Letter From a Rake: Destiny Romance (17 page)

Charles smiled at the obvious lie. Nothing happened in the great houses without the head butler knowing of it. Hargreaves would have been well aware that Lady Lucy had returned home from the party with only one brother escorting her. Her lady’s maid would have filled Hargreaves in on any other pertinent details.

‘I am surprised you have not made the long trip north yourself, or are you following later?’ Charles enquired. The longer this pleasant little exchange lasted, the less likely prying eyes would find anything of interest to note.

The butler shook his head. ‘No, I shall be overseeing the closure of the house this week. A few days before the family returns, I shall reopen the house and the staff will make it ready for the season.’

Millie gave a nod. ‘Thank you, Hargreaves. I do recall Lady Lucy had made mention of the trip,’ she replied, her voice a little shaky. Hargreaves gave a polite bow and bade the Ashton siblings a good morning. As the butler disappeared back inside the house Charles whispered to Millie. ‘Well done, sis, nearly out of here. Fortunately, Hargreaves is a good stick and he knew exactly what we needed.’

She creased her brow.

He patted his pocket and gave her a wink. ‘He wrote the address of the Strathmore estate in Scotland on my card. Now at least you can write to Lucy and apologise. Six weeks might be long enough to exchange a few letters and win her back.’

Millie nodded. With her lips remaining tightly locked in a forced smile, it was clear she was not prepared to mention the other member of the Radley family who was on her mind. Only her sad eyes betrayed the depth of her disappointment.

Charles gave her a bright smile for the benefit of any audience, and arm in arm they strode off toward Park Street and in the direction of home.

As he woke, Alex pulled the blanket down from over his head and looked around the carriage. His father was busy reading papers while his younger brother, Stephen, had his head inside a large brown book with strange letters on its spine.

He squinted and thought he could make out a Greek letter. He shook his head, Stephen was all of fourteen and could read five languages, whereas Alex struggled to read more than two words of English and so avoided reading at all costs. As a child he had believed that since he could not master a simple task such as learning to read, then he must be a simpleton. How could a boy who was unable to read or write one day become one of the most powerful men in all of England?

The hours spent in tearful frustration, trying to get his brain to decipher the swirling letters, had left their mark on his psyche. He considered his lack of ability to read as a deep flaw in his character, a weakness of which he should be ashamed. He had not gone up to Eton with the other boys of his age; instead his father had hired tutor after tutor to ‘fix the problem’.

At the age of twelve his luck finally changed: his father found a tutor who taught Alex to memorise everything he learnt. Still apprehensive that his secret would be revealed and he would be mocked by the other boys, Alex refused to go until the school agreed that he could bring his
special valet
with him. Every Radley son had attended the school since its inception and now he would get the chance to have his name recorded alongside theirs as having been a pupil. With a great sense of fear and trepidation he joined his brother in the hallowed halls at Eton.

To his surprise he performed exceedingly well. Long after class had been dismissed for the day, Alex would sit with his tutor cum valet and learn his lessons by rote. As his father was on the board of governors, Alex was able to gain a dispensation and take his exams orally. He would stand before a panel of examiners at the end of each term and answer the questions they put to him. He passed every exam this way, and with ease.

Once Alex realised that he was not a fool, that his brain just worked differently, he began to come out of his shell. From the shy, unsure young man who had arrived at the beginning of the year, he soon became the most popular boy in the entire school.

His ability to remember everything meant he often won bets about obscure dates and events in history. He also had a long list of ribald jokes at the ready. As his confidence grew, so did his legend. The other boys thought his ability to sit and draw pictures throughout classes and still excel at exams was a sign of his true genius. None of his classmates or friends knew the truth.

With his brother David continually keeping watch over him, Alex shone. Alone at night in their shared room in the halls of residence, they would sit and laugh over the fact that the Eton schoolyard was ruled by a duke’s bastard and his younger brother who couldn’t even read. The years the brothers spent together at Eton had been the happiest days of Alex’s life.

At least, he’d thought they were until he met Millie Ashton, who managed to turn his whole life upside down in an instant. When he had held her in his arms in his house the previous evening, he had felt so overcome with joy, he thought his heart would burst. If he could make a life with her, he knew his days at Eton would pale in comparison. Together they could overcome any obstacles that his inability to read and write posed. Millie was not the sort of girl to judge a man for his weaknesses, not when she loved him. Or was she?

A cold chill crept up his spine at the thought and he shuddered. What if she didn’t understand? What if he had truly misjudged her and she did not love him? She had dismissed his declaration of love with a gentle but firm denial. He rubbed his face and sighed.

He knew he should not have taken her away from the ball, that her reputation could have been destroyed because of his reckless behaviour, but he had not cared. He had been brave last night, but now with the morning came a creeping sense of uncertainty.

With Millie many miles away in London, there was little he could do. When she woke this morning and found he had left for Scotland without sending her so much as a note, it would only confirm her perception of the depth of his feelings for her. He could hardly blame her if she thought last night had simply been a bit of lark on his part. Honourable men did not profess their love to a young woman, then suddenly decamp overnight. After the way he had kissed her, she would think he was nothing more than a heartless rogue.

He looked over into the corner of the carriage and saw David stir under his grey woollen blankets. Alex shot him a filthy look. David shook his head and looked away. Alex was on the verge of saying something unpleasant when he remembered his father and youngest brother were also in the carriage. He gave a silent prayer of thanks that Lucy was travelling in the ladies carriage. Being in no mood to make polite conversation, he roughly pulled his blanket back up over his head and tried to sleep.

In the early hours of the morning he had been fast asleep, lost deep inside a dream in which he had been continually running after Millie. Every time he caught up with her and reached out his hand, she would laugh at him and sprint away. Alex tossed and turned until Millie stopped and spoke to him. ‘Get up, Alex,’ she said, holding a lamp and shining it in his face. The light was so bright it stirred him from his sleep.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his father standing over his bed with a large lamp in his hand. He sat up and tried to focus his eyes. He rubbed his face and stared as two burly footmen brought his travel trunk into the bedroom and deposited it with a thump in the middle of the floor.

‘Come on, up you get, lad. We are off to Scotland within the hour, so get a move on, and make sure you pack warm. I hear it is bloody freezing up there at the moment. You can bring your blanket with you; there will be plenty of time to sleep in the carriage,’ his father commanded.

‘But why are we leaving today, I thought we weren’t travelling to Scotland until early next week?’ Alex replied.

The duke gave him a stern look. ‘I have a daughter who came home from the ball last night in tears and my two eldest sons are at each other’s throats. At the rate things are going, if I wait until next week, I won’t have any family left to take to Scotland. Now get dressed.’

As soon as his father left, Alex dragged himself from under the blankets and stood staring at the clothes laid out on his bed. The timing of the annual Radley family pilgrimage north could not have been worse.

When the Strathmore travel party stopped at a coach inn at first light, Alex took the opportunity to find a washroom at the rear of the inn. After scraping the sleep from his eyes, he dipped his head into a bowl of ice-cold water in an attempt to wake himself up.

He strode back into the inn, his face still numb from the freezing water. In the main dining room he saw his family had taken up a spot in the corner of the room and were tucking into coffee and breakfast.

All except Lucy. His sister sat in the far corner of one of two booths and nursed a small cup. Her eyes were red and swollen; she looked as if she had been crying all night. Emma offered Lucy a piece of buttered bread, but she shook her head. Alex sighed. This was going to be a long and weary trip to Scotland.

Six more days of this, bloody hell. I wonder how long it would take me to walk back to London.

He caught his father’s eye. ‘Alex, come over and have some breakfast,’ his father ordered. ‘We won’t be staying here long. I want to make Wiltmore’s estate by late afternoon; your mother and the girls will need time to recover from the journey.’

Alex took a seat in the next booth and, hoping that at least one member of the family was still on speaking terms with him, tried to strike up a conversation with Stephen. After managing to extract only a few grunts out of his brother, he realised he faced an uphill battle. In between wolfing down large mouthfuls of eggs and bacon, the youngest Radley, Emma, had her nose firmly stuck inside her book.

Alex felt inside his greatcoat and pulled out a small purse. After excusing himself from the table, he headed over to the bar and purchased a small bottle of whisky. He took his hipflask out from his coat and filled it with the pale liquid. Since he was not able to sit and while away the long hours with a book, he decided to resort to his favourite pastime of sitting up on top of the carriage with the driver and his mate. Taking in the view of the passing countryside and sharing some dirty jokes with them was far more preferable than sitting inside the carriage staring daggers at David all day.

It wouldn’t be too long before their father decided enough was enough and made them have it out on the roadside somewhere, and he was in no mood to be making amends with anyone this morning. A row with his father would see him receive a dressing down in front of the entire family and staff. The prospect of walking back to London became even more appealing.

Returning to the table, he picked up a sharp knife from the breakfast tray and sliced off a large piece of pickled pork. Provisioned with a sandwich made from thick bread, the pork and a generous slice of cheese, Alex was ready for the ride on top of the travelling coach. He took a large bite of the sandwich, nodded his approval of his own culinary skills and headed out of the inn.

In the yard he whistled to the head driver of his father’s coach and pointed to an empty seat just behind the driver’s mate. The driver nodded and Alex rubbed his gloved hands together with glee. He was making his escape.

As he climbed up onto the coach, he sent a silent prayer of gratitude to Phillips for having set out extra undergarments. If things with David did not improve, Alex planned to spend the greater part of the journey to Scotland sitting up here with the icy wind blowing in his face. Time which he could put to good use, thinking about Millie and how he could win her heart.

As Alex settled into the seat, he exchanged a grin with the driver. He had finally found a friendly face among the travelling party. His father looked up at him and shook his head as he opened the coach door and climbed inside. Shortly afterwards, the convoy of coaches pulled out of the yard, with the ladies’ carriage taking the lead.

The Great North Road was surprisingly clear of snow and ice, but the side road that they turned on to two hours after lunch, heading toward Henlow, was a different story. It was only five miles to Lord Wiltmore’s country estate, but it took most of the afternoon to complete the journey. Several times on the road, both drivers and their mates had to climb down and shovel the snow away to clear a path.

They were a mile and a half from the end of the day’s journey when the lead carriage, with the Radley women in it, gave a sudden lurch to the right. One of the wheels had hit a rut in the road and the carriage swerved dangerously toward a snow-covered embankment. The driver pulled the coach away at the last minute, but the rear right wheel lost traction and disappeared into a deep hole by the edge of the road. Alex watched with bated breath as the coach slid back and tilted sickeningly to one side, before coming to a complete stop.

Fortunately, the driver of Alex’s coach was an old hand and managed to pull up his team before they ran into the back of the lead coach. ‘Whoa!’ the driver cried, as Alex and the driver’s mate waved frantically to the luggage cart, which was bringing up the rear. All three carriages now stopped in the middle of the road.

Alex gave the driver a pat on the shoulder and climbed down from the carriage. His father opened the door and Alex poked his head inside. ‘The ladies’ carriage has hit a hole in the road and they look like they are stuck fast,’ he said.

He marched up to the lead carriage and tapped on the left side door. His mother opened it. ‘You might need to come out while they try and get you unstuck,’ he said, offering his mother his hand.

A large pair of arms appeared on the right side of him; and he stepped back as his father took hold of Lady Caroline and lifted her down from the carriage. The Duke whispered something in her ear at which she smiled and shook her head.

In no time, the Duke had his wife and both daughters out and standing on the road. Lucy hugged her sister Emma. The youngest Radley child was nursing a sore head from having hit it hard on the wooden window frame of the carriage as it came to a sudden halt.

‘If you ladies would like to keep warm in the other coach, I am sure the boys will make room. Some fresh air will do them all good,’ his father said, after checking that Emma was all right. He lifted his daughter and carried her to the carriage. David and Stephen climbed out and stood looking concerned as their father settled Emma.

‘She’s just had a bump on the head. Please go and fetch some snow for your sister.’ He handed Stephen a clean handkerchief and pointed to a pile of fresh snow further back down the road.

As the drivers and hands from the three coaches set about freeing the stricken coach, Alex and David stood on the roadside silently watching them, their offers to assist the Strathmore staff having been declined with good humour.

David stamped his feet. ‘It’s freezing here. I was having a lovely nap inside when Father dragged me out.’

Alex took a swig from his hipflask and ignored him.

‘Are you going to share that?’ David asked, nodding toward the flask.

‘No.’

David sighed and shook his head in disgust.

‘Anyone would think that I was the fool last night, from the stinking mood you have been in all morning. Remind me again who was it that lured the Ashton girl to our house? I am sure as the devil it wasn’t me.’

‘Shut up, David,’ Alex replied.

David took a step sideways and stood shoulder to shoulder with Alex. ‘You have been in a foul temper with me since the night we went out two weeks ago. It’s not my fault if you cannot take a joke. Anyone would think you were the first and only chap to have had to deal with an unwelcome erection. You made a complete arse of yourself in reacting the way you did,’ David said.

Alex grabbed hold of David’s arm and gripped it tightly. He felt him flinch. Good. He would be disappointed if his brother did not have bruises to show for his troubles tomorrow.