Page 25 of Scars of a Passionate Revenge
Her mind whirled with thoughts as she continued on the walk. She realized that she probably looked conspicuous in her choice to walk alone, but she also knew that she was not in any fit state to enter into polite conversation with strangers at that point in time.
They returned to the house and just as they were all preparing to retire to the drawing room for drinks before dinner, Clara appeared at her side.
“Alice, you looked quite miserable during the course of the walk!” she exclaimed. “Has something terrible happened?”
“No, indeed,” Alice replied. “I was just rather lost in my thoughts.”
Clara dropped her voice to a whisper. “You were thinking about Mr. Fletcher!”
Alice widened her eyes and shook her head. “You mustn’t say that when people could hear us!” she hissed.
Clara shrugged. “Well, something is obviously on your mind. I wish you could relax and forget about him, at least while we are here.”
Alice nodded, forcing herself to smile.
“Come along, everyone is meeting for a glass of champagne before we go and get ready for dinner. It will be fun!”
Alice smiled, genuinely this time, at her friend’s enthusiasm. Clara was right. She would make more of an effort to enjoy herself and all the pleasures that a grand house party could bring.
***
The following morning, Alice found herself making her way down to the breakfast room rather late. The previous evening had indeed been enjoyable; the first dinner was a grand one, with an excellent selection of food and plentiful wine. Some of the gentlemen had drunk rather a little too much, and some of the ladies too, and the mood of the party had been festive indeed, with singing at the piano after dinner, then cards.
Then one of the Miss Hutingtons had suggested dancing, and despite the protests of some of the older guests, she and her sisters had succeeded in persuading the gentlemen to push back the furniture in the drawing room to create a small makeshift dancefloor.
Lady Hutington gamely took her place at the piano and played a few country dances so that the younger guests could dance, and Alice even allowed herself to enjoy a dance with Lord Rutherford, who was a very enthusiastic partner, although perhaps a little clumsy with his feet at times.
Overall, it had been a very pleasant evening, and Alice felt rather tired the next morning, but she knew that a cup of coffee and a brisk walk around the gardens would revive her enough to enjoy whatever activities were planned for the day.
She was just about to open the door to the breakfast room when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned to see Clara hurrying along the corridor towards her.
“Wait for me,” she called. “I do so much prefer going into a room with you next to me!”
Alice smiled. “I feel quite the same,” she replied. She took her friend’s arm. “Let us go in together.”
Alice pushed the door open and they entered the room together. Alice looked across at the table to see which members of the party were already present and heard Clara letting out a gasp beside her.
And she soon realized the reason why. Seated at the table, both contentedly drinking cups of coffee and leafing through newspapers, were none other than Lord Cecil Grant, and Benedict himself.
Chapter 11
“Miss Dunberry! Lady Clara!” Lord Grant leapt to his feet to greet them.
It did not escape Alice’s notice that the smile he flashed in Clara’s direction was almost twice as wide as the smile he gave to her.
She glanced at Benedict and saw that he was looking at her, his eyes sparkling. She felt a surge of happiness in her chest. How had they come to be here? She had had no idea they had even been invited. She saw Benedict looking at her over the edge of his newspaper, but as soon as she met his eye, he looked away. Her stomach turned over as a myriad of feelings swirled through her body.
She forced herself to calm down sufficiently to sit down opposite the two gentlemen, whose presence was such a surprise. She managed to pull herself together sufficiently to pour a cup of coffee for herself and Clara, even though her hands were trembling slightly. She forced herself to join in the small talk around the table, before turning to Lord Grant.
“We were not expecting to see you here, Lord Grant,” she said, as evenly as she could manage. She did not trust herself to direct her comment to Benedict. She did not trust herself even to look at him. “It is a pleasant surprise to see you both,” she added.
Cecil smiled. “We were very lucky to receive an invitation at the last minute.”
From the other side of the table, Miss Emma let out a giggle. “You see, we all knew that Papa had forgotten who he had invited, and would be sending out invitations right until the eleventh hour!”
Benedict looked up from his newspaper. “We were most delighted to receive the invitation, Miss Emma, I can assure you of that.” He glanced at Alice for a second, held her gaze with a rather searching look in his eye, then dropped his eyes back down again to the printed sheet in front of him.
Alice felt her heart beginning to pound in her chest again. She wondered for a moment if he had decided to come once he found out that she would be there? But it seemed far-fetched, that he would go to such lengths to spend time with her. Perhaps it was simply a coincidence. She told herself not to overthink things, to just enjoy the moment of him being there with them. Making too much of things in her mind would not help anyone.
