Lord Rakehell (36 page)

•   •   •

“I had no idea that Frogmore was such a lovely house.” The Princess of Wales admired the comfortable furnishings, and the cozy fire in the private sitting room. “The queen suggested I withdraw to Windsor for my monthlong confinement, but I rejected the idea because Windsor made me unhappy when I first arrived. Now that I've seen the spacious Home Park, I think Frogmore House would make a perfect retreat.”

Lady Frances helped Alexandra remove her black velvet cloak. “When we were children, we spent a lot of time at Windsor riding about the Home Park. The Frogmore gardens look a little bleak now, but in the springtime they are ablaze with color.”

“Will you keep an eye on the time for us?” Alexandra asked Anne. “The service in the chapel is supposed to be over by one o'clock; then the procession will make its way to the Domed Temple. I walk a lot slower these days, and I don't want to be late.”

Half an hour later, Anne drew back the lace curtains. “I can see them coming now.” The princess stood up, and Anne helped her don the mourning cloak she had specially designed to minimize Alexandra's pregnancy.

Flanked by Anne and Frances, the Princess of Wales managed to arrive at the burial place ahead of the procession. They entered the Domed Temple, whose walls were made of Portuguese red marble. Queen Victoria, shrouded and veiled, and accompanied by her black-clad ladies-in-waiting, led the procession. The Prince of Wales followed with his brothers, Alfred, Arthur, and Leopold, who walked ahead of their sisters Alice, Helena, Louise, and Beatrice.

When the Prince of Wales left his siblings and joined his wife, Anne wondered why James was not in attendance. The archbishop began the prayers over Prince Albert's tomb and all present bowed their heads in respect.

The prayers seemed to go on forever and when they were finally over, Anne lifted her head. Though she wasn't surprised to find Emily's eyes on her, she was disconcerted to see the smug smile on her face. Anne glanced at the princess, hoping she was not adversely affected by standing so long. Until Queen Victoria indicated that the service was at an end, all had to remain in their places.

Finally, Her Majesty nodded to the archbishop, spoke to her ladies-in-waiting, then led the procession toward Frogmore House for tea. As Emily walked past Anne, she could not keep the self-satisfied smirk from her face.

Anne and Frances walked behind the royal couple, but when the prince arrived at the entrance to Frogmore, he said, “I won't join you for tea. It's better if just the ladies attend. I'll take my brothers back to the castle.”

Queen Victoria and Teddy cannot tolerate each other.
Anne took Alexandra's arm and escorted her into the drawing room, where the queen and her ladies were sitting. When the princess was seated comfortably by the fire, Anne took her cloak to the chamber being used as a cloakroom. Suddenly, she came face-to-face with Emily.

“Now you know why Father vehemently objected to your marrying James Hamilton. The scandal is spreading like wildfire!”

Anne raised her chin. “What the devil are you talking about?”

“Surely, you've heard. It's on every tongue that Sir Charles Mordaunt was granted a divorce yesterday because his wife, Sarah, was having an affair with Lord Hamilton.”

“That's a vile lie!”

Frances came into the room, and Emily gave her a pitying smile. “How devastating that your brother has brought such shame on your family. Your poor sister Jane will likely lose her position with Her Majesty.”

“You unearth scandal like a sow rooting out truffles!”

“Insulting me won't alter the fact that your brother's an adulterer, Frances Hamilton.”

Emily pulled aside her skirts as if she feared contamination. “Excuse me, ladies, I must attend Her Gracious Majesty.”

“I'm so sorry, Anne. I hoped you wouldn't hear, at least not today.”

“Frances, surely you don't believe this?”

“Of course I believe it. I heard it from Charles Carrington last night. James owns a town house on Jermyn Street where he carried on the liaison. Females throw themselves at my brother. His conquests are legion.”

Anne felt as if a cruel hand were crushing her heart. Her cheeks were burning, but when she covered them with her hands, her face felt stiff and cold.
The day I went to confront Leicester, I saw James at a town house on Jermyn Street.
Anne suddenly remembered seeing Sarah Mordaunt and James together at Sandringham.
She was like a bitch in heat. She couldn't keep her hands off him!

“H
er Majesty and the royal family, with the exception of Prince Edward and I, are staying at Windsor through Christmas and New Year's,” Alexandra told Anne and Frances on the carriage ride back to Marlborough House. “Thank heaven, we are excluded.”

Anne sat in silence, her thoughts in disarray, her emotions in turmoil. As if in a trance, she exited the carriage, and walked up the steps to Marlborough House. Elizabeth Knollys handed her a letter, and when she recog
nized the handwriting, hope flared in her heart, yet at the same time her stomach knotted. Anne went straight to her bedchamber and Frances followed her.

Anne tore open the letter and with utter disbelief read the words James had penned. When she finished, she sat down on the bed and let the letter flutter to the carpet. Frances picked it up and read it.

“I warned you again and again. This is what you get when you follow your heart instead of your head, as our friend Florence found out to her great sorrow.”

“I . . . I thought James loved me,” Anne whispered.

“You wouldn't listen to me, and you wouldn't listen to John Claud.”

John Claud's words about his brother came back to her.
His currency is seductiveness. He's like a graceful leopard ruthlessly stalking one prey after another.

“From the time James was sixteen, there have been rumors about him. Something was going on with the queen's daughter Princess Vicky that had to be hushed up.”

Anne remembered the voluptuous Princess Vicky's flirtatious behavior before Alexandra's wedding.
She was slavering over him.

“I think you've had a lucky escape. What if you didn't find out about all the shameful secrets he's been hiding until after you were married?”

“Secrets?”

“I shouldn't tell you, but you're my friend, and I can't bear you to be in ignorance. We had a young maid called Jenny a couple of years ago. James spirited her away late one night and took her to our sister Harriet because the girl was having a child. It was a family secret, but I put two and two together.”

Anne was stunned.
How could I have been so blindly naive?
Then her innate honesty came to the fore.
I knew he had a reputation as a womanizer, and yet I deliberately pursued him.

Slowly, she removed her engagement ring and set it on the bedside table with his letter. “I don't want to hear any more, Frances. I'm exhausted.”

“Would you like me to have a tray sent up?”

“I don't want food, I just want to go to bed.”

“Then get a good night's sleep. You'll feel better in the morning.”

I'll never feel better.
Long after Frances left, Anne sat rocking herself back and forth, trying to ease the pain of a broken heart.

After drowning in misery for an hour, a feeling of anger began to build inside her. Anne got up off the bed, removed her cloak, and began to pace back and forth across her chamber. The things she had learned about James Hamilton in the last five hours had turned her world upside down. Her temper flared higher with every step she took.

Anne stopped in front of her mirror and spoke to her reflection. “I'm not the one who should be shamed and embarrassed. . . . That role belongs to Lord Bloody Rakehell! I shall go and confront the decadent swine and fling his faithlessness in his face!”

I wonder if what Frances told me about him fathering a child is true.
With resolution Anne donned her cloak.
There's only one way to find out.

•   •   •

“Lady Anne Howe to see the Countess of Lichfield.” Her challenging tone dared the footman who answered the door at the imposing St. James's Street residence to deny her request. He opened the door wide to admit her to the entrance hall. “I'll see if Lady Lichfield is free, my lady.”

Harriet Anson came to the top of the stairs and gazed down at her visitor. “Lady Anne, do come up. This is a pleasant surprise.”

When Anne reached the top of the stairs, she said, “Lady Lichfield, I'm sorry to call at such a late hour.”

“Anne, my name is
Harry
. You'll soon be married to my brother.” She led the way into her sitting room.

Anne shook her head. “James has released me from our engagement.”

“Why on earth would he do such a mad thing?”

“You obviously haven't heard yet.” Anne took a deep breath. “Yesterday, Sir Charles Mordaunt was granted a divorce because his wife was guilty of an adulterous affair with Lord Hamilton.”

“I shall kill my husband. Thomas sits in the Commons with them. He must have heard and has kept it from me!” Harry declared in outrage.

“Your brother John Claud, and your sister Frances, warned me many times that James was a womanizer. I'm well aware that females throw themselves at him, yet I chose to ignore their warnings.”

“Well, you may take what John Claud says with a grain of salt—he wanted you for himself. But I can't understand why Frances would denigrate his character.”

“Frances told me about your maid Jenny.”

Harry's eyes widened. “James has taken on the financial responsibility for Jenny's child, but I assure you he is not the father.”

“Why would James take on the responsibility for another man's child?”

“He has a ridiculous sense of honor about loyalty. He would never betray a brother.”

Anne sat stunned. “John Claud?”

“Who else?”

“Thank you for telling me the truth,” she said slowly. All Anne's ideas about men had been turned on their head today. She stood up and said absently, “Good night, Harry.”

“Where the devil are you going?”

“Back to Marlborough House.”

“Well, I know it's within spitting distance, but you can't go alone. I'll get a footman to escort you.”

Half an hour later, Anne was back in her chamber, deep in thought. She undressed slowly, and climbed into bed. She went over everything that had happened that day; then her mind went back over all the times she and James had been together. She remembered almost every word they had ever exchanged.

She realized that what his sister Harry said was true: James did have a sense of honor. That's why he had withdrawn from their engagement. He had his own moral code and loyalty was high on his list. It wasn't true that he had fathered Jenny's child, though likely he had never denied it. Anne began to wonder about Sarah Mordaunt. Perhaps that wasn't true either.
I should trust my instincts; they guided me well about John Claud.

Anne had always listened to her heart instead of her head, and she knew she always would.
I love James. To love is to trust. Without trust there can be no true love.
Anne drew up her knees and rested her cheek against them.

I've always loved James. I've never loved any other man.
Anne suddenly realized without a shadow of a doubt,
I never will love any other man.
She slipped her engagement ring back on her finger, smiled her secret smile, stretched out in bed, and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

•   •   •

“Good morning, Your Highness.” Lady Frances entered Alexandra's dressing room and found Lady Caroline helping the princess to put on her shoes.

“Where is Lady Anne this morning? I'm worried about her. She didn't look well at all last evening when we returned from Windsor.”

“I think she's still asleep. I didn't want to disturb her.” Frances waited until Caroline Chandos left the room. “Yesterday, my brother released her from their engagement.”

“Why would—” Alexandra didn't finish her question. She knew the answer. She closed her eyes at the injustice of it all. “Frances, would you ask Anne to come and see me privately?”

Anne, wearing her lavender velvet dress with lace ruffles at throat and wrist, knocked on the door of the Princess of Wales's private sitting room.

“Good morning, Your Highness. I'm sorry I'm late.”

“No apologies necessary. My dearest Anne, I know you were told the shocking details of the Mordaunts' divorce yesterday, but there is something I need to tell you.”

Alexandra went to her writing desk and took out a letter.

“Thank you, Your Highness. You are being extremely generous, but there is no need to share your secrets with me. I have come to realize that Lord Hamilton's loyalty is a thing to be prized.”

“It is indeed, Anne. You are a very lucky woman.”

“Thank you, Alix. Shall we go down to breakfast?”

•   •   •

Anne stepped from a hansom cab at the Parliament building, and drew her fur coat close about her. She went up the steps and handed an envelope to one of the uniformed pages.

“Would you be kind enough to deliver this message to Lord James Hamilton? Here's a sovereign for your trouble.”

“Thank you, my lady. I'll see that he gets it at the first break.”

A half hour later when the House broke for lunch, the parliamentary page handed Hamilton the letter.

James tore it open and read:

My Dearest Lord Hamilton,

If you will meet me at the Westminster Palace Hotel, I will buy you lunch.

I assure you it has a most respectable dining room.

Lily Lamb

James Hamilton blinked and read it again. Then a grin spread over his face. He strode to the cloakroom, grabbed his overcoat, and stepped outside onto Parliament Square. The December wind swirled about him furiously, but he was totally oblivious to its chill. He ran all the way, his heart pounding in his chest.

When he arrived at the hotel, he could see the lady he loved sitting at
their
table in the
respectable
dining room. The maître d'hôtel led him to the table, provided them with menus, and hastened off for the bottle of claret that Hamilton ordered.

James moved behind her chair to help her remove her fur. “Gray fox shows off your glorious hair to perfection.”

She was thrilled by his compliment. “Thank you, my lord.”

“Call me James.” He draped her fur over the back of her chair and his admiring glance swept over her gown with its lace ruffles at throat and wrist. “Lavender velvet suits you even better.”

“I'm glad you like it. I designed it myself.”

“You have exquisite taste and an eye for color; I shall add that to the vast store of knowledge I've learned about you, Lily Lamb.”

“Yes, you know all my secrets, and I have recently learned some of your secrets, Lord Hamilton.” She picked up the menu and began to read.

“I thought we agreed you would call me James. Do you see anything you fancy?”

“Oh, hell yes!” She lowered her eyes to the menu. “I think some leek soup would warm me nicely.”

The bottle of claret arrived and James poured the wine. “What else will you have?”

“Steak and mushroom pie,” she said decisively. “That's what you fed me before you made love to me for the first time.”

His warm brown eyes caressed her face. “What about these secrets you've learned?”

“I've learned that you are a keeper of secrets, James—both your own and the secrets of others. I've also learned that loyalty is high on your list of priorities. From now on I will try to aspire to your lofty ideals.”

Anne took out his letter and tore it in half. “I will not allow you to withdraw from our engagement. You promised to marry me on January seventh and marry me you shall.”

“It will be my greatest pleasure to do so, my beauty.”

“Pleasure shared is pleasure doubled.”

James couldn't take his eyes from her; the way she ate was a sensual delight that always aroused him, despite the control he tried to exercise when they were in public.

When the meal was over, Anne leaned across the table. “It would give me great pleasure if you would allow me to entertain you privately, Lord Rakehell.” She took out the key to their new house on Park Lane and handed it to him.

James immediately hailed the waiter to pay the bill. “If you'd be so kind, we'd like a bottle of champagne to take with us.”

•   •   •

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony,” the minister solemnly intoned.

This has all happened before. . . . I vividly remember every detail. I was standing at the altar in my white velvet gown and James was standing beside me wearing his dress kilt of Hamilton hunting tartan.

Suddenly Anne laughed, and the lovely sound rose and rippled like wind chimes in the vaulted ceiling of the church.
It happened just like this in my dream, except I slapped the archbishop of Canterbury!

She felt James squeeze her hand, reminding her to curb her impulsiveness, and she managed to do so until the minister pronounced that they were man and wife.

James lifted her veil and smiled into her eyes. Then he drew her close, and as he bent his head toward her, she closed her eyes and opened her lips in invitation. When his mouth touched hers, her eyelashes fluttered, and she whispered his name with longing. “James.”