Authors: Connie Mason
London
1782
The journey across the water to England was a nightmare Alexa hoped never to experience again. She was seasick the entire time at sea, no doubt due to her pregnancy. The only good to come out of it was that Charles did not approach her sexually. In fact, she rarely saw him, consumed as he was with his duties as captain.
Unbeknownst to Alexa. Charles and much of the world save for America, by the time they reached English soil Cornwallis had already surrendered and the war was all but over. But the news would not reach them yet for many weeks. In the meantime, still weak and far too thin. Alexa was virtually Charles Whitlaw’s prisoner.
Charles whisked her from his ship to his London town-house without allowing her to see or speak to anyone. Truth to tell she was in no condition to face family or friends and was grateful for the seclusion of Charles’s house where she might rest and recuperate.
By this time Alexa’s pregnancy was clearly noticeable
and Charles ordered her confined to the house. But after a mere two weeks of rest and wholesome food Alexa’s condition improved greatly and the inactivity was galling, especially after her activities as the Vixen. Though Charles provided excellent care, and his servants were informed that she was soon to become Charles’s wife and they should treat her accordingly, Alexa longed to visit her father to learn for herself if he still harbored strong feelings against her. Mainly she wanted to enlist his help.
Then there was her old retainer Maddy, who was more of a mother to her than servant. Two weeks was long enough to remain in bed and Alexa was determined to go to Ashley House despite Charles’s warning to the contrary.
Though Charles still wanted Alexa, her state of pregnancy definitely turned him off sexually, and he was content to visit his clubs and cavort with actresses until she was rid of her unwelcome burden. It was not Charles’s nature to remain faithful to one woman for any length of time, and since he could not possess the woman he wanted at the moment, he felt no compunction about taking his comfort elsewhere. Nevertheless, he demanded Alexa’s presence in his house, threatening to turn her over to the authorities should she leave him for any reason. The name Vixen was well-known in England and he was careful to point out that she would most certainly hang the moment her child was born should she be revealed. Unreasonable as it might sound, as long as Alexa’s hair remained the color of pale gold, she lived in Charles’s eyes as the Vixen. A woman he wanted above all others. A woman around whom dreams were spun.
Alexa was gratified that she was not called upon to satisfy Charles’s sexual needs and that he left her much
on her own. It presented her with the oppportunity to seek her own diversion. One beautiful spring day she deliberately disobeyed Charles’s orders and set out for Ashley House in a hired conveyance. A wide cape concealed her rounded shape and she tugged nervously at her blond hair, wondering if her father would recognize her and allow her entrance.
Hesitantly, Alexa lifted the brass knocker and let it drop with a resounding bang, then stood back to wait. Nothing. Twice more she used the knocker with no results and was about to give up when a small, white-haired woman peeped out through a crack in the door.
“Can I help you, miss?” asked the woman in a kindly manner.
“Maddy?” Alexa gaped, shocked at how much the housekeeper had aged. “Is that you Maddy?”
“Do I know you, miss?” Maddy asked, peering owlishly at Alexa over rimless glasses.
“Oh, Maddy, it’s me, Alexa!”
“Oh, no, miss!” Maddy protested vigorously. “Lady Alexa had hair as black as night, and I heard she is in America. For all I know she could be dead.”
“Not dead, Maddy. Very much alive. And I’ve come back.” She stepped closer to the nearsighted woman. “Take a good look then tell me you don’t know me.”
Wordlessly Maddy obeyed, staring at Alexa an inordinately long time before abruptly bursting into tears. “Oh, Lord, oh dear God, it is you, my lady. You’ve come back!”
The door opened wide and Alexa stepped inside. The hall was cool, the house, from what she could see, clean and orderly. But somehow Alexa sensed it had been unoccupied for a long time. The feeling persisted as she followed Maddy into the drawing room, becoming an eerie premonition when she saw dust covers shrouding
all the lovely furniture she remembered so well.
“Maddy, why is everything covered up?” Alexa asked, alarmed. “Where is my father? Surely he can’t still be in the country. Is he sick?”
Maddy’s tears grew more copious as she regarded Alexa pityingly. “Sit down, Lady Alexa,” she urged, whisking a cover from one of Alexa’s favorite chairs. Certain she was not going to like what Maddy was about to tell her, Alexa obeyed.
“What is wrong, Maddy? It’s all right, you can tell me.”
Knowing of no way to soften the shock, Maddy said, “Your father is dead, my lady. He lived but one year after you left. The doctor said it was his heart. It came on so sudden I never expected …”
“Dead! And I never knew!” Alexa lamented, recalling not those terrible moments when she had been forced to leave home, but the good times when she was growing up the adored daughter of Sir John Ashley. Without a moment’s hesitation she forgave him for any wrong he might have done her, for in his own way he had been terribly hurt by her mother. Now it all seemed so long ago and insignificant.
“We tried to find you, Alexa,” Maddy continued sadly. “Your father’s solicitor traced you to America and learned you had married that Lord Penwell. Is it true?”
“Aye, I married Adam. It’s a long story and one day I’ll tell you. But why were the lawyers trying to find me?”
“Why, to settle the estate, of course,” Maddy said, surprised that she should even ask. “It’s all yours now, this house, the country estate, the land, all the money; your father left everything to you.”
Alexa’s eyes popped open and she gaped at Maddy in disbelief. “My father did not disinherit me? After all he said and did?”
“You didn’t see him after you left, my lady. A sorrier
man you’ve never seen. Once you were gone I think he began to realize just how much you meant to him. He wasn’t the same after that.”
“But to leave everything to me,” Alexa whispered, still shaken.
“It was his way of making amends,” Maddy told her. “And believe me, Alexa, your cousin Billy Ashley was enraged to learn everything had gone to you. I expect he was counting heavily on your father’s wealth.”
Alexa frowned, remembering Billy as a distant cousin, a brash young man who would go through her father’s fortune like water through a sieve.
“Now that you’re home you have but to sign the papers and move into your home,” Maddy expounded happily. “Is … er … your husband with you?”
Immediately Alexa looked so distraught that Maddy was sorry she had asked. “N-no, Maddy, Adam is still in America,” Alexa finally answered.
“No matter,” Maddy replied briskly. “I’ll have your room prepared immediately. Most of the old servants are still employed to keep the place in order. The same is true for the country estate.”
“Maddy, wait! I can’t stay here. Not yet, anyway.”
“Can’t stay here?” Maddy blinked. “Why ever not? Where will you go?”
“I told you it was a long story, Maddy, but I’m staying with Charles Whitlaw for the time being.”
“Charles! Your ex-fiancé? The man who deserted you? Surely you jest!”
“I wish it were a joke, Maddy, but it’s the truth. And … and I’m not at liberty to leave his protection.”
Maddy bristled indignantly. “What’s that scoundrel up to, my lady? Have you left your husband for Charles? I think you’d best tell me everything.”
“Oh, Maddy, I don’t know where to begin or how to
tell you all I’ve been or done.”
“At the begining, Alexa,” Maddy said softly, settling her ample frame more deeply into the chair. “Start from the day you left here carrying Lord Penwell’s child. Where is the child, by the way? Did you leave it at Charles’s house?”
“I lost the baby,” Alexa sighed heavily, recalling vividly that painful time in her life. Then she went on to relate all that had happened to her during the intervening years, leaving out nothing but her present pregnancy. When she began the story involving the Vixen, Maddy grew round-eyed with shock.
“Oh, no, my lady! There’s not a person in England who hasn’t heard of the Vixen or the Fox. Are you truly her?”
“Truly,” smiled Alexa impishly. “Blond hair and all. And Adam is the Fox. Only I didn’t know it for a long time.”
“I’ve always known you were incorrigible, Alexa, but I never realized to what extent. You must love your adopted country greatly to defend it so vigorously. It’s obvious that you love your husband also. I’m happy you’ve found true love after all you’ve gone through.”
“Oh, Maddy, I haven’t told you everything yet,” wailed Alexa, clearly distraught. “Adam thinks I’ve left him, to be with Charles. He thinks I no longer love him. I was forced by Charles to say terrible things to Adam and he probably hates me.”
Comprehension dawned and Maddy drew in a deep breath. “Charles knows you are the Vixen and is holding it over your head! He released Adam only after he had your promise to accompany him back to England.”
“Aye,” Alexa flushed darkly. “I had no choice in the matter. They were going to hang Adam. What else could I do? Evidently Charles wanted me enough to agree to my conditions. We have a … pact.”
“And what of your husband, Alexa?”
“He’s alive, Maddy, that’s all that matters. One day I’ll go to him and explain. After the war is over and Charles no longer is a threat to either of us.”
“I wish there was something I could do to help you, my lady.” Maddy shook her head sadly. “The thought that you are forced to … to … bed that cur against your will is reprehensible. If only your father still lived this wouldn’t be happening. This time he would protect you.”
“I had hoped for as much, Maddy. That’s why I came today. But … I haven’t become Charles’s mistress, not yet, anyway. You see,” she confided, flinging aside her concealing cape, “I’m pregnant. With Adam’s child. I’ve been able so far to hold Charles at bay because of it, but once my baby is born, I don’t know.”
“You’ve still a few months, Alexa. We’ll think of something before then,” Maddy promised, measuring Alexa’s girth with an experienced eye.
“Perhaps,” Alexa sighed uncertainly as she started to rise. So much time had elapsed as she related all the events since she left England that Alexa had not realized the lateness of the hour. “I really must go, Maddy. Charles will be furious should he come home and find me gone.”
“That coward hasn’t harmed you in any way, has he?” Maddy asked anxiously as she scanned Alexa’s features for telltale bruises.
“No, nothing like that,” Alexa said, stifling a giggle. “I think he’s half-afraid of me. Of the Vixen, anyway. He’s seen her in action and knowns what she is capable of. But should he choose he can still turn me over to the authorities, and for now that gives him the advantage. That and the fact that I’d do almost anything to protect my child.”
Soon afterwards Alexa took her leave, but not before
Maddy reminded her to pay a visit to her father’s solicitors as soon as possible.
Alexa did not arrive back before Charles. Fearful that it might prove too difficult to leave the house again, she decided to call on her father’s lawyer immediately. Mr. Carter, a partner in the firm of Carter and Bigelow, was extremely happy to see her, for his firm had spent considerable time and money looking for the lost daughter of Sir John Ashley.
“I’m relieved you’ve finally showed up, my dear young lady,” enthused Carter vigorously. “We had just about given up hope. To make matters worse we’ve had that damn, ahem, excuse the language,” he apologized, “… rake, Billy Ashley riding us. He is determined to have himself declared heir. If you hadn’t shown up soon … well, you’re here now, and that’s all that counts.”
“Thank you for not giving up on me, Mr. Carter,” Alexa smiled winningly.
“It’s what your father wanted,” confided Carter. “I was with him when he died, you know. He charged me with telling you he was sorry for everything and hoped you’d forgive him. He said you’d understand what he was talking about.”
“Aye,” nodded Alexa, choking back the tears. “All has been forgiven.”
“Then let’s get to the papers, Lady Alexa. I’ve had them prepared and waiting for just this moment. You’ll find everything is in order.”
“I’m certain they are, Mr. Carter,” Alexa smiled as she began the process of affixing her name to the legal documents.
Then suddenly Carter noticed she was signing as Alexa Ashley Foxworth. Countess of Penwell. “You’ve married, my lady!” he exclaimed.
“Aye, is there a problem with that, Mr. Carter?”
“Well, no, not really. It’s just that under the law all your property passes into the hands of your husband.”
Alexa had in fact forgotten those archaic laws but in this instance it made little difference to her. Should Adam ever come back to her and forgive her, she would gladly hand over to him everything she owned. Aloud she said, “When Lord Penwell returns to England I’m certain he will be happy to administer my estate.”
Carter sighed audibly, relieved that the sticky situation had resolved itself so effortlessly. “Then I hope everything has been handled to your satisfaction. Will you move in immediately?”
“No,” Alexa hedged, rising slowly to accommodate her bulk. “Perhaps later. For the time being I’ve made … other arrangements. But I wish the staff retained and paid from the estate funds until either my husband or myself can see to things ourselves.”
“Of course, Lady Alexa,” Carter assured her competently. “My firm will continue to handle your affairs just as we’ve done since your father’s death. I can see you are in no condition,” he tried not to ogle her bulging abdomen, “to take care of these matters yourself. Rest assured your interests are in good hands.”
“Thank you, Mr. Carter,” Alexa said graciously.
“If you are in need of funds,” Carter reminded her as she prepared to depart, “you have only to draw them from your bank account. I’ll apprise them immediately of your return and instruct them accordingly.”