Chapter 13
Alice awoke late after the exhaustion of having to dance with every bachelor in attendance the night before. She had rather hoped that her late rising might have caused her to miss breakfast entirely but when she wandered down, having washed, and dressed in a pale peach floral gown, she found that she had not missed the meal entirely.
The quietness of the manor as she made her way to the breakfast room attached to a small library had lulled her into a false sense of security. The moment she stepped into the smaller dining room she realised she could not have been more wrong.
Sitting at the dining table—alone save for the butler who stood like a silent shadow at the edge of the room—was Lord Warrington. Her heart stopped at the sight of him. Even with his head bowed over his breakfast plate she had recognised him immediately, blurting uncontrollably, "Lord Warrington, I did not expect to find you here."
The clearing of someone's throat coming from the archway that led into the small library area alerted Alice to the fact that they were not as alone as she had thought. A quick glance in the sound's direction eased her panic when she saw her mother reclining with a book.
Clearing her own throat, Alice quickly remembered herself and offered a curtsey, waiting for Lord Warrington to bow his head in greeting before she approached the table. Though, she currently wanted to turn and run, she could not very well do so without even attempting to have breakfast. How foolish she would look if she were to enter and then flit away again.
Why should I mind if he finds me foolish?Yet she gulped as Lord Warrington's gaze met her own.
"Forgive me, Lord Warrington, but I dare say you look almost as awful as I feel," Alice said, standing behind one of the dining chairs, not yet daring to sit. She stood directly opposite the earl, unable to remove her gaze from his. He looked quite pale this morning and there were shadows beneath his red-rimmed eyes. He looked quite like her father did after a late night spent drinking and gaming with his friends.
"I can only hope that you do not feel as badly as I do, Miss Skeffington," Thomas responded, seemingly unoffended by her comment. He gestured at the chair before her and insisted, "Please sit. A little breakfast might help."
Then, as though he saw the surprise written on her face, he added, "I am well aware how terrible I must look after an evening drinking with Lord Kendall. The man can drink."
He laughed and the sound sent a shiver down Alice's spine. He gestured again for her to sit and this time she had no choice but to do so as the butler stepped forth to help with her chair. Silently, he returned to his position at the edge of the room as Alice glided down into the chair and found herself now looking the earl levelly in the eye.
"I must ask, Miss Skeffington, why do you feel as bad as I look?" the Earl asked even as he perched on the edge of his seat and surprisingly began to serve fruit onto Alice's plate from one of the platters in the center of the table.
"Thank you." Alice smiled at him, surprised by the gentlemanly gesture even as he continued to add a few slices of cold meat and then proceeded to pour her a glass of orange juice.
"You were not lying awake all night tossing and turning over all the men you had to flirt with last evening, were you?" the Earl asked when she did not respond to his first comment. Alice was taken aback by his forwardness though she had to bite back a smile at the mischievous glint in his eye.
"I…yes, though not at all in the way that you think," she replied, keeping her voice carefully even so not to show him that he had shaken her.
"Then how were you thinking of them?" Lord Warrington asked, one dark eyebrow raised, his expression almost dangerous.Were you not amongst them?Alice thought, thinking on how he had been the first to take her onto the dancefloor. She trembled, remembering how his hand had felt at the small of her back, how his fingers had squeezed her gently as they danced.
"I lay awake thinking on how I do not wish to flirt with any of them," Alice was surprised to hear herself admitting it so easily. "I was trying to come up with a way not to."
Lord Warrington appeared surprised by her candor and so she gave him a moment to contemplate while she began to eat.
"Why would you not wish to entertain any of them?" Lord Warrington questioned, his voice filled with astonishment.
"Is it so surprising to you that a young lady might not wish to parade about because she does not wish to entertain the idea of marriage?" she asked, focusing on cutting a slice of meat so that she did not have to look him in the eye. To do so for too long was unnerving. Not because he made her uncomfortable but because her attraction to his gaze made her uncomfortable. A part of her would have liked to stare into those striking forest-green eyes for far too long.
"You do not wish to marry at all?" Lord Warrington asked, incredulously.
Alice shrugged her shoulders and swallowed her mouthful, placing her fingertips against her lips to hide the fact before she responded, "I think perhaps one day I might wish to be married but for now I am happy as I am. I wish to live my life my way and marriage would cause that to change."
"Owen was right," Lord Warrington said, still looking surprised, though he said the words so quietly that Alice was not sure she had been supposed to hear.
"Excuse me?"
Lord Warrington shook his head and lifted his juice glass, clearly stalling for time before he stated, "It was nothing."
Just when Alice believed their conversation was at an end and she had resigned herself to eating the rest of her breakfast in silence, Lord Warrington spoke again, "I entirely understand your reasoning, Miss Skeffington. I have often felt the very same way on the matter."
The earl's comment caught Alice off guard and her gaze whipped up to meet his. Her breath caught in her throat as she became trapped in that striking gaze once more. It was odd to think that a man such as he, an earl in control of his own life, could possibly feel the same way that she did when he held all the power.
The sudden realisation that they might actually be on the same page changed something inside Alice. The urge to admit that there was at least one gentleman in the party she would not have minded flirting with was almost too much to resist. She wanted to see his reaction. Yet that would open a whole new case of problems for her and so she merely kept her mouth shut.
A quick glance in her mother’s direction assured her that her mother was most definitely listening in. Her shoulders were tensed and her head turned slightly to one side to hear better. Though she appeared to be looking down at a book in her hand, Alice knew from past experience whatever she was reading was not sinking in. Whatever Alice said now was likely to be used against her later, she knew it as well as everyone else in the room.
When she looked back to the earl to find him smiling at her, Alice could not help but feel as though he had read her mind. "Do not worry, Miss Skeffington, your secret is safe with me."
There was a knowing look on the earl's face, and it caused her throat to constrict.Was he talking of her reasoning for not wishing to be married or had he truly read her mind?She could not be sure. One thing she was sure of was the smouldering in his gaze that only made him even more attractive.
"Well, Miss Skeffington, I rather think I have wasted enough of your time," Lord Warrington announced, placing his knife and fork together on the plate in front of him. "I ought to be joining the rest of the gentlemen."
"I do not believe our time together has been a waste, my lord," Alice said, blushing at the satisfied look that once more crossed the earl's face. She quickly began to rise to her feet as the earl got up to leave but he waved her back down with a smile.
"Do not get up, Miss Skeffington. Please, enjoy the rest of your breakfast in peace," he told her, bowing respectfully. Alice was more than a little surprised at the disappointment that clawed her stomach. Watching him leave the room in silence, a part of her wanted to call him back. The new understanding between them, the lack of conflict, had left her wanting more, so much more.