Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Three Years Earlier
Alice hovered anxiously outside her brother’s bedchamber, straining to hear the low murmur of voices within. After what felt like an eternity, the door finally opened and her father emerged, followed by Dr Thompson.
The doctor offered her a kind smile. “Your brother is going to be quite all right, Miss Fairfax. It is a clean break and should heal well, though he will not be riding for some weeks.”
Relief washed over Alice. She accepted her father’s hug and a kiss upon her forehead before he escorted the doctor downstairs. The moment they were out of sight, she slipped into Henry’s room.
Her brother looked pale and strangely diminished against the white linens, but he managed a weak grin at the sight of her.
“Are you in a great deal of pain?” she asked softly.
Henry’s grimace was answer enough.
She had not been present when the accident occurred.
Once again, she had been excluded while Henry and his irritating best friend rode out at dawn.
She had missed him and had been looking forward to Henry being home from Oxford for the summer even if Anthony would no doubt be loitering around the whole time like he did not have his own home just next door.
She had been brushing Lucy in the stables, still smarting from being left behind and told to go hat shopping with her sisters, when she heard the thunder of approaching hooves and a desperate cry for help.
Turning, she saw Anthony galloping toward the house, leading Henry’s horse by the reins. The grooms dropped their tasks and ran forward.
Anthony reined in sharply. For a fleeting instant, his eyes locked with hers, sending an unexpected shiver through her.
“Henry fell on the far side of Bishop’s Tump,” he said, breathing hard. “I believe his leg is broken.”
One groom had already sprinted toward the house.
“Did he strike his head?” Alice asked, forcing herself to remain practical despite the fear clutching at her chest.
“I do not know. I was riding ahead and did not see him fall.”
“Was he conscious when you left him?”
“Yes… yes, he was.” Anthony dragged a hand through his hair, looking unusually shaken and vulnerable. Alice felt a strange pang of pity for the boy she had always found so annoying.
She quickly issued instructions to the grooms to prepare the carriage so they might bring Henry home as gently as possible. Before she could suggest Anthony dismount and compose himself, he had already wheeled his horse around.
“I must return to him at once and tell him help is coming,” he said, and galloped away as her father and sisters came hurrying out of the house.
“Where did he fall?” Alice’s father asked, anxiously.
“Don’t worry, Papa. It is not too far and he is conscious. Anthony is returning to him and the men are readying the carriage now. Thatcher,” Alice said, spotting the butler coming towards them. “Kindly send for Dr Thompson. Tell him it is an emergency.”
The butler bowed and hurried, with no loss to his usual dignity, back to the house.
The horses were almost all attached to the carriage, the grooms having worked in double quick time. Alice’s father swiftly climbed into the carriage and Alice went to follow him.
“You girls stay here,” her father said firmly.
“But…”
The look he gave her warned Alice not to argue. She stepped back from the carriage and watched it head off to rescue her brother.
Alice’s sisters tried to convince her to go into the house and await their brother’s return in the drawing room where a pot of tea and her embroidery would take her mind off what was going on, but they received a glare for their efforts.
Alice resumed grooming Lucy, listening out for the return of the carriage.
She stretched out fussing over her horse until she could tell she had well and truly had enough and she let her out into the pasture so she could clean out her stables, something she insisted upon doing herself much to the chagrin of the stable boys.
She enjoyed doing it. There was nothing she loved more than spending time with animals.
She heard the sound of galloping hooves and came out of the stables to find Anthony approaching on his horse. He was closely followed by Dr Thompson.
“The carriage will be returning with Henry soon,” Anthony said once he was in earshot.
Alice felt an urge to stay with Anthony, he seemed quite shaken by what had happened to his friend, but she reminded herself that Henry was the priority and that Anthony would no doubt be back to his usual annoying self soon.
She found herself looking over her shoulder at Anthony once more though before she showed the doctor into the house and instructed the maid to prepare Henry’s bed for him.
A week later, Alice sat playing cards with her brother in his sunlit bedchamber. Henry was thoroughly bored of his confinement, his plastered leg elevated on a pile of cushions.
He had just beaten her for the third time when Anthony came into the room, looking his usual confident self.
“Hello, old man,” he said with a grin. “How fares the leg?”
“The same,” Henry replied gloomily. “This had to happen at the very beginning of summer.”
“Nothing for it but to follow the doctor’s orders,” Anthony said. He glanced at Alice. “Though I hear sitting in the gardens may soon be permitted.”
“I am sorry I cannot take you riding as I promised,” Henry said, turning to his sister.
Alice shrugged. “That is not your fault.”
“I know, but I feel bad. It is frustrating for you to have to stick to our estate when you are riding by yourself.”
Alice gave a smile, he knew her so well.
“Anthony, you will take Alice out for a ride a little further afield, won’t you?” said Henry, suddenly. “Our father will only allow her to ride our estate without an escort and, as you can imagine, it gets rather dull.”
“Of course,” said Anthony easily.
“There you go, Alice,” Henry said. “I am afraid my fall has probably meant Father’s rule will stick around far longer than it would have, but at least while I am incapacitated Anthony can help.”
Alice was desperate to be able to take Lucy out on a longer ride, but had absolutely no desire to do so with Anthony by her side.
All he ever did was either ignore or tease her.
He would probably just play a trick on her, like the time he lent her a world map he had drawn to help with her geography, and he mislabelled all the countries.
Or when he thought it would be hilarious to put a flour and water mixture in her riding boots.
“Thank you,” she said, doing her best to keep her expression neutral. She clearly did not succeed because Anthony laughed. “We shall have fun,” he said. “We can head out this afternoon, if you would like.”
Alice was trying to think of a polite, or even an impolite, way to refuse, but she caught her brother’s eye. He looked so pleased with his plan that she did not have the heart to spoil it. “That sounds lovely,” she managed to say without a grimace.
“I will meet you at the stables at three then,” said Anthony cheerfully, and he got up and left the room.
“I am sure you will enjoy yourself,” said Henry to his sister once Anthony was well out of earshot.
Alice raised an eyebrow.
“He is really not that bad!” Henry laughed.
“Compared to what?”
“You will be nice?”
“If he is nice to me!”
“He is taking you out. You could maybe go to Peddlar’s Wood… You said you wanted to explore some of the trails there.”
“I did,” admitted Alice.
“And now you can. Just ignore him if you have to.”
Alice rolled her eyes. “I shall come and see you again later. Have you got everything you need?”
“Yes, thank you, Alice,” said Henry. “Have fun.”
Alice threw him a glare as she left.
The horses were saddled and waiting when Alice arrived. She fiddled unnecessarily with Lucy’s bridle, reluctant to appear too eager.
She heard Anthony walking across the gravel behind her and turned to greet him as pleasantly as she could.
He was her brother’s friend after all and he was doing her a favour.
He certainly did not have to take her out riding.
And it would be good to take her horse somewhere different.
Anyway, she was fifteen now, far too old to be holding on to petty childhood feuds.
“Ready, Little Squirrel?” Anthony called, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief.
Alice’s forced smile turned into a grimace.
Why did he delight in tormenting her with that ridiculous name?
She would not give him the pleasure of a reaction and so she settled her face as best as she could.
Alice mounted with the groom’s help and replied with careful politeness, “Quite ready, thank you.”
She fussed around with the reins and stirrups, all the while listening as Anthony thanked the boy who handed him the reins to his horse, a beautiful chestnut stallion he had been bought the summer before. Another example of how spoilt, only child Anthony always got whatever he wanted.
“Where would you like to go?” he asked, turning his attention back to her.
Her determination to be nice gone, a large part of Alice wanted to say that she did not care where they went but, with a sigh, she said, “Peddlar’s Wood, please.”
To her surprise, the afternoon’s ride passed far more pleasantly than she had anticipated.
Anthony followed her lead along the narrow bridle paths and refrained from his usual relentless teasing once he realised she would just ignore him every time he called her Little Squirrel.
The woodland was beautiful and, for the first time, she found his company almost…
tolerable. While Anthony would never be her chosen riding companion for about a thousand different reasons, he had not actually been anywhere near as awful as she had feared he would be.
Most of the time she could imagine she was by herself and her annoying neighbour was miles away irritating someone else.