Page 24 of Scars of a Passionate Revenge
She had been pleasantly surprised that he had agreed to stay for tea the previous day, knowing how busy he must be with everything relating to his business and all his investments. She did not pretend to understand it all, and hoped that one day he would explain it to her. And yet he had dedicated his time to sitting in the drawing room with her and Dorothea, when he could have been doing one of a hundred other more interesting things.
Perhaps he really did like her? The thought flew into her mind and fluttered about like a butterfly, causing her whole body to tingle. She had noticed him looking at her closely more than once, and it had also not escaped her notice that he seemed rather unimpressed with the way her stepmother spoke to her.
At one point she had wondered if he was going to challenge Dorothea, but she had been relieved when he had held back. Much as she would have appreciated him standing up for her, she also knew that a scene with her stepmother would be hard to recover from. And of course there was always the risk of Dorothea recognizing him from the past.
But the thought of two weeks apart made her heart ache, and she could not stop worrying that he would forget all about her while she was away. All she could do was hope that occasionally she popped into his thoughts, as she knew that he was sure to find his way into hers.
***
The journey to Bath by carriage took many hours, and it was nightfall the following day by the time Alice and Clara arrived at the Hutington estate. Exhausted from the journey, they were shown straight to their rooms, which they were pleased to discover were next door to one another.
The housekeeper who greeted them told them to make their way down to breakfast in the morning to see their hosts—it would not be the first time the girls had met Lord and Lady Hutington, of course, but it was the first time they had ever visited their home in Bath—and during the course of the day, they would meet the rest of the party.
Alice woke feeling scarcely refreshed. The journey had been arduous, despite the relative comfort of her father’s carriage, which Dorothea had grudgingly allowed them to use to make the trip to Bath. She called for Sarah, who helped her to dress quickly, then made her way downstairs to the breakfast room, swallowing her nerves as she pushed the door open and made her entrance.
She need not have worried, though. Already seated at the table were Lady Hutington, who was making an exception today on the usual rule which allowed married ladies to take breakfast in their rooms, and her four daughters. They all looked so alike, with long auburn hair held back in various simple arrangements, suitable for the morning, and almost matching gowns in pastel shades.
“Miss Dunberry!” Lady Hutington said, leaping to her feet and crossing the room to greet her. “You were so late arriving last night. I am sorry that we were not awake to greet you!”
“It is no matter, My Lady,” Alice replied. “We were so grateful for comfortable beds, and to be able to rest before meeting everyone this morning.” She looked around the room and smiled; present at the table were not only the four Hutington sisters, but also a dark-haired gentleman who she assumed was the eldest daughter’s new husband, and a handful of other ladies and gentlemen who she did not know.
Alice took her place at the table and introductions were made; she tried hard to memorize the names as they flew at her. Lady Shrewsford, the former eldest Miss Hutington, and her husband Lord Shrewsford, a viscount. Her younger sisters, Miss Charlotte, Miss Emma, and Miss Elizabeth. And finally Lord Talbot and Lord Rutherford.
“We expect some more gentlemen to join us later on today,” Lady Hutington said, once she had finished reeling off the names of everyone around the table.
“And probably a handful of other people that Papa has forgotten he has invited!” Miss Emma said with a giggle.
“Where is Papa?” Lady Shrewsford asked, glancing at the door. “I would have thought that he would be down for breakfast by now. He is not a man to appear late for meals!”
Lord Talbot spoke up. “I saw him striding across the grounds a good hour ago, when I looked out of my chamber window,” he said, in between mouthfuls of bread and jam. “He said last night that he and Riversdale were going to make an early start this morning. Something about there being far too many fish in the lake who’ve been left in peace for far too long.”
Lady Hutington laughed. “That does sound like him. He and Lord Riversdale are two of a kind, always keen to be off catching some poor small animal or bird or fish.”
Alice blinked and tried to absorb everything. No doubt it was going to be a lively party. She hoped that Clara would not be too long in coming down, though; she always felt more comfortable with her best friend by her side.
***
Later that afternoon, the party gathered together in the garden before going for a walk around the Hutington’s estate. On the edge of the city of Bath, the grand house had considerable grounds, and the Hutington sisters were keen to show their guests around.
Alice found herself walking alongside Lord Rutherford. She had not spoken with him much up until this point, but he seemed pleasant enough, and she tried to concentrate on his efforts at small talk.
“Miss Dunberry, do you like Bath?” he was saying now, as his feet crunched along the gravel path next to her. “I do hear that it is a very popular destination with young ladies.”
Alice was about to say that there was a bookshop in Bath that she was very fond of, but she held back. Most gentlemen, she knew, would consider that an odd thing to say. Her mind flew back to her meeting with Benedict just after she had purchased the book about Plato. She had felt no such awkwardness with him, but she realized that that was unusual. Probably unique, in fact.
Instead, she smiled and replied, “I am very fond of Bath, yes, My Lord. Do you have sisters who like to visit?”
He returned her smile and began to talk with great fondness about his younger sisters, neither of whom were yet out in society and who were both extremely jealous of the events that he was invited to. “They say that it is wasted on me, Miss Dunberry! Can you believe it?”
She widened her eyes in what she hoped was a convincing show of surprise, but found that she could not think of anything to say. There was silence between them for a while, and it was not long before Lord Rutherford came up with an excuse to walk on ahead and catch up with Lord Shrewsford.
Alice found herself walking along at the rear of the group, without a companion. But she did not mind the solitude. It gave her a chance to think. Her thoughts were returning to Benedict often, despite her efforts to try and forget about him and enjoy herself.
She remembered her trepidation during their afternoon tea with Dorothea. She had been terrified that something would happen to make her stepmother recognize Benedict. What on earth would have happened then? She might have turned him from the house!
It was clear, though, that Dorothea remembered nothing. She would almost certainly have considered the son of her husband’s estate manager to be beneath her notice, in any case.
But Alice could not stop worrying about what might happen if they did eventually recognize him. Surely it was inevitable if Benedict began to court her in earnest. And could she even keep it a secret, the fact that she knew who he was?
