Chapter 3
Chapter Three
There were three sharp knocks on the front door and Alison felt each one as if a fist was striking her in the stomach.
She could barely breathe. She could hardly stand straight because her knees were trembling.
And despite the white powder she wore on her face, she was certain that her cheeks were as red as freshly plucked tomatoes.
“That will be him!” announced Lord Pemberton as he strode for the door. “Places, thank you. And remember…” He reached the door and turned to face his children and Alison, a warning scowl that spoke to the seriousness of the situation. “Best behavior.”
“Fear not, Father,” Felix chirped. “It will be as if the King is dining with us.”
“Lucky that he isn’t,” Nerissa added. “One look at your face and he might lose his entire stomach over the –”
“Enough!” Lord Pemberton snapped.
The four siblings stood together in the center of the foyer.
Felix in the middle, Winnie and Alison on either side.
As this was a non-formal occasion, they were not required to dress in their absolute best, but the women wore gowns, and Felix wore a smart suit that might have suggested they were about to attend a Seasonal Ball.
Alison had spent the entire day in a state of panic over what might happen that evening.
She still could not believe that the man who she had fought with over the music box was an Earl. If she had known… I want to say that I might have acted differently, but somehow, I doubt that to be the case.
What worried her was what would happen when he told her family what she had done. No doubt he would frame the incident to make her appear as if she was in the wrong, and even if she tried to justify her actions, she would still come across looking like the villain.
Her family already thought of her as different.
They already sought to distance themselves from her, even if it was not always purposeful.
And this single incident might cause them to take a further step away, confirmation that she was not one of them as she had always secretly suspected and felt like.
For this reason, her stomach twisted into knots of anxiety as one of the butlers opened the door and the Earl of Grayhill stepped out of the cold and into the foyer.
“Lord Grayhill!” Lord Pemberton greeted. “So nice of you to join us.”
“Lord Pemberton,” he said, his voice low but powerful so that it demanded attention. “Yes, well, you were rather insistent.”
“My wife.” Lord Pemberton led Alison’s mother forward. “Lady Pemberton…”
“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Lord Grayhill took her hand and gave it a kiss.
“The pleasure is all ours.”
“Our children…” Lord Pemberton turned and swept his hand across the foyer to indicate the four of them standing there in wait.
Lord Grayhill was dressed in a dark suit, which matched his dark eyes, which matched the darkness that seemed to sit on his shoulders like an old friend. His hair was messy as it had been in the markets, but his face bore the same sharp lines as if to get too close might see one cut.
Lord Pemberton led him to the four of them, where he started to make introductions. And as he did, Alison looked down at her feet, her heart thumping painfully, her nerves growing so she worried she might explode.
“And finally, my stepdaughter, the daughter of the late Earl of Selkirk, Lady Alison Collins…”
Alison’s eyes turned wide, and she felt the Earl watching her. She took a deep breath, forcing her head up to meet him. She saw immediately the recognition, as she did the smirk on his lips which was both knowing and mocking.
She tried for a gracious smile, unable to avoid the feeling that everyone was watching them. It was as if her siblings could sense something was off. Silence descended on the scene, heavy and damming. Alison held her smile, refusing to look away, waiting for Lord Grayhill to say something…
He nodded once and turned away, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
If he does mean to expose me, perhaps he will do me the courtesy of waiting until I have a full stomach.
“Shall we?” Lord Pemberton indicated across the foyer for Lord Grayhill to follow. “Supper is almost ready. I hope you enjoy lamb!”
“He is handsome,” Winnie giggled once there was room to do so.
“And dreamy,” Nerissa said.
Felix scoffed. “He is rather stiff.”
Alison said nothing, watching the back of Lord Grayhill as he walked, while unable to escape the sense that this evening was going to get worse long before it got better.
The next sign that this was going to be a most awkward affair came when Alison’s mother directed her to take a seat beside Lord Grayhill.
Alison hesitated. “I… I thought I might sit with Winnie.”
“Do not be silly.” Her mother took her hand and led her to where Lord Grayhill was already settled. “As the oldest, your place is here.”
Alison did not want to make it obvious how nervous she felt, but she could not help it. Her entire body was trembling as she approached her chair.
What frustrated her most of all, although she could not say why, was that Lord Grayhill did not once look at her.
He seemed set on ignoring her entirely, happy to give his attention to Lord Pemberton who was already blustering about their plans for Christmas while asking Lord Grayhill what he meant to do over the holidays.
Someone else who treats me as if I do not exist. Why am I even surprised….
“I enjoy my privacy,” Lord Grayhill answered simply.
“Ah, yes, don’t we all,” Lord Pemberton answered with a nervous chuckle because Lord Grayhill was giving him nothing to work with.
Dinner started with the first course, pea soup. Throughout its serving, and then eating, Lord Grayhill avoided so much as glancing at Alison. She helped with this, leaning back, careful not to find herself in his gaze. But soon she began to wonder why he was acting this way.
It is rather childish. Is he really that upset with me? Perhaps he is waiting for me to apologize? Which I will not be doing!
As supper stretched on, Alison began to grow frustrated.
Lord Pemberton did most of the speaking, but Felix joined in and Nerissa too.
Conversation flowed, and Alison found herself apart from it, ignored as she always was, left out because she was not a part of this family.
And not once did anyone try and involve her.
She kept her cool, however, thinking it best to remain invisible and be grateful that this night was not derailed. That was until the main course was served…
It was the rack of lamb that did it. Placed before her, Alison was not thinking as she reached for a cut with her fork, having to lean forward and stand up a little.
“Alison,” her mother said. “Perhaps wait until Lord Grayhill is served before you snatch for your food?”
“It is quite alright,” Lord Grayhill said. “If she wishes to steal from me, there is little I can do to stop her.”
Alison froze, half-standing, fork on its way to the lamb. That comment… she did not have to guess at its meaning. And when she looked back and found Lord Grayhill watching her with a raised eyebrow and a satisfied smirk, she simply could not help but retort.
“It is not stealing to take something which belongs to no one.”
“Even if I had my eye on it,” he replied simply.
“If you did, you should have said something.”
“I am saying something now.”
She had to work to keep her upper lip from curling, and she could feel everyone watching her. “I…” She clenched her jaw and sat back down. “My apologies, I should have asked first.”
“No need to apologize,” he said with such casualness that only Alison could see through the sarcasm. “In truth, if I had wanted it, I should have acted sooner. How are you to know without being able to read my mind?”
She found herself glaring at him. “It is not about reading minds. Etiquette specifies that you, the guest, have first claim to whatever you wish. Just because I barged in like a baboon does not give me the right to take as I pleased.”
“Etiquette has nothing to do with it,” he continued. “I have always believed in first come, first served. What is that old expression? Possession is nine-tenths of ownership.”
“And that final tenth? Perhaps before you try and possess something that does not belong to you, it would be wise to find out the true owner.”
“But there is no true owner,” he shot back. “So long as a thing is unattended, it belongs to nobody. Hence, first come, first served. So please…” He indicated to the plate of lamb. “I insist that you take your fill.”
“I do not want it.”
“You did a moment ago.”
“That was until I realized my mistake.” She was speaking through gritted teeth, glaring at the Earl who spoke calmly and rationally in a way that drove her insane. “I admit to my mistake, even if I did not mean to make one.”
“And here I was, thinking you might simply wait until I wasn’t looking, only to steal the plate of meat from me and run for the hills.”
“I did not run –” Alison caught her tongue, suddenly aware that the table was silent and every pair of eyes were upon her and the Earl.
She forced a smile, and then feeble laughter. It did little to break the tension, and she dared to look at her mother whose mouth was hanging open. And then Lord Pemberton, who looked furious.
“I am sorry…” She looked down and spoke into her chest. “I should not have…” She grimaced, hating that she had to apologize. “I should not have taken what wasn’t mine.”
“So long as you know it,” the Earl said.
Alison spent the rest of the dinner in silence.
She glowered. She snarled. She gritted her teeth and clenched her jaw. But she said nothing, wishing that for once her family would do as they always did and act as if she did not exist.
While the Earl did not speak to her again, she could sense him every now and then looking at her. And when he did, she had no doubt it was done with apt pleasure. An apology, forced from her lips, and she had no choice but to give it.