Rivals of Fortune / The Impetuous Heiress (43 page)

An uncomfortable, tedious, pointless journey, Alicia thought several hours later, is a very good way to learn about a person. She was feeling far from charitable. After racing to her house and flinging on her blue velvet riding habit, she had only time to give Lavinia the most sketchy of explanations before the earl arrived and demanded she mount up. This might have been barely tolerable had they proceeded to ride hard on the trail of Lady Cairnyllan. Alicia still thought their quest nonsensical, but the thrill of the chase might have stifled her doubts.

They did not, however. They spent the rest of the morning and the first part of the afternoon trying one after another of the main London roads, describing the objects of their search and seeking news of their route. As they started with the north, because Cairnyllan was fixed on Gretna Green, they did not uncover any traces until well after noon, for it appeared that Sir Thomas and Lady Cairnyllan had headed southwest. Their description was confirmed in two inns along that road.

“You see,” Alicia remarked on the second occasion. “They cannot be eloping. Why would they come this way?”

“There are rectors to marry them in all directions. They are not under age, after all.”

“You might have thought of that this morning when we were scouring the Great North Road. In fact, you might have sent servants to do this questioning. We have wasted hours.”

“Servants are much less likely to get information,” Cairnyllan replied. He was keeping his temper better than Alicia during this ride.

“We shall never catch them now, you know,” she retorted. “They are a day and a half ahead. Even on horseback, we—”

“You may turn back whenever you like.”

This silenced her for a moment. Then she objected, “Alone?”

“I will hire a groom at one of the inns to escort you.”

Alicia fumed at his calm and ready answers. She had no intention of leaving him to go on without her. “Why are you doing this, really? You must see you cannot succeed.”

He considered. “I'm not precisely certain. At first, I was driven by the strong feeling that I must make amends before my mother took such a decisive step in her life. So as to start fresh, you see. Now…” He paused. “It may be I am simply using the excuse to get out of London and go adventuring.” He grinned at her. “You needn't indulge my whim. I will hire you a post chaise if you desire it.”

Alicia shook her head quickly.

His grin widened. “Perhaps you have something of the same feeling? Admit you were weary of the round of balls and parties. Is this not twenty times better?” He gestured at the countryside around them.

“I came merely to prevent you from doing anything idiotic,” she answered. But he had touched some kindred chord in her, and she avoided his eyes.

“Of course.” He laughed. “Only that could explain this
extremely
unconventional journey. I assume it is not your habit to travel unattended with a single gentleman.” He was teasing her, but there were echoes of the past in his question that made Alicia fume.

“I am not!
You
cause me to behave in wholly uncharacteristic ways.”

“Indeed? I wonder why that is?”

“Because you are so infuriating. You haven't the least vestige of polish or civilized manners.”

“Even yet?” he responded cheerfully. “Then London hasn't ruined me.”

Alicia glared at his smiling, carefree face, and her lips twitched. This ride brought back echoes of their first meetings and made her humiliations seem trivial. After a few moments' valiant battle with herself, she burst out laughing. “You really are impossible.”

“And
you
are adorable.”

Alicia almost stopped breathing at what she saw in his eyes.

“We shan't get a chance like this again,” added Cairnyllan, “to ride off alone on a quest. Let us enjoy it to the full before we go home again.”

“I believe you read too many fairy tales as a boy,” responded Alicia, but she smiled.

“Indeed, I always longed for a dragon and a fair maiden in distress.” He flourished his riding crop. “I knew I should make an admirable knight.”

Thinking that this teasing comment was more revealing than he meant, Alicia smiled again and nodded. “Very well. But if we
should
happen to find your mother, I hope you will remember that she is unlikely to need rescuing.”

He shrugged. “Perhaps they have been attacked by highwaymen while on a country drive.”

“Don't say such things!” Alicia could not help checking the road behind them.

The earl laughed. “I was joking. Come, let us see what our horses can do on this flat stretch.” He spurred his mount to a gallop, Alicia just behind him, and in the lively minutes that followed, both thrust objections and worries aside and gave themselves up to enjoyment of the day.

The journey went better after that. They lunched at an inn on bread and cheese and apples and rode on into the afternoon talking and laughing at one another's jests. Alicia's earlier thought recurred. One could indeed learn a great deal about a man under these conditions. And the things she was learning confirmed her love for Ian MacClain. She even dared to think that perhaps all was not lost.

They got news of Lady Cairnyllan and Sir Thomas about midafternoon, at an inn where the older couple had stopped to lunch. By this time, Alicia was beginning to think that they should turn back. It was very well to talk of adventuring, but if they did not start home soon they would not return to London before tomorrow, and she was not unconventional enough to wish for that. But when she suggested giving up, Cairnyllan wouldn't hear of it. “It is scarcely two,” he insisted. “We must go on a little further.” And because she hated to disappoint him, as well as to end a wonderful day, Alicia agreed.

They rode on as the sun moved down the western sky, its light turning from white to gold and slanting into their faces. A mood of deep contentment descended upon them; they said little now, but each could feel the other's quiet happiness.

“We will inquire at that inn,” said Cairnyllan, pointing to a low building ahead, “and if we find out nothing new, we will turn back. Riding hard, we can reach London before full night. We wasted much of the morning, remember.”

He sounded reluctant, and Alicia threw him a grateful glance. He was clearly doing this for her. Had she felt his mission was important, she might have urged him to go on without her then.

The inn, The Green Dragon, was welcoming. Ruddy light shone from all the lower windows, and inside, the front parlor was paneled in polished wood. Alicia sank gratefully into an armchair. She was not used to riding so long.

“Yes, sir, madam,” said the landlord, hurrying in wiping his hands on a cloth. He was short but very fat, and his round face glowed with perspiration.

“We are looking for some friends of ours,” said Cairnyllan, using the story he had told all along the road. “They ought to have passed here yesterday. An older couple—the woman small and dark and the gentleman tall and slender with gray hair. They were in a carriage and—”

“You wouldn't be meaning Sir Thomas, would you?” interrupted the man, frowning.

“Sir Thomas Bentham. Yes indeed!” Cairnyllan threw Alicia a triumphant glance and leaned forward.

“You say you're friends of his?” The innkeeper seemed suspicious.

“From London,” agreed the earl.

“Ah? Well, why don't you go on to the house then?”

“House?” Cairnyllan looked blank, then frowned.

“That is just it,” put in Alicia quickly. “We have stupidly lost the paper on which my, er, brother wrote the direction. We thought we should never find our way.”

Alicia's silver-blond hair and pale blue eyes seemed to have a softening effect on the landlord. “I can tell you that easy enough,” he replied, his expression lightening. “Many's the time I've delivered a cask or keg to Linden—since I was a lad and my father ran this inn. For the old squire was as openhanded as his son; the Fermors are all so, they say.”

“I suppose that is why Sir Thomas enjoys visiting so much,” replied Alicia before the earl could speak. She saw that he was looking both puzzled and annoyed.

The innkeeper shrugged. “It makes it pleasant, but a man can't help visiting his sister now and then.”

“Of course not. Sir Thomas's sister is married to the squire?” Alicia glanced at Cairnyllan; he looked astonished.

“I thought you were friends of his,” answered the man, suspicious again.

“Actually, we are friends of the lady who accompanied him,” she admitted. “That is why we did not know the way.”

“Ah, Sir Thomas's fiangsay. A very lovely lady.”

“Yes.” Alicia was trying not to laugh.

“Shall I point the way to Linden, then?” asked the innkeeper.

“I am very tired,” said Alicia. “It was a long ride. Might we rest here a little while? And perhaps have something to eat?”

“Of course, miss, of course.” The round little man rubbed his hands together and reeled off a list of the viands available. Alicia made her choices, and he hurried out again.

When he was gone, there was a short silence. Then, unable to restrain herself any longer, Alicia started to laugh. She put her hand over her mouth, but could not stop. Cairnyllan looked disgusted.

“Visiting his sister,” she managed after a while. “A terrible thing indeed. How could he dare anything so shocking?”

The earl moved impatiently. “Why did my mother not tell me, then? If it was nothing but an innocent visit, why keep it a secret?”

“Because you had been acting so bearish. After the way you behaved at that ball, I should have done just the same.”

“But—”

“Oh, Ian, I am sorry, but it is not a glorious adventure after all. Nothing could be more natural than for Sir Thomas to wish his ‘fiangsay' to meet his family.” She smiled. “I certainly hope they take the news more quietly than you did.”

He sank into another chair and put his forehead in his hand. “So, I've been a fool again?”

He sounded so dejected that she could not agree. She rose and went to put a hand on his shoulder. “We had a lovely day.”

Cairnyllan raised his eyes. “You did not say that this morning.”

“No. This morning was…”

He laughed, and Alicia, relieved at his rapid recovery, joined him.

“So it has been a chapter of accidents all along,” said the earl after a while. “I suppose we must eat our dinner and hurry back to London before your cousin assumes that
we
have eloped.” He paused, waiting.

Once again, Alicia had difficulty breathing. She felt as if she couldn't possibly speak, yet it was imperative that she do so. “There is no question of that,” she managed at last.

Cairnyllan shook his head regretfully. “I suppose not. But I must say, I've never relished the thought of a great wedding. All that fuss and bother. Must a duke's daughter be sent off with a flourish? Think how much better it would be to simply visit a parson and get the knot tied.”

“How can you joke?” Alicia bit her lower lip and turned away.

“We could have the bans published this very Sunday. Or I will ride for a special license, if you like. We are both of age. You could return to town as my countess.”

“Ian!”

Hearing real pain in her voice, he fell silent, then moved closer. “I beg your pardon. I thought that making a joke of the matter might make it easier to tell you what I could not seem to say earlier. I love you. Last night, I could not sleep at all. I walked about London thinking of you, and finally saw that I love you with all my heart. I believe I am the greatest fool in nature. I have loved you for weeks, but I was too stubborn to admit it.”

Alicia drew her breath in sharply, all her fears of the morning dissolving. “But you know I loved you almost from the moment we met!”

“Can you still? After the way I have behaved?” He held out a hand.

“Yes,” murmured Alicia, too happy to think of the past.

In an instant he had pulled her into his arms. At first they merely clung together, like two people who have survived some deadly peril. Then slowly, as each realized that the uncertainty was past, they relaxed. Alicia raised her head from his shoulder and met his eyes, and Cairnyllan bent his head and kissed her.

It was both like and unlike their previous embraces. The passion was there and the white heat of emotion. But a new element had been added, Alicia was flooded with a happiness greater than any she had ever felt. It seemed as she gave herself up to the kiss that nothing could go wrong for her again. And though she knew this was illusion, she reveled in the rising joy.

The earl too was elated. He could scarcely believe in his luck after the blunders he had made. He kissed her eyelids, her silver-blond hair, her cheeks, then captured her lips again, feeling the eager response along the length of her body. He had not imagined he could feel this mixture of desire and tenderness.

It was some time before they drew apart and faced one another again. Both were flushed and breathing quickly, eyes shining. What they saw in each other's faces made them smile. “Will you marry me?” asked the earl, as if completing some superfluous form. “Will you come and live in Scotland?”

“Oh, no,” replied Alicia with a smile.

“What?” He stared at her, thunderstruck.

“I will not
live
in Scotland. I shall be happy to stay there a large part of the year, but I must also watch over Morlinden, and I insist on spending at least a portion of the Season in town.” She grinned impishly.

He closed his eyes and let out his breath. “
Don't
do that again.”

Alicia laughed. “I'm sorry. Of course I will marry you. You may recall that I first suggested it.”

“I prefer not to, for then I must also remember that I behaved like a coxcomb.”