XXIX. The Most-Loved in Wickhurst-2

"Home, of course," Theobald replied. "Her home, not mine, of course. We are not yet married, you see?" She and Eva shared a look. Alice rolled her eyes and scanned the ballroom to keep herself from throwing a nasty remark at Theobald. She spotted Pepper and Brandon standing not far away and she turned to Harold to say, "Darling, go with your friends. Eva and I will join Pepper and Brandon." Alice grabbed Eva's hand and pulled her friend away from the three gentlemen. "Theobald is a bastard," she hissed. "Well, you know him. He is the worst rake in town. Poor Rachel," Eva said with a sigh. "He is a good friend, but he is the worst man for any woman, I tell you." "Let us not spoil our night. We can only hope that Rachel can change him or escape him if not." "Or kill him," Alice added under her breath. Brandon and Pepper spotted them approaching and their friends met them halfway. "At the very least, we have another happy couple," Eva commented as their friends approached. ***** "How is marriage treating you, Everard?" asked one gentleman. Harold tore his eyes off his cards. "Very well, Patterson, thank you for asking." Patterson grinned. "Heard you bought fine horses for the lady." "You meant brought." Patterson's brows rose. "Brought?" Harold nodded. "From Langworthy." "You did not purchase her the finest thoroughbreds from the south?" another gentleman asked. Martin scoffed. "You ought not to let Lady Kenward hear that, Porter. Her horses are of sensitive subject." "I merely brought my wife's thoroughbreds from Langworthy to Kenward, gentlemen," Harold corrected. "The horses are hers." A few more gentlemen turned away from their gaming tables with interest. Porter and Patterson looked impressed. "We heard they are quite the finest." Harold shrugged. "Most of them are, except for the one named Benjamin." "Does she sell?" Harold sighed and looked over her cards. "She would sell me if I even consider selling one of them, gentlemen." Everyone who heard laughed. "Then she must be a good breeder, Everard, if the stories are true. About the horses, I mean." Harold sighed and shook his head. "She is a better rider than me as well." "You dare not say!" "She is, gentlemen," Martin wryly retorted. "Better than most of us in this room." "I have not seen her at her best, but I already saw enough a few days ago that she could indeed put most of us to shame," Theobald added. "She rode to the woods with us for a short hunting trip." "Ah, yes, of course. I forgot she also hunts!" "I would love to invite Lady Kenward to see my collection one of these days," another gentleman said. "I shall ask if she is interested." The door to the gaming room opened and Sebastian strode in but came to a sudden halt when he saw Harold, Martin and Theobald. The three men behind him did the same. The other players fell silent and the air in the room filled with anticipation. Martin slowly stood and held on to the back of his chair. Theobald turned to the window and then at Sebastian and his friends, probably measuring the distance he had to travel to drag another body out the window. Harold stared at Sebastian whose eyes were alight with fury. "Would you like to join us for a game of cards, Sebastian?" he taunted. Sebastian slowly shook his head. "This room smells like filth. I have to remove myself at once." "What a bloody nancy!" someone guffawed as soon as Sebastian and his friends left. "I do not regret losing my membership at Grey's, Everard," Patterson agreed with a chuckle. "Seeing that bloody bastard's bloody face on the floor is enough to make me happy at night." ***** Alice was on her way into the women's powder room when she encountered another group of three women already inside, adjusting their gowns. By how they stared at her, it was easy to assume that they were not amongst those she should consider offering a smile. She proceeded to stand before one of the mirrors. Truthfully, she was only there to loosen her stays which Janet had pulled too tight earlier, but it seemed that there were no loosening that was going to happen at that moment as the women continued their conversation as if they were not interrupted. "It must be the money," said one of them, eyes meeting Alice's through the mirror. She looked familiar. Perhaps she encountered her in one of the balls last season. "Of course, what else could it be?" answered another with a scoff. "To be willing to risk your life?" One of the women, the black-haired, chuckled. "Now, now, ladies. That is not how we speak of a fellow lady." She stole Alice a glance and smiled. "A woman's greed for riches is not one we should judge. We are proper ladies of decorum." "Ah, but she is one lucky woman, are you not, Lady Kenward?" Alice was fast to recover and she smiled as she turned to stare at the women coldly, all the while maintaining her smile. "I was waiting for you ladies to include me in your conversation," she said, walking closer. One of them took a step back, seeing the look in Alice's eyes. "Does the gossip also say that my husband and I only married because of the scandal?" The one with black hair swallowed and lifted her chin to act defiant. "But it is true, is it not? Harold had never once expressed any desire to wed and suddenly he was dragged to Tiny Town." Alice's lips twitched the moment she heard the woman refer to her husband informally. "Then I must be lucky to have managed to manipulate a lord with a conscience." The women's eyes widened at her words. "Is that what you wanted me to say?" The woman with black hair lifted her brow. "You mean to say Harold came willingly?" Alice chuckled and shook her head. "Darling, he climbed up my bedchamber window to beg me to go with him to Tiny Town." The woman scoffed. "He would not do such thing." Alice frowned. "What is your name, woman?" The woman scowled at her. "I am a lady. You cannot address me as such." "Oh, I can address any of my husband's former lovers however I choose to, woman, most particularly if they continue to walk around town with a jealous stench at their tail." The other two women gasped, faces looking scandalized. The black-haired woman's face had turned scarlet. Alice stepped closer. "Do you still hope that he will find his way back to your bed?" The lady gasped. "You dare speak—" "I dare because I can," Alice interrupted, taking another step closer. "You are beautiful, woman, but your ugly desire to be in my shoes is making you look pathetic. If I were you, I would cease talking about how your former lover's new wife ruined your fantasies." "I never said such thing!" Alice smiled and stared at the woman for a long time. "That is how I see you, woman." She leaned her head closer to whisper the rest of her words. "I agree that Harold is the best lover, woman, but know that from now on he is lover to none but one." She leaned away and stepped back, taking a lungful of air in contentment. "Oh, if I can only be jealous of other women," she said with a sigh as she walked away, "but then I do not know the feeling because I have everything I want." Looking over her shoulder, she saw the women glaring at her with fury. "So long, ladies. May you find equal joy lashing on other people's happiness."