Page 33 of The Marquess of Temptation
"If it was Stockbow's daughter asking him to give up his secrets?" Everleigh finished for him, with a wry smile. "He is most chivalrous. I'm certain when he arrives, that he will be very accommodating to Lady Delaney."
"He is on his way?" Alex hadn't expected the Duke to summon Black until Everleigh had heard why Alex was so desperate to meet with him.
"I asked Olive her opinion on the matter," Everleigh shrugged, "And as she holds your wife in such high esteem, she thought it was safe to send for him."
"My thanks to your wife," Alex inclined his head.
"Don't thank mine, thank yours," Everleigh responded, raising his glass in toast to both women.
After a late supper, Alex and Hestia joined Jane and the Duchess, in paying a visit to the boarding house in St Jarvis. It had once been run by an inimitable woman called Mrs Barker, who had set the guest house up as a sort of refuge for ladies with intellectual inclinations.
Today the proprietress was a Miss Polly Jenkins, a fiery red-head with a warm, Northern accent. Polly lived there with her sister and hosted a dozen ladies, ranging in age from eighteen to eighty.
On their previous visit, Alex had been too agitated to appreciate Polly's charming, direct manner, or the easy, warm atmosphere of the guest-house. When they arrived the drawing room was filled with ladies, waiting patiently for a reading of Mrs Actrol's latest Gothic Romance. Polly ushered Alex and Hestia into a small sofa, so tiny, that they were squashed together side by side.
"I'll fetch you both some tea," she beamed, bustling away, only to return moments later with two china cups for them. "There you go, my Lord, my Lady. Don't drink too quickly; Mrs Actrol does love the sound of her own voice, so you'll be here a while."
"Poppycock," Mrs Actrol, who had overheard, blustered. "I only read for so long, because the ladies insist that I do."
Indeed, once the authoress began her reading, the ladies of the boarding house fell silent, listening with rapt attention, to what Alex thought was a rather preposterous tale.
"Imagine a man deciding to marry a woman he had won at cards," Alex scoffed quietly to Hestia, who giggled at his outrage.
"You don't have to imagine," she whispered, glancing at Olive, "For you're sitting right opposite her."
Oh, he had quite forgotten that Everleigh had tricked Olive's father into gambling away her hand in marriage. He glanced surreptitiously at Mrs Actrol, who for all intents and purposes looked like an innocent grandmother, and hoped that she would not find inspiration for another tale in his own marriage.
The room was silent, as the guests listened to Mrs Actrol read the end of the chapter. It was so quiet, that when a loud rapping came upon the front door, several of the guests jumped.
"My, who could that be at this hour?" Polly grumbled, making to stand up.
"Allow me, Miss Jenkins."
As the sole male in attendance, and with night having fallen, Alex felt that he should be the one to answer the impatient caller, who had continued rapping.
"Hold your horses," he called,making his way down the hallway to the door, which he threw open in irritation.
The man standing on the doorstep was none other than Captain Black, drenched to the bone from the rain, which was lashing in off the Cornish coast.
"My apologies for the noise," he said with a smile as his teeth chattered, "But His Grace told me that you needed me urgently."
"You look like you need a cup of tea urgently, Captain," Alex replied, standing aside so that Black could step in out of the rain. "The ladies are in the parlour, and I'm loathe to interrupt their enjoyment of the evening. I'm sure between the two of us we can find the kitchen and boil a kettle."
The two men made their way back down the hallway, passing the parlour where Alex could still hear Mrs Actrol's booming voice as she read. The door opened and Emily, Polly's sister, poked her head out, a smile on her innocent face.
"The kitchen?" Alex whispered gently.
Emily pointed shyly down the corridor, apparently afraid of speaking in front of two strange men. Her wide eyes caught sight of Captain Black and her mouth opened into an "O" of surprise.
"My friend has come to visit," Alex whispered, gesturing to Black, who stood somewhat in the shadows. "Would you be so kind as to tell my wife that she is needed in the kitchen?"
The young woman nodded and disappeared, leaving Alex to lead Black in the direction that Emily had pointed in.
"The proprietress's younger sister," Alex said by way of explanation, for it had been too dark for the Captain to see the girl clearly. "She's a rather special young woman, I am told."
Daft, was the word that some people would have used to describe Emily, or soft-headed. Both expressions left a rather bitter taste in Alex's mouth, for Emily was as he had described; special, unique and innocent.
The kitchen was an enormous, flag-stoned room, with a huge wood-burning stove that threw off great heat. Alex dragged a chair over to beside the stove, insisting that Captain Black dry off before they discussed anything.
