Adrian remained unmoved by this display. "Perhaps, but there are too many such cases for me to aid them all personally. I can only effect a material change in their welfare by acting politically."
"Politically?" Alicia echoed in dismay. "Surely you are not going to become one of those ridiculous people who is forever agitating for reform?"
"Agitating for reform." The marquess nodded. "I like the sound of that. Yes, Alicia, I thoroughly intend to agitate for reform. There is so much in this country that needs to be changed, and the need is most urgent. It will take a great deal of
agitation,
as you call it, to fix all that is wrong."
"But, Chalfont, you have a position in society to maintain," his betrothed moaned in horror as she saw her dreams of being hostess to the most brilliant members of the
ton
fading rapidly away to be replaced by the unpleasant picture of her as a neglected wife of one of those dedicated politicians who were frequently too busy promoting their dreadfully unfashionable views to escort their wives to the proper social functions.
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"That is precisely the point. And my position in society demands that I exert all my rank and influence, not to mention wealth and intelligence, to help people who are unable to help themselves."
It was hopeless. Alicia fought the tears of disappointment and betrayal that welled up in her eyes. She knew Chalfont well enough to recognize when his mind was made up. And once his mind had settled on something, his iron will drove him until he had accomplished it, whether it was riding his father's hunter when he was not allowed on anything more spirited than his pony, or going off to fight the French in spite of everyone's objections.
Alicia stifled a sob. She did not deserve this. An incomparable as exquisite and charming as Alicia De Villiers should grace the ballrooms and salons of the most exclusive members of the Upper Ten Thousand, not be forced to consort with politicians who had not the slightest notion of style or elegance, or their equally dull wives who were, more often than not, the most ferocious bluestockings. She gulped again and then raised her chin defiantly. No. She would not endure such a fate. Chalfont would just have to relinquish these ridiculous notions. Somehow she would convince him to leave such things to men with ugly wives. At the moment, Alicia was not precisely certain as to how she was going to accomplish this, but she felt confident of succeeding in the end. After all, she had never met a person, especially a member of the male sex, who could resist her when she truly wanted something. It was merely a matter of 260
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persuading someone to give her what she wanted, and Alicia De Villiers was mistress of the art of getting what she wanted.
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But Alicia had reckoned without the interference of another equally determined young woman. Lady Harriet Fareham was not one to let the grass grow under her feet once she had reached a conclusion and, having decided that Lord Aylward and Alicia were as perfect for each other as Lord Chalfont and Alicia were disastrous, she began her campaign to enlighten them all that very evening at the opera when in response to Lord Aylward's simple inquiry after her enjoyment of the entertainment she allowed herself to wax more eloquent than usual on the beauties and complexities of Mozart's operatic form. Harriet noted with a good deal of satisfaction the bewildered expression on the Earl of Woodbridge's face as she expounded on some of the more technical aspects of the composer's works.
Lord Aylward did his best to nod politely as though he completely followed her line of reasoning, but she could see that her superior knowledge and the intensity of her enthusiasm were making her companion distinctly uncomfortable. "I beg your pardon," Harriet apologized contritely. "I see I am boring you. You must forgive me, but I am someone who likes to delve deeply into whatever strikes my fancy. This superficial acquaintance with things that satisfies the rest of the world is entirely too insufficient for my taste." She could have hugged herself as she saw his eyes widen with alarm. However, Lord Aylward's beautiful manners quickly reasserted themselves as, recovering from his dismay, 262
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he responded politely, "A most commendable sentiment, I am sure."
Having thus alluded to her bluestocking tendencies, Harriet moved rapidly on to the next part of her scheme, which was to provide his lordship with a charming antidote to her eccentric views. She allowed her gaze to travel around the room and light casually on the De Villiers' box where Alicia was doing her best to engage Lord Chalfont in conversation.
"Oh, I vow that is Alicia De Villiers. I have not seen her this age. We were in school together and it would be most remiss of me not to speak to her."
If her artless tone rang thoroughly false to Harriet's ears, it did not appear to do so to Lord Aylward's. Always happy to oblige a lady, he leaped up from his chair. "Pray, allow me to escort you to her box."
It had been too easy, Harriet thought as they made their way through the glittering throng promenading outside the boxes between acts. No wonder Alicia was so bent on making men dance to her tune: it did give one a dangerously heady sense of power. Harriet quickly squelched her misgivings. She was doing this for the benefit of others, and not for herself. And she was immediately rewarded when she saw the salutary effect their visit had on both gentlemen concerned. Lord Chalfont's smile of welcome would have been more than enough to ease her conscience, but Lord Aylward's audible gasp of admiration was most gratifying.
Indeed, Alicia was in her best looks this evening in a white lace dress over a white satin slip. The only ornamentation was a bow of white satin in the center of her bodice which drew 263
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attention to the creamy white skin and gentle curves revealed by her décolletage. This was matched by smaller bows on the short puffed sleeves. The very simplicity of it all called attention to the divine complexion of its wearer and provided a contrast to the dark glossy curls and the brilliant blue eyes set under delicately arched brows. The rosy lips that had drooped somewhat petulantly at Lord Chalfont's obvious lack of interest now parted in a delicious smile of welcome that revealed pearly teeth and two bewitching dimples at either corner of her mouth.
It took less than an instant for Alicia to see that she had completely captivated Lord Aylward. That the Earl of Woodbridge had been a noticeably regular escort of another woman, even if that woman was only her former schoolmate Harriet Fareham, added to the piquancy of the moment. Darting a quick glance out of the corner of her eye at the marquess, who appeared to remain totally unaware of the profound effect she was having on such an eligible man, Alicia greeted the earl with charming enthusiasm. "Harriet, I am so delighted you have made Lord Aylward known to me"—she responded graciously to Harriet's introduction—"for I know he is much admired wherever he goes and I have long wished to make his acquaintance."
For her part, Harriet, who was well aware of Alicia's propensity for putting herself in the situation to meet every possible admirer, was hard put not to laugh at such a bouncer. As it was, she was forced to turn what threatened to be a serious giggle into a cough. Worse yet, she happened to catch the marquess's eye as she did so, and his skeptically 264
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raised eyebrows and wicked grin very nearly overset her. Lord Chalfont had been trying to make her lose her countenance from the very instant they had met and by now she was more than a match for him. Besides, Harriet had her own plans to put forward, which involved asking him if he had had the opportunity to peruse Mr. Robert Wilson's article in
The Edinburgh Review
addressing the high price of corn and labor and their effects on the farming interests.
"No, I have not read the article, though I have not been as idle as you might think. I spent a good deal of time this morning with Brougham himself who is preparing a speech to deliver to Parliament on that very subject. Of course he had a great deal to say to the purpose, but it strikes me that the best way for me to understand the problem is to visit my own estates in Oxfordshire and find out for myself. I have an excellent agent in Tomlinson, but he does his best to keep problems from me rather than burden me with them so I am unlikely to learn anything from that corner. I fear I have been remiss in not doing this long ago."
"But you were away fighting so much of the time, how could you concern yourself with such things? And now, though it is most commendable for you to seek firsthand knowledge of the state of affairs, it is far more important for you to exert yourself in London where you can influence those who are making the laws." Harriet came to his defense. Alicia, who could not bear being without the undivided attention of both the men in the party and therefore had been listening in on the conversation, now seized the opportunity to direct it along more appropriate lines and broke in to the 265
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discussion. "I agree with Harriet, Chalfont. You really have no need of a visit to the country, especially at the height of the Season. People will think it most odd.
"But we should not be talking politics at the theater," Alicia chided her fiancé gently. "It is excessively tedious, do you not find it so, my lord?" She smiled most beguilingly at Lord Aylward.
Put on the spot by such a beautiful lady, his lordship could do nothing but agree before deftly turning the conversation to the far less inflammatory topic of the Countess of Margrave's upcoming rout.
Alicia seized on the subject gratefully. "I do look forward to it. They say she always offers the most unusual entertainment to be found anywhere. It is rumored that she has even convinced Catalani to come over from Paris to favor the guests with an appearance, though I do not see how that could be, for Catalani has become so sought after of late that she can command whatever sum she wishes." Having thoroughly recaptured everyone's attention, Alicia then proceeded to discuss the various performers most admired by the
ton
and those who had fallen from favor. With almost all eyes focused on Alicia, Harriet took advantage of the opportunity to murmur to the marquess, "I did not mean to criticize you, only to absolve you of any selfrecrimination. I think it an excellent idea for you to return to the country and reacquaint yourself with all those whose livelihood depends on you. There is nothing like a personal appearance to elicit true opinions and to reassure everyone of 266
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your continuing concern, especially when times are as difficult as these."
"Thank you. I had hoped you would feel that way." It was a most prosaic response, but Adrian was not successful in hiding the longing in his eyes or his voice and Harriet, acutely aware of him as she was—of his every movement, every gesture, every glance—sensed it immediately. A delicate flush tinged her cheeks making her look even more adorable, and Adrian wanted nothing so much as to have her back in his arms again, to hold her close enough to feel the beating of her heart. As it was, he could only imagine it as he watched the quick rise and fall of her breasts under the delicate net of her corsage.
Taking a deep steadying breath, he clenched his hands at his sides. What was wrong with him? He had lusted after scores of women and eyed hundreds of well-shaped bosoms, but none of them had made his breath catch in his throat as it did now. Perhaps it was because he knew that the heart beating under Harriet's décolletage was a heart in the best sense of the word, one that noticed the sorrows of others, one that felt for them and did its best to alleviate them. There was something infinitely compelling and totally endearing, not to mention unique, about a woman who cared about her fellows as Harriet cared. Adrian had never encountered such a phenomenon before and he found himself totally captivated by it.
They could have sat there forever, each one silently, burningly aware of the other, had not the bell rung for the next act. Harriet jumped as though she had been shot and 267
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looked about her guiltily only to discover the marquess's gaze fixed upon her with an intensity that quite took her breath away. He was not even touching her, yet she felt as close to him as if he were holding her and kissing her the way he had done in the carriage. For a moment she could do nothing but stare back into those compelling amber eyes. Then, with a supreme effort she turned back to Lord Aylward and Alicia, still deep in discussion of the latest
on dits,
both of them completely oblivious to Harriet and Lord Chalfont. Harriet was astonished. She felt as though the whole world must have seen what had passed between her and the marquess as clearly as if they had flung themselves into one another's arms, but apparently such was not the case, for everyone acted very much as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Certainly Alicia had not been aware of anything beyond the blatant admiration in the Earl of Woodbridge's eyes, an admiration that was balm to a pride that had suffered a great deal in the last few days. Except for his title and fortune, Lord Chalfont had never been the most satisfactory of fiancés and recently he had been downright disappointing. In fact, now that Alicia considered it, he had very little to recommend him beyond wealth, rank, and the hero's status that secured him an illustrious place in the
ton.
However, he had never taken advantage of this status and now was actually threatening it with his ridiculous notion of helping the nation politically. While it was true that they had been promised to one another practically from the cradle, he could at least demonstrate some gratitude for having the good fortune to marry someone 268