Page 16 of Scars of a Passionate Revenge
Alice followed Dorothea down the hallway and into the drawing room, attempting in vain to smooth her hair as she did so. Despite Dorothea’s pleasant behavior, all of Alice’s previous experiences of her stepmother put her on her guard.
When Alice entered the drawing room, she was amazed to see a large flower arrangement on the table in the middle of the room. She let out a gasp; the blooms were fresh and bright, and the scent that emanated from them was heavenly.
“They are for you, Alice!” Dorothea said, her eyes shining with excitement. “And who do you think they are from?”
Alice felt a slight flush of irritation, that her stepmother knew who her gift was from before she did, but she pushed the thought away. All her hopes pointed towards them being from Benedict, but she did not want to say his name out loud and give herself away. Instead, she simply shook her head. “I have no idea who they might be from.”
“They are from Mr. Fletcher!” Dorothea exclaimed.
Alice could not stop herself from smiling. He had thought of her after the ball, and thought of her enough to choose these wonderful flowers for her! She was not sure that she had ever known happiness like it.
“You have made a great conquest here, Alice,” Dorothea continued. “We must make sure that you do not make a mess of it now. I have been doing some research and finding out more about this Mr. Fletcher, and although his background seems to be quite obscure, and no one knows exactly where he comes from, he is extremely rich and eligible.
He would be a great match for you. We must take great care that this comes off properly, Alice. And you will follow my advice to the letter, do you understand?”
Alice nodded; even her stepmother’s tirade was not enough to dilute her joy. Benedict had sent her flowers! That must mean that he wanted to see her again, to get to know her better. She had no idea where it would lead, but she knew that she had never felt so much excitement to see a gentleman before.
“Madam, you must excuse me, I wish to go to my room to change before dinner,” she said quickly, then hurried out of the room. She needed to be alone, to gather her thoughts.
Before she tripped up the stairs, though, she spoke quickly to the butler, who was waiting in the hallway. “Smith, please would you ask one of the maids to bring the flowers up to my chamber?” she asked.
Smith nodded curtly. “Of course, Miss. Will there be anything else?”
She paused for a moment. “If Mr. Fletcher comes to call, I should like him to be given entrance, even if he comes outside of the usual calling hours. Please can you ensure that all the footmen know this?”
The butler nodded again, a rather knowing smile on his face. “I shall ensure that it is done, Miss.”
“Thank you, Smith.” Alice turned away and ran upstairs, desperate to be alone with her thoughts, a secret smile playing on her lips as she went.
Chapter 7
Benedict had woken the morning after the ball feeling as if he had hardly slept at all. His mind was a mass of confusion and frustration and he had tossed and turned for most of the night, only falling asleep once it was almost light outside.
And now, as he made his way to meet Cecil in a coffee shop he remembered the resolution that he had reached just before falling asleep in those early hours of the morning, when the dawn was beginning to reach its way into his room through the curtains that hung at the window.
He had been disappointed not to see the baron, but he had come to the conclusion, after several hours of deliberation, that it was not the end of the scheme. Far from it, indeed. He was still determined to avenge his father’s mistreatment and to find out what had really happened on that fateful day when fire had broken out on the baron’s estate.
And in fact, the more he thought about Miss Alice Dunberry, the more convinced he was that she was the key to all this. And he had already set the wheels in motion for his plan to commence.
He had not resolved, just yet, how much of his plan he was going to reveal to Cecil, and he was vaguely hoping to avoid the subject, but as soon as they had ordered their coffee, Cecil launched into a run-down of the highs and lows of the ball.
“So, I think it all went off rather well, at the Riversdale ball,” Cecil said, tapping his fingers on the table in front of him. “What do you say, Fletcher?”
Benedict nodded. His mind flitted to his first encounter with Miss Dunberry in the gardens, and he reflected that he perhaps had allowed his thoughts to stray a bit further than they should during that encounter, but the truth was that he had never met a young lady like her before. She was beautiful, charming, and interesting to talk to, with opinions that matched his own.
Benedict nodded. “I had a very pleasant evening.”
Cecil grinned. “And you have nothing more to say than that?” He paused and met Benedict’s gaze, a mischievous look in his eye. “You have nothing more to add about Miss Dunberry, for example?”
Benedict coughed. “Miss Dunberry is by far the most interesting young lady I have ever met. In comparison to all the other society ladies I have ever met, who are without exception dull and vapid, she is a breath of fresh air.” He remembered their time in the garden and felt something twist in his stomach. “I wish we could have spent more time together,” he said honestly.
But even as he said the words out loud, Benedict knew that he could not let himself get carried away. He could tell that she found him intriguing, just as he did her. And also perhaps that she had allowed herself to think about things that she should not have done, too.
He had seen the look on her face when they were in the garden, just before she seemed to remember where she was and what was at risk, and then she had scurried back indoors to the party, anxiously looking around to make sure that no one had seen her.
And he had seen her turning around to look at him, before finally returning to the ballroom. Yes, it had been dark outside, but he had not needed to see all of her face in the light to be able to tell the intensity of the look in her eyes as she stared at him, before turning on her heel and running away.
Yes, she certainly found him intriguing too. And he could take advantage of that. He had not achieved all that he had by failing to grasp every opportunity that presented itself to him. He felt a hint of guilt at what he was about to do, though.
