The Alter Ego

by Elizabeth Bramwell

  “We shall see,” sniffed her mother. “Come, Francis. Allow our little love to rest. Perhaps this evening, after dinner, we can decide what to do about this Lord Arthur.”

  “Of course, oh light of my heart,” said Papa as her mother walked out of the room with all the bearing of a queen, but he threw a wink over at Anna before he closed the door behind him.

  The girls and Lily did not stop in to say goodbye, so Anna was able to settle back onto the sofa without any further disturbances. The final volume of The London House did indeed lie on the table beside her, but her thoughts were too occupied for her to pay it the attention it deserved. Governess, still dozing on her lap, consented to be stroked gently by her second favourite mistress.

  The thought that possibly, just maybe, Arthur had been truthful about his love for her, and that Lady Seraphinia, whatever her reasons for meddling had been, was disposed to approve of the match, warred in her heart with the knowledge that he had consistently lied to her for their entire acquaintance. She could not decide if she fell for his effortless charm, his amusing conversations, the way he looked at her, or the way he made her feel like she was home whenever they had a few minutes alone together.

  She chuckled as she considered his clothing. At least no one could accuse her of being so shallow as to fall in love with his appearance!

  He had an easy smile, though, and a way of laughing with his eyes that was inclusive rather than mocking. It was a wonder that he had managed to stay a bachelor for so long, especially if he was wealthy. He must have been hunted from coast to coast by every matchmaking mama in the country.

  “Is that why you lied to me?” she murmured to the empty room. “Is that why you lied to us all? To see if we would still accept you?”

  It seemed such a foolish thing to have done, and yet understandable. Even her mother’s attitude toward him had changed considerably since she’d realised that, rather than a penniless rake out to seduce her daughter, Lord Arthur Weatherly was one of the wealthiest men in England, and wanted to take Anna for his wife.

  “Silly, foolish man,” she said, shaking her head.

  A commanding knock sounded at the front door, followed by something of a commotion from the hallway. Anna looked up with a frown, wondering who on earth it could be. For a desperate moment she thought it was Arthur – but she knew that her staff would have allowed him to enter and brought up his card, rather than causing a ruckus in her house.

  “Out of my way, man, I’ll announce myself.”

  Anna barely had time to register that a male voice she did not recognise was booming through her house before the door to the parlour swung open, and a tall, well-dressed man entered. He looked her up and down in an impertinent way, a tiny frown appearing on his face as he spied her ankle resting upon a small cushion.

  “You may leave,” he told the butler, his voice so commanding that the door was closed and Anna found herself alone with this stranger before she could demand a member of staff to remain.

  “I do not believe we are acquainted, Sir,” she said, lifting her chin and keeping her voice as cold as possible. Governess lifted her head and started to growl.

  The man paid no attention to the pug. He removed his gloves and set them onto the nearest chair, his cane and hat joining them moments later. He was well dressed, although not entirely stylish, and he had an air of command about him that told her as plainly as if he had announced it that he was a member of the Upper Ten Thousand.

  “We are not, Madam. You are, however, acquainted with my brother, and by virtue of the fact he has you installed in his house, it seems you are far better acquainted with him than I imagined.”

  Heat rose up her body, and her cheeks felt instantly aflame.

  “How dare you insinuate anything about me,” she said, and Governess began to growl louder.

  He arched a brow. “Are you saying that you are not well acquainted with Lord Arthur, Mrs Clyde?”

  If he thought to throw her off balance by knowing her identity, then he was a bigger fool than his brother, she thought as she narrowed her eyes.

  “You know very well that I am a friend of Lord Arthur, your Grace, and that he owns the property that I am currently leasing from him.”

  “Lease! Ha!” said the Duke of Lexborough. He did not look as amiable as his younger brother. There was little resemblance between them at all.

  “Yes, a lease,” she replied, biting off her words as she struggled to control her temper. “Lord Arthur was so good as to let this house to me so that I could ensure that my daughter and I had a comfortable home in the city.”

  “Daughter?” said the Duke, his eyes widening. “Good God, what kind of woman has Arthur got himself involved with?”

  “If you cannot speak to me with a modicum of civility, your Grace, then I must demand that you leave at once,” said Anna. “You will forgive me if I do not stand, but I do bid you go away. Now, if you please.”

  She was proud that she retained her composure and had even managed that type of polite snub that she had rarely been called on to use in her life as Mrs Clyde. Unfortunately, any grace and dignity she projected at such a moment was entirely ruined, for the pug, understanding that her mistress was under duress, leapt down from her lap and charged at the Duke.

  “Governess, no!” Anna screamed, but it was too late. The pug squatted over the Duke’s boot and relieved herself with a satisfied yelp. The Duke, frozen in horror, could only stare as the animal strutted back towards her mistress, sat down before the couch, and then growled at him.

  “You really should not have raised your voice at me,” sighed Anna, leaning down to pick up Governess. “She is very defensive.”

  “Your dog…” he began, looking first at her and then down at the puddle surrounding his foot.

  “Yes, she did. Would you mind awfully pulling the bell for me? If we can get it cleaned up quickly, there should be no lasting damage to the carpet, and the housekeeper is excellent at dealing with these things.”

  “To the devil with the carpet, what about my boot?” spluttered the Duke.

  Anna, her anger fading to be replaced with a lively sense of the ridiculous, raised a single eyebrow, the way he had done at her.

  “Perhaps if you acted more like a gentleman and less like a boar, your Grace, then Governess would not have felt the need to defend my honour.”

  The door to the parlour swung wide, and her harassed-looking butler held it open as a woman Anna had never met walked into the room, clapping as she did so.

  “Bravo, my dear! He deserved that set-down, and so expertly delivered! Oh, I like you very much!”

  “Katie!” spluttered the Duke, and Anna, suddenly feeling rather faint, realised that this new visitor was none other than Her Grace, the Duchess of Lexborough. Arthur followed in her wake, looking less amused by the situation than his sister-in-law did.

  The Duchess turned to her and smiled. “You must be Anna Clyde; please forgive my family, for it seems you have been used dreadfully since Arthur met you. I’m the Duchess of Lexborough – Arthur’s sister-in-law!”

  “The horse through the church,” said Anna, and the Duchess looked stunned for a second, before bursting out into the prettiest peal of laughter she’d ever heard.

  “Oh, trust Arthur to tell you the stories where I do not come over well at all! I will have to tell you the better ones some time, such as the incident with the jellies at Michaelmas. You see, it all started because Helena said-”

  “No one needs to know the story about the jellies at Michaelmas,” Arthur announced loudly.

  “I need to know what on earth is going on here,” said the Duke, looking like a confused mixture of bewildered and livid.

  His wife turned to look at him. “I’m intervening before you ruin everything for your brother. I love you very much, darling, but you are terrible when it comes to matters of the heart.”

  Anna assumed the Duke would argue and was shocked to see his anger dissolve into a rueful smile. �
�I suppose I cannot defend myself on that score.”

  “Precisely,” said the Duchess with a firm nod, but there was laughter lurking in her voice.

  Anna started to worry that she’d developed a fever, and was hallucinating the entire scene.

  “I say, what happened to your boot?” asked Arthur, nodding toward the Duke’s foot. “Oh Lord, you didn’t raise your voice at Mrs Clyde, did you?”

  “Why would that make his boot wet?” asked the Duchess.

  Anna pulled the Pug into a tight cuddle. “Because Governess here relieves herself on gentlemen that she doesn’t like.”

  A moment of silence, followed by a second peal of laughter from the Duchess.

  “I knew that I’d like you, my dear Mrs Clyde! Arthur, marry her at once. She’ll fit right in with the family!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Arthur, despite knowing somewhere deep down that the entire situation was hilarious, could only find space in his mind to consider his brother’s behaviour toward the woman he loved.

  “You’d better not have said anything to upset Mrs Clyde, or I’ll be dashed if I don’t plant you a facer right now,” said Arthur, stalking toward Alex, his hands balled into fists.

  “Stubble it, brat,” said his brother, crossing his arms over his chest. “I was coming to rescue you from a scrape.”

  “I’m not in a scrape,” said Arthur. He paused as he registered the snort of derision that had come from the sofa behind him. “Fine, I am in a scrape – but not the sort you were thinking! How dare you insult Mrs Clyde’s honour!”

  “Yes, how dare you?” said Katie, who appeared to be the only person in the room enjoying herself immensely.

  “What are you two doing here, anyway?” said Alex, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Katie, I told you I’d handle this!”

  “And I told you that you’re a goose,” said Katie with considerable affection. “Alex, darling, I know you are trying to look after us all, be the head of the family, take us under your wing and all that nonsense, but Arthur and I are considerably more up to the snuff than you are.”

  “After last Season, I beg to differ,” Alex muttered.

  “At least half of that was your fault,” replied Arthur. “Damn it, Alex, you shouldn’t have interfered.”

  “Now, I wouldn’t go that far,” said Katie. “I have the liveliest opinion that someone had to interfere before you ruined Mrs Clyde’s good opinion of you forever. You said so yourself, after all.”

  Arthur closed his eyes and counted to ten before speaking. “Katie, Alex, please can we continue this discussion about our family elsewhere? Make yourselves scarce, will you, so I can apologise to Anna for dragging her into this sorry mess.”

  “No,” said Katie. She pulled a chair over toward the sofa and made herself comfortable beside Anna. “Anyone can see that the poor girl is desperate for some feminine companionship. Alex, be a dear and call for the maid to clean up after the darling little pug, will you, and Arthur, see if you cannot locate the butler and rustle up some refreshments.”

  “Anna, we can leave if you want us to,” said Arthur, ignoring his sister-in-law.

  He was surprised to see that Anna, far from being upset, seemed to be struggling to control her laughter.

  “Thank you, Arthur, but it is not every day that a Duchess visits, and I think I would very much like to hear her Grace’s story about the Michaelmas jellies.”

  “And this is why we’re going to get along famously,” declared Katie, and began to launch into the tale.

  “Shoot me now,” muttered Arthur to his brother, but Alex’s attention was on the open parlour door.

  “I might not have the opportunity, for it sounds like an entire herd of ruffians are about to invade the room.”

  This observation was not far off the mark. A moment later the three young Jones girls bounded into the parlour, each holding a hatbox and demanding, loudly, that Anna stop whatever she was doing and admire their new bonnets. Lily followed a few steps behind, but her wide, shocked eyes were for Arthur and the two strangers in the room.

  “Anna, who does the carriage outside belong to?” came the voice of Mrs Jones as she entered the room, her husband following. “Your father thinks the horses are pretty cows, which I think means he likes them very well, but I prefer black ones myself.”

  “Cattle, oh light of my heart,” laughed Mr Jones. “I said that they were very nice cattle.”

  “It’s the same thing,” muttered his wife, but stopped as her eyes fell first on Katie, who was having a lively conversation about the merits of the three bonnets being presented to her, and then onto Alex and Arthur.

  “Lord Arthur, I see you have brought reinforcements with you,” she said, not unkindly, but her tone was far from friendly.

  “Not at all, Mama,” called Anna, which made her sisters fall into a hush. “May I introduce you all to his Grace, the Duke of Lexborough? The Duke came to berate me and tell me to stay away from Arthur. Governess decided to christen his boot for his trouble.”

  “His Grace?” said Mrs Jones, looking as though she might faint.

  “Pon Rep, are you implying that my little Annie isn’t good enough for your ne’er-do-well brother?” boomed her father, looking like a puffed up Robin in a brown jacket and burgundy waistcoat. “I’ll have you know that Lord Arthur should count himself lucky that my girl would even consider him as a husband!”

  “There’s been something of a misunderstanding,” said Alex as six pairs of angry eyes turned on him.

  “Mama, Papa, girls: may I also introduce you to Her Grace, the Duchess of Lexborough? Her Grace did come with Lord Arthur, although whether it was as his champion or not, I am yet to determine.”

  “Definitely his champion,” said Katie, rising to her feet. “I’ve decided I want you to be my new sister.”

  “You’re the Duchess?” squeaked one of Anna’s sisters as all three of them, as well as Lily, dropped into deep curtseys. “You shouldn’t have let us twitter on at you like that! We’re so sorry!”

  “Your Grace,” said Mrs Jones, and dropped into a curtsey so low a Princess would have been flattered, while her husband executed a bow so perfect, Arthur was actually jealous of his leg.

  “Please, forgive my husband for his treatment of your darling daughter. We had received a garbled account of Arthur’s time in Bath, and the Duke is very protective of his little brother – I’m sure you can understand the pull of family!”

  Mr and Mrs Jones both glanced across at their four daughters and Lily. “Yes, your Grace. Family is vital to us.”

  “Excellent! May I ask why you came rushing to Bath?”

  That glance again, Arthur noted. It was Mrs Jones that answered.

  “We received a letter, your Grace, intimating that our daughter may require our support from a… a broken heart.”

  Her husband glanced at her. “Broken heart? I thought you said the letter said a rake?”

  Mrs Jones rolled her eyes. “I never said rake, Francis. You said rake. I said the letter warned that she was at risk of a broken heart, and perhaps tarnishing her reputation.”

  “Did you not read the letter, Mr Jones?” asked Katie with such delicacy that the man did not seem in the least bit offended by the question.

  “Dashed thing is in Hindi,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I can speak the language a little, but I never could wrap my head about it in the written form.”

  “How vexing for you,” commiserated Katie. “I cannot help but feel Lady Seraphinia erred by not making her letter clearer.”

  “So it was her!” said Anna, looking triumphant. “I just knew she had meddled the moment Mama told me the letter writer chastised her for not teaching me Hindi!”

  Katie flashed a brief smile in Anna’s direction, but quickly returned her attention to Mr and Mrs Jones. “How commendable that you rushed here to support your daughter, both of you! Why, you have more in common with my husband that you realised, for you both take your d
uty to your family very seriously.”

  Whatever Mr Jones privately thought of Alex, being compared to a Duke naturally appealed to his vanity, and within a very short space of time, Katie had the entire Jones family, as well as Lily, eating out of her hand.

  “Isn’t she marvellous,” said Alex, his gaze resting fondly on his wife. “I should have listened to her.”

  “I’ve told you that countless times,” muttered Arthur. “Here, as payment, you can do me a small favour.”

  “How small?” said Alex, immediately suspicious.

  “Get everyone out of here, if you will! Dash it all, man, I’ve not had the chance to apologise to Anna yet, or discover if I have a chance with her. I helped you win back Katie; it’s the least you could do in return.”

  Alex grinned. “Anything to be of service, dear brother.”

  Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched his brother pick up one of the girl’s bonnets.

  “This seems a pretty enough bonnet, but I confess, ladies, that I find it difficult to judge them unless they are seen atop a head of pretty curls, out in the sunshine.”

  Katie took the hint immediately. “What a capital suggestion! Girls, will you be absolute treasures and wear your new bonnets for us, out in Sydney Gardens? I have been thinking of buying a new hat for myself, but at present, I may just have to buy four identical to these!”

  The three girls scrambled to their feet so fast that Governess, disturbed by their movement, began running about them and yapping loudly. Their mother dived into the fray, instructing them to remove the hat boxes from the floor and bring their new bonnets with them immediately. Lily scooped up Governess, but before she could do so much as apologise, Katie had looped an arm through hers and was guiding her toward the door.

  “I’m so pleased to meet you, Miss Clyde. I have heard so much about you from Arthur and Lady Seraphinia, they are predicting that you will take the Ton by Storm next Season, and I can see it is quite true. Is Governess yours? You simply must tell me how you trained her to rid you of unwanted gentlemen, for I can think of several instances where such a skilled animal would come in useful…”