Chapter 17
Alaina awoke with a start, surprised to find herself trembling.
She had been reliving the events of the evening, but her dream had ended with the two voices in the hallway.
In her dream, they had gotten closer and closer until a sound like an opening door had interrupted, causing her to wake.
Pushing back her tumbled mass of hair with her hand, she assessed her surroundings.
Alaina found her room was as she had left it before falling asleep.
It must not have been too much later, as the moon shone in her window, still illuminating her dress, which she had slung over her dressing table on the far wall in haste.
The fire in her fireplace still burned high, radiating warmth and a soft light throughout the room.
Her bedclothes and blankets were quite mussed, speaking to the anxiety of her dream and the evening’s events.
After finding the retiring room, she had put herself back together and quickly returned to the ballroom to find her parents, who were standing with Eleanor, Christopher, and Graham.
Her parents had seen no reason to not accept the story that she had somehow slipped past them, but she noticed peculiar looks from Graham and Eleanor, enough to make her uneasy.
Alaina scrubbed her eyes, but something still seemed off, and then she heard it, a sound much like the door opening in her dream.
Clank! It sounded like a door latch clicking, coming from the window overlooking the garden. Clank! There it was again.
Alaina groggily got out of bed and shuffled over to her window to peer out between the light curtains, drawn for privacy.
As she was trying to peek through the curtains, a little concerned about what she would find, a quieter plink!
sounded again against the glass, startling her completely.
Fighting her trepidation, she gathered courage to open the drapes and peer out the window.
In the darkness, Alaina could make out two tall forms below, but little else.
One of the forms was picking up pebbles and aiming at the window, and the other was poised by the gate leading to the garden.
Before the figure closest to the window could throw another pebble, he seemed to notice that Alaina had drawn the curtains, and stood straight and waved, stumbling a bit as he did so.
In the moonlight, Alaina was able to get a better glimpse of the man in the foreground, and breathed a sigh of relief, opening the window.
“Christopher? What are you doing outside my window at this hour?” Alaina whispered into the night air, her breath floating like a cloud in the chill.
With the window open, Alaina could see that Christopher was smiling at her in almost a leer, and was teetering slightly on his feet.
Standing just a few feet back from Christopher, Graham leaned against the outside gate that led to the garden below, which apparently had been left unlocked against intruders.
Graham appeared more stable, his cravat still in place, but clearly the two had been drinking, probably at their club once they had left the ball that evening.
“My lady, you must forgive me,” came Christopher’s reply, a little slower but still crisp as ever. “I was thinking of you and just had to see you before I fell asleep so I could hold your memory close.”
Graham, who had been hanging back in indecision, stepped forward with his own explanation. “He could not be placated, Alaina. I suggested we simply walk by, and was surprised to see the gate open, so here we are.”
Alaina giggled, “It is quite alright, I was just sleeping.”
“Yes, I see that,” Christopher’s eyes lit on her attire and Alaina crossed her arms, trying to hide her nightgown.
In her haste, she had forgotten to put on her robe and stood before both men clad in a serviceable, but light, white nightgown.
Even in the dark she imagined they could see more than she preferred.
Graham cleared his throat and shuffled back toward the gate.
Christopher seemed undeterred by his friend’s discomfort and pressed on. “There is just something I had to tell you. It is just easier when I have had a bit to drink.”
Christopher paused, looking up at Alaina in wonder for long enough that she felt compelled to prod, “And what is that?”
“I am in love with you,” Christopher said.
Alaina shook her head. “You are drunk is what you are.”
“Yes, I know, but I know my own mind. I love you.”
Alaina gave a short chuckle. “You may know your mind in this moment, but what of the next? What of when you wake tomorrow?”
“You will be my everything, just the same,” Christopher replied, placing his hand to his chest as if making an earth-shattering declaration, and then smiled as if satisfied by the exchange.
He did not seem necessarily at a loss for words, but rather for what to do next.
The hour was late, and it was increasingly likely that they would be discovered.
Graham stepped forward and clasped his friend on the shoulder.
“It seems you have accomplished what you set out to do. It is best we be off before the household descends on us,” Graham spoke softly to his friend, avoiding looking at Alaina.
“But what if I am not ready to go?” Christopher complained, loathing the thought of leaving Alaina for the evening. They had already been cut short earlier in the evening, and he was taking her presence in, enjoying the vision she presented in her nightgown.
“I imagine you can enjoy Alaina’s company on the ‘morrow if you so choose. You are a very lucky man,” came Graham’s answer, his voice tinged with yearning.
He tugged at Christopher’s arm, hoping to get his friend to go home before being caught without too much of a struggle.
When Christopher would not budge, Graham glanced up at Alaina and she caught his wistful stare.
Christopher seemed to notice his friend’s tone, and placed his arm around Graham’s shoulder, as he had when they were boys getting ready for a cricket match.
“I do know, I am quite lucky,” Christopher agreed, giving Alaina one last crooked, charming smile. “I guess we should be off.”
Each gentleman touched his hat to bid Alaina adieu, and Christopher added, “Until the ‘morrow, my love.”
Alaina waved, smiling her own lopsided smile, watching them both walk out of the garden as silently as they had entered, after which she finally closed the window against the chilly night air.
Love! How amazing it was to hear. Alaina clasped her hands to her chest and twirled once, her nightgown flaring.
She walked over to the fireplace in an attempt to warm up and replayed the event back in her mind.
Suddenly, she stopped her musing, and the girlish smile faded, caught on Christopher’s words.
What was he thinking, saying such words in his drunken state, at her window late at night, and in front of his friend no less?
Words of love are meant to be shared intimately, and certainly not in a state of inebriation!
A little bit down the street, Christopher and Graham walked on in silence, happy for the cool night air and the walk to clear their heads, each man in his own thoughts.
It was late in the evening, and it was unlikely for the men to encounter anyone on the streets as they walked to their respective homes.
A light fog had also descended, giving the night an ethereal feeling, making it easy for one to get lost in a train of thought.
It was Graham who broke the silence first. “You got close to getting caught tonight.”
Misunderstanding his friend, Christopher forged ahead nonchalantly. “The whole house was asleep, and I was very quiet.”
Christopher glanced over at Graham, giving a shrug and a look of inebriated confidence, then turned and kept ambling down the street.
Graham paused ever so slightly and shook his head a bit, in disbelief and amusement at his friend’s lovesick foolishness. Christopher missed these exasperated gestures as he continued on, causing the duke to have to jog to catch up to him.
Hoping to get through to his friend, Graham tried a different tact.
“You know, I have used that same door on the balcony to escape some ambitious mother trying to foist their daughter on me. It was many years ago, even before my father had died. I was not a duke yet, but I was going to be.” Graham looked sidelong at Christopher, and although he had not stopped walking, Graham could see the wheels turning, the goofy smile eventually driven from his face.
The years of friendship made it difficult for Graham not to get in one last jab.
“I imagine servants use that door quite a bit, and keep the hinges well oiled. I would certainly be thankful for it, if I were you.”
Christopher stopped. Graham stopped with him. A furrow creased Christopher’s brow, and he turned his questioning stare to his friend. “Do you think Alaina’s parents suspected anything?”
“No, but if I could discern something, it is only a matter of time. To be honest, I am surprised at you.”
“What?” Christopher asked.
“Well, for one, acting so carelessly with your reputation and a lady’s, especially one you are so fond of, is not like you.
And then the spectacle outside her window just now was quite…
” Graham could not seem to find the right words, but ended by shrugging his shoulders and giving Christopher a lopsided grin.
“Well, something I would do. If I had better judgement myself, I would have stopped you.”
Christopher scrubbed his hand through his hair and hit his top hat against his leg, letting out a sigh as he did so. “I know, I know. I am finding it difficult to imagine a few more months of courtship.”
“Few more months? What are you waiting for?” Graham exclaimed, incredulous.
“Well, it would only be proper, and I still worry there might be rumors with the dissolution of …” Christopher stopped short.