonely.”

  How was she to take that statement? Was he referring to himself, or perhaps, in a roundabout way, to her own situation? Either way, there was nothing she could do about it, was there?

  Alice and her mama were on their way to inspect the stillroom later when there was a commotion in the kitchen. Just as they were about to enter Cora rushed out, obviously wildly excited.

  “Oh, my lady! Miss Alice! Do come and see! The carrier’s gone and fetched that turtle Lady Masterman ordered. Cook forgot all about it, what with all the goings-on.”

  Alice exchanged startled looks with her mama. “Oh, dear! What is to be done? Is it a very large turtle, Cora?”

  “Huge, Miss Alice! The biggest I ever did see!”

  Having only once before in her life seen a turtle, Alice wondered just how many Cora had had the chance to examine. Not setting much store by her assertions she entered the kitchen, only to be brought up short with shock. The beast had to weigh at least twenty pounds. It lay in state on the table in the center of the room. The look in its eye as it lay on its back, feebly moving its forelimbs, pierced her with a sudden pity.

  “Oh, heavens! It’s still alive! Can’t we send it back?”

  Lady Sarah shook her head. “I think not. I very much fear Sir Edward will be obliged to pay for it either way. It’s been ordered from London, after all.”

  “But the cost!” Alice turned to the carrier and found him grinning away in the corner, holding a mug of ale in his hand. “How much is owing?”

  “Turtles are one and tuppence the pound, Miss. What with special delivery from London and all, this ‘ere devil done cost you two guineas!

  Even Lady Sarah stared at this announcement. They exclaimed in unison.

  “Two guineas!”

  “What is to be done?”

  The carrier finished his ale with a long pull at his tankard and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “Looks to me like you’re going to have a turtle supper. Best tell the master to invite fifty people or so and be done!”

  Still laughing to himself he made his way to a stool in the corner of the room. “I’ll just wait here for my money.”

  Alice hid her face in her hands for a moment. “Trust Lavinia. This is so typical of her extravagance. One of us must break the news. Will you tell him, Mama, or shall I?”

  “Tell me what?”

  Everyone in the room jumped at the sound of Sir Edward’s voice. He gazed at the variety of expressions on their faces, then caught sight of the cause of their consternation. He raised an eyebrow.

  “I’d begun to think everyone had been struck deaf. I’ve twice now rung the bell, with no result, but I fully understand my requirements must rate well below this chelonian beauty. May I be permitted to know why it’s gracing my kitchen in this fashion?”

  Alice stepped forward. “I regret, Sir Edward, that Lavinia has wreaked an expensive revenge upon you. Apparently she ordered this beast from London while you were at the Nore and I was…er…otherwise occupied.”

  He strolled around, inspecting the turtle from a variety of angles, considering. “How expensive?”

  Alice swallowed hard. “Two guineas.”

  Both of Sir Edward’s eyebrows flew upward, but he made no immediate outcry. Instead, he addressed the cook.

  “And what skill do you have with such creatures?”

  Cook wiped her hands on her apron. “Well, sir, I only ever cooked two, but I can make turtle soup right enough and kennels.”

  He looked thoroughly mystified. “Kennels?”

  Alice enlightened him. “I collect Cook is referring to Quenelles à Tortue, Sir Edward.”

  Cook beamed. “Yes, Miss Alice, that’s right. Or you can have the fins as an entrée, with turtle sauce.”

  He pondered for a moment. “It seems you know what you’re doing and it is, after all, only a small turtle. However, as it so happens, I’ve a better use for him. You, there, carrier. What is your name, if you please?”

  The carrier sprang to his feet. “Folk call me Smailes, Sir Edward. Reuben Smailes.”

  “I’ve just now discovered that I’ve been appointed Justice of the Peace in my late brother’s place. I’ll send the turtle to the Lord Lieutenant as a small token of my appreciation. You, Smailes, will take it for me.”

  “As long as I’m paid, I’ve no objection. I’ll be going that way, after all.”

  Edward handed over the guineas and included a generous tip. “Off with you now.”

  Smailes touched his forehead, pocketed the money and hefted the beast back off the table. Inside the minute there was nothing to tell it had ever been there.

  Alice felt pur
e relief. “I confess, the thought of cutting off the poor turtle’s head once it had looked me in the eye in that piteous manner filled me with dismay.”

  Lady Sarah offered Edward her hand. “Many congratulations on your new position, Sir Edward. The Lord Lieutenant could not have appointed a better person to the job.”

  Edward grimaced. “Thank you for your confidence, ma’am. I wish I were as sure of my own ability. Frenchmen I can deal with, but this! I’d thought when I was finished with the sea I would settle down to a life of peace and quiet, but that’s hardly the case, is it?”

  “Nor would you really want it so,” Alice said. “We know your character too well. You’re a man of action. You’d be bored to tears within a month. We can tell that you’ve been moped, confined here all the time.” She raced on before he could interrupt. “I also very much doubt that you’re finished with the sea! There will be a communication from the Admiralty very soon and you’ll be off to…to Malta, or Botany Bay, or Antigua! And we shall all be at home worrying about you.”

  She stopped abruptly, aware of her indiscretion. Sir Edward didn’t seem to notice anything untoward, however. He smiled at her reaction.

  “That would be a very strange thing, although a pleasant one. I’ve never before had anyone care tuppence what became of me.”

  “Well, we shall always care for you, dear Edward, now that we have come to know you,” Lady Sarah told him as she laid her hand on his arm in a fond gesture. “You’re quite one of the family. Isn’t that so, Alice?”

  She could only murmur something indistinct as she turned away. Did mama have any idea just how much she cared?

  Lady Sarah continued after a brief pause. “Now that the turtle’s affairs have been disposed of, was there something else that you wanted, sir? I’m sorry you were forced to come to the kitchen to find us.”

  “It was to inform you that we are to have some company. I’ve invited Captain Joseph Delacourt, an old acquaintance of mine, to stay with us. We served together when I was first appointed lieutenant and I came across him when I was in London. He was on the same errand, with no more luck than I had. I expect he’ll be with us for some weeks.”

  “A visitor! That will be a pleasant change for you. We’ll make preparations at once. You’ll want to have a dinner or a supper party or two while he’s here. We must discuss a list, as I’ll need to send out cards in good time.”

  He smiled. “I’ll leave all such arrangements to you, my dear ma’am. I would be bound to commit some dreadful faux pas. I utterly depend upon your discretion.”

  Sir Edward turned his attention to Alice. “Perhaps you’d do me the honor of taking a turn in the garden with me, Miss Carstairs. There are a few trifling matters I would wish to discuss with you.”

  Delight and dismay warred within her. He’d caught her neatly, hadn’t he? What could he want to discuss? And why had she chosen her drab old cambric gown this morning? The blue looked so washed out and faded and the material so limp no matter how much she starched it. She must look a fright.

  “I’m needed in the stillroom this morning, sir.”

  Lady Sarah cut the ground from under her feet. “I’ll make a start in the stillroom, Alice, while you talk to Edward. There’s so very little there at the moment the job doesn’t require the two of us.”

  She tried to protest. “But I promised I would help you, Mama. I don’t like to leave it all to you.”

  Her mother’s eyes twinkled in response. “I think I can manage to count a few empty jars and crocks, Alice. You run along and fetch your bonnet and don’t keep Edward waiting.”

  There was no escaping it, especially as he stood there all the while looking at her. She tried to act normally. “I’ll be with you directly, Sir Edward.”

  He bowed. “And I shall be waiting for you in the hall, in case you forget or are distracted by another domestic matter.”

  He wasn’t going to let her wriggle out of this conversation, was he? Alice sighed but conceded defeat. There was no escape. She ran up to her room and snatched up her straw bonnet and gloves. Best just to get it over with.

  They strolled side by side along the gravel walk for a little while, noting the changes spring and The Priory’s new gardener had wrought. He didn’t offer to take her arm, a circumstance that filled her with confusion. Should she be upset or relieved?

  The rose bushes were well covered with greenery now and daffodils and tulips danced in the sun. In the less formal shrubbery the last of the priMr.oses and cowslips were giving way to the first of the bluebells, while the trees and bushes above them had finally shaken off winter’s shackles and spread their leaves to the sunshine. In other circumstances, she would have been entranced.

  The silence stretched between them until it became awkward. Alice opened her mouth twice or thrice to begin a conversation, but somehow social inanities seemed totally inadequate. Much better to remain silent than sound like a prattling fool.

  As they came to the end of the walk he reached out a hand to halt her progress. She looked up to see him regarding her with a grave air.

  “I wish to apologize for once again offending you. You must know that was never my intention.”

  The sounds of spring faded into the background as she gazed back at him. How dear he was to her.

  “You’ve not offended me in the least, Sir Edward. You meant no harm. You were concerned for my welfare.”

  “Then what else is the matter, Alice? I thought we were friends.”

  She tried to make light of it, but there was something in his expression that brought a lump to her throat.

  “We are friends, sir. Mama and I are just very busy.”

  “You’ve been avoiding me and don’t try to deny it. I want to know why, if I didn’t cause offense the other night.”

  He came straight to the point, didn’t he? What could she say to him? I’m afraid of betraying my feelings every time I look at you? No, of course she could not tell him anything like that.

  “So many things have happened in the past weeks that I’m bewildered. So many changes in fortune, plunging into despair one moment, happiness the next, only to descend into the depths again. My senses are in a whirl. I’ve so much to think about when not long since I used to lead such a quiet life.”

  His expression lightened marginally. “Of course you’ve been subjected to many changes. None knows that better than I. But they are for the better at last, are they not?”

  “Oh, undoubtedly!” Alice turned and began to retrace her steps. Boldly she slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. Trying to lighten the conversation she grinned mischievously.

  “I likened you to Sir Galahad when first you arrived. You have no notion how desperate I was. To be saved from a surfeit of turnips is something indeed.”

  He smiled in return, although that grave look lurked at the back of his eyes. “I had not realized you looked on my coming with relief. I thought rather I first appeared to you as a despicable tyrant.”

  “Never despicable, no matter how much I resented your assumptions. Penelope painted a very convincing picture.”

  He stopped to gather an early rosebud and hand it to her.

  “I’m glad you don’t resent the mistake I made. You are not to worry about anything, Alice. You have a home here for as long as you wish and your mother to watch over your welfare. We can go on from here more as we were, as friends, can’t we?”

  She swallowed the lump that had lodged in her throat. “I would like that.”

  “Good.” His hand covered hers for a moment and then was gone. “I’ll leave you to assist your mother and make haste to my riding lesson. Today I’m to learn how to jump without flapping my elbows like an old rooster. When next you see me you’ll be amazed at my proficiency.”

  He bowed as he left her at the front door and made his way to the stables. Alice gazed after him until he was lost to view round the corner. She stood there a moment longer.

  “I’m already amazed, my darling Edward,�
�� she murmured. “When I think of your brother…” Leaving the thought unfinished she went off to find her mama.

  Chapter Nine

  Late spring sunshine illuminated the morning room with a warm golden light. The windows had been flung open to allow the scents of the herbaceous border to waft into the room, along with the sounds of the busy birds and insects. The ladies sat either side of the table, hemming the edges of a large white sheet as they chatted. After an hour’s steady work, one of the pair of sheets had been finished and good progress made on the second.

  Sir Edward entered the room with a card in his hand. Lady Sarah smiled up at him. Alice glanced in his direction and after a brief smile just as quickly glanced away to concentrate on her seam.

  Lady Sarah indicated their work. “New sheets for your chamber, Edward. I’ve no doubt you’ll be glad of them.”

  He nodded as he took a seat. “Indeed I will, but I wish you’d hire a sewing maid, my dear ma’am. There’s no need for the two of you to undertake such drudgery.”

  “Oh, but we like doing it, do we not, Alice? We have such an excuse to sit and gossip. By the time the rest of the chambers are furnished we’ll have solved all the world’s ills!”

  He didn’t appear to be convinced. “As you will, but I think you’ll be casting sheets aside when I tell you my news. Lavinia’s turtle appears to have given me an entrée to Lord Malmesbury’s society. Our household party has been invited to a ball and to stay overnight at Dibden if we wish, because of the distance. I need to order myself a new full dress uniform and I’ll expect my ladies to be no less magnificent. I’m sure you’ll wish to visit the silk warehouse without delay.”

  Alice looked up from her work to stare at him. Her heart beat a little faster, no matter how hard she attempted to stay calm.

  He gauged her expression “Now what have I done? Have I said something amiss? Is something wrong?”

  She shook her head even as the warmth in her cheeks warned her she was blushing. “No, Sir Edward, of course not.”