Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance (19 page)

Felicity looked slightly
embarrassed.  Richard had not said very much but she could tell on their
journey back home in the gig that afternoon, that he was exasperated that she
had managed to find trouble again.  Well she reasoned, Alex had not seemed to
mind and the Duke was positively beaming over the fact that his poacher had
been caught. She nodded an acknowledgement to the Duke and gave Richard a
defiant grin.  Richard ignored her and turned his attention to the Duke. ‘What
have you decided to do with the fellow Gareth?  From what Alex tells me he was
a nasty piece of work.’

The Duke was
magnanimous, ‘I spared him the magistrate because it has been tough enough this
year, with a lot of the crops failing.  Alex detained him and when I returned
from Harrogate, we escorted him back to his cottage and made him pack up. I
confiscated his keys and he has been evicted. The cottage has been locked up so
he cannot return.  I know it has been a bad year but he had no excuse for
behaving as he did.  I have subsidised my tenants this year, so none of them
will starve and although I blink a blind eye at the shooting of an odd pheasant
or rabbit, I draw the line on inhumane trapping.’

Richard smiled ‘Yes the
stupid fellow has so obviously shot himself in the foot.’

 Gareth acknowledged, ‘Indeed
he has but enough about him,’ he rubbed his hand together, ‘What are we having
for dinner?’ he asked gleefully.

Alex grinned. ‘Trout,
what else. Some folk have had to fish for their supper!’

Much to Richards’s
relief, the following week passed by without any more incidents. Richard was
recovering very well and by the middle of the week, the swelling on his ankle
had gone down and he was able to get his boot on.  He found this a great source
of relief, for although he still needed to be careful, he could mount his horse
without difficulty and spent a couple of hours on horseback, enjoying the
delights of the Yorkshire countryside and a little bit of game shooting.

Felicity was the
epitome of propriety and even made herself useful helping the old Dowager to
organise her musical evening.  It was to be a relatively small occasion, the Dowager
having invited fifteen of the local families and it was arranged to take place on
the following Sunday evening.  The Dowager, who had painful bent fingers,
tended to write with a spidery scrawl and so she asked Felicity to write out
the invitations.  She was glad she had done so, for she was delighted by the
artistic flourish of Felicity’s hand and the pleasing result.   Felicity had
spent a pleasant afternoon with the Marquis delivering them, while her mother
helped to organise the food and entertainment.  In her heyday, the Dowager had developed
a reputation for hosting an excellent party and neighbours never hesitated to
respond to her invitations.  Her musical evenings tended to be very popular for
she liked to pre-arrange her entertainment, thus avoiding subjecting her guests
to talentless musicians and caterwauling young ladies who thought they could
sing.

 Saturday arrived and
the party assembled in the drawing room ready to greet their first guests.
Felicity wore a gown of mid pink satin with a high waist and square neckline. 
It had elaborate short puffed sleeves and a deep ruche hem decorated with cream
rosebuds.  She wore cream gloves that were heavily laced and a simple necklace
of pearls to complete her ensemble.  Alex looked at her in admiration for she
looked quite beautiful and he felt a pang at her refusal to marry him.  However,
he was not to be deterred for he was determined to discover the reason for her
reticence.  

The gentlemen looked
equally fine with Alex turned out in his favourite black, always guaranteed to
make an impression.  The Duke looked elegant in Olive Green and Richard was wearing
a beautiful coat of blue superfine.  Richard was greatly looking forward to the
evening, but as a person, who very much liked to dance, expressed his
disappointment of not being able to do so.  His ankle still pained him a little
and he found himself cursing the existence of accursed rabbits and their
annoying tendency to litter the countryside with plaguey rabbit holes.

The first half of the
evening was to consist of some organised musical entertainment followed by a
buffet and for the second half of the evening, the Countess had hired a trio of
professional musicians so the company could enjoy some informal dancing.  She
had also set out some card tables for anyone who did not wish to dance but
preferred to try their hand at a friendly game of whist or piquet instead.  While
they awaited their guests, the family enjoyed a pre-party drink.  Alex handed Richard
a glass of wine and unaware that Felicity’s talent for singing had inspired the
whole evening, Alex voiced his concern. ‘Grandmother tells me that Flick is
going to sing for us this evening.  I hope she has not been coerced and put on
the spot.’

Felicity who was
standing in earshot drinking a glass of Ratafia eyed him smiling. Richard laughed.
‘Our Flick! You have never heard her have you.  She wails like a banshee.’

Felicity bit her lip
and tried to hide her amusement under veiled eyes and Richard gave her a
mischievous brotherly grin. Both expressions were lost on Alex and he turned to
Felicity with some concern. ‘You do not need to sing if you do not wish it. 
Grandmother can be a bully sometimes and people can find themselves persuaded
to do things that they would rather not.  Do not feel obligated just because the
Dowager asks you, for I would not wish you to feel uncomfortable.’

Felicity reassured him.
‘I could hardly refuse your grandmamma when she asked me and I can hardly
renege this late in the day when she has planned everything to the last detail. 
Do not worry; I think I should be able to acquit myself without too much discomfiture.
 I shall certainly try to do my best.’

‘Well as long as you
are sure.’ Alex replied uncertainly.  They did not have time to say much more
for the butler arrived announcing the arrival of their first guests.  The Allon
family had arrived with their 17-year-old daughter Jennifer who had a
particularly pleasing voice and had agreed to sing.  

The guests slowly
started to arrive, introductions were made and the musical evening got
underway.   The company took their seats for the musical presentation and
Jennifer Allon started the singing off with a beautiful rendition of Robbie
Burns ‘The Bank O Doon’ and Richard who had taken an instant liking to the
girl, stood by the piano to turn the song sheet for her.  The company sat
enthralled.  Due to the Dowagers good planning, the standard of the
performances were high.   Felicity was the last to perform and she had chosen
three of her favourite pieces with which to finish off the recitals. Alex stood
nervously by the piano offering his services to turn her music sheet.  Unlike
The Dowager and Felicity’s family, he was quite apprehensive, for he did not
know what to expect and she certainly had some hard acts to follow.

Felicity sat down at
the piano, removed her lace gloves and placed them on top of the instrument,
allowing her bare hands to have a free flow over the piano keys.  For her first
song, she had chosen to sing a love Ballard, ‘The Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill’. 
It was a favourite of King George but being a ballad about a Yorkshire girl,
Felicity thought it a nice local touch.  She began to sing -

On Richmond Hill
there lives a lass,

More bright than
May-day morn,

Whose charms all
other maids' surpass,

A rose without a
thorn...................

Felicity’s voice rang
out in fine melody.  The audience sat enthralled for her voice had a beautiful
haunting quality that could keep even the most unenthusiastic listener
spellbound.  Alex, for once in his life stunned, stood staring down at her.  He
could not have imagined that such a headstrong, spontaneous woman who tumbled
from one disaster to the next could have such a lovely voice.  He raised his
head to give Richard a reproachful glance but Richard just sat grinning at
him.  This was one thing about his madcap sister he could be proud of and he spared
no pains to hide it.  Alex was so mesmerised that he forgot to turn the page of
her music sheet.  Felicity lifted her arm to correct the omission and as she
did so, he saw it!

A large and wieldy scar
adorned the underside of her right wrist.  The sight of it burned his eyes like
a flame as he realised the significance of it.  He stood almost hypnotised; her
beautiful voice echoing above his head like the ghostly voice of the Lorelei. 
He blinked, surely he must be mistaken.  He looked at the offending wrist, the
underside again hidden as her nimble fingers swept deftly over the keys. Although
he could no longer see it, its image was imprinted in his memory and no amount
of disbelief could erase it. 

His glance shifted
thoughtfully from her sensitive feminine fingers to her long golden hair.  This
evening she was dressed in her pink finery, looking graceful and elegant, who
could have guessed that such a graceful woman was capable breaking and entering
his home and then jumping over balconies as easily and agilely as any athlete.  He
thought back and all of a sudden it all made sense. With no fear for her own safety,
she had ridden out in the early hours of a cold morning to stop a duel. She had
swum against a healthy current on the day she had recued Tiber from the river. 
He had discovered that she was a remarkable horse woman quite willing to
attempt the most challenging of obstacles and on the day of the hunt, had he
not found her perched in a tree as comfortable as if she had been born there.  It
had puzzled him at the time for the lowest branched was just above her head. She
must have had the most astonishing upper body stretch to haul herself up there.
 It would have been no problem for her to drop over a balcony.

Alex stood there, his
mind working overtime as Felicity continued through her recital. By now, she
had reached her third and final song, which was an upbeat tempo and smiled up
at Alex as he absently turned the next page of her music sheet.  He caught a
glimpse of her now familiar violet blue eyes.  His heart missed a beat; the
young man dangling from the balcony in his sliding grasp had those same startling
violet blue eyes.  Even in the fading moonlight, the colour was clearly distinguishable,
as they had looked up into his brown ones wide with terror.  How could he have
not recognised those extraordinary blue eyes?  In retrospect, he realised that
perhaps with the exception of Richard and the Countess they were practically unique. 
The answer to that question was quite simple; he had not been looking.  He had
automatically assumed that the person who had burgled him that evening was a
young man.  Only it had not been a young man at all, but it had been this delightful
young woman, as athletic as she was beautiful and he found his senses in turmoil
at the sudden discovery.

He had known her for
many weeks and could not understand how he had not seen the scar before.  It
was large and clearly noticeable, having obviously been the result of some
previous dreadful injury, perhaps a burn.  He began to reflect and for the
first time realised that Felicity always wore long fine gloves.  In fact, they
were quite her trademark.  On the occasion that she did not, she wore a long
sleeved dress or a coat.  The disfigurement was not at all pretty, and was
obviously an abhorrence to her and she did her best to hide it, only this
evening she had needed to remove her gloves to get the feel of the piano keys
beneath her touch.  No wonder that Alex had never seen it before.

Alex’s mind was still
trying to process this new discovery when Felicity finished her final song. 
The audience were applauding in appreciation as Felicity stood up and collected
her music sheet.  She smiled up at Alex who now looked down upon her in a newfound
light and handed her back her fine laced gloves.  As she took them from him and
put them on, he noticed once again the large discoloured blemish on an
otherwise beautiful silky skin.  He had not been mistaken but one thing was
certain, Alex could not confront her in front of all these people.  ‘Quite a
revealing performance my dear,’ he remarked ambiguously, ‘I see you are a Lady
of many talents. I will admit that you surprise me at every turn. ’

Felicity, who could not
have understood his innuendo, accepted his compliment gracefully and turned to
the Dowager who was by now at her side to congratulate her for her fine
performance.  A number of admirers suddenly surrounded her and Alex being crowded
out had no time to say much more.  Alex watched Felicity as a crowd still
lingered, his eyes kindling with conflicting emotions. He loved her still but
this newfound revelation had made him angry.  He knew she was intrepid and
somewhat incorrigible but how could she have taken such a risk.  He remembered
his total outrage on having found her in his bedchamber. There was no knowing
what he would have done if he had caught her. He may have beaten her to a pulp
before he had discovered her gender.

 Was this her secret,
the reason she could not marry him?  Could she not bring herself to tell him? 
He perfectly understood why; for the matter was serious and not so easy to
sweep under the carpet.  One thing was for certain, he would have it out with
her before the evening was out and she would dam well have to accept his
marriage offer. As his wife, she would never be doing anything quite so foolish
ever again.

The crowd around her
was beginning to disperse as they headed for the buffet but still Alex could
not catch Felicity alone.  She was proving to be very popular amongst his local
friends and neighbours as they vied for her attention. He had to admit that she
was very sociable and would make a fine Marchioness but now he had other things
on his mind.   He would just have to wait until the dancing began in order to
speak to her.  Fortunately, he had booked the waltz long before the first
guests had arrived and others claimed her hand.  It would be another half an hour
however before the waltz, so he would just have to go off and kick his heels
with some other diversion, and a stiff drink was probably the best order of the
day. 

As he made his way to
the brandy decanter, he bumped into Richard. ‘What is wrong with you?’ Richard
asked. ‘You look like a bear with a sore head.  Something has happened to put
you out of countenance.’

Alex poured himself a
stiff drink and handed another to Richard smiling absently as he did so. ‘Oh
nothing I cannot handle,’ he replied nonchalantly.  He did not want Richard to
worry over this affair and thereby totally spoil his evening.  Richard was a
fine man and a good landlord but as Alex was beginning to realise he was still
very young and had no head on how to handle his twin sister.  As children, they
would have been schooled and played together and Alex could guess which one of
them was the ape leader. The sooner Richard had Flick off his hands the better,
and what is more Alex was determined to be the one to do him that favour.