“False,” Alice said without hesitation. “With a reputation like yours, I have no doubt you thought to make more romantic conquests in other countries.”
Lord Erlington tilted his head back and barked a hearty laugh. Alice giggled, unable to stop herself. Truthfully, she’d said it in jest, even if she did think his statement was false.
“Ah,” Lord Erlington said, still chuckling. “An interesting take, My Lady, but I regret to inform you that it is indeed true. I have never had much reason to leave England, so I never cared to. That could always change in the future, however. Now, it is your turn.”
Alice gave herself a moment to think. “I am absolutely terrible at watercolors and playing instruments.”
Lord Erlington narrowed his eyes in scrutiny. Alice raised her brows, oddly eager for his response. After a while, he shook his head. “I believe that to be false. Such a well-read lady such as yourself seems like the type to familiarize herself with such things.”
“You believe it is because I am well read and not because it was something I had no choice but to learn?”
“Either one,” Lord Erlington said with a grin.
Alice giggled under her breath. “Well, either way, you are right. I had no interest at first. If I could, I would have locked myself away in the library every day. But after a while, I understood the importance of arts and made sure to learn as much as I could. Once I believed I had perfected the craft, as much as I could anyhow, I returned to my books.”
“Yes, as all ladies do.”
Alice’s cheeks were beginning to hurt from her smiling. “Emma has always been the opposite,” she went on. “She learned how to play the pianoforte in half the time it took me and her watercolors are simply beautiful.”
“Your love for your Sister shows in everything you say, Lady Alice. Did you know that?”
Alice’s smile slipped in surprise. She hadn’t been expecting that slight shift in conversation—but she was fast beginning to learn that she should not expect anything when it came on to the Marquess of Erlington. “She is my Sister,” was all she said in response. It was all she thought she needed to say.
“I understand,” Lord Erlington said softly. Alice believed that he truly did. “It is my turn again, yes?”
“I am expecting a bit of a challenge this time,” she told him, a bit jokingly.
Lord Erlington huffed a laugh under his breath. “A challenge, you say. Then what about this? The only girl I’ve ever loved was a commoner who died a tragic death.”
The air grew serious all of a sudden. Lord Erlington’s tone was somber, his eyes lifted to the starry sky. She knew that it had to be false. She was certain this rake had never loved anyone before, which was why he was so fine with breaking hearts.
“False,” Alice whispered, listening to her head rather than the unexplainable feeling that the answer was wrong.
Lord Erlington’s lips tilted upwards in a wan smile. “Wrong you are, My Lady,” he said softly.
Alice didn’t know what to say. Surprise took hold of her, had her gaping at him as if he’d grown a second head. His eyes adopted a faraway look in them and she had the sudden urge to reach out and take his hand.
“What happened?” she asked gently.
Slowly, the smile slipped away. She saw him withdraw from her, stepping into the past. Pain flickered within his lovely eyes and it felt like a fist had tightened around Alice’s heart.
“Her name was Milly Jones. She was a maid at my Father’s Manor. A scullery maid, actually, which made our first meeting quite fateful considering she spent all her time in the kitchens. I’d been drinking late at night and grew peckish after a while. Because I thought most of the servants had already retired to bed, I decided to head to the kitchens myself. There, I saw her munching away on an apple, singing to herself.”
Transfixed, Alice couldn’t look away from him. She could picture it all—a dark kitchen, a maid in her nightgown, Lord Erlington arriving to see her there.
“She did not see me at first,” Lord Erlington went on. “And I was so captivated by her lovely voice that I did not think to make myself known. It was until she paused to take another bite of her apple did I realize how odd it was to stand in the darkness staring at her and so I came forward. I nearly scared the skin off her bones when she spotted me, but I told her that she didn’t need to be frightened. When I complimented her singing, she began to relax.”
Lord Erlington chuckled, but the sound was not filled with mirth—only sadness. “She was very friendly. Once she relaxed, she talked without stopping and I found myself enamored by her personality. I did not think twice about asking her to meet with me again the following night and though I could tell that she was reluctant, she agreed. And so, we began meeting every night. Each night I saw her, I fell more and more in love with her every time I saw her. After months of meeting in secret, I was thinking about asking her to be my wife.”
Alice couldn’t believe her ears. She studied his face, her fingers tensing against her thigh as his words began to sink in. For someone in as high a position as he to consider marrying a scullery maid…she could easily believe it had been true love.
“She was as in love with me as I was with her,” Lord Erlington continued, oblivious to Alice’s shocked state. “She wanted to be by my side, whether it be as my mistress or as my wife. But I did not want to hide her any longer. I told her of my plans to reveal our relationship to my Father. I told her I would protect her if anything were to happen and she trusted…even though she shouldn’t have.”
“What happened?” Alice whispered.
Lord Erlington wrapped his arms around his knees, clasping his hands together. Now, his unseeing gaze was trained at the shrubbery before them, rather than the sky above. “I grew scared. My Father…he can be a terrifying man and I knew he was not only capable of forcing her to leave her position, but taking away my right to the Dukedom. I still intended to tell him the truth but I thought she might be safer if I sent her away to her family to stay for a while until my Father calmed down. In reality, I was only afraid that her presence would make my Father much more irate than he would have been.”
The Marquess let out a shuddering breath. “She took a hackney carriage to the town nearby where her family lived. The carriage…it hit a rut in the road and the wheels broke from the force. The driver could not regain control of the horses and the carriage broke away, rolling a few times before it finally came to a stop. She—” he broke off. Alice nearly reached a hand out to him, but she held herself back. For a moment, she was afraid he might be crying, but his eyes were dry. “She died in that accident. It was not very far from the Manor and so I learned about it soon enough.” Another shudder. “There was so much blood.”
