Chapter 5
Five
Jane agreed with Alex that there was nothing like the water at the Cross Bath to ease the aches and pains of the body. “I wish I could swim instead of wade.”
“I have toppled over more than once. Believe me, you do not wish to put your face in these waters.” Alex had perfected hopping through the water on one leg using the rope as a guide.
“I do not see why you don’t come every day.” Jane stretched out each limb as far as she could.
“Then you must have a very poor nose indeed.”
“I am afraid the healing properties of this heated pool outweigh the smell.” Jane stretched her back.
According to Mrs. Green, Alex’s combination abigail, nurse, and companion, the bruises on her back were fading as had the knot at the top of her head.
The ones on her face were still visible but could be hidden with powder.
“Come,” Alex gestured to the end of the pool. “Our time is over. Despite how good the water feels, the physicians caution against staying too long.”
Suppressing a sigh, Jane followed her sister out of the water.
Mrs. Green waited with Alex’s crutches, and to help them both in the dressing rooms. The sisters returned to Alex’s townhouse before the conventional breakfast time since the best hours to bathe were early in the morning.
Still, Alex’s cook had a light meal prepared.
“What are we to do today?” asked Jane over her poached egg.
Alex laughed. “I do not go on excursions every day. I find constantly going out much too wearing. I believe I am in need of a rest after yesterday’s adventure in Sydney Gardens.”
“Not much of an adventure, though we talked with a dozen people or more.”
“Perhaps not an adventure for you, but Peggy had a rock stuck to her boot, and I was off balance for quite a while.” Alex laughed. She had not walked over ten feet before they discovered the discarded peppermint that glued the rock to the sole of the boot.
“I promised Grandfather I would see something new each day I was here.” The invigorating effects of Jane’s early morning plunge gave her the courage to follow her grandfather’s advice.
“You can take a maid and my footman to Bath Abbey. There are enough windows and statuary to occupy you for some time. On the way back you must stop to purchase Sally Lunn buns for this afternoon. I adore them.”
Alex’s footman stood well over six feet and could likely out wrestle any man he met. Grandfather had hired him to carry Alex when necessary and to guard her lest Sir Lightwood decide that Alex’s independence needed to come to an end.
In the two and a half years Alex had resided primarily in Bath, her footman was rarely needed for either chore.
Since Jane’s arrival a week ago, almost four weeks ahead of schedule, the footman had shadowed her constantly.
Instead of alarming Jane, his presence had a soothing affect. She was in no danger here.
Jane yawned. “Perhaps I should take a quick rest too. Before I follow your advice.”
Alex finished her food and set her plate to the side. “We shall be quite a pair then. I am glad you are to stay for an entire month and more.”
Hours later as Jane craned her neck to admire as many of the abbey’s windows nestled in their gothic style arches as she could.
She worked her way slowly about the immense abbey.
A man stepped into her path. A cry bubbled up in her throat but she clamped her hand over her mouth to avoid screaming in the sacred building.
Alex’s footman moved to block the man’s way as the light from a high window hit the intruder’s face.
Relief flooded over her like the peaceful organ music of an evening song.
“Michael, what are you doing here?”
More than a little travel-worn, Richard wondered if this was the best way to present himself to his prospective bride.
If he stopped at his residence in the Royal Crescent, he would bathe and be tempted to sleep, meaning this errand would not be accomplished today, and he had little enough time on his side.
Fate intervened as they passed the cathedral.
Michael spied Miss Jane and a maid with Alex’s large footman, someone not easily missed, and exited the carriage, promising to give Richard time with Alexandra, who must surely be at home.
As it was still early for visiting hours, he could accomplish his interview without interruption.
He did not believe in signs or omens, but Miss Jane’s unexpected appearance must be one.
Richard presented himself at Alexandra’s townhouse and was immediately shown to the parlor.
Alexandra, sitting on a couch near the window, moved to stand.
“Please remain seated. No need to be formal for me.”
“Your Grace, what an unexpected pleasure. Please sit. Shall I call for tea?” Seemingly unruffled by his visit, Alexandra’s serene smile convinced him of the rightness of his choice. She would be the perfect hostess and duchess.
“No tea, yet. Michael is with me and he should be around in a half an hour or less.”
“What brings you and Michael to Bath? Will you stay long?”
“You are what brings me to Bath, and the duration of my stay will depend on the outcome of our conversation.”
Alexandra tilted her head. “I am afraid I do not understand.”
“As you are no doubt aware, I lost my wife a few weeks ago.” Richard rushed on, hoping to get the entire story out before she could question him.
“What you may not know is that although I am my father’s oldest son, and only legitimate son, I was not his favorite.
My father left his estate in such a way that if I am not wed by my thirtieth birthday and produced an heir by my thirty-fifth, the dukedom will transfer to my half-brother Duncan Kenworth. ”
To her credit, Alexandra’s gasp was small. Richard did not allow her reaction to interrupt him.
“My birthday is in twenty-five days. Giving me little time to find a bride. Of the few honorable women I have met, your sister Philippa is the most honorable of all, with you not one whit behind. I know what I am proposing is not a love match. However, I respect you, which is far more than I can say for my late wife or many of the women whom I met previous to my marriage four years ago. I hope in time that our acquaintance will grow into a true fondness and friendship. I wish I could offer you more…” Richard paused.
This was likely to be her only proposal; he should make it a proper one.
He left his chair and knelt before her. “Alexandra, I cannot offer much, as my heart is stone, but will you marry me and become the new Duchess of Aylton?”
Instead of smiling, Alexandra pursed her lips. “Please, Your Grace,”
“Richard.”
“Richard, if you will please sit.” She indicated the spot next to her on the couch. “You have been frank with your proposal and your reasons for it. Now, if you will hear my concerns.”
Richard nodded.
Alexandra tapped her leg through her dress. The muffled thud proclaimed the limb to be made of wood. “I believe you remember my friend Peggy and my finely turned ankle?”
“I will spare—”
She raised her hand to stop him. “The accident that cost me my leg cost me much more. There was extensive damage to my hip. The physicians who attended me—the best my grandfather could find—agreed that the damage would make it impossible for me to ever become a mother. Phil’s midwife has disagreed.
However, the fact remains that if you are choosing me as your bride and mother of your heir, the chances that I will have a child in the next five years are not favorable.
If I thought I could produce an heir for you, I would accept your offer, as I believe you to be one of the most honorable men in all of England, and I know we could find more than our measure of happiness together. I am truly sorry, Your Grace.”
For a moment, Richard thought he saw a tear in Alexandra’s eye.
She took his hand and squeezed it. “If I were a selfish woman, I would accept you in a heartbeat. Please know I do not reject your proposal because of any shortcomings of yours.”
Richard kissed the back of her hand and rose. For a moment he allowed himself to feel what might have been. Alexandra would have been — he stopped the thought. “What am I to do? Where am I to find another virtuous woman in so short a time?”
There could be no answer to such an unanswerable question. A question he should not have posed out loud.
Alexandra tipped her head and motioned for him to sit. “What of my sister, Jane?”
“What? Who?” His words tumbled out, muddled by his surprise. There had been no reason to consider Philippa’s younger sisters. How young?
“Jane.”
“She is one of the twins, correct?” The quiet one, Michael spied from the carriage at the Abbey.
He struggled to recall the girl’s face, though he clearly recalled the twin who wed Johnathan Whittaker, who impressed him greatly with his American ideals.
Marriageable age then, as she had been in town last year for a season.
“Yes. The unmarried one, obviously. I believe you aided George, I mean Georgiana, in her courtship.”
“I have met Jane, but I cannot exactly say I remember her. She hardly ever spoke. I was more focused on aiding Johnathan.” Perhaps the reason he could not recall Jane specifically other than a drab-colored dress was she looked the same as her sister.
He remembered the dress was so out of place for a young woman in her first season.
“Jane is shy, no, more quiet than shy, so other than a quick curtsy at the Duke’s Ball last year, or a muttered hello the night you took them to the theater, she may have never spoken to you. However, for all her quiet ways, Jane is kind and conscientious.”
A quiet wife would be a welcome change, as she would be unlikely to make many demands on him. If she shared the worthy traits of her elder sisters, he could trust her. Trust would be a sure enough foundation for a marriage such as this. “Would she be willing to wed me, do you think?”
Alexandra bit her lip. “My father has treated Jane very poorly. You are the one person who has intimidated my father into acceptable behavior. I believe she would accept your proposal if for nothing else for the safety you would give her.”
That a woman would wed him for money or title had crossed his mind many times, but never protection. Richard had no doubt that Sir Lightwood was not kind to his daughters but neither Philippa nor Georgiana had sought out his protection. “Has her life been that bad?”
“Worse than I am likely to know. Grandfather had her brought to Bath last week after my father beat her. She still bears the bruises of it.”
Richard balled his fists. There was no excuse to mistreat a daughter or a wife. Only the vilest of men did so.
“I tell you this as a caution, as you may see the evidence if you look closely when she returns from the Abbey.” Alexandra looked down briefly. “I hope it is not vain to say, she is as pretty as the rest of us. Though she considers herself not to be.”
What exactly did that mean? Richard was less concerned about how his future wife looked as how she acted. “You say she is shy and quiet?”
“Most painfully around men, but as Michael will tell you, once she knows a person, the shyness falls away completely.” Alexandra bit her lip again.
“It may take all of tea, when she arrives with Michael for her to speak to you. Providing, of course, if you can avoid one of those cross looks like you are giving me now.”
“I am not cross.”
“Then you should smile as you did when you arrived. Also, you may not want to spring the proposal on her as quickly as you did me.”
“I am afraid if I were to speak with her today, she would reject me out of fear.” Richard was aware of his reputation for being stern and unapproachable.
He was not keen on a second rejection in one day.
Though the sting of Alexandra’s did not hurt his heart as much as his proposal must have wounded Alexandra’s own.
If he had known her circumstances, he would not have put her through the pain of being forced to reject him.
Then to turn around and propose to her younger sister in front of her.
He was a bounder for even contemplating proposing to sisters on the same day.
Alexandra sighed. “I have had that thought also. If I have time to prepare her. She might be willing to speak with you in a day or two.”
He did not have the luxury of waiting a day or two. If Miss Jane would not accept him, he must find someone else whom he could wed. As the disastrous list made for Michael proved, good breeding was not enough.
Laughter outside the window caught their attention.
Michael’s deep laugh and a distinctive feminine one.
A pleasant sound, not one of the affected giggles that so many ladies of the ton used.
He could not see Miss Jane’s face, but her manner was relaxed.
If she could laugh around his cousin, then he would trust Alexandra’s opinion that her sister could shed her shyness around him.
“They are back.” Alexandra stood. “What do you wish me to do?”
Richard stepped back from the window as not to be seen. “Will you convey my proposal to her in any terms she will accept? I cannot wait two days. If she were to reject me out of nervousness…”
“You wish me to propose?”
“Yes. I will send my best carriage as soon as I reach London to—”
The front door opened.
“I will propose for you, but you must come back in the morning.” Alexandra crossed the room to intercept her sister at the entry hall.
Richard slipped from the room through the servants’ door and down the narrow stairway which led to the kitchen.
The cook looked up from her work, dropping her spoon into her mixing bowl.
Her eyes and mouth opened with an expression that suggested dukes never entered her domain.
He did not stop to explain but gave the astonished woman a nod.
His retreat required no justification to anyone but himself.