Letter From a Rake Read online

  ‘I was beginning to wonder when you two miscreants would finally arrive,’ Lucy said, letting out a huff of displeasure. ‘Where have you been?’

  The two men exchanged a knowing grin.

  ‘See, I told you she would be cross with us,’ David replied and nodded to his brother.

  ‘I don’t know why. We are only late because Mama asked us to call in at home and pay our respects to Great Aunt Maude. You can hardly blame us for that, Lu,’ Alex replied, never moving his gaze from Millie.

  Millie blinked hard and with great effort tore her eyes away from his magnetic stare. She looked at Lucy, who gave Millie a pained look of embarrassment in return. Millie’s heart went out to her.

  ‘Sorry,’ Lucy muttered as her hands fell to her sides. ‘How is Aunt Maude? Mother has been so worried. She only came tonight because Maude finally agreed to the doctor visiting.’

  David reached out and pulled his sister into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him, and hid her burning face in the front of his evening jacket.

  ‘It’s all right, Lucy, Maude is fine. The doctor was leaving as we arrived, and he said it was just exhaustion from the long trip south. A few days’ bed rest and she will be gadding about town before we know it.’

  He placed a gentle peck on his sister’s cheek, before his hand went slyly to her hair, which he began to ruffle in a well-practised move. Lucy flinched and struggled to break free of his embrace. She took a step back before reaching out and giving him a solid punch on the arm.

  ‘Oooh, you are a bad one, David Radley, and don’t think for one minute I won’t tell Mama it was you who fussed with my hair,’ she laughed, wagging her finger at him. David stood rubbing his arm.

  ‘Sharp right, Lucy; ever considered bare-knuckled boxing?’

  Millie stifled a laugh. With an older brother herself, she knew the price of a brotherly hug was always a well-timed ruffling of the hair. David Radley, it would appear, was another exponent of the art.

  Another spark of hope flared in Millie; warmth did exist in the cold heart of London society. She immediately liked David; he was just like her own brother Charles.

  Her gaze returned to the other Radley brother, Alex, who was slowly looking her up and down, taking stock. She gave him a smile and prayed that her social death would be a mercifully quick one.

  He gave a short bow and held out his hand.

  She had not anticipated that move. It took a moment for her to unclench her right hand and offer it to him. He captured her hand and held it firmly.

  She looked down and saw that her fingers had disappeared under his palm. She sucked in a shallow breath and bit her bottom lip. The sooner this was over the better.

  ‘Alex,’ he barely whispered. He bent and placed a kiss on her glove.

  She felt his hot breath through the glove’s fine cotton and a second shiver went down her spine.

  He lifted his head and stared once more into her eyes. If death had come at that moment, she would have welcomed it. For if Helen of Troy’s face had launched a thousand ships, Alex Radley’s eyes could have burned them all.

  They stood silently, staring at one another, until David cleared his throat in a none-too-subtle manner.

  Alex waved a hand in his brother’s general direction. ‘David,’ he muttered.

  Still held by the smoldering power of Alex’s gaze, Millie gave a small nod of her head.

  She heard a sudden indignant huff and Alex disappeared, then David and Lucy took his place.

  Millie snapped back to reality.

  She realised that, with one arm draped loosely around his sister’s waist, David had used his other hand to give his brother a hard shove to one side.

  Out the corner of her eye, Millie could see Alex standing nearby, staring daggers at David.

  Fortunately for David, Alex could not stare at two people at once, and so his silent punishment lasted only momentarily before Alex resumed his keen observation of Millie.

  She looked down at her hand, and was surprised to see it still on the end of her arm. She was certain Alex had taken it with him, so tightly had he held it within his grasp.

  ‘Sorry. He does lack a certain amount of social finesse at times – you would never think he was a duke’s son,’ David said, returning his brother’s filthy look.

  Millie raised her eyebrows and looked at Lucy.

  ‘So, it’s Lady Lucy?’

  Lucy looked surprised. ‘Oh, sorry. I assumed you knew who the Radley family were, but of course since you have only just arrived in England, that was a rather silly assumption on my part. Our father is the Duke of Strathmore. There are the three of us here, as well as Stephen and Emma, who are both still in the schoolroom. I always make a mess when it comes to formal introductions.’

  David gave a polite bow.

  ‘Mr David Radley; pleased to make your acquaintance. This blond buffoon here is the Marquess of Brooke, much to the shame of our family.’

  ‘Shut up, David; you don’t even know her name,’ Alex snapped.

  Millie saw Lucy and David exchange a look of surprise at this display of temper from their brother.

  Lucy stepped away from David and took hold of Millie’s hand. ‘This is Miss Millicent Ashton, Viscount Ashton’s niece, recently arrived from India. Her family are the guests of honour tonight,’ she explained.

  David must have seen the anger simmering on Alex’s face and rather than taunt his brother further, he gave Millie a wave and a smile.

  ‘So, you are Charles’ younger sister?’ he asked. ‘We met your brother on Monday at White’s; your father was completing the paperwork for him to become a member.’

  Millie let out the breath she realised she was holding. ‘Yes, Papa plans to have him admitted to all the right clubs as soon as possible. He and my uncle are grooming Charles for the day when he eventually comes into the family title.’

  ‘And you were born in India?’ David asked, as his gaze locked on her nose ring.

  She smiled, grateful for his polite questioning; it gave her something to contemplate while Alex stood silently to one side staring at her. For her part, she kept her eyes facing forward, her gaze locked firmly upon a small freckle above David’s right eyebrow. His blue-green eyes reminded her of the sea.

  ‘Yes, I was born nearly two years after my parents arrived in Calcutta; I have lived all my life on the subcontinent,’ she replied.

  It was the first time since she had arrived in England that anyone had asked her about her own life. The usual queries, more often than not, pertained to Charles’s plans for his future.

  Lucy smiled as the conversation began to flow. Millie ventured a shy smile in her direction. Her new friend appeared to be as keen as she was for this friendship to survive its first night.

  ‘Miss Ashton finds our weather a bit of a challenge. She is not used to the chill of London in March,’ Lucy offered.

  At that moment, the orchestra began to warm up for a quadrille. Millie glanced over towards the dance floor and saw various couples joining hands and finding their places. She wished she were among them.

  She turned back to continue speaking to David, but instead found Alex once more taking up her whole field of vision. He reached out and grabbed her by the hand.

  ‘Dance with me, Miss Ashton,’ he said, and began to drag her towards the dance floor.

  She whipped her head around and caught a brief glimpse of David and Lucy staring open-mouthed, before she lost them in the crowd. Alex pulled her swiftly through the throng, which parted for him, as it had done on his arrival.

  As he strode towards the dance floor, she was compelled to run to keep up with him.

  With all her attention focused on holding up her skirts and running, Millie did not realise Alex had stopped until she bumped straight into him.

  ‘Ooof’, she exclaimed, as her wrist twisted painfully out of his grasp.

  He turned and from the expression on his face, he looked as if he had been struck by lightning. She hear
d him suck in a deep breath and swallow, almost as if he were in pain.

  He closed his eyes, nodded his head and then, reaching out, seized her by the hand once more. ‘Come on, they are nearly ready to strike up the tune,’ he announced.

  He turned his back and continued to forge a path through the party guests, towing Millie behind him and stopping only when they had reached the dance floor, where he quickly let go of her hand.

  He breathed heavily in and out several times and Millie feared he was about to have a convulsion. To her surprise he took an even deeper breath before giving her an abrupt bow, to which she responded with a curtsy. Since they were in a public place, there was little else she could do.

  When the music began, Millie offered him her hand, but Alex stood rooted to the spot.

  A flash of fury sparked its way through her brain. He had rudely stared at her, dragged her through a crowded ballroom and now he was refusing to take her hand for the dance.

  For Millie, things had been bad enough when Alex had her cornered by the door, but now they stood where everyone could see them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw that the other dancers had begun to take notice.

  ‘Lord Brooke, please. I beg of you, take my hand and let us either join the dance or leave the floor. I don’t know what sort of game you think you are playing with me, but your behaviour is boorish and I have had just about enough.’

  She saw his lips begin to move, but no words came out of his mouth.

  She silently counted to ten before letting out a deep sigh of frustration.

  ‘Very well, if that is how you wish to behave I shall leave you here. Good evening, my lord.’

  She turned, and with her head held high, walked away.

  ‘You horrible conceited man,’ she muttered through gritted teeth.

  If she had looked back, she would have seen Alex still standing alone in the middle of the dance floor, staring after her, a pained look on his face.

  At the edge of the crowd, she found Lucy and David.

  Poor Lucy’s eyes were full of unshed tears and her bottom lip was quivering. Millie took hold of Lucy’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  ‘It’s all right, Lucy. I don’t dance that well anyway. You and the rest of the party have been spared that unnatural spectacle, at least for this evening. You should be grateful for your brother’s lack of manners,’ she said, giving Lucy a reassuring smile.

  Lucy nodded. ‘Thank you,’ she replied, as the first tears began to roll down her cheeks. Millie reached out and wiped one away. The poor girl had stood helpless while her brother humiliated her new friend in front of all the guests at a party.

  ‘Please don’t cry, Lucy, no harm was done,’ Millie said.

  The dance continued and the remaining dancers were compelled to work their way around the inconvenient obstacle that was the motionless Lord Brooke.

  Other guests soon began to take note and comment on the odd human centrepiece. To his credit, Millie felt David Radley held his temper rather well, but finally it was clear he too had endured enough of his brother’s outlandish behaviour.

  ‘Excuse me, ladies, but I need to go and speak to my fool of a brother before he causes the family name any further disgrace,’ David said as he walked away.

  As the girls and a growing number of party guests looked on, David stormed onto the dance floor and took hold of Alex’s arm. The brothers exchanged a few sharp words before David marched Alex across the ballroom and out into the rear garden.

  As they passed by, Millie could see the look on David’s face was one of pure rage.

  Lucy let out a small cry of despair and gripped Millie’s wrist

  ‘Millie, I had better go after them; something must be terribly wrong with Alex. Please believe me when I say he has never behaved like this before in his life. He can be impetuous at times, but I don’t know what has come over him tonight.’

  She kissed Millie on the cheek.

  ‘I promise that if you come and visit at Strathmore House, I will make sure he is not at home, and if he is, he will be on his best behaviour.’ Lucy’s gaze followed her brothers as they disappeared through the door and out into the night.

  ‘I must leave,’ she said urgently. ‘My parents are here tonight and they will soon hear about Alex’s behaviour towards you. If I don’t separate my brothers, my father will have them both by the ear and marching out the front door. If I go now, we may still be able to salvage this evening.’

  With a growing sense of unease, Millie watched as Lucy picked up her skirts and headed quickly for the French doors.

  Millie’s spirits sank, knowing she would have to make the trip to the Duke of Strathmore’s house, no matter how much she dreaded it. But if her new friend had to suffer the embarrassment of having dozens of pairs of eyes watching as she followed her brawling brothers outside, then paying Lucy a social call the next day would be the least Millie could do.

  ‘Millie, Mama wishes to speak to you.’ She turned and saw Charles standing behind her, shaking his head. She swore under her breath, pushed past him and went in search of her mother.

  When she reached her mother’s side, it was obvious whom her mother blamed for the whole embarrassing spectacle; the look on Violet’s face said it all. Then, seeing her father, Millie turned and started towards him, but he shook his head and pointed in the direction of her mother.

  But I haven’t done anything, she silently pleaded with him.

  ‘Mama,’ she said, as she stepped in front of her mother, her back to the assembled guests. If she was to be on the end of an undeserved scolding, then let her mother face them as they strained their ears to overhear.

  Violet took hold of Millie’s hands and pulled her in close.

  ‘What was all that about?’ she snapped.

  Millie sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

  ‘I honestly do not know, Mama. I met Lucy Radley earlier in the evening; she seemed sweet and introduced me to her two brothers. When they arrived, Lord Brooke just stood and stared at me; even his brother accused him of being rude. The next thing I knew, he had dragged me across the ballroom and pushed me onto the dance floor.’

  ‘Where he then refused to dance with you?’ her mother replied, her eyebrows lifting in a clear display that said she was not convinced of her daughter’s innocence in the matter.

  ‘Yes, and it was very embarrassing,’ Millie replied, hurt at her mother’s obvious mistrust. ‘Do you think I staged the whole thing to get sympathy?’ She pulled her hands away from her mother, not caring that their exchange was being observed.

  Violet closed her eyes and sighed.

  ‘What am I going to do with you? I am at my wits’ end, Millie. I don’t know what happened between you and Lord Brooke, but this nonsense stops right this minute, do you hear?’ She wagged her finger at Millie for good measure, which brought on a flurry of whispers from the eavesdroppers behind her.

  ‘For the rest of the evening you will stay by my side, and you will smile and make small talk with anyone who is good enough to speak to you. I will not have you ruin this evening for the rest of the family.’

  A reply formed on Millie’s lips, but Violet shook her head, indicating that the discussion was at an end. Millie knew exactly where she stood in her mother’s graces.

  ‘Yes, Mama,’ she replied, taking her place at her mother’s side.

  ‘Good,’ Violet said as she smiled at the other guests.

  For the next half an hour Millie watched dancing couples as they waltzed through a succession of popular pieces. Charles even ventured an appearance with their Aunt Beatrice on his arm.

  Millie stood smiling as Charles and Lady Ashton then took the floor. His lips moved slowly as he counted out the steps and Lady Ashton, gracious as ever, tried to hide her discomfort every time he stepped on her toes.

  ‘You shall have to start on your dancing lessons again, now that we have been introduced to London society,’ her father murmured in her ear. Millie kept her gaz
e on the dancers, but it was no use: James Ashton was reading her mind again.

  ‘If it’s of any comfort, I understand the Duke of Strathmore has taken his son to task, and Lord Brooke will not be troubling you any further this evening, my dear.’

  ‘I wish you would tell that to Mama,’ she replied.

  Her father put his arm around her shoulder and squeezed. ‘Once this dance set is over, your uncle will be making a speech, then we shall be going home. After your visit to Lady Elmore’s this afternoon and tonight’s unpleasantness, I think you have suffered enough for one day.’

  Millie gave him a tight smile; at least someone in her family believed she was not the one to blame for the scene on the dance floor. The thought of going home and tucking herself into bed sounded heavenly.

  Her father was right: of all the days they had been in residence in London, today had definitely been the worst. At least now all she had left to endure was a long, boring speech from the head of her family and this day would finally be at an end.

  To her surprise and delight, Millie discovered her Uncle Oscar was a keen and skilled orator. When the orchestra took a supper break, he called the gathering to order and gave a lively and often emotional speech welcoming his brother and family back to England. Millie, Charles and their parents stood together and accepted the heartfelt welcome.

  ‘You just watch the invitations come flooding through the door from first thing tomorrow,’ James remarked to his wife. As her parents exchanged a smile, Millie could see a new light in her mother’s eyes.

  Having one of the most eligible bachelors in all of England as her son would ensure Violet’s name appeared high up on the guest lists for the most exclusive parties and events for the forthcoming season.

  Millie caught her mother’s eye, and the edge of her mother’s smile wavered. If anyone was going to be the proverbial fly in the ointment, it would be her chubby, troublesome daughter.

  ‘Yes, well, I didn’t cause this evening’s little scene. You can blame that on Lord Brooke,’ Millie muttered to herself. For the first time in her life, she felt a distance growing between her mother and herself.

  If a young man had treated Millie in the same fashion at a function in Calcutta, she knew her mother would have been across the room and having serious words with him in an instant, but not here, not in London. The rules were different: people did not say what they thought in public, but instead whispered about you long after you had gone.