Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
she stood there, wrap his arms around her, and protect her from it all. Yet he could do nothing except stand and observe, hoping that the bullet would miss her.
When the first shot was fired, it had taken all Wrotham's strength to keep himself from running to catch her, so certain had he been that she would crumple to the ground. But no, she had stood her ground magnificently, taking advantage of O'Hara's wild shot the instant it occurred. At last the major found his voice. "I suggest we repair to my chambers for a well-deserved breakfast. What do you say?"
"Capital idea." Tony beamed. "I am so hungry I could eat a cart horse. I shall see you at your lodgings then." He waved and turned toward the bush to which his mount was tethered. Alex, closely followed by the major, climbed into his carriage. Wrotham rapped on the roof and they were off. Free at last to acknowledge the sting in her arm where her opponent's bullet had grazed it, Alex gingerly felt her sleeve, trying unobtrusively to assess the damage. However, her slight motion did not escape the major's sharp eyes. "You're hurt!" In an instant he was on the seat beside her easing her arm out of her coat.
"It is nothing, the merest scratch." Alex tried to pull the coat back on, but he would have none of it. Without a thought beyond easing the pain that was evident in the way she winced, Christopher undid her cravat, opened her shirt, and slid it off her shoulder to the point where he could see the angry red weal against the smooth white skin. 205
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
Gently his hands explored the wound. "Yes." He sighed in relief. "The skin is barely broken." He pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around her arm, knotting it expertly. "There. A little of Radlett's salve and you'll be right as a trivet in no time." Then, suddenly aware of what he had done, he flushed a deep red under his tan. "I do beg your pardon. I did not mean ... that is to say I had no intention of..."
Alex's eyes twinkled. "Think nothing of it. It is not every day that a man tears my clothes off, I assure you, but nor is it every day that I fight a duel. And, as your action was inspired by the most humanitarian of impulses, I can only thank you for doing so." Almost regretfully she pulled on her sleeve and endeavored to retie her cravat. The major's hands had felt so warm, so comforting against her bare skin that the ache of the wound had almost disappeared. In fact, Alex wished for a brief moment that it had been worse, because it had been so very pleasant to feel his touch—a thought so unnerving that she was rendered completely incapable of managing her cravat.
"Here, let me. You are making mice feet of the whole thing." Christopher removed the cravat from Alex's nerveless grasp and, wrapping it around her neck, fashioned it efficiently and neatly into a creditable imitation of the way she had tied it that morning. "There." The major looked into the green eyes regarding him so trustfully, and for a moment he had an almost irresistible urge to kiss the gently parted lips and the delicate tip of her nose. Quickly banishing such 206
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
unsettling thoughts, he murmured, "I am so glad you are safe."
"So am I," Alex replied softly, not taking her eyes from his. How strong his face was, with its straight nose and square jaw. Even the crinkles at the corners of his eyes from long hours of squinting at the sun lent it character. Yet there was a kindness, almost a tenderness in it as he looked down at her, his expression full of concern.
Here was unfamiliar ground and Alex, unused to such thoughts, hastily tried to direct them elsewhere. Laughing shakily, she continued, "Though I am not entirely surprised to find myself mostly all in one piece. From the moment he issued the challenge, I could tell that O'Hara was even a worse marksman than he was a card player, poor man. How do you suppose he ever managed an entree to White's?" Wrotham seized upon the change of subject gratefully.
"God only knows. Someone must owe him something because he did not get there on his own."
Then, unable to think of anything further to say after the tensions and the revelations of the morning, they both fell silent, each staring blindly out the window, wrapped in thought and oblivious to the passing scene.
207
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
Tony was eagerly awaiting them in Wrotham's chambers, Radlett having supplied him with a tankard of the best ale to be had in the environs. In fact, so exhilarated was he by the events of the morning that he was regaling the major's henchman with a minute-by-minute description of the morning's events when Alex and the major entered. Alex could not help grinning at her brother's highly colored rendition of the encounter, but still she was pleased at his obvious pride in her abilities. How delightful it was to be able to sit down to a companionable rasher of eggs and discuss all me finer points of the affair, from the moment O'Hara had had the effrontery to challenge her until she had turned her back on him at Wimbledon Common. Somehow, Alex could not help comparing it all to the very dull tea parties she was occasionally forced to endure at home in Norfolk, which were sadly lacking in the exuberance and the generous spirit present at the moment. Casting back mentally, she realized that with the notable exception of her sister and her mother, Alex had never heard one woman praise another in her entire life as the major was now praising her. How she longed for all this—the camaraderie, the adventure, the actual living of life and the sharing of its dangers and challenges with other people—to go on forever, but she knew that she had only a week at the most to enjoy this and then it was back to Norfolk and her customary routine.
208
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
Now that she had won back the money Alexander owed and then some, every minute Alex spent in London was taking money from the children and Halewood. That morning before she had left for Wimbledon, she had penned a note to Ally, informing her of the success of her visit and requesting her to send Ned with the carriage and Trajan. At least dressed as a man she could enjoy some of the journey riding her horse until they were in the neighborhood of Halewood.
"...think that we shall be shipping out within the week." Tony's voice broke into his sister's reverie.
"Have you been called up, then?" the major inquired.
"Yes." Tony looked sheepish, for not wanting to cause his sister worry, he had delayed telling her until absolutely necessary. "I would have told you, Alex, only I just found out about it and the duel put it clean out of my mind."
"Well, that should stop your complaining about having to rot in London while the Corsican monster is gobbling up all of Europe," his sister said, grinning in Tony's direction.
"Yes. It is time someone stopped him." But somehow Tony did not sound as excited by the prospect of action as he once would have.
Alex quirked a teasing eyebrow at her brother and he blushed vividly. "You see, Lucinda and her mother were counting on my escort to several upcoming routs, and now they will be forced to go alone," Tony confessed shamefacedly.
His sister took pity on him. "Having seen her I feel certain that she is the type of woman who admires a man who does his duty toward his country far more than she does the bucks 209
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
who while away their useless existence on the town. You could hardly hope to impress her by remaining here while all of Europe is in danger."
"You think so?" Captain de Montmorency said, sounding relieved.
"Most definitely. I know I should feel that way. Don't you agree?" Alex turned to the major.
"Indubitably," he agreed, winking at Alex. "Where do you sail from?"
"Ramsgate."
"Ah yes. Wellington should be pleased that we are mobilizing at last."
"And so should you," Alex interjected. "For it seems as though your efforts are at last having some effect. I hope it is not too little too late."
"So do I." The major sighed. Most sisters would have been greatly distressed at the thought of their brother's leaving for war, and certainly none could be as fond of a brother as Alex was of hers, but here she was calmly discussing his departure as though it were no more than a trip to Brighton. Examining her more closely, he could barely detect the worry in her eyes, but beyond that there was not the slightest indication that she was putting up a brave front. Christopher wished desperately that he could offer her some words of assurance and comfort, but in all honesty he could not. He knew, as any seasoned soldier knew, that the imminent struggle with Napoleon was bound to be a grim one and of epic proportions.
210
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
Striving for a lighter note, the major turned to Alex, inquiring, "Now that you have won what you set out to and have made yourself a name as a gamester to be reckoned with, shall you return to Norfolk or stay on to increase the family fortune?"
"Ah, it is high time I returned to see that all has not gone to rack and ruin in my absence. Ally is a dear and runs a household beautifully, but there is a great deal to be done about the estate—fences to be repaired, livestock to be purchased, cottages to be put to rights. Besides, if I were to remain here any longer I might be completely seduced by Dame Fortune." She smiled ruefully. "It is rather more exciting here than in Norfolk, you know."
"Certainly you make it so, fire-eater that you are." The major grinned.
"Now that is not fair," Alex protested. "The duel was none of my doing."
"Of course you did not start it, but given the opportunity, you took it eagerly enough. Clearly if you were presented with an opportunity for an existence more lively than the one you have in Norfolk you would have plunged yourself into one scrape after another."
"Too true," her brother said, laughing. "You don't want to offer Alex a challenge of any kind for she is like to forget that she is only made of flesh and bone and will take on anything, no matter how dangerous."
"I can see we shall have to offer you enough of interest in your last days here to keep you so stimulated you stay out of trouble when you return home." Wrotham smiled at Alex in a 211
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
way that made her feel as though making her enjoy her remaining time in London was the most important thing in the world to him.
The major was as good as his word, thinking up one amusement after another until she was too distracted to consider her return home or her brother's imminent departure, which occurred not too many days thereafter. He called at the Clarendon one fine morning just as Alex and the major were returning from an early ride in the park, remarking sotto voce as they climbed the stairs to Alex's chambers, "I did not think it quite the thing for the regiment to see my brother clinging to me as we said farewell."
"As if I would," his sister began indignantly. "I am not such a poor creature." Nevertheless, her eyes were misty as she hugged him.
Watching them from his place by the fire, Wrotham felt a tug at his own heart as he saw their fondness and concern for each other. For the first time in his life he wished that there was someone who cared as much for him, someone to wish him a farewell and Godspeed when he left.
But the major had one more task to accomplish before taking up his own duties on the Continent. He was determined to escort Alex back to Norfolk despite her brother's assurance that there was no need to do so. "Awfully good of you, old fellow," Tony had responded gratefully to the major's suggestion, "but she is as capable as you or I and she won't thank you for not seeing that."
"I know." Christopher smiled ruefully. "And I know that it is entirely possible that she could handle anything that came 212
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
her way as well as I could, but"—he paused, struggling for the words that would convey his thoughts—"it is just that if anything did happen that was at all upsetting to her, I should like to be there."
Tony nodded sympathetically. "So should I, but believe me, I have been feeling that way for years and nothing has yet come along that she has not been more than equal to."
"Yes. I expect that is so." The major had bidden good-bye to Tony without further discussion, wishing him a pleasant journey and promising to look him up when he had made his way to the Continent, but he had continued to mull it over in his mind as he made his way to his own hotel. Tony was undoubtedly correct in his assertion that Alex would in all likelihood continue to conquer every problem that came her way. After all, Wrotham had met very few men who were as resourceful as she was. However, that was not the issue. Her brother had entirely missed the point that the major had been trying to make, which was that he not only wanted to help her with an actual crisis, should it arise, he also wanted to spare her the responsibility of having to come up with ways to get herself out of any possible fixes. Sometimes, thinking of ways to solve problems was just as tiresome and draining as actually dealing with them. The oddest thing was that he did not know whether he wanted to do this for Alex or for himself. Christopher had never before encountered someone he respected and admired as much as Lady Alexandra de Montmorency, and he wished, in some indefinable way, to show her this. But how was he to 213
Lady Alex's Gamble
by Evelyn Richardson
do this, other than helping her and encouraging her in the role that she had already selected for herself?
In addition, he liked to think that as their friendship had grown, perhaps she had come to feel the same way about him. He wanted her to like and trust him as much as he did her. He wanted to be the sort of person who was strong enough and clever enough to be able to be of material assistance to her, though being of assistance to someone as capable as Alex was quite a challenge. He wanted—the major, who had been striding blindly along Piccadilly, suddenly came to a halt. What did he want?