Unmasking the Spy (29 page)

The softer, rounder girl in the
back bounced twice on her toes before elbowing her way through them and peering
up at Alicia with avid curiosity.

“Who’re you?”

“I… I’m Alicia Ki- Morrissey,”
she stammered.

The girl clapped her hands
together in delight. “Then it’s true! Famous!” She turned to give the other
women a quick glare before bestowing another beatific smile on Alicia. “I may
be the youngest, but I haven’t forgotten my manners. We’re Ian’s sisters, of
course. I’m Carlotta, and this–” she pointed at the slender one fanning
herself, “is Poppy, the eldest. This–” she gestured at the one with the
extravagant curls, “is Julia, the second-eldest, and this–” with a wave at the
frowning beauty to her left, “is Mavis.”

Sisters? Four of them? And he
hadn’t said a word!

“Charmed,” Alicia managed after
taking in a shaky breath, hoping her shock wasn’t evident on her face. Her wish
was not granted.

“What!” exclaimed Carlotta,
chortling behind clasped hands. “That rascal didn’t mention the most charming
inhabitants of Heatherley?”

“He did say something about his
horse,” Alicia blurted, and blushed at her outburst.

“Oh, of course,” replied Carlotta,
as if no further explanations were necessary. “He’s no doubt off with Pegasus
now, the bounder.”

“Pegasus?” Alicia repeated,
trying not to laugh. She’d thought something was fishy about Pegabus, the
mighty Greek warrior.

“That’s his horse. I named him
myself. Come, come, you must be hungry! We just finished, but of course we’ll
sit with you while you eat. We’re your new sisters, after all! And this
morning, Cook made my favorite jam. You’ll have to try it. Oh, and tell us all
about yourself! We’re dying to hear everything. How did you meet? Was it love
at first sight? When Poppy told him to bring home a bride, we never imagined
he’d really do so – he’s never listened to us before. What a lark!”

Alicia allowed herself to be led
to the table and her plate piled with food. Carlotta kept up a steady patter of
prattle and questions while she ate, never seeming to mind that Alicia was
quite incapable of answering. The rest of the sisters didn’t try to squeeze in
a single word edgewise until Alicia had nodded at a footman to take her empty
plate away.

“Hush now, Carlotta,” said the
beauty Alicia remembered as Julia. “Give her a chance to speak. No doubt she
has questions of her own.”

With a hesitant smile, Alicia
tried to think of an intelligent question. Her mind drew a blank. “In becoming
mistress of this house,” she said finally, “I didn’t expect to be usurping
anyone else’s position. If your roles have changed for the worse because of me,
please let me know.”

“Aren’t you sweet,” answered Poppy,
laying her fan against her chest. “I should hope I’m glad to have you. I didn’t
want to be mistress here forever. We all hope to find husbands of our own.”

“Oh! Of course. I only meant–”

“She knows what you meant,”
interrupted Carlotta with a roll of her eyes. “She’s being dramatic. Besides,
we’ve only been ‘mistresses’ of Heatherley for a little over a year. We were
just surprised to find Ian had taken a wife and not told us. Shocked, really.
We’d sort of imagined ourselves to be present for the wedding, whenever he got
around to having one. And to hear it from the
staff
is bad form at its
worst. Someone needs to teach him a thing or two about good manners. Where
is
he?”

*          *          *

Ian returned his horse to the
stable and trudged toward the house, not quite as refreshed as he’d hoped after
such a long ride. He’d had a chance to do some soul-searching, trying to decide
how he felt about entering into an unwanted marriage to save the reputation of
a girl who’d already given her virginity away. He was disappointed, yes, but
not quite as disillusioned as he first imagined himself to be. After all,
theirs was not a love match, and she had made him no promises.

Now that he’d had the opportunity
to ponder the situation with some distance between them, he also had to admit
that her blush when she told him the bad news and her inability to meet his
eyes were probably because she’d been embarrassed – not because she’d been with
legions of men.

He had no doubt been both
unreasonable and unfair. Chances were strong that her first lover had been her
fiancé, repulsive though he may be. If she thought she was going to marry him,
perhaps she’d considered her virginity less of an issue. Should an Interesting
Condition have ensued, theirs wouldn’t have been the first eight-month baby
accepted by the
ton
. If he judged her by those standards instead of his
own, she would not seem lacking. She had done nothing else to earn anything but
his begrudging respect.

Besides, men didn’t come to their
marriages virgins. Lord knew he hadn’t.

And she’d stated her intent to be
faithful to him, even before he’d made that stupid pledge never to touch her
again. He’d been so mired in misery over losing Elizabeth that he hadn’t seen
the beautiful bride in front of his face.

If he were to continue being
honest with himself, he and Elizabeth had not yet fallen in love. Wasn’t that
why he’d planned an extended visit, for them to discover whether they would
suit? There had been no commitment. Although she clearly matched him passion
for passion, she had been an innocent until that last night. Ian grimaced. He’d
had no business making love to her. He’d just been so caught up in the moment
that – no. No excuses. He was not to forgive himself so easily. Not when he had
a wife, whom he should concentrate on making the center of his life.

Until their interminable coach
ride to Heatherley, he and Alicia had shared a burgeoning friendship, based on
mutual respect and a sense of camaraderie. Was that not as good a foundation
for love as any? If he tried to fill her days with happiness and her nights
with passion, might they not develop a relationship nearly as idyllic as the
one his parents had shared?

Didn’t he owe himself the
attempt?

Ian pushed open the side door and
let himself in, surprised to discover two of his sisters waiting for him. Mavis,
as usual, had her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Julia was
adjusting her towering curls in a gilded hand mirror, which she shoved into a
pocket as soon as she saw him come in the door.

“Ladies,” Ian said with a bow. No
doubt they were out of sorts with him. He’d left the house before they’d
awakened because he couldn’t think of a single explanation for his hasty
marriage and hadn’t relished a confrontation. Time, it seemed, had run out.

“So,” Mavis bit out, grinding her
fists into her hips. “Got a new wife, do you?”

Closing the door behind him, Ian
tried to think of a quelling response, but the best he could come up with was a
simple, “Yes.”

“Might you have told us?” Julia
asked with a delicate sniff.

“I meant to. It happened
quickly.”

“No doubt,” muttered Mavis.
“You’ve been gone but two weeks.”

“One can only assume…” began Julia,
allowing her voice to trail off.

He sighed. He would have to tell
the truth. “She didn’t trap herself to me, if that’s what you think. At least,
not on purpose. We did get ourselves in a bit of a bind, but it was completely
my fault. There was actually someone else who wanted to marry her.”

“Oh!” Julia exclaimed, startled.

Mavis relaxed her arms. “What
happened?”

“We were at a party. Her would-be
fiancé upset her, so I took her into an empty room to give her a chance to vent
her frustration in private.”

“Like you do for us,” Julia said
with a nod.

“That was stupid,” Mavis added
with a patronizing expression. “She isn’t one of us.”

“She is now,” Ian corrected,
giving her a sharp look when she scowled at him.

“What about Poppy?” asked Julia.

“What about her? She was the one
who wanted me to bring home a bride.”

“Don’t be obtuse. We all wanted
you to marry. We just didn’t expect you to spring it on us. Poppy went to bed
the mistress of Heatherley and she awoke a plain nobody.”

“She’s neither plain nor a nobody.
Alicia will need help, and I’m sure she will continue to rely on Poppy until
such time as Poppy finds her own husband. And… I agree. It wasn’t very well
done of me to arrive without notice.”

“We had our first clue when Cobb
arrived last night with a coach-full of trunks and valises.” Mavis narrowed her
eyes and added, “He did not, however, carry a note from you.”

“I’m sorry, all right? Things
happened quickly, like I said. We married yesterday.”

“Why the rush?” asked Julia.

“Trust me, neither one of us was
in a hurry. Her father expressed his desire to be rid of his daughter without a
moment to spare, and since her dowry didn’t consist of a single farthing, I
doubt she’d have had any other suitors had I not come up to scratch.”

“No dowry? The poor thing. But
I’m surprised her mother would allow such a fast–”

“No mother.”

“Oh!” Julia exclaimed again.
“Just like us.”

“Not just like us,” interrupted Mavis.
“She has her father, doesn’t she? Even if he is a clown.”

“Not like you,” Ian agreed. “She
has no one to look after her or care for her except us. I expect you to treat
her like family. No matter how it came about, she’s my wife.”

Julia flashed him a soothing
smile, but Mavis pursed her lips and gave a curt nod before looping her arm
through her sister’s and dragging her from the room.

The next morning, Alicia awoke
alone.

True to his word, Ian hadn’t come
to her last night. In fact, she hadn’t seen him all day. And although she was
now surrounded by more housemates than she’d ever had in her life, without the
affection – or, even, attention – of her husband, Alicia felt lonely. Isolated.
Despondent.

She dressed and breakfasted and
returned to her chambers to brood in private.

Alicia sat down at her traveling
writing desk in the room adjoining the bedchamber with the intent of abating
the sense of hopelessness. Writing letters to her family should help to make
her feel more connected, she reasoned, and brought forth the first sheet of
paper.

“Dear Papa,” she began, and bit
her lip. What should she say next? “Don’t worry, you got rid of me?” Or, “Have
no fear, I’m miles away and quite out of your hair?”

Sighing, she stared at the blank
page for several moments before writing, “I have arrived safely,” in a small,
careful script. She thought for a minute and then added, “We are at Heatherley,
Mr. Morrissey’s country home. If you still do not want Beatrix with you, please
send her to me.”

On another paper, she made a
little note to remind herself to inform Ian of this invitation.

“I hope you are well,” she
continued. “Your loving daughter, Alicia.”

There. Just in case he was
wondering whether she was still alive, that missive should relieve any existing
fears. She brought out another sheet and began a new letter.

“My dearest Great-aunt Beatrix,”
she began, and paused.

Beatrix was someone she always
spoke plainly to, someone who knew the truth of the youthful dreams inside her
heart. However, she could hardly write anything quite so inflammatory as, “Due
to a lack of virginity, my husband and I had a bit of a rough first night, and
last night he refused to touch me at all. In fact, I’ve not seen him since we
wed, when I cried like a child and came apart in his arms.”

No, that wouldn’t do at all. With
bold strokes of the pen, Alicia decided on, “I have discovered Mr. Morrissey to
have four charming sisters and a delightful home, with the loveliest view from
every window. I hope to explore the grounds further today, and shall let you
know how I fare in my next letter. I miss you every day and I hope you are
doing well. Ever yours, Alicia.”

 Perfect. Such innocuous news
gave just enough information so her aunt wouldn’t worry, and not nearly enough
information that her aunt wouldn’t be able to help but worry.

She folded and sealed the letters
then rang for a servant to post them. She put away her small desk and headed
downstairs to make good on her promise to explore the grounds of Heatherley.

As she strode down the corridor
with the door leading to the gardens, Alicia passed a small room filled with a
large piano and three of Ian’s sisters with their heads bent together in
whispered conversation. She considered calling out a greeting then thought it
best she continue on. Although she was sure they didn’t mean to be
exclusionary, they gave every impression of a close-knit group in the midst of
some discussion, and she didn’t intend to interrupt.

Instead, she let herself out of
the side door and ambled into the gardens, keeping her slippered feet on the
smooth stepping-stones and tipping her head back to enjoy the feel of the warm
sun on her face. The hedges emitted the earthy scent of recent rain, and leaves
rustled overhead to make room for chirping birds amid their branches. Alicia
watched in delight as a small orange butterfly flit from one bush to another,
so entranced that she didn’t notice the presence of anyone else in the garden
until she ran right into her.