Winning a Lady's Heart (Danby #1)(9)

Thank goodness. There was nothing more she wanted in that moment than to shut the door, ring for a hot bath to soak her aching muscles, and then bury herself beneath a mound of warmed blankets.

Olivia had other plans for Alexandra. “That will be all for now, Mrs. Ealey. If you’ll excuse us.”

“Very well.” The housekeeper directed her focus to Alexandra. “The Duke of Danby requests your presence in half an hour.”

Her eyes slid closed and she sighed. “Of course he does. What could be finer?”

Apparently the housekeeper couldn’t think of anything else, for she failed to respond.

“Alexandra, Olivia. My dear cousins, it is so splendid to see you.”

Alexandra started at the unexpected interruption. She turned to face her cousin, Lady Emma, the daughter of the Danby dukedom heir and…

A handsome gentleman beside her bowed.

If Alexandra hadn’t been so tired, if she hadn’t had her heart broken, if she wasn’t more than slightly rumpled from their long carriage ride, she would have been more intrigued. As it was, she could only muster a faint curiosity for the man standing so close to her cousin.

Then he looked down at Emma, with such loving adoration that Alexandra nearly pitched over with the intensity of jealous pain.

“Oh dear Alexandra, it is so good to see you,” Emma greeted warmly. “May I introduce you to my husband, Lord Heathfield. Heath, these are my cousins, Lady Alexandra and Lady Olivia.”

“A pleasure, my ladies,” Heathfield murmured.

Alexandra answered for the sisters. “Likewise, my lord.”

Husband?

Oh, Alexandra would love to know the story there. Someday. Not now. Not when she needed to get inside her chambers, shut the door, and curl herself up into a weepy ball on the bed.

“Husband,” Olivia blurted. “You’ve gone and gotten yourself married?”

Oh, sweet Olivia, never able to conceal a thought.

Emma flushed. “I have.”

Olivia eyed Heathfield speculatively. “He looks like a nice enough chap. Then I thought the same thing about Pembroke.”

Alexandra’s eyes slid closed in mortification. Dead. She would kill her sister. Still there was no need to assume that Emma or Heathfield knew anything about Nathan’s courtship and her subsequent scandal.

“I believe what my sister intended to say was congratulations.” Alexandra cast a longing glance through the doorway to the hideously cheery pink bedchambers.

Thankfully, Lord Heathfield was far more astute than the other two ladies present, for he took Emma by the arm and attempted to steer her away. “Come, Emma, Lady Alexandra and Lady Olivia have been traveling for some time and are assuredly in need of rest.”

Heaven bless him.

Emma dug her heels in. “We cannot leave her alone,” she protested, giving a very pointed look in Alexandra’s direction, “considering the Scandal and all,” she finished on a very loud whisper.

Alexandra’s eyes slid closed. “Oh, goodness, everyone knows already?”

Emma responded before Heathfield could answer. “Well, Heath and I know, of course, and Izzy. And Father and Mother.”

Ah, so yes, everyone knew.

Alexandra stared through the open doorway, unseeing, at the large bed at the center of the room. Her body’s need for sleep and the earlier pain of her muscles was all forgotten as reality intruded. Had she been foolish enough to believe she could escape the scandal at Danby Castle?

She swayed on her feet.

Heathfield gripped her arm. “Whoa,” he said in a steadying voice. He looked at his wife. “Perhaps you should help her inside and have her rest for a bit,” he suggested.

Emma looked at him as though he were a knight in shining armor.

“Go,” he urged.

Alexandra pushed her words out on a whisper. “I’m fine.” She didn’t even manage to convince herself of it, for Emma and Olivia took her by the arms and led Alexandra over to a ridiculously tiny wooden chair with pink floral upholstery.

Olivia trotted across the room to close the door.

Alexandra sat heavily and dropped her head into her hands. Thoughts of Nathan’s courtship, the time they’d spent together, and the poems he’d read flooded her. He’d made her fall in love with him so easily. What a fool she’d been. “What have I done?”

“After a rapid courtship by the Earl of Pembroke, who you fancied yourself in love with, you went and made an utter cake of yourself,” Olivia said dryly.

A snort of shocked laughter escaped Emma. She swatted her cousin on the arm. “Where is your sense of romance? He courted her. Took her sledding.”

“Skating,” Alexandra corrected.

“Waltzed with her,” Emma continued as though Alexandra hadn’t interjected. “She loved him.” She shot a look at Alexandra. “You did love him, right?”

Had she loved him? Each morning, she’d hopped out of bed, excited about rising because she knew she’d see him. When he’d partnered her in a set, she hadn’t worried over her clumsy feet because she knew he would always rescue her and guide her effortlessly through the set. Just then she could count more than fifty reasons she loved him. Had loved him.

“Yes, I loved him,” she whispered.

Olivia nodded at Alexandra. “And look at what it has gotten her.”