Alissa Baxter (8 page)

“Poetic justice thereby being served,” Mr Chanderly concluded dryly.

Alexandra studied her feet, not wanting to look at him, fearing the condemnation she knew she would see in his face. Finally, she said in a small voice, “I thought so.”

Mr Chanderly was silent for a moment. Then putting his hand firmly on her wrist, he said, “Your actions, my dear, although well intentioned, are decidedly foolish. You must see that.”

Alexandra’s heart fluttered. His touch brought to the fore the disturbing memory of his kiss that morning, something she had decided it would be in her best interests to forget. So, wriggling away from him, she moved to the opposite end of the garden seat, before replying, “I do not consider it foolish to help the poor, Mr Chanderly.”

“No — but it is decidedly foolish to risk your life,” he said. Watching her calmly, he continued, “I do not intend to kiss you again, Miss Grantham — so you can stop looking at me like a frightened rabbit.”

Alexandra’s eyes flew to his indignantly. “I do
not
look like a frightened rabbit!”

Mr Chanderly smiled, and he said slowly, “No, you are correct — I was mistaken in my choice of animal... You look more like a wide eyed fawn, intent on escaping from a ruthless predator.”

Alexandra sniffed. “Thank you, sir. A fawn is a far more acceptable animal to be compared to.”

Mr Chanderly laughed, but after a moment his expression sobered. “I want you to give me your word, Miss Grantham, that you will immediately cease your highway activities. You were fortunate indeed that it was me you held up this morning, and not someone else.”

Alexandra bit her lip. “I — I know. I am in your debt, indeed.” She eyed him uncertainly. “How did you guess it was me, Mr Chanderly?”

“I noticed that first day when you held me up that your hands were very smooth and white. They did not belong to someone accustomed to rough, menial work. And your voice had a cultured intonation, though you tried to disguise it, so initially I assumed that you were a young gentleman, out for a lark.”

“What made you change your mind?” Alexandra asked curiously.

“You have a very expressive face, my dear. At Mrs Hadley’s party, when mention was made of the Bow Street Runners, you looked frightened and paled considerably. And when you looked across at me, with your large blue eyes, I suddenly realised why you had seemed so familiar that first day I met you.”

“Oh,” Alexandra said, frowning slightly. “And I had believed my disguise to be impenetrable!” Shaking her head, she continued, “I am most grateful to you, sir, for coming to my rescue this morning.”

“I could not very well have left you to the mercy of the Runners, although you undoubtedly deserve it for having terrorised the region in this manner,” he said sternly.

Alexandra hung her head. “It — it was all for a good cause.”

“A foolish cause,” he said shortly. “You have yet to give me your word, Miss Grantham, that you will cease your activities.”

Alexandra sighed. “But if I do not help the peasants, they will be in a very bad way. I cannot leave them to such a harsh fate.”

“There are other methods of helping them, that do not involve stealing for them.”

She looked at him doubtfully. “What kind of methods? The local landowners have little inclination to institute reforms, you know.”

“They might be open to persuasion. I know of many landlords in the country, the Duke of Bedford and the Earl of Egremont being of their number, who have devoted themselves to bettering the conditions of their tenants by teaching them the methods that can bring them prosperity.”

“What did they do?” Alexandra inquired. Seeing him hesitate, she said sharply, “Before you tell me that a lady should not worry her pretty little head about farming, may I inform you that I am well acquainted with all matters that pertain to managing an estate, my father having taught them to me.”

Mr Chanderly raised his brows. “I was not about to say anything of the sort,” he said calmly. “You are prickly.”

Alexandra flushed. “Usually, the gentlemen of my acquaintance fail to take my opinions seriously. It annoys me considerably.”

“I can see that,” he said dryly. “However, the reason for my hesitation was not the one that you assumed. I have another appointment this afternoon, and therefore do not have time to discuss this matter with you further. But, I shall endeavour to do so at a later date. In the meantime, I would like your reassurance that you will cease your activities forthwith.”

Alexandra nodded her head. “I give you my word on that, Mr Chanderly.”

“Good,” he said, standing up. Taking her hands, he drew her up from the seat, and holding them between both of his, he looked down at her intently.

“I have been meaning to ask you who your accomplice was, Miss Grantham.”

“My groom, Ben,” Alexandra replied. “He refused to aid me in my attack this morning, though, saying that with the Runners due to arrive, it was too dangerous.”

“He was correct. I thought you would have had more sense than to attempt another robbery when you knew the Runners were in the district.”

“I thought that they were only due to arrive at the end of the week,” Alexandra said defensively.

“You should never rely on hearsay, Miss Grantham. You will learn that soon enough, no doubt, when you arrive in the capital. Rumours are rife there, and it is never wise to take them too seriously.”

Alexandra withdrew her hands from his. “Of course,” she said shortly, her heart sinking at this mention of the London Season and the realisation that she would in all probability soon be moving in the same circles as this disturbing man.

They walked back to the Manor together, and after Mr Chanderly had taken his leave of her, Alexandra went into the Drawing Room to be confronted by her aunt who said in an eager voice, “My dear child, do be seated so that we can discuss this latest turn of events! I am of the decided opinion that Mr Chanderly has averted his attentions from Jane Hadley to you!”

Alexandra blinked. “I think, Aunt, that you are mistaken,” she said, sinking down on to the chaise longue.

“Indeed, child, I am not. Remember that I am far wiser in the ways of the world than you are. When a gentleman starts calling on a lady, you can be sure that he is developing an interest in her.”

Alexandra looked at a point somewhere above her aunt’s head. “Mr Chanderly merely wished to see the grounds of Grantham Place, Aunt Eliza. He has a keen interest in gardens.”

“That was what he
said
, Alexandra, but you can be sure that that was not the principal reason he called on you. Oh my dear girl, I am quite delighted for you! Mr Chanderly is such a distinguished looking gentleman, and he is also possessed of a handsome fortune, I dare say.” She smiled complacently. “Mrs Hadley will not be pleased at this turn of events, but I was always doubtful of Jane’s chances of winning a proposal from Mr Chanderly. She is so very
plain
looking.”

Alexandra looked at her aunt helplessly, knowing that it would be pointless to try to convince her that she was mistaken in her supposition. Nevertheless, she said in a firm voice, “Even if Mr Chanderly did wish to make me the object of his attentions, Aunt Eliza, I do not wish to enter the married state.”

Mrs Grantham looked horrified. “My dear child, do not say such things. It is unnatural — indeed wicked — to speak thus. Imagine if someone were to hear you!”

“Someone were to hear what?” John asked, coming into the room.

Mrs Grantham threw her hands up in the air. “Dear John — perhaps you can reason with your sister. She has just informed me that she has no desire to find a husband!”

John looked at his aunt with considerable amusement as he sat down. “Alexandra has always known her own mind, Aunt Eliza. Nothing that I can say will make her change it.”

“But, dearest! For her to talk thus when she is about to go to London for the Season! It is improper. Most improper,” she said in a wavering voice.

“I am sorry, Aunt, but I simply cannot see the purpose in getting married,” Alexandra said, shrugging her shoulders. “I enjoy my freedom and independence far too much to willingly give them up.”

“But, dearest, what if you were to fall in love?”

“I have every intention of avoiding that particular trap, Aunt,” Alexandra said firmly.

“My dear, dear, child, you sadden me. Indeed you do,” Mrs Grantham said shaking her head mournfully. “You are sure to have a most wretched Season, holding such odd views. I merely hope that the gentlemen do not ostracise you!”

John smiled. “Somehow, I doubt that will happen, Aunt Eliza. Alexandra’s lack of interest in the gentlemen of our circle has not prevented them from paying court to her. I have already refused three offers for her hand, and she is not even out yet!”

Mrs Granthams’ face brightened a little. “Perhaps things will not be as bad as all that, then. I do wish for you to have an enjoyable Season, dearest.”

“Thank you, Aunt,” Alexandra said gravely. “Rest assured that I shall contrive to find ways in which to amuse myself.”

Fifteen minutes later, Alexandra left her aunt and John, and walked slowly upstairs to her bedchamber. The tensions of the day had tired her out, and she felt in need of some solitude. Walking over to the window, she looked out over the grounds, her eyes going involuntarily to the garden seat where she and Mr Chanderly had recently sat. Her brow creased in puzzlement as she thought of their earlier meeting. Mr Chanderly’s anger over her actions seemed to have miraculously faded, and he had been more understanding towards her than she would ever have expected. She wondered if he had been serious when he had suggested that their neighbours might be open to persuasion regarding the implementation of reforms. For the sake of the people that she was no longer able to help, Alexandra sincerely hoped that he was, and that he would be able to influence the local landowners. But knowing the man, he would in all probability be successful in doing so, she thought a trifle wryly. He had something about him, a certain authority, that people seemed to respond to without question, and she had the feeling that if anyone were capable of getting his own way over something, it would be Robert Chanderly.

On arriving back at Grantham Place, a few days later, after having delivered a basket of food to Mrs Smith and her children, Alexandra learned from Higgins that her grandmother, Lady Beauchamp, had arrived half an hour earlier, and was at present resting in the Blue Bedchamber. Startled at this news, Alexandra hurried up the stairs to visit her esteemed relative. She knocked on the door, and upon hearing her grandmother’s voice bid her enter, she opened it and walked inside. “Grandmama! How lovely it is to see you!” she exclaimed.

Lady Beauchamp, a distinguished looking woman of about sixty years, was reclining on the curtained bed, with a pile of pillows behind her back to support her. She smiled at her beautiful granddaughter and said in her low, deep voice, “You grow prettier every time I see you, Alexandra. Come over here and give me a kiss. It has been an age since I saw you last!”

“Indeed it has, Grandmama,” Alexandra agreed as she embraced Lady Beauchamp. “And you have taken us quite by surprise!”

“Yes. I was concerned that if I left you any more time to think of a reason for not coming to London for the Season, that you might actually succeed in finding one. And I could not risk that at all! So, I thought it would be best to carry you off to Town, without giving you time to voice any more objections!”

Alexandra laughed. “I assure you, Grandmama, that your concern is unfounded. I am quite reconciled to going to London. In fact, I am beginning to look forward to it!”

“What brought about this change in your frame of mind, Alexandra?” inquired Lady Beauchamp with a note of surprise in her voice. “In the last letter you wrote to me you said that you had no wish to leave Grantham Place at all. I did not think that you were so capricious.”

Deciding to give her grandmother at least part of the reason for her change of heart, Alexandra replied, “I was concerned that if I went to London, John would be very lonely here. But, he has assured me that this will not be the case and consequently, I feel far happier about the scheme.”

“So that was the reason,” Lady Beauchamp said softly to herself, relieved. Studying her granddaughter, she continued, “I was afraid that you had fallen in love with a provincial nobody, or someone equally horrific, and that, obstinate creature that you are, you would refuse to come to London. Needless to say, I am delighted that is not the case.”

“I can assure you Grandmama, that I have not fixed my affections on any man. I am perfectly content to remain unwed for the rest of my days.”

Lady Beauchamp was startled at this statement, but she was careful to hide her surprise. She knew full well that once her granddaughter had a fixed idea in her mind, she stuck resolutely by it through thick and thin, and that it would be futile to try to influence her otherwise. When she was younger, Alexandra had often said that she saw the respectable state of matrimony as a dead bore. “I want to be my own person, with my own ideas about life, not some adjunct to a deadly dull aristocrat!” had been her favourite proclamation. Lady Beauchamp had not taken her granddaughter seriously at the time, thinking that Alexandra would become reconciled to the idea of marriage as she grew older. This, however, was clearly not the case.

But, instead of trying to convince her granddaughter about its benefits, Lady Beauchamp prudently held her own counsel, knowing that Alexandra would probably change her opinion about the advantages of married life, of her own accord, once she met the right man, and she had the perfect suitor in mind for her.

She had always thought that her godson, Sir Charles Fotherby, would be a charming match for Alexandra. He was a wealthy baronet, and because of his courteous manner and gentle humour, he was a great favourite with the ladies. At the age of six-and-twenty, he was as yet unwed, but Lady Beauchamp was certain that once he met her lovely granddaughter he would willingly relinquish his single state. That was one of the reasons why she had been so eager for Alexandra to come to London for the Season. However, Lady Beauchamp was old enough and wise enough not to mention her plans for her granddaughter to that independent minded young woman. Nothing would be more certain to set up Alexandra’s back, she knew, than the prospect of an unwanted suitor, and Lady Beauchamp did not want her granddaughter to set her mind against Sir Charles before she had even met him. Consequently, she talked of innocuous topics with Alexandra for half an hour or so before shooing her away, saying tiredly, “I wish to rest a while before luncheon, my love. However, this afternoon we must be sure to enjoy a comfortable cose. I have so much to tell you about the upcoming Season that I don’t know where to begin!”