Chapter 25
Anthony pulled out an ivory chess set. “Since we have two days to drive ourselves stir crazy, how about a round, dear brother? Haven’t had the joy of triumph in a long time.”
“Would you play against Alexandra? The game will be a distraction for her nerves.”
“Where are your manners, Nicholas? To beat your fiancée would be the height of bad etiquette,” Anthony joked.
Nicholas winked at Alexandra and drew out a chair for her at the table.
Alexandra smoothed her blue muslin skirts. “On the island, Nicholas introduced me to the rules, so I have a rudimentary idea of how the game is played. Am I to understand, you have never been beaten in all of England?”
“There is that,” Anthony conceded. “I’ll go light, even teach you a few strategies.”
“Oh my, to be granted such leniency.” Alexandra purposefully fluttered her hand over her heart. “Overwhelmed by your charity, I shall remain a shadow in the sun of your greater knowledge.” She heard Samuel’s snort come from behind the pages of the London Chronicle.
Nicholas poured a drink.
“Tapping the claret to celebrate my victory, brother?” Anthony needled.
“At the very least, you should allow her to go first.” Nicholas leaned indolently against the fireplace mantle where he could obtain a full view of the game.
“Of course, ladies come first,” Anthony said.
“Forgive me if I’m clumsy,” Alexandra said, making a bold move with her castle.
“Interesting,” said Anthony over the drone of conversation between Aunt Margaret and Rachel.
Anthony made his next move and on and on the game evolved. Alexandra paused overlong, making appropriate sighs and exaggerating her confusion in moving her pieces, and asking for further instruction from Anthony. She felt Nicholas smirking behind her. Indeed, Anthony was a superb player. The clock ticked in the hall and Duke Richard leaned over on the premise of procuring a book from a table. Even Nicholas’s father was intrigued.
Alexandra moved another piece. Anthony frowned. Good. She had him exactly where she wanted him.
The clock struck two bells, two hours had eclipsed. Alexandra stretched, glancing around the room. Aunt Margaret ceased talking and had hobbled over to the chess table. Rachel sidled next to Aunt Margaret. Alexandra prayed Samuel would keep reading the paper and not indicate anything untoward. He’d been watching all the time.
Anthony rubbed the back of his neck. “Looks like you played quite a bit of chess on the island.”
Pasting a demure expression on her face, she moved another piece in a predatory advance. “Am I satisfactory?”
He straightened in his chair. “Very.”
Your brother is an apt tutor, is he not?” She managed to keep a straight face.
“Adequate,” Anthony allowed.
Alexandra suppressed a laugh, sat calmly with her hands folded in her lap, totally aware of Anthony’s scowl. Of course, he had his reputation, but to admit his brother was better was too difficult for his ego to swallow.
Drat. Anthony moved and it was a brilliant counter. She moved her king into play and Aunt Margaret harrumphed. Alexandra raised her head in question, finding herself under the matronly aunt’s stare. She lasted five seconds before Aunt Margaret’s lips twitched. Rachel nodded her head in approval.
“Nicholas, you should sit and rest,” goaded his aunt. “You’ve stood the whole game.”
“And miss the championship of a lifetime?”
“It’s hard to concentrate with everyone hawking over me,” complained Anthony.
Alexandra twisted her head around. With Nicholas’s knowing grin, she radiated with pride. He was cheering for her. Anthony tapped his finger on the table, studying the board. With the dawning realization of the outcome, his mouth dropped open and Alexandra moved her queen in for the kill. “Checkmate.”
Anthony scraped his chair backward and stood. “Impossible! I’ve been outfoxed. I demand a rematch. How can you play so well? I’ve sparred against the best in England.”
Alexandra laughed. “I learned from Samuel who is a master. He played during his long journeys at sea, cultivating his game.”
Samuel gestured with his pipe. “At twelve summers, Alexandra started beating me.”
“To think I’m beaten by a woman. Nicholas, you knew about this? Alexandra, you are as savage as those Colonials.”
“I heard that, Anthony,” Rachel said. “Perhaps I’ll train my skills with a bow and arrow on you.”
Alexandra had heard of Rachel’s skill, utilizing a crossbow in a daring escape from an attic in a burning building. Her talent as an inventor saved her and Anthony’s lives.
“Typical Anthony,” chortled Aunt Margaret. “He’s as touchy as a beauty losing her looks.”
Anthony ignored his aunt, his glare on his brother. “I’ll box your ears.”
Nicholas put up his fists, jabbed his brother in the arm. “Go ahead and try. You haven’t bested me yet.”
Even after a year of separation, Nicholas and Anthony slid into brotherly habits of baiting one another. Alexandra warmed to their camaraderie, the family relaxed enough to enjoy themselves freely. How easy to fall in love with Nicholas’s family.
Nicholas took another jab at his brother. “Good for you to learn a little humility, but don’t take defeat too bad. She beat me every night on the island.”
Alexandra yawned and slipped between the cool sheets scented with lavender. She tugged at the lace bodice of her fine sleeping gown, luxuriating in the soft silk and laid her head on the downy pillows. No more could she attempt to keep her eyes open. The growing child inside her sapped her strength.
The door opened and Nicholas stole into the room. He slid beside her whereupon she took his face in her hands and brought it to hers.
“What about your family?”
“You escaped me once. I’m never letting you go again. I slept with you last night and you didn’t even know.”
Alexandra gasped. “I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot with your family. They will think me a harlot if it’s discovered you share my bed. I want their good opinion.”
He kissed her and Alexandra automatically curled into him. “I have missed your touch so much, Nicholas.”
He cupped her breasts as if feeling the weight. Against her will, her nipples hardened into peaks and she was acutely aware of a spreading ache in her breasts. “Your pregnancy has made your breasts fuller.”
“Do you think you can convince me to change my mind?” she said softly.
“I am to be a duke; I see much of life like a battle to be mastered and won.”
“And do you often win, my lord?”
“Almost always, my lady.”
He lowered his voice until it was a deep rumble that reverberated through her. “I suppose I can’t talk you out of this madness in breaking into Lady Sutherland’s home?”
“My dear, Nicholas,” she sighed, “What am I to do with you when you persist in being wicked?” She could feel him grinning in the darkness. “You are a scoundrel, Lord Rutland, but your efforts will not work.”
Unrepentant, Nicholas did not bother to hide his appreciative groan when she reached down and touched him. “Indulge me.” The hope in his voice made her smile.
“That would be unwise.” Alexandra pulled away, but he snatched her back in his arms.
“Tell me why,” he prodded her.
Heat flooded her body. “Because you make too much noise when we…you know.”
He laughed and moved his hand over her stomach. “I can’t wait to see you grow big and round with my child, Alexandra.”
“With all the food you are tantalizing me with, I’ll be enormous before the month is out.”
“That’s the idea.”
The scrape of wood drew her attention. Aunt Margaret stood in the doorway in a triangle of light. Alexandra heaped the covers over Nicholas’s head. The room was dark except for the light that spilled in from a candle in the hall.
“I don’t mean to intrude but wish to tell you a little story about my nephew, Nicholas. When he was a boy, he possessed a penchant for getting into scrapes.” She moved further into the room and Alexandra checked behind her to make sure Nicholas was concealed. “His father warned him, if there were any more mishaps, there would be repercussions. The dear boy stepped into another fight. Black eye, torn clothes, bruises. I convinced Nicholas to stay at my home while he convalesced so his father would not learn of his indiscretion. I later learned a rude boy had insulted me. Nicholas had championed me. The point I’m trying to make is Nicholas is extremely loyal and will defend and protect you. That is his character.”
In the dim light, Aunt Margaret’s face was silhouetted.
“If you need my help with any situation, advise me and I will help you navigate the ropes. The Rutland family is powerful, but most importantly we are devoted to one another. As for my nephew, he can be a bear at times, but he is a good man and you will make him a wonderful wife. Good night, Alexandra.”
Alexandra swiped a tear, Nicholas’s matronly aunt touching her heart. To be both wanted and cherished. “Good night,” sniffed Alexandra.
Aunt Margaret closed the door, paused, and then stuck her head back in. “Oh…and Good night, Nicholas.”