The Importance of Being Alice (23 page)

The hand that wasn't strapped to the front of his chest fumbled around until it found mine. His fingers were warm and strong, and brought tears of gratitude, relief, and love to my eyes.

“Love you,” he said slowly as he drifted off to sleep.

I didn't answer. I couldn't talk around the massive lump in my
throat.

Expense Account

Item one:
five thousand pounds, quarterly

Remarks:
Increased insurance premiums. The bastards.

“W
hat do you mean, you're married?”

Elliott held the phone away from his ear, grateful that Alice had just gone off to have a quick breakfast in the hospital canteen. His eyes rested on the clock. It was three minutes after six. What other mother would call and wake up her son just to demand information that could wait until a more civilized hour? “It means exactly what you think it means—I have taken unto my bosom a wife.”

“Gunner says that he married you to the American who was staying in your cabin. That can't possibly be true. He is well-known for pulling my leg; thus, he was jesting. Which of your former women did you marry?
The one with the birthmark on her neck? The actress? The one with the short legs?”

“Gunner isn't joking. He did, in fact, marry Alice and me while we were in Würzburg, and yes, I'm aware that the government won't consider it a legal marriage. That is why we plan on having a civil ceremony just as soon as it can be arranged, when I'm able to get around, I assume. Speaking of which, I'm fine, not that you asked.”

“Of course you're fine. You have a broken collarbone. Your father broke his collarbone at the drop of a hat, and you never saw him making a big fuss about it.”

“I'll wager he didn't have half the damn castle come down on him,” Elliott said darkly. The memory of standing out with Richardson, assessing the damage, only to have half the remaining wall come down would haunt him for a very long time. Although Richardson escaped without injury, and a broken collarbone was the worst he himself had to suffer, he was well aware of just how close to death he had been. It wasn't at all a comfortable feeling.

“But who
is
this woman?” his mother asked, returning to the reason for her call.

“You should know—you had her Googled. By now I expect you know more about her than I do.” That wasn't exactly true, but Elliott was more than a little surprised—not to mention annoyed—that his mother had not greeted news of Alice with more enthusiasm. “She's a wonderful woman who you will love as soon as you get to know her.”

“But that's just it, my darling son—you don't know her. You only just met her. You can't possibly form any sort of a reasonable judgment on her character in such a short amount of time. You'll simply have to annul the marriage. I will devote myself body and soul to finding
you a proper woman, one who doesn't show up expecting you to give up part of your cabin.”

“She had a ticket. It was as much her cabin as it was mine.”

“Don't be ridiculous. You're Baron Ainslie.”

Elliott rolled his eyes and shifted slightly, in order to reach the drip that held his pain medications. He bumped it up a notch. “That doesn't give me any rights beyond the castle grounds. You will love Alice as much as I do when you meet her.”

“I highly doubt that. Tell this woman that I will be down to take charge of you immediately after breakfast. Don't do anything rash until I get there.”

“There is no need for you to come rushing to my side. Alice is here, and Gunner said he'd be back after he had a little rest.”

“A fine sort of mother I'd be if I left my eldest son to the wiles of some title-hungry American!”

“I thought you wanted me to get married? Isn't that why you were grilling me on the phone about Alice? Isn't that why you sent Gunner to find out what he could? And yet now when I tell you that your fondest wish has come true, you act like a stereotypical mother who doesn't wish to give up her son.”

“Elliott! I forbid you to call me stereotypical. The very word is an insult. I simply wish to ensure that you marry the right sort of woman.”

He couldn't help himself. He had to ask, “And just what is the right sort of woman?”

“Certainly not one who would marry a man after knowing him for only two days!”

“Alice and I knew each other for longer than that, and we cohabited the entire time, which I think you'll agree
speeds up the getting-to-know-you phase. No, no more, Mum. My shoulder hurts, and Alice will be back any minute. You may come to see me if you insist, but you will treat Alice with the respect due her as my wife.”

“Thank the lord that you have not yet married her!” was his mother's final cry before hanging up the phone.

He got himself and his IV to the bathroom, and was being put back into bed by a thickset male nurse when Alice hurried into the room. “Oh, you're up? How are you feeling?”

“Sore, and I'm not up. The doctor won't be by to see me until around lunch. Did you eat?”

“Oodles and oodles. More than enough to make up for missing a few meals.” Alice waited until the nurse checked the IV and went off to deal with other patients.

“He seems nice,” she said, nodding after the nurse.

“Everyone has been very kind,” he said, eyeing her. He didn't like to see the deep purple smudges beneath her eyes, a sign that she had not gotten any sleep. At least he'd seen to it that she had some food. “I should warn you that my mother will be here shortly.”

“Warn me?” She curled up on the visitor's chair, hugging her knees to her chest. “That sounds ominous. I kind of got the impression that your mom would be super happy that you finally got married.”

“I assumed she would be, as well, but evidently she is determined to bring drama to our lives.” He reached out with his good arm and took her hand. “I want you to promise me that you won't let anything she says or does upset you.”

“Uh-oh.” Her fingers tightened on his. “That sounds worse than ominous. Is she mad that we got married
without her? Did you tell her we're going to have a big party to celebrate after we have the civil ceremony?”

“She's . . .” He thought for a moment, trying to explain the complexities that were his mother. “Mum can frequently be a contradiction. She has very strong beliefs in equality and justice, and the idea of every person making his or her own way through the world, and yet, she can be single-minded in her attempts to force things the way she wants them. Right now she's clinging to the belief that all Americans are bad, and thus, she must rid me of you.”

Alice's shoulders slumped. “Oh, great, I'm going to have a mom-in-law who hates me.”

“Hate is too strong of a word.”

“Dislike?”

He shook his head, grimacing when his shoulder pulled. Alice immediately got up to readjust his pillows. He settled back on them with a sigh of relief. “Dislike implies knowledge of whatever is being disliked. This is more an unreasonable prejudice, if that is not too repetitive a description. She thinks all Americans want a title; therefore, you must be after me for my title, and nothing more.”

“Then I'll just have to show her I don't give a damn about your title. Or rather,” she said quickly, obviously seeing the little frown that formed between his brows, “that it doesn't matter to me whether or not you have a title. Is that better?”

He let the frown go. “Much better. I may not make a fuss about it, but the barony is an ancient one, and not all of my ancestors were oddballs like my parents.”

“Just so . . .” She stopped and did that lip-biting thing that never failed to make him want to kiss her. And frequently more. “Just so you don't end up being
brainwashed, and want to dump me. Because honestly, Elliott, I don't think I could go through that again. It was bad enough with Patrick, and he was a jerkwad. You're every woman's dream.”

“Hardly that,” he said with a gentle laugh. Anything else hurt too much. “You shouldn't need the reassurance that I am not so fickle with my affections, but since you do, let me just say right now that there is nothing my mother can say that will change my mind. You're stuck with me.”

“Good,” she said with a happy sigh. “Now, would you like to tell me what happened? Gunner told me briefly, but I'm confused how that part of the building fell down twice.”

“It didn't fall twice—the bulk of the tower collapsed two days ago, injuring a couple of workmen, who are luckily recovering nicely. That's why it was so urgent that I leave you and return home. When I went to see the damage, part of the existing wall that supported the now-destroyed tower fell. Richardson and I weren't standing under it, if that's what your frown means—we weren't that stupid. The part of the wall that fell landed on the rubble of the tower, and knocked some of the larger stones aside. One of them caught me on the shoulder.”

“You're lucky you weren't killed,” Alice said with a gratifyingly frightened face. “Oh, boy, do I want to climb on that bed and hug you like you've never been hugged before.”

To hell with the pain. He held up his good arm, trying hard not to show how his broken bone hurt when she carefully curled into his good side. He breathed in the smell of her—now a somewhat antiseptic version of her usual flowery scent, since she had taken a fast shower in
the attached bathroom—and put aside the pain for the pleasure of holding her.

That was how his mother found them—Alice sound asleep, drooling slightly on his shoulder, while he made mental lists of all the things he needed to do once he was released.

“What on earth is that woman doing up there! Elliott! Release her at once!”

“Shh,” he warned, glancing down at Alice, but the damage was done. She slid off the bed with a guilty, sleepy look, shoving her hair back from her face, and trying to straighten her clothing at the same time.

“Oh, sorry. I must have fallen asleep. Why didn't you wake me up?”

“Because you needed your sleep, and there was no reason to move you. Mum, may I introduce you to Alice Wood.”

“Ainslie,” Alice prompted.

“Ainslie,” he agreed, knowing that where it concerned his mother, it would be best to start out as he meant to go. “My wife. Alice, this is my mother, Rosalyn, Lady Ainslie.”

“I'm so happy to meet you at last,” Alice said, her hand outstretched as she came around the bed to where his mother stood. “And I know that I must come as a huge surprise to you, what with Elliott and I deciding that we were meant for each other, and all that sappy stuff that must seem really weird to you, but we really did decide that. I mean, how could one not? Elliott is so wonderful, and I thank my lucky stars that Patrick dumped me when he did, because if he didn't, then I would never have met Elliott, and I wouldn't be standing here right now. I'm babbling, aren't I? I'm so sorry about
that. I babble when I'm nervous, and Elliott told me that you weren't best pleased about the fact that we got married without him even telling you about me, and that you have a thing about Americans, but I assure you that I don't give a hoot about the fact that he has a title. I mean, I think it's neat and all, but I didn't want him because of it. In fact, it still strikes me as being weird.” She stopped for a breath, looking so endearingly miserable and unsure that Elliott was ready to leap to her defense.

His mother had listened in silence to Alice's monologue, then turned to Elliott. “Why?” was all she asked.

He took a deep breath. “Mum, I told you that I love Alice, and nothing you can say is going to change that.”

“Why would I want to change anything of the kind?” she asked.

Elliott felt out of his depths, an emotion that he frequently experienced around his mother. “You said you didn't want me marrying her—”

“Nonsense!” She gave him a little buffet on the top of his head, then turned to examine Alice. “This girl is perfectly charming, not at all like what you told me she was. She's quite clearly head over heels in love with you, and if you feel the same way, then I would be the last person on earth to interfere. My dear, you look peaked. Have you been ill?”

“Oh my god,” Alice said, suddenly releasing a breath she'd obviously been holding. She shot a look of mingled confusion and relief at Elliott before suddenly embracing his mother. “I can't tell you how happy you've just made me! I thought you were going to be a horrible mother-in-law, and were going to try to break us up whenever you could, and would make snide comments and digs when Elliott wasn't around.”

“You poor child,” his mother said. “What horrors has Elliott made you imagine? How like a man to scare you like that. Now, you must come back to the castle with me. It's clear that you have been suffering, and need care and attention, and you shall have it in abundance. I will move immediately from the baroness's bedroom, and make it available to you. I hope you like peach. Elliott, you must move into your father's room—it's long past time you did that.”

Alice protested, but his mother was having none of it until Elliott said loudly (frequently the only way to get through to his mother), “I'm quite happy in my own rooms, and there's ample space for Alice there, so you do need not move anyone, Mum. Although I do agree that Alice needs care and attention—she will tell you what she had to go through to get here, so I'd be grateful if you would tell everyone to give her all due consideration.”

“Of course I will. You don't imagine I'd let the mother of my grandchildren be abused and neglected, do you?” Mum asked with a disgusted look cast his way. She steered Alice by the shoulders to the door. “I shall take you up to the castle now, Alice dear, so that you might meet Elliott's brothers and sisters. They will be delighted to know you. And then I will show you around the grounds, and you will appreciate just how old and vaunted the barony is. After that, lunch, and perhaps a visit to Ainston so that you might get to know the town, too. It is important to us, the town. So many of the tenants live there, you see.”

“But—but Elliott—,” Alice said, gesturing as she was shoved out the door.