Seduced by a Scoundrel - By Barbara Dawson Smith Page 0,95
be capable of a deep, abiding love.…
She wrenched her thoughts back to the present. “Mama, you had a visitor this evening. Can you tell me what Lord Hailstock wanted of you?”
“Richard.” Her eyes glazed as if her thoughts turned inward. “Now that you mention it … I believe he was here.”
“He inquired about some letters,” Alicia prompted.
A starkness came over the countess’s face. Sinking deeper into the cushions of the chaise, she moved her head in a violent shake that stirred her braid. “I don’t know anything about any letters.”
“Could he mean letters he’d written to Papa long ago?” Alicia asked gently. “Do you know where they might be?”
“I know nothing of it. Nothing at all.”
It? Was there one letter in particular that he’d wanted? “Did Lord Hailstock tell you why he needs this letter?”
“I can’t say. Truly, I can’t.” Lady Eleanor hunched into her bedraggled moleskin cape, the satin lining rustling. “Oh, he is a cold man. But I never dreamed he would break Claire’s heart.”
“Break her heart?” Hailstock’s first wife had died very young, but this was the first Alicia had heard of an unhappy marriage. “But I thought … they were in love. They ran off together to be wed.”
“Richard never believed her good enough for him. The dear girl couldn’t help it she was born of common blood.” Pressing a crumpled handkerchief to her face, the countess lapsed into piteous weeping.
Anger nudged at Alicia as she hugged her mother, patting her back through the bedraggled cape. “I know, Mama. I know.”
She wasn’t entirely surprised to hear that the marquess had looked down on his first wife. Noble bloodlines meant everything to him. Was it possible Drake was right to despise him?
Over the past weeks, they had encountered the marquess at a number of society events. Each time, he disdained Drake; each time, Drake insulted him back. And Lord Hailstock had even made her bristle by insinuating that she had married far beneath herself.
The memory of her own prejudice troubled Alicia. She, too, had thought herself superior to her husband. She had condemned Drake as a good-for-nothing gambler—until she had witnessed the extent of his generosity, a munificence he strove to hide behind the dynamic charm of a scoundrel.
He had done far more than she for those in need. But tomorrow, he would come to Pemberton House and see her school. He would realize that she shared his goodwill toward less fortunate souls.
She pressed a kiss to her mother’s brow, her skin bearing the faint, familiar scent of lily of the valley. It would do no good to question her further. The next time Alicia saw Lord Hailstock, she would ask him about the letter and insist that he come to her with his questions, rather than badger Mama.
Lady Eleanor lifted her head, blinking her tear-wet eyes. Like a veil lifting from her face, the anxiety and grief vanished, and a wondering quality illuminated her gaze. She gently cupped Alicia’s cheek. “My dear girl,” she said musingly. “I do believe … you have that look about you.”
Mystified, Alicia frowned at her mother. “What look?”
“Why, that certain softness. Your papa said he could tell simply by gazing at me.”
“Tell what?”
Lady Eleanor smiled very tenderly. “Why, that I was breeding, of course. As you must be.”
Alicia drew an astonished breath. Had she conceived a child? Had that marvelous intimacy with Drake wrought the miracle of a baby? An awed happiness rose in her, but she held it at bay. She mustn’t hope too much. No one could look at her face and know she was pregnant. This had to be another of Mama’s mad fancies.
Lady Eleanor patted Alicia’s hand. “It is too wonderful to believe, isn’t it? But there are certain signs in a woman. Have you been exceedingly weary of late?”
Alicia couldn’t deny the fatigue dragging at her. “Yes … but I’ve been teaching the servants to read during the day and that could account for it.”
“When did you last have your monthly?”
“Right before … before my wedding. Nearly six weeks ago.”
Alicia wasn’t used to discussing personal matters with her mother. And for many years, she hadn’t had a circle of friends from whom she might have gleaned knowledge. Consequently, she had only a vague understanding of the changes that pregnancy could cause in a woman’s body. But now she realized the significance of her delayed cycle.
Gently placing her hand over her flat abdomen, she breathed deeply as an indescribable joy blossomed within her. A baby. In less