Time for Love (20 page)

Evelyn’s smile returned full force, and she bobbed down into a quick curtsey. “Oh, thank you, my lady! I promise you will be very pleased with my skills. My mother taught me everything she knows.” Ignoring her question, she moved around Alex and placed a dress carefully on the bed. “The earl asked that I deliver this morning dress and undergarments for your use until you have your own. They belong to your sister.” Alex frowned and she broke off, but then continued swiftly, “to his daughter, Lady Mary.”

Alex glanced at the gown nervously. “I don’t want to impose. I’ll just wear the clothes from yesterday or my—”

“No, you can’t. I already returned them and had the other burned,” she said with a shudder. “Besides, they’re not suitable for the daughter of an earl.” Shaking her head, she observed Alex shyly from beneath lowered lids.

Knowing her as she did, Alex suspected she had something on her mind, so she nodded her encouragement. “Go on, say what you’re thinking.”

“It’s just that…” Evelyn took a deep breath. “You should try to accept what’s happening, rather than fighting against it. I know you are accustomed to doing everything on your own, but you don’t have to now. You have a family to help you. They have welcomed you with open arms and are truly thrilled at your presence. The Creswells are a highly respected family; you should be proud to be one of them.”

Alex blinked back tears and turned away before Evelyn could see. “But it’s not true, and I don’t want to deceive anyone.” But oh, how a part of her wanted it to be true!

“Mr. Dobson told me the family resemblance is astounding. And think about it, you have the same name as their daughter and a twin sister named Charlotte. That can’t be coincidence.”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.” How could she explain she hadn’t been born until the nineteen eighties, and rather than being one of the earl’s twin daughters, she was a distant descendant named after the original who went missing? It sounded like a crazy sci-fi soap opera.

Evelyn cleared her throat and bustled around the room. “We better get you dressed properly. Lord Downing wants to see you.”

Alex groaned. She had forgotten for a moment what she faced this morning. “Maybe I could just slip out the back.”

Evelyn laughed. “Don’t be silly. Come now. Get dressed. I think this shade of blue will be quite becoming.”

Alex fingered the delicate fabric of the gown and realized she was completely at a loss to know how to get dressed ‘properly.’ “Um…” She paused, blushing and uncertain how to ask for help without revealing how little she knew of the clothing of the time. She had muddled her way through dressing in the maid’s outfit yesterday and had worn her own padded corset, but this ‘Lady’s’ outfit seemed a bit more complicated. And Evelyn apparently wasn’t going to let her get away with wearing her own undergarments.

Evelyn came to the rescue, without even knowing it. “Hurry up now. Take that off, and we’ll get you into a nice clean shift.” She held up a long white shirt from the pile on the bed and looked Alex up and down disapprovingly. “Didn’t they have someone help you undress last night? I would have thought they would have provided you with proper nightclothes, rather than forcing you to sleep in your shift.” She looked nervously at the door and gestured at Alex impatiently. “Go on now, we don’t have much time.”

Relieved Evelyn was going to stay and see her through the intricacies of a nineteenth century morning dress, Alex quickly complied. After a dizzying number of hooks, buttons and ties, she looked the part of a proper earl’s daughter, or so Evelyn said as she stood behind her fastening the dress.

For her part, Alex thought modern push-up bras had nothing on a nineteenth century corset. She tried to pull the dress up a bit to cover the amazing amount of cleavage on display and sighed in relief when Evelyn added a little scrap of lace that transformed the gown from indecent to demure.

“It’s just a simple morning dress, but the color does look lovely on you.” Evelyn smiled fondly, and then with a quick slap at Alex’s tugging hand said, “Quit fussing, you’re all done.” She motioned Alex toward a small table and chair set against the wall. “Now, we must do something about your hair.”

****

Alex walked cautiously down to the library after Evelyn declared her fit to be seen. By family and close friends only, of course. She smiled, recalling Evelyn’s parting words of advice.

“This is a morning dress, so remember, you mustn’t go out anywhere.”

The look on Evelyn’s face warned her that she took this quite seriously, so Alex stifled the laugh that rose to her lips as Evelyn continued her lecture.

“You may receive visits from close friends, but other than that, this dress is strictly for around the house. I’m sure your family will see you have appropriate attire for the rest of the day. Come back to your room after you meet with the family, and I’m sure I’ll have something for you.”

She actually looked forward to it, in a way. She smoothed the front of the high-waisted gown with its dainty pink and green flower pattern. She could feel the stiffness of the corset that had her breasts pushed up practically to her chin, but with all the layers, it wasn’t visible to anyone else. She felt all fancy and dressed up, like a child trying on her mom’s clothes pretending to be all grown up. She couldn’t imagine how she’d look in a gown Evelyn considered
appropriate
.

She wouldn’t feel like herself that was for sure. And sometimes she thought that wouldn’t be such a bad thing. For a little while at least. She could almost lose herself in this place, with this family. Except she didn’t really belong.

The thought brought a frown to her face. She couldn’t afford to like it here. She’d be leaving soon. She had to focus. Find Charlotte and get out. She was becoming too attached already. First Nicholas and now the Creswells. Evelyn too.

Thinking of Evelyn had her smiling again. She was lucky to have met the girl. She would have been lost without her. While Alex had always loved reading historical romances, she’d leaned toward highlanders and medievals rather than regencies. They didn’t begin to prepare her for this.

That had been obvious when Evelyn had felt it necessary to give her a lecture about clothes. Luckily, Evelyn had assumed her lack of knowledge came from being raised away from her true family. Alex hadn’t had to think up some plausible excuse, and she had Evelyn as a guide for the ins and outs of polite society.

Alex paused outside the library. Her smile faded as she heard the rumble of raised voices beyond the slightly open door. She knocked and the voices silenced.

A deep voice commanded, “Come in.”

She pushed open the door and stopped dead, her mouth hanging open.

****

“What are
you
doing here?” she asked.

Nicholas turned his fierce gaze in her direction. The look on his face caused her breath to catch in her throat. She had known he’d be angry, she just never thought she would actually have to face up to it.

Even so, it was the worry in his gaze that affected her more than anything and had her moving toward him before she was even aware of her own intentions.

“I’m fine, Nicholas,” she said softly. She stopped a few feet in front of him and looked up into his smoldering eyes, golden sparks flying within their hazel depths. “There was no reason for you to worry. I can take care of myself.”

“You can take care of yourself, can you? Is that what you’re doing?” He glowered at the earl and his son, whom she had barely noticed and ignored now as she devoted her attention to Nicholas. His gaze softened as he put one hand on her shoulder and cupped her face with the other, looking deep into her eyes.

“Take your hands off her!” Gregory moved to intervene, but she waved him off.

“Are you all right?” Nicholas caressed her cheek with his thumb. “Did he hurt you…force you…?” His eyes closed and voice trailed off as if he couldn’t bear to finish the sentence or hear the answer.

“Force me to what?” she asked, not immediately grasping his meaning. Her face flamed a second later as his thoughts became clear.

“Grayson had you followed. He told me how that boy…” He glared briefly at Gregory, then returned his gaze to her. “…forced you into a carriage. It took us a while to figure out who had you, or I would have been here sooner.” He lowered his forehead to rest against hers. “Am I too late?” he whispered.

Gregory grabbed Nicholas’s arm to pull him away, but only succeeded in bringing Nicholas’s wrathful gaze his way. “How dare you come into my home and imply that I—that I—”

Lord Downing interrupted, “Gregory, do sit.” His voice left no room for argument, and Gregory spluttered to a stop. “We appear to have a number of misconceptions to set to rights, and I will not allow this to erupt into violence.”

Nicholas ripped his arm out of Gregory’s grasp. “Listen to your father, puppy. I’ll deal with you later.”

Gregory stalked over to a chair and threw himself into it, his hands clenching and unclenching continually. “Call me puppy…arrogant bastard…,” he mumbled under his breath.

“And you, Lord Oakleigh, will kindly take your hands off Lady Alexandra and have a seat.” He waved toward another chair. He walked to Alex and took her hand gently in his own. Seeing that Nicholas had declined to sit in favor of leaning on a corner of the desk with his arms crossed, he led Alex to the chair and motioned for her to take it. “Alexandra, we have much to discuss, but first we need to deal with this—person.”

Alex could sense Lord Downing was upset even though he kept his face neutral. Remorse surged through her at the pain her presence caused this nice man, and she patted his hand before taking the offered seat. “Please don’t worry about me. You all seem very nice, but as I told you last night, I’m not who you think I am.”

“We’ll get to that later, but first, does this man have some claim on you?”

“Yes,” Nicholas said.

“No,” Alex said at the same time.

“She’s mine,” Nicholas stated.

“Excuse me?” Alex exclaimed. “I don’t belong to anyone, thank you very much.” She glared at Nicholas, the nerve of the man. She opened her mouth to continue.

“Stop. Both of you,” Lord Downing held up his hands. “So we have a difference of opinion, apparently. Are you saying the two of you are betrothed or married, Lord Oakleigh?” He fixed Nicholas with a hard gaze.

“No.” He appeared a bit unsure of himself for the first time. “But I fail to see what business it is of yours.”

“Lady Alexandra is my business. Since you have no claim on her, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“I’m not leaving her with you and the puppy,” Nicholas practically growled the words. “You’re eager to inquire into my business, but you have yet to explain what claim
you
have on her.”

Lord Downing gave Nicholas a considering look, and then nodded his head as if coming to a difficult decision. “I will explain, as you appear to have Lady Alexandra’s best interest at heart, but I ask for your word to not repeat any of this outside this room—at least for the moment.” As Nicholas started to protest, Lord Downing continued, “I can promise you that I am also looking to protect Lady Alexandra. We would never hurt her.”

“Fine,” Nicholas grunted through clenched teeth. “You have my word, provided my silence will not hurt Alex.”

“Thank you.” Lord Downing nodded.

“Excuse me, but has everyone forgotten that I’m in the room?” Alex asked through gritted teeth. “I really hate people talking about me as if I have no say in the matter.”

“You don’t,” Nicholas stated with a flash of his usual grin that made Alex’s pulse flutter even as the urge to strangle him nearly choked her.

At the same time, Lord Downing said, “We need to rectify this misunderstanding, Alexandra. Would you prefer that Lord Oakleigh and Gregory finish this with pistols at dawn?”

Alex fell back in her seat and tore her gaze away from Nicholas. “Pistols at dawn? That’s insane.” She wanted to scoff at the absurdity of it all but deep down realized how deadly serious they were.

“Did you believe I would not defend your honor?” Nicholas demanded. “If this puppy hurt you, I won’t rest until he pays for his crime.”

“Fine.” Alex huffed and looked at Nicholas. “Lord Downing here thinks I’m his long lost daughter. I keep telling him he’s wrong, but he won’t listen to me. So, no. I didn’t come here willingly, but Gregory hasn’t hurt me. Far from it. He thinks I’m his sister.”

“We brought her here to find out where she has been all these years and to convince her that she is, indeed, my daughter. I am certain of it.”

****

“Your daughter?” Nicholas repeated in astonishment. “How is that possible?” He looked to Lord Downing for the answer. Alex had clamped her lips together and was studying her nails. He didn’t think she was prepared to answer.

“Our twin daughters, Alexandra and Charlotte, were kidnapped fifteen years ago,” Lord Downing began, a pained expression on his face as he recalled what must have been a tortuous time for the obviously devoted father. “They were taken right out of our own garden on their tenth birthday.”

Nicholas frowned. “That was your family? I do not recall the details, but there were rumors the kidnappings were politically motivated.”

“Yes. Someone threatened myself and a number of my fellow lords in order to influence a vote during Parliament that year. I was one of the leaders in favor of the bill.” Lord Downing looked at Alex, his eyes suspiciously bright.

A wave of pity for the man washed over Nicholas.

“Can you forgive me, darling?” Lord Downing asked her. “I should have taken the threats more seriously. I never should have allowed you and your sister out of the house. It was my fault,” he whispered.

Tears slipped silently down Alex’s face. Nicholas longed to hold her close and wipe away her pain, but he simply watched in silence as Alex reached out her hand and Lord Downing grasped it between his own. “You can’t blame yourself for what some madman did.”

As he watched the tender moment play out between father and daughter, he turned his thoughts to his next course of action.

He had been enraged upon learning of Alex’s desertion when he returned to
The Reliant
late the night before. Then, when Grayson had reported she had been forcibly removed from a house in Berkeley Square, he had been frantic with worry. They searched all night, his mind tortured with thoughts of her suffering. He’d blamed himself for not settling the future with her before he had left her alone. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.