Lady Ellingham and the Theft of the Stansfield Necklace: A Regency Romance (10 page)

      Alex left Upper Brook
Street and returned home via a visit to White’s Club.  It had been quite an
eventful day and he decided to retire early.  He could not believe how relieved
he was that Felicity was relatively unharmed after today’s skirmish.  It was
not his business for she was not his responsibility but he found himself
ardently wishing that she were.  She was bent on independence, yet she was warm
and endearing and had no thought for herself.  Her husband would certainly need
a good amount of understanding and be able to deal with the unexpected. She
certainly was full of surprises and one could never quite know what she would
do next.  Alex smiled to himself, no wonder she did not marry, for not many men
would be able to handle her, but he was such a man.  Richard was certainly
sorely tried.  Life certainly would never be boring if Lady Felicity Ellingham
was part of it.

      Thorndale’s valet helped
him undress and then he retired to his own quarters taking Alex’s boots with him
for their daily polish. Alex was still thinking about Felicity when he climbed
into bed and he found himself dreaming about her when he went to sleep.  The
events of the last two weeks were twisted into some form of strange narrative
that was confused nonsense. He tossed and turned, she was galloping toward his
carriage but this time she fell off her horse and was hurt and he was pulling
his fingers through his hair in desperation, for the doctor was waiting at the
meeting place for the combatants to arrive and he could not locate him. Then
she was lying on the ground in Regent Street in a pool of blood and he walked
up to her, helped her off the ground and asked her if she would like to dance. They
waltzed all of the way down Regent Street and then suddenly she pulled away and
left him, and he watched as she playfully skipped away out of his reach
laughing.  She was wearing a grey pelisse and heavily veiled. Alex woke up in a
sweat, the realisation coming to him through the stupor of his waking moments.
He pulled his fingers through his dark unkempt hair. Felicity was the woman in
the grey pelisse!

      It made sense, she was
of the same height and her countenance and demeanour were the same.  The Lady
had obviously disguised her voice but now in his inner consciousness he
recognised the underlying soft, sultry tones. It was Felicity, it had to be and
all at once, he knew it.  The mystery nagging in his sub-conscious revealed
itself.  It was half past five in the morning and he knew that he was going to
get no more sleep. He padded over to the window and looked out.  It was raining
hard again and it looked like it was going to be another miserable day.  He had
to clear his head; rain or no rain he was going out. There was nothing like an
early morning gallop through Hyde Park when no one else was about.

      Arriving at Hyde Park,
he turned his horse into rotten row and steadied him for the gallop.  It was
strictly against regulations but it was early.  It was raining hard and the
park was deserted.  The opportunity to gallop in London was rare, his stallion
was gently bucking in anticipation, a gentle squeeze of the knees, and he was
off.  Alex felt the wind and the rain on his face and could almost feel the
freedom of the open road.  He asked himself, was he angry? No, he was not;
rather he had the exhilarating feeling that came with discovery.  One thing was
certain, if Felicity proved well enough later in the day, he would confront her
about it.   There were still things he needed to know; how had Felicity come
into possession of the Stansfield necklace? Did she know the identity of the
young man who had broken into his home that night?  He was beginning to know
her, had she put herself in danger and confronted Adrian Entwhistle? Good Lord
he hoped not, but as he came to realise, there was nothing that Lady Felicity Ellingham
would not do for her friends. There was so much going on in his head and he
needed answers.

      As it was, Alex did
not have to wait until the hour of the customary morning visits, which usually
occurred in the afternoon, to see Felicity again. As he galloped along the
south side toward Hyde Park Corner, another horse loomed up out of the grey
mist. The rider obviously had the same intent as him for the horse was coming
fast.  He slowed as it approached and the other rider did the same.  It was not
until she was upon him than he realised who it was.  She wore the same riding
habit as she had done the morning she had rode out to Kenwood Pond on the heath.
She looked flushed, rosy and very wet and the sliver grey feather in her hat drooped
sadly, looking rather sorry.  At first he could not believe his eyes and then
much to his chagrin realised that perhaps he could believe it, after all it was
not the first time he had known her to take an early morning ride on her own.

      They stopped to greet
each other.  She looked at him intently, wondering if she was going to get a
lecture on propriety.  He seemed to know what she was thinking and just laughed.
‘Glad to see you in such high spirits, you looked decidedly out or sorts
yesterday when I saw you.’

      ‘Well,’ she replied
rather pleased she was not going to get a sermon. ‘It is a wonder what a good
night’s sleep can do and I was ordered to bed far too early.  I woke up early
this morning quite refreshed although my head is still quite tender.’ She
touched her temple gingerly. ‘You will not tell Richard will you?’

      ‘I would if I thought
it would stop you but somehow I do not think so,’ he mused.

      ‘No,’ she admitted
rather flatly. ‘But it would cause a jolly good row and I would rather avoid it
if I could. He does not mind so much at home in Yorkshire but here in London he
would definitely cause a scene.’

      ‘Then we shall be
careful not to tell him but you must know Felicity, that London is not as safe
as you would have it.’

      Felicity gave him a
weak smile, unlike Alex she was not thinking of the cutpurse yesterday, but of her
episode with the footpad, and she certainly was not about to reveal that.  ‘I
have discovered that sir, but I feel quite safe on Artemis, she can outrun the
wind.’

Alex climbed down off his stallion
and reached up for her. ‘Walk with me for a little while,’ he said. ‘I want to
talk to you.’ She reached down and took his hand.  She evidently did not need
much assistance but he pulled her down and caught her firmly to him anyway. He
held her for a moment before he let her go and she felt her heart miss a beat. 
She took a deep breath as he relinquished his touch and smoothed down her
skirts in an attempt to distract herself. Alex watched her; even in the soaking
wet, she looked quite lovely.  She held her face up to catch the rain. ‘I just
love the rain don’t you?’

‘Not this bloody year I
don’t, I am heartily sick of it but it cannot go on forever.’ Felicity smiled,
‘Yes perhaps we have had a little too much of it and I have missed our picnics
and our regular trips to Richmond Park.’

 Alex turned serious and
suddenly changed the subject. ‘Felicity, I need to ask you something,’

      ‘Yes?’ she looked at
him enquiringly.

      ‘Do you own a Grey
Pelisse?’

      Felicity eyes widened
as she looked at him in astonishment.  He knew!  Her reaction had been
momentary but it was enough. He had hit on the truth.  She recovered herself
quickly and skilfully avoided a lie. ‘I do not suit grey sir, the colour drains
me and I do all I can to avoid it.’

  Alex just smiled; she had
not answered the question. ‘Do not play with me Felicity for I believe you do have
such a garment. In fact I know that you do.’

 ‘If you are so sure,’ she
retorted, ‘then why do you ask, for nothing I can say will convince you
otherwise.’

      ‘How did you acquire
the Stansfield necklace Flick, I want to know? Do you know the thief?’

      Felicity studied him.
He did not look angry or menacing, just determined.  ‘I am sure I do not know
what you are talking about,’ she replied as she sidestepped to avoid him. He
grabbed her arm. ‘Oh no, you do not get away from me that easily.’  He pulled
her under the shelter of a tree, trapped her against it and held his arms above
her head. The rain gently pattered above them in the treetops. ‘I am not
letting you leave here until you have answered my question.’

      He was towering above
her and looked quite stern and she was not sure whether she should be
frightened of him, but he looked calm enough.  She realised with relief that
she had come to know him well, enough to know that he would not hurt her and
that gave her courage.

      ‘Tell me Flick for it
concerns me.  Did you confront Adrian Entwhistle; the man is a paradox, he is
more dangerous than he looks Flick.  It pains me to think that you would have
endangered yourself for a necklace, but after yesterdays little debacle I know
that you would.’

      He watched her with
amusement as she was struggling to decide what she should say.  Her large blue eyes
stared up at him in adorable uncertainty and her chin trembled with the cold. 
She realised that she would need to come clean. He suspected Adrian Entwhistle
and she knew she could not allow him to continue with that misconception. If he
decided to pursue the man, goodness knows what he would do. She knew him well
enough by now to know that he would hunt down Entwhistle relentlessly. She
could not know that he had already tracked him down and ruled the man out as
his burglar.

      ‘I cannot tell you how
I acquired the necklace. I sincerely promised the person I would not.’  She
closed her eyes; it was not exactly a lie, even if the promise had just been to
herself. ‘You will just have to satisfy yourself with the fact, that the person
had honourable intent, and it was not Adrian Entwhistle.’

       ‘No Felicity I am not
content.’  He held her tightly clasping her arms to her side, just strong
enough so that she could feel his power. I could force it from you but I am
loath to hurt such a delicate flower.  It is not my way but I will find out
soon enough.’ She looked at him with wide eyes and open mouth not knowing what
to expect.

       He could not resist himself
as he bent down to kiss her on her trembling lips. He held her neck in his
hands feeling the smoothness of her skin above the collar of her riding habit
and pulled her closer so that he could feel the warmth of her body on his. At first,
she did not pull away.  She was mesmerised and could feel the hardness of his
body through her cold damp clothes causing a quickening in her own, and in
sheer panic, she attempted to move away. With mounting horror, she came to the
realisation that he thought she was fast.  Why else would he have kissed her?  Goodness,
he already knew that she was the woman that had dared to grace his doorstep
unaccompanied and he had made it quite clear that he thought she was a woman of
easy virtue. What must he think of her now? She slapped him. ‘How dare you sir,
just because I ventured to return your necklace does not mean I am wanton. Just
because I was kind enough to wish to see its return to its rightful owner does
not mean that I am fast.  I remember your behaviour on the doorstep that day.  You
were abominable. Do you think that just because a Lady is of a lower social
order she is fare game?’

      Alex gave a rakish
laugh. ‘When they throw themselves at my feet I do.’

      ‘Oh so now you think I
threw myself at your feet, how could you?  I did not expect you to appear so
suddenly.  I was mortified when you opened the door. If you had not appeared at
such an inopportune moment, I would have safely deposited your necklace, came
away and you would not have been any the wiser.  Oh I hate the day I clapped
eyes on Emily Entwhistle, I hate the day I clapped eyes on that stupid necklace
and I hate the day that I ever having clapped eyes on you!’

      Alex only smiled at
her. ‘Calm yourself Felicity; if I thought you were a Covent Garden nun you
would have fallen at the first hurdle.  I recognised you for what you were that
day and that was the only reason you escaped from me, much though it grieved
me.’ He took her hand. ‘Come Flick before I do something I should not.’

 ‘It is already too late for
that,’ she barked trying to push him away.

      ‘Oh believe me
Felicity I could do much more. Let that be a lesson to you not to be riding out
in the early hours of the morning by yourself in Hyde Park. It was lucky it was
just me you bumped into.’ He took her hand. ‘Come you are cold and we must get
you home.’ He led her back to Artemis and hoisted her back into the saddle.

      So she had not quite
escaped a lecture after all and what is more she had revealed much more than
she had wanted to. Felicity was flushed with mortification.  Annoyingly he had
kissed her and she had enjoyed it. What is more she was she was so very angry
with herself because she had kissed him back. ‘I was right in my first
estimation of you,’ she condemned. ‘You are nothing but the rake I first
thought you were.’  She dug her heals into Artemis more violently than the mare
was used to and she reared and galloped off down the length of rotten row. Alex
cursed and quickly mounted his stallion, spurring him into action to follow in
her wake.  The least he could do was see that she arrived home safely.

******

      It was the end of
October and the little season was approaching its end. The company in London
was growing thin and the Ellingham’s were just finalising their packing. The
Countess popped her head around Felicity’s door. ‘Is your trunk ready Flick, we
need to put it in the carriage.’

      Felicity had wanted to
oversee her own packing and Sarah was sitting on the trunk while she secured
the straps and tied the big heavy buckles. ‘Just about ready mama, they can
come and collect it now.’ With all the hustle and bustle of packing Sophia Ellingham
was animated and full of chatter. ‘It is so kind of Lord Thorndale to invite us
to Stansfield Park, don’t you think so dear?’