Alyssa's Autumn Affair

by Tabetha Waite

  Travell had heard enough. While he didn’t want rumors abounding about his father’s condition, he refused to allow Alyssa to suffer for his reluctance to feed the rumor mills. “Lady Lockley, I fear Alyssa hasn’t been entirely forthright with you.”

  As her eyes lit up, he was quick to dash her line of thought he could see brewing in that malicious head of hers. “And for that, I am the one to blame, for she was doing me a courtesy.” He considered his words carefully. “I was in London when I recently received word that my long absent father had returned. But when I arrived at Rosewood I found a broken man. I fear that he is suffering from some current delusions of the mind. However, with Alyssa’s help, we are hoping to cure him at home with the kind of gentle assistance that he wouldn’t find at Bethlem Hospital in London.”

  He eyed her firmly. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you the sort of horrors one can find within the walls of an asylum where ice baths, blistering, and various other remedies of mistreatment are all considered ‘normal’ in the healing process. It’s no wonder their screams can be heard on the grounds, for I’ve witnessed animals receive better care.”

  Caroline didn’t appear pleased with his lengthy explanation, rather ignored it, in fact. “She told me she was coming here to care for some sort of rare breed of roses.”

  “She has quite taken over my conservatory,” he concurred. “Although, you are free to visit it for yourself if you wish to see confirmation.”

  Her mouth pursed. “None of this explains the bruises I saw this morning.”

  “A rather unfortunate circumstance of her kindness, I’m afraid.” He paused. “My father attacked her unknowingly.”

  Caroline gasped, but Travell could tell that her sincerity was a lackadaisical attempt at best. “Are you sure it’s safe for her to remain here with this madman on the loose?”

  It was all Travell could do to keep his temper in check. “I would tread carefully, madam. That madman you refer to is still the Earl of Trenton and due the respect of his station.” The blood instantly receded from her face, but he merely continued. “As far as Alyssa’s safety, you may rest assured on that account. I will see to it personally that she comes to no further injury.” He arose and made a sweeping gesture toward the door. “Now I must bid you good day.”

  Without even raising his voice, he called for his butler. “Ives!”

  The servant appeared a moment later, as if he’d been standing nearby, at the ready should he be needed. “Yes, my lord?”

  “Please show Lady Lockley out. Our business is concluded.”

  Caroline slowly stood. “Thank you for your time, Lord Curdiff,” she said stiffly, and then she lifted her chin and walked out the door.

  Chapter Ten

  “She’s gone.”

  Alyssa glanced up from where she’d been pruning her Blue Ladies. She slid her shears into her apron pocket that the cook had loaned her and dusted the dirt from her hands. “I hope it was painless.”

  “For the most part,” Travell returned, from where he stood in the doorway.

  When he didn’t elaborate, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

  He regarded her evenly, his arms crossed over his broad chest. She pretended not to remember what that firm expanse had felt like beneath her fingertips, but it was hard to forget. “She questioned me about your bruises. So to spare you any unpleasantness at Breyton Hall, I had to tell her about my father.”

  “Oh, Travell. I’m so sorry.” She removed her apron and set it on a nearby stool with a heavy breath. “Sometimes I wonder if my presence here isn’t making a bad situation even worse.”

  “Don’t say that, Alyssa,” he said softly. “You are doing more than you’ll ever know. I’ll never be able to repay your kindness to my father.” He paused. “To me.”

  She faced him then. “Good, because I don’t want anything. I just want to make things… easier. For both of you.” She drew herself up. “And if you’re willing to allow me to try, I was hoping to attempt something new.”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “You know I trust you. And at this point, I’m prepared to undertake about anything.” He tilted his head curiously. “What did you have in mind?”

  “Well I suppose that would depend on something. Do you believe in mesmerism?”

  Both of his brows shot upward. “I’ve heard of it, but I never put much faith in the practice. Rather like tarot cards and séances.”

  “I agree,” she said slowly. “But I thought it would be worth checking into. If nothing else, it might unlock something in the earl’s mind, perhaps even give us some insight into what happened to him.”

  He seemed to consider this, and she was glad that he didn’t discount it out of hand. After a moment, he murmured, “I may know of someone in London who might be able to help, and the best part is that he’s discreet. I’ll write to him this afternoon.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and lowered his head slightly, looking up at her almost boyishly. “Until then, would you care to take a turn in the gardens with me?”

  He’d switched topics so abruptly, she wondered if he was nervous, but surely she was misreading it as something else. “I’d love to.”

  He held out his arm to her so gallantly that she smiled and easily accepted. She laid her hand lightly on his forearm and thrilled at the muscles that bunched beneath her fingertips.

  After she gathered her redingote and bonnet, they headed outside. They passed Daisy and Cook in the herbs, chattering away, although they glanced up and waved as they walked by.

  It was afternoon, but it was already starting to get dark, the threat of returning rain casting the fluffy clouds above a rather somber gray. But next to Travell, Alyssa was anything but gloomy. He had always been a lovely companion, and this wasn’t the first time she had shared a walk with him. Until now, they were generally in the midst of a crowded ballroom, or even in Hyde Park with numerous people present, but today they were met with nothing more than the crunch of gravel on the path beneath their feet. She might imagine that they were courting if the situation had been different.

  But then, his shocking outburst from this morning replayed in her mind. It was so out of character for him that she couldn’t help but be concerned. She would make sure Ives kept an eye on the brandy, just in case.

  “I didn’t just ask you to walk with me, you know.”

  She lifted a brow and tried to sound playful. “Why, Lord Curdiff! Did you have an ulterior motive in mind?”

  He chuckled. “As a matter of fact, I did.”

  She loved this carefree side of him. “Do tell.”

  He glanced at her, his blue eyes twinkling with merriment. “Do you remember the Roman Ruins?”

  She laughed, scrunching her nose up in distaste. “You can’t tell me that pile of rubble is still standing.”

  He grinned so wide that he showed even, white teeth. “Let’s have a look, shall we?” He grasped her hand and pulled her behind him, walking so fast that she nearly had to jog to keep up with him.

  When he broke into a run, she shouted with glee and put a hand on her bonnet to keep it from flying off her head. This was the Travell Abernathy that she knew. The man she had fallen head over heels in love with.

  They ran across the valley, along the forest line, stopping only when they reached a grassy knoll. There, they stopped, both slightly out of breath, as they looked up at the pile of stones that she and Triana had dubbed the ‘Roman Ruins’ so long ago. Of course, they were nothing of the sort, but they had spent many hours there, reinventing Shakespeare’s plays and slaying the dragons for the knights that weren’t worthy of wielding King Arthur’s sword. The times Travell had joined them, he had rolled his eyes, but she had to imagine that some part of him actually enjoyed their theatrics.

  “I loved coming here,” she whispered, her chest tightening with those innocent days of her youth, the ones that went by entirely too fast.

  “I know. It seemed you were here every day I was home from school.”

&n
bsp; She stuck her tongue out at him. “We didn’t make you come along.”

  “No,” he returned dryly. “My mother did.”

  She slapped his arm in a slight rebuke, and then walked toward the boulders. Now that she was back here, it didn’t resemble a fortress so much as a pile of forgotten rocks, but she settled herself on one of the larger boulders just the same. She lifted her chin in the air and did her best impression of a queen on her throne. “Entertain me, Jester, or I shall feed you to the crocodiles of the Egyptian Nile.”

  Travell instantly placed a hand over his heart. “I should hate to disappoint such a lovely lady.”

  Alyssa laughed as he gathered three small pebbles from the ground and proceeded to juggle them. She gasped when he kept the circle going for quite some time, before he caught them all in his palm and bowed dramatically.

  She clapped enthusiastically. “Well done! I think you deserve to be knighted for such a dashing performance.” She rushed over and snapped a dead twig off of a nearby tree and held it out before her. “Bow before your queen.” Travell bent down on one knee, and obediently lowered his head. She giggled as she touched the twig to one shoulder and then the other. “I knight you Sir Dashing of all the land. Arise and pledge allegiance to your monarch!”

  She lowered her ‘sword’ as he got to his feet. And whether it was the absurdity of the moment, or the charged electricity in the air from the brewing storm, the humor in his eyes shifted to something even more enticing. Alyssa’s mouth parted and she let the twig fall to the ground, completely forgotten.

  Like a flash of lightning, they were in each other’s arms, the kiss more magnetic than anything they had shared before.

  Alyssa yearned to tear his jacket off his shoulders and rip the buttons off his waistcoat and shirt so that she could feel the firm heat beneath. He must have been thinking something very similar, for his hands roamed over her back, pressing her urgently against him.

  When they finally broke apart, they were breathing more heavily than when they’d run across the length of the grounds. But before either one of them could say a word, thunder rumbled overhead and the rain poured down.

  ***

  By the time they returned to Rosewood, they were both soaked to the skin, but the laughter that filled the cavernous halls as they stumbled into the foyer was entirely worth it. Alyssa’s bonnet was in a sad state of disrepair and her hair hung about her face in a bedraggled mess, but she had never enjoyed the rain so much.

  “My boots are actually squishing.”

  Travell’s dry comment sent off another round of hilarity that made her stomach ache. But when he turned to her with a crooked grin, his dark hair falling into his face, those blue eyes so dreamy — she was quite breathless for another reason.

  As the merriment subsided, they stared at one another, that same pull from atop the ruins slowly starting to bring them back together…

  “Shall I take your things, my lord?”

  Alyssa blinked, and turned to Ives who was standing by expectantly. Travell shrugged out of his jacket, leaving him clad in his waistcoat, cravat, and white shirt, which was clinging to him rather nicely, showing off the defined muscles beneath the thin cambric.

  Alyssa handed over her redingote and her pitiful bonnet with a shiver. Travell must have noticed her sudden chill, for he said, “Why don’t we retire to the parlor?” He addressed his butler. “Ives, see that a fire is set and a teacart is brought up straightaway.”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  As they settled across from one another, both of them seeming to appreciate that they needed some distance, Alyssa glanced about the room. It was just as she remembered it, decorated in soft shades of pale peach with gold trimmings. “Triana was the only girl I knew whose favorite color was orange.”

  Travell relaxed against the settee, throwing his arm across the back while settling his right leg across his left. He surveyed the area with a seemingly critical eye. “My mother was horrified when Triana suggested it, but after a bit of negotiation, she eventually gave in.”

  Alyssa leaned back in her chair, comfortable enough with Travell that she knew she didn’t have to stand on ceremony. “Aunt Pearl gave me leave to decorate my bedchamber, but I always wanted a house of my own so that I could give each room its own personality. Perhaps when I move to America I’ll finally get the chance to do so.”

  “You still aren’t convinced that we would suit?”

  Alyssa looked at Travell to see him tapping a finger on his leg, those ocean eyes boring into her very soul. She lowered her gaze and picked at a stray thread on her dress. “It’s not that I don’t think we would get along,” she said carefully. “I just don’t want to marry you for the wrong reasons where we would both come to regret it.”

  “You have so much faith in me,” he drawled, and then added more quietly, “Yet you don’t believe I could make you happy?”

  She sighed. “Our compatibility isn’t in question, but rather—” The fact you don’t love me as I’ve always loved you is. But since she couldn’t very well say that, she said, “I know about your work for the Home Office.”

  She looked up to see his jaw had tightened. “I suppose my sister told you.”

  Alyssa shook her head. “She didn’t have to. I knew you were good friends with Triana’s husband, the Duke of Chiltern, and Isabella’s husband, Mr. Claymoore, and recently, I’ve seen you in the company of Mr. Rutherford—”

  He held up a hand. “I get your point. I suppose when my fellow agents decide to marry a lady’s closest friends, things get noticed.”

  She smiled. “I admit it wasn’t difficult to fit all the pieces together.”

  They fell silent as the teacart was rolled in. After the maid made sure a roaring fire was going, Travell said, “Thank you, Mary. We’ll serve ourselves.”

  The maid bobbed a curtsy and took her leave. Alyssa stood before Travell had a chance to do so, and handed him a cup, just the way he liked it. Once she had her own, she sat back down and took a gentle sip of the steaming liquid.

  “Will you always remain in service to the Crown?” she asked after a time.

  “I’m not really sure, but probably. I’ve been an agent for the past seven years, and while I still get called into the field, I seem better served to recruit new men.” He frowned slightly. “And to be honest, I don’t really know anything else.” He paused. “What about your plans for the future? Who will you marry if it won’t be to me?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m not sure, but at least it wouldn’t be quite so scandalous if I chose to remain a spinster in the New World as it would be here, where I would continue to be a cumbersome responsibility for James and Caroline.” She felt ill at the very thought.

  “Don’t worry about Lord and Lady Lockley,” Travell said firmly. “And if they give you any further problems, don’t be hesitant to come to me.”

  She smiled at him. “Thank you, Travell. You’re a good friend.”

  ***

  You’re a good friend.

  Those words haunted Travell long into the night as he stared up at the ceiling in his bedchamber, his arms folded behind his head. Sleep continued to elude him, but at least he wasn’t struck with a raging erection. While that devastating kiss had been enough to torment him, the moment she’d put him in the same category as his sister had effectively snuffed out any current desire.

  Friend. He couldn’t help but wince at the word. It was the worst side of the fence to be on when it came to developing a relationship with a woman. Once you were stuck there, it was difficult to claw your way out.

  What really bothered him was that Alyssa had responded to his kisses. He wasn’t that out of practice where he couldn’t ascertain when a woman wanted him. But then she turned it around and tosses it aside to call him a — friend.

  He ground his jaw. Perhaps he should just ignore this spark of attraction between them. Alyssa seemed rather determined to travel to America, and while it hurt to think of her so far away
where he might never see her again, if she was happy, he couldn’t really ask for more than that.

  He frowned. But damn, he would miss her. She had been a part of his life for so long that he didn’t know what he would do if she just… wasn’t there anymore. Every time he walked into a ballroom, he would still look for that brunette head. No more would he see those mischievous green eyes staring up at him, or that slight curve of her full lips.

  His frustration deepened. He didn’t like this, not one single bit. He had to figure out a way to convince her to stay in England. With him. But then, if she only remained to marry another, he wasn’t sure he could withstand the loss. It would be the same as if his heart was ripped right out of his chest. Even now he found it difficult to breathe and it was only a fantasy. In reality, he would likely go mad.

  But at least, if he was in the same shape as his father, he wouldn’t know enough to give a damn.

  Which brought him to a new crossroads. Did he really want to continue his line knowing that madness was a possibility? Could he, in all good conscious, do that to an innocent child?

  Travell grumbled as he threw off the covers. If he couldn’t allow sleep to claim him, at least he could go check on the earl.

  Where they could be miserable in their tortured minds together.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Alyssa went down to breakfast the next morning, attired in another dark purple gown, she was surprised when Caroline didn’t offer some sort of rude quip about her attire. Even James was rather tightlipped, offering her a polite greeting, and then falling silent.

  It was the most pleasant meal she’d had since her arrival.

  When she reached Rosewood with Daisy in tow a brief time later, the maid headed to the kitchens while Alyssa found Travell in the conservatory carefully watering her Blue Ladies. He must have heard her entrance, for he glanced up and smiled. “Good morning, my lady. I thought I’d help you get a head start.”