From Governess to Countess (Matches Made in Scandal #1)(56)

Aleksei gave an exclamation of disgust. ‘Reform and Russia are anathema to each other. I don’t know. I could—but I’d feel trapped.’ She caught a brief glimpse of his anguish, before he recovered himself. ‘The children’s future is not your problem, Allison.’

Nor was his future. His future without her. The knowledge she had been hiding from herself pressed at her heart. She could not, would not listen to that persistent, insistent inner voice. ‘I do understand,’ Allison said, trying desperately not to betray her feelings in her voice. ‘I of all people understand your desire to make your life your own. A lifetime of following orders, of doing someone else’s bidding. Why would you leave the army, only to tie yourself to...?’

A high-pitched scream pierced the air. ‘Miss Galbraith! Miss Galbraith!’

‘Catiche!’ Grabbing Allison’s arm, Aleksei forced his way through the crowd. Catiche was standing with a huddle of other girls, ashen-faced but unharmed. ‘Please help her, Miss Galbraith, quickly.’

A shout went up for a physician, but Allison was already beside the little girl writhing on the floor, her mother sobbing hysterically as she tried to pull the child into her arms.

‘Leave her,’ Allison snapped, pushing the woman away unceremoniously, for she could see the girl’s skin turning blue. ‘Lie her on her side. Aleksei, quickly, get me a spoon from the buffet table over there. Madame, has she taken a fit before?’

‘A fit! My daughter has never—who are you? Get away from her. What are you doing?’

Allison took the silver spoon from Aleksei and placed it carefully in the little girl’s mouth.

‘Unhand the child, madame,’ a male voice said. ‘You are not qualified.’

‘Miss Galbraith knows what she is doing, she is...’

‘Whatever she is, or claims to be, she is not a physician. I, on the other hand am. Now get out of my way, please and let me attend to the patient.’

Allison leapt back as if she had been scalded.

‘You are quite mistaken, sir,’ Aleksei exclaimed, ‘she is a...’

But Allison grabbed his arm, shaking her head violently. ‘Leave it.’

‘Merci à Dieu.’ The mother fell on the doctor.

‘I thank the stars I arrived in time before any further damage could be inflicted.’ The doctor threw Allison a disdainful look. ‘A cupping is what is required,’ he said, scooping the still-writhing and unconscious child up.

The spoon clattered to the floor. ‘If you are not careful...’ Allison remonstrated in a shaken voice, neither the doctor nor the mother were listening.

‘She might choke on her tongue,’ Allison finished, staring at the little party as they hurried across the room. ‘A cupping will sap what little strength she has. But what do I know.’

‘Why did they do that?’ Catiche asked, staring after the doctor and his entourage. ‘Why didn’t they let you help?’

‘Because the same rules apply here as in London,’ Allison answered furiously. ‘Because I will always be an outsider. Nothing has changed.’ She turned to Aleksei. ‘Will you go and check on the little girl for me?’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘It’s to your eternal credit that, despite the way you have been treated, your thoughts are for the child. And I’ll call for the carriage. The ball is clearly over.’

*

Allison was lost in a silent reverie during the carriage ride back, her fists clenching and unclenching in her lap, a myriad of emotions, none of them pleasant, sweeping over her countenance. Aleksei wanted desperately to comfort her. He wanted to vent his anger at the despicable way she had been treated. He wanted to tell her how difficult it had been to resist the temptation to punch that smug physician square on his supercilious nose, or to rail at that snob of a mother, who put status before her daughter’s well-being. He wanted to hold her, to soothe away her anger. But she sat stiffly, staring sightlessly ahead, looking as if one touch would shatter her into a thousand pieces. And besides, Catiche was with them, and so he garnered as much patience as he could muster.

But the strength of her emotions puzzled him. Unpalatable as they had been, the reaction of the mother and the physician to Allison’s intervention was natural enough. They didn’t know Allison, and Allison had made no attempt to explain herself.

The same rules apply here as in London.

I will always be an outsider.

Nothing has changed.

She almost never spoke of her past. So much had happened since her arrival that he had forgotten his initial curiosity about her motives. Why was she here? Independence, she said. The fee she had earned would give her that, but he was sure it wasn’t just about the money. Why would a woman, having worked so very hard to succeed in a man’s world, walk away from it all for a temporary posting on the other side of the world?

As the carriage arrived back at the Derevenko Palace in the dusk, the huge front door flew open, and Elena and Nikki flew out, anxious for news of the ball, thankfully sweeping Catiche away with them. But when Allison, giving him the merest of nods, made to follow them up the grand staircase, Aleksei caught her arm.

‘I am tired,’ she said, trying to shake him off. ‘I would prefer to retire alone to my chamber.’

He could let her go, but it wasn’t only that he didn’t want to. ‘I want to help,’ Aleksei said. ‘Whatever it is, I want to help.’