Chapter 18
Thomas was not sure he had ever been so happy to see rain. It began well before dawn, waking him to the realisation that sometime during the night, Alice had slipped from his bed back to her own. The memory of their night together sat at the forefront of his mind and when he pulled back the drapes to find the rain so heavy that it was almost impossible to see more than one hundred yards, all he could think was,Perhaps today is not the day we say goodbye.
Upon entering the breakfast room that morning, he found that everyone was seated at the table. Many of the guests appeared quite downcast, clearly not happy about the thought of being stuck inside the manor after the beautiful weather they’d had over the week. Yet there was one face that was not quite so dower.
Alice smiled at him, looking out of the corner of her eye as he passed to sit opposite, leaving him in no doubt that she had enjoyed their evening together as much as he had. He wished he could sit directly beside her, take her hand and kiss it and tell her exactly how he felt but now was not the time and he was not sure he would ever be able to pluck up the courage.
“Well, it appears that those of you who did not leave before dawn shall have to remain.” Owen sighed. Forcing his focus away from Alice, Thomas glanced down the table to see that a few of the chairs were sitting empty.
It appeared that Baron Colton and his brother along with several of the couples invited along by Lady Kendall had already left.Could Mr Gouldsmith not have gone also?Thomas thought begrudgingly. The gentleman was sitting only a few seats away, far too close for Thomas’ liking.
“Surely, the rain shall pass soon,” Lady Skeffington was the first to speak up, sounding quite distraught. Thomas watched Alice reach for her mother’s hand and give it a gentle squeeze.
She is always kind,he thought even as Alice assured her mother, “Do not worry, Mama, we shall return to Papa as soon as we are able.”
Hearing her gentle tone, Thomas wished that there was something he could do to get them both home safely to Lord Skeffington, yet he still could not bring himself to feel down at the thought of the rain. It had, in effect, isolated them from the rest of the world and left them unable to leave. Something that Thomas would most definitely use to his advantage.
“We need not let it ruin our day,” he insisted, trying to sound as cheery as possible though it was not an emotion he was used to expressing. “I am sure there is still plenty to do and see about the manor. Is not that right, Owen?”
Lord Kendall did not get the chance to answer because it was his wife who did. Ever the energetic hostess, Lady Kendall stated, “Of course, you are right, Lord Warrington. We shall continue to have a marvellous time until the rain passes.”
Alice cast Thomas a grateful glance, clearly pleased that he had at least lightened the mood in her friend who was likely feeling disgruntled about her guests’ plans having been changed.
“Miss Skef…” The sound of Mr Gouldsmith’s voice coming from further down the table caused Thomas to instantly react, already certain he knew exactly where the gentleman was going.
“Miss Skeffington, we have spent so little time together this week,” Thomas spoke up quickly before Mr Gouldsmith could get a word in, “Perhaps you might join Owen, Nancy and me? I’m sure that if we all were to put our heads together, we could come up with something to pass the time?”
Though Thomas could recognise the happy reaction on Alice’s face, she did not allow anyone else to see it, turning discreetly to Nancy with a smile and asking, “What do you think, Nancy? Should we deem the gentlemen worthy of our time?”
Nancy looked quite surprised that her friend would even entertain the idea, but it was clearly overwhelmed by the woman’s desire to see Alice having fun. “Oh, yes, it sounds wonderful to me.”
Thomas only needed to look out of the corner of his eye to see that Mr Gouldsmith was looking quite crestfallen.
“Perhaps, Mr Gouldsmith, you might accompany me for some reading in the library?” Lady Skeffington suggested, turning to the gentleman with a smile meant to ease the man’s discomfort. Thomas almost felt sorry for him—almost. Thomas did not miss the furthering discomfort on the man’s face but to his credit, he smiled warmly to Lady Skeffington and offered a curt nod of approval to her suggestion.
“Well, that just leaves you, cousin,” Nancy announced across the table to Mr Tulk who had been sitting quite quietly beside Thomas since he arrived at the table. His eyes were heavy-lidded and red-rimmed, his face terribly pale, and if Thomas had to guess he would have said the gentleman had possibly had a few too many alcoholic beverages the night before.
“I think I will be happy keeping myself to myself today,” Mr Tulk told his cousin, his voice sounding gruff and fueled by pain. Thomas could not blame him. The thick head and throbbing pain of one too many was an awful feeling, and it was likely best that he spend the day alone to recover.
“You must come and join us once you are feeling better,” Nancy insisted and Thomas and Alice began to nod, followed by Owen who appeared to only do so at his wife’s behest. Thomas had nothing against Mr Tulk joining them at some point. He was only concerned about keeping Mr Gouldsmith as far away as possible.
Though he had been the one to spend the night with Alice, he could not help but think on the way that Mr Gouldsmith had been so close to her during the week, how he had done everything he could to be by her side. It sickened Thomas, especially now as he felt Mr Gouldsmith eyeballing him from down the table. Clearly, the man was not pleased at having been passed over.
Thomas raised his head purposefully and looked down the table at the man, offering him a self-confident and smug smile.
The rest of the day went about as well as Thomas could have hoped. It was much easier than he would ever have expected to spend time with Alice while having Owen and Nancy practically watching their every move.
First, they wandered about the house, looking at the paintings hanging in the second-floor gallery. Thomas admired the way that Alice marvelled over the paintings, clearly seeing far more depth and beauty than he would ever be able to comprehend.
To him, once he had seen one portrait or landscape, he had seen them all. Yet Alice took her time, carefully scrutinising each painting and pointing out several aspects that Thomas had never noticed before, giving him a whole new view on paintings he had seen a hundred times before during his time at Kendall Hall.
“I imagine you have a huge gallery like this at Warrington Fields, do you not, Lord Warrington?” Alice asked when they came to the centre of the gallery, standing before a bench as if she wished for him to invite her to sit down.
“Please, Miss Skeffington, do call me Thomas,” he insisted, and he was almost certain that he heard Nancy gasp from somewhere behind him. Thomas cringed, imagining what Lady Kendall might think and how excited she might become if she got any silly ideas into her head on the matter.
Thomas was saved by Owen. “You’re right, Miss Skeffington, the gallery at Warrington Fields is twice the size of this,” the viscount announced even as Thomas gestured Alice down onto the bench, sitting beside her. He kept a careful distance, feeling Nancy’s eyes on him almost constantly.
“My father’s home is not nearly as grand as this,” Alice announced, “Though it is quite enough for the three of us. I imagine having such a large home can make it quite lonely at times.”
Thomas wanted to tell her that she was right but when he opened his mouth, he could not find the words.
“Why do you think we host so many events?” Nancy pointed out, filling the silence.
“You do not host many events at Warrington Fields, do you, Thomas?” Alice asked. The way she said his name made his spine tingle and he was suddenly drawn back to the events of the night before. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him with intrigue.
“I am afraid I have not had the time since my father’s passing,” Thomas admitted, regretting when Alice looked regretful, as if she thought she might have dredged up some unwanted feelings.
Thomas quickly helped her to forget, encouraging her to speak of her own home and her family, finding that she was quite fond of it all. Afterwards, the two couples shared a luncheon together in the parlour and then shared some time reading, drawing, and sewing in the library having found that Lady Skeffington and Mr Gouldsmith had retired to their rooms to rest.
The day went much more swimmingly than Thomas could have imagined. That was until dinner when everything began to go wrong.