Chapter Six
“It seems our Tess has attracted an admirer,” Aunt Lawrence whispered to Alex as she openly stared out the carriage window. “Mr. Crandall has called on her every day this week, and now this? A supposed chance meeting on the street?” A smile stretched her lips, plumping her rouged cheeks. “Methinks the boy is smitten.”
Alex flicked a glance at the fashionably-dressed young man chatting with his sister on the pavement outside their carriage. “Yes, it would seem he is,” he said, pursing his lips as his gaze moved to Tess. Was she smitten with Crandall? Her smile was friendly, her posture relaxed, but he could glean no hint to her opinion of the man.
Her behavior toward Crandall seemed the same as her behavior toward any of the other single men who had called on her this week, though it was obvious she was enjoying the man’s attention. She’d received a fair bit of male notice ever since the dinner party at the Keswicks’ townhouse three nights ago. It would seem the Keswick influence was already working its magic.
“It would be a great coup if she could snag Mr. Crandall,” Aunt Lawrence went on. “He has ten thousand a year, you know, and a thriving estate in Devonshire, yet he is an artless and affable young man all the same.”
Alex grunted. “Too affable, if you ask me,” he grumbled. “So affable it borders on the ridiculous.”
Aunt Lawrence’s tinkling laugh filled the carriage. “There is no such thing as too much affability in a man.”
“I disagree,” he said with a pointed look at Crandall.
“Ah, but you are not a woman. You are an overprotective older brother who thinks no man is good enough for his sister.”
Alex shrugged, not bothering to deny it. If there was a man good enough for Tess, he had yet to meet him.
The carriage door swung open, and Tess climbed inside with the help of their footman.
“I’m ready,” she said, settling onto the seat beside Aunt Lawrence. “I apologize for the delay.”
“No apology necessary, my girl,” their aunt replied as the carriage began to move up the street. “Mr. Crandall is one of the most desired bachelors in Town.” She patted Tess’s knee. “Quite a coup, indeed.”
“It is much too soon for talk of coups, Aunt,” Tess said. “I barely know the gentleman.”
“That may be so, but I do not think it would be putting the cart before the cow to assert that he intends to court you.”
A smile tugged at Tess’s lips, and she shrugged. “We shall see, I suppose.”
Aunt Lawrence gave a slow shake of her head, and said, “Forgive me for saying so, girl, but your reaction leaves a lot to be desired. Are you not excited?”
Alex listened to the exchange with interest, though he did not comment, as was often the case when he was with his sister and aunt. It was a good thing he was a man of few words, he thought with a smile, for he was seldom able to slip any past these two chatterboxes.
“Mr. Crandall is a lovely man,” Tess said, “and I enjoy his company, but…” She leaned back in her seat and blew out a sigh. “There is no romantic feeling there, no…spark, if you understand my meaning.”
Aunt Lawrence nodded sagely. “You are not bescuttered by him.”
“Bescuttered?” Alex asked, his brow pinched in confusion.
“Yes, bescuttered,” his aunt replied, her tone mildly exasperated, as if he ought to know the meaning of a word which, to his knowledge, did not exist. “It is that rare combination one feels when one has finally met one’s true love. Besotted heart, scattered mind and a belly full of fluttering, scuttling wings.” She smiled. “I felt it for the first time when I met Mr. Lawrence at Lady Plunterford’s card party on the 4th of August 1786,” she went on, her gaze softening with the memory. “We were married for twenty-five years, and that feeling never went away. It was there from the very first day, all the way until the very last…”
She trailed off and the carriage fell silent for a moment before she shook her head, seeming to collect herself. Softly, she said, “I hope you both experience the same for yourselves someday.”
She smiled at Alex and then at Tess, who said, “I hope so, too, Aunt.”
Alex made no reply. He was glad his aunt had loved her husband, but as for himself, love was not a priority. He wanted only a mutually-beneficial match with a woman of intelligence and good sense. A partnership based on respect and communication.
One that would not end in infidelity and scandal.
Surely that was not too much to hope for.
“Alex?”
He looked up. “Hm?”
Tess rolled her eyes, and said, “Don’t you also hope to find what Aunt and Uncle Lawrence shared?”
His lips parted but no words emerged.
Tess’s brows dipped and she leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees. “You do want to marry, don’t you?”
Alex resisted the urge to cross his arms over his chest, but only just. “Of course I do,” he said. “I came to London for just that purpose, didn’t I? To find a bride?”
Tess sat back again and shrugged. “I thought so, but we’ve been here for weeks, and I haven’t seen you display even a bit of interest in anyone.”
“That doesn’t mean I haven’t been looking,” he argued.
Except, he hadn’t, had he? And he suspected his sister knew it.
Tess arched a brow, her brown eyes dubious. “So,” she said slowly, “you’ve been looking all this time yet not a single lady has caught your eye?”
“Of course not. Several ladies have caught my eye.” It wasn’t a lie. London was teeming with pretty women, and he’d looked his fill.
“Yet I haven’t seen you speak to a single one,” Tess said.
“Except for Lady Emmaline, of course,” Aunt Lawrence supplied, her delivery suspiciously innocent.
“You know, Aunt, that is an interesting point,” Tess said thoughtfully. “He talks to Emmy rather a lot, doesn’t he?”
Alex shifted in his seat, less than comfortable with the turn the conversation had taken.
“And he even smiles when he’s with her,” Aunt Lawrence said, the whispered words loud enough to be heard on the moon. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and it fills my heart with happiness.”
The look she shot him was nothing short of mischievous as she pressed three gloved fingers to her mouth in a half-hearted attempt to hide her smile.
Tess made no such effort.
“Well, Alex?” she said, grinning broadly at him. “What do you have to say to that?”
Alex shrugged, even as the tips of his ears burned. “Absolutely nothing.”
Tess reached out and slapped his knee. “Come on, out with it! Are you interested in Emmy or not?”
Interested? Hell yes, he was interested. He was damn near infatuated, but he would sooner drink water from the Thames than admit to it.
“Emmy is a lady,” he said. “A marquess’s daughter.”
Tess cocked her head to one side. “That does not answer my question.”
Alex sighed. He was fond of his sister, but she could be a pain in the arse at times. “Emmy does not want to marry,” he said flatly. “So, even if I wished to pursue her, she would not have me.”
Tess’s brow furrowed. “Is that true? How do you know that?”
“She told me.”
Aunt Lawrence shook her head. “I’ve always thought she was a rather unusual girl, but I never knew she was a radical . Imagine not wanting her own husband and family!” She clucked her tongue. “What a waste of a pretty girl.”
“Yes,” Tess murmured, her gaze fixed on Alex. “What a waste.”
Mercifully, the carriage pulled to a stop then, putting an end to the conversation and Alex’s discomfort. Although, as he climbed out of the carriage and followed his aunt and sister up the front steps toward their townhouse door, his mind was still on Emmy and the myriad emotions she inspired in him.
He liked spending time with her, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure he should. It bothered him that she did not wish to marry, and that feeling frustrated him, because he knew, logically, that even if she did want to marry, there was no reason to believe she would marry him .
Still, he craved that glimmer of hope, and as it stood now, there was none. He felt the loss of it more than he’d realized, but sharing with his family the reasons Emmy would not be his—voicing them out loud—had made it all the more real, and the disappointment he’d felt in his gut as he said the words was indisputable. Yet it was not surprising.
In a seemingly inexhaustible pool of pretty young ladies, Emmy shined, a pansy amongst roses. How unfortunate for him that the only interesting woman in London had no interest in marriage. Or in him.
Shoving the deflating thought aside, Alex stepped into the entrance hall and handed his hat to his aunt’s butler, Givens, a slender man of middling years and thinning red hair.
As he turned toward the drawing room, intending to follow the ladies inside, Givens’ quiet voice stayed him.
“Sir?”
Alex turned back with a questioning flick of his brow. “Yes, Givens?”
“This arrived for you while you were out, sir,” he replied, holding out a folded square of vellum, sealed with wax.
Alex’s brow knit as he reached out to take the proffered letter. He murmured his thanks and then Givens bowed before leaving the entrance hall for an unknown destination.
Alex inspected the unopened letter for a moment, the unfamiliar seal in red wax, his name and address scrawled in neat, swooping script that suggested a feminine hand.
Curious, he broke the seal and unfolded the vellum, sweeping his gaze swiftly over the brief message inside.
I must speak to you on a matter of great importance. Please call upon me tomorrow. Noon. Come alone.
Emmy
Alex frowned. A matter of great importance? What on earth could it be? He read the cryptic words again, searching for answers but finding none. Was she in some sort of trouble? Did she need his help?
The letter’s tone was serious, yes, but nothing in it suggested danger of any kind. And even if she were in trouble, surely she would turn to her family instead of him, a man she’d met only a week ago.
“Alex? What are you doing out there?”
His sister’s voice interrupted his reverie, and quickly he folded the letter and slipped it into his coat pocket before answering her.
“Coming, Tess,” he said, smoothing his expression as he headed for the drawing room.
He had no idea what Emmy wanted with him, but she’d instructed him to come alone tomorrow, which suggested a desire for secrecy.
He would keep this mysterious business to himself for now. And try to think of something else while he waited for tomorrow to come.