Alicia (24 page)

Stronbert extracted a handkerchief from his pocket and moved to stand by her. His hand rested reassuringly on her shoulder and he said gravely, “Perhaps the damage is not as great as Jeff fears. He closed the doors to the second room before the smoke could invade it entirely, and the flames did not reach there at all.”

“Wonderful!”
she sobbed bitterly. “The most expensive fabric is always kept in the front, so as to be seen.”

“I realize that,”
he replied sadly. He regarded her bent head despairingly. He could not offer her the financial assistance she would need. She would not accept it from him. He could not ask her to marry him. She would reject him, seeing the offer as pity for her. Her sobs were abating now and he placed the handkerchief firmly in her hand. She rubbed furiously at her eyes and her cheeks, annoyed with herself for her weakness.

“What time is it?”
she asked abruptly.

Surprised, Stronbert consulted his watch. “Eleven thirty.”

“We can safely leave at midnight. I will not tell Felicia until then. Let her have another half hour to enjoy herself.”

“As you wish. I will drive back with you to assess the damage.’’

“That is hardly necessary, though I appreciate your offer. You have guests to see to,”
she said calmly. “I cannot very well go back to the ballroom in this state. Ask Mrs. Maple, please, if she will just keep an eye on Felicia and bring her here to me at midnight.”

“Certainly. I will have the carriage ready for you.”

“Thank you, Lord Stronbert. You are very kind.”

Stronbert muttered an unintelligible oath and departed. Alicia sat alone in the library attempting to accept this new calamity. Her tears were past now, but her mind refused to offer any solution. She could make no decisions now, tonight. But soon she would have to, and there were few choices left.

Alicia heard a clock chime somewhere and she sighed as the tap came on the door. Stronbert held the door for Felicia and announced at the same time, “The carriage is ready, Lady Coombs.”

Felicia curiously surveyed her mother’s face. Something was wrong. She turned instinctively to Stronbert. “Why has Mama been crying?”

“She has had some bad news. She will tell you about it in the carriage.”
He waited while they received their cloaks and walked with them to the door. “I will come round in the morning.”

It was a statement and Alicia accepted it with a nod. She politely thanked him for the evening and climbed into the carriage. Stronbert pressed Felicia’s hand and said, “Help her,”
as she climbed after her mother into the vehicle.

Felicia took her mother’s hand and held it while she waited for Alicia to speak. The carriage jolted as it started and then swung into a rhythm over the graveled drive. “There has been a fire at the shop, my love. I fear most of the merchandise is ruined. We have not the resources to meet such an emergency,”
Alicia said softly. “I am not sure what we are to do. In the morning we will survey the damage and make some decision.”

“A fire! How could such a thing happen?”
the girl asked indignantly.

“It did not happen; Mr. Tackar started it. Lord Stronbert said he has been apprehended and will be brought before a magistrate.”

“Good! The hateful creature. Why must he persecute us like this?”
Felicia wailed.

“I daresay he did not like being thwarted in his designs.”
Alicia grimaced.

Felicia sighed. “I daresay. Well, perhaps this will be the last of him.”

“I certainly hope so. It will be too dark to see much tonight, but let us have a look at the shop.”
She gave the order to the coachman and within a few minutes they drew up before the building. There were two men standing in the doorway talking, and they came forward to greet her.

“We’re so sorry, Lady Coombs, about the fire. Jeff asked that we stay to make sure it did not break out again,”
one explained. “Everything seems fine now.”

“Thank you. And I must thank all of you for getting the fire under control so quickly. I am indeed lucky there is so much left.”
She considered the blackened paint inside the store and the mass of fabric drowned in the center. The counters were charred; she could tell from running a finger along them. The shelves were mostly empty. “If you think it is safe to leave now...”

“I think so, ma’am,”
the second man said gruffly.

“In that case, please come by in the morning and I will see you are paid.”

“Oh, no, ma’am. Jeff said as how he’d take care of it,”
the first man said stubbornly.

“Who is Jeff?”

“Jeff Thomas, ma’am. He be the one who caught the fellow. Well, good night then, ma’am.”
The two men bowed politely and sympathetically to her and shuffled off in the direction of the Feather and Flask.

Felicia had wandered about the shop while her mother talked to the men, but she returned now to say, “How ugly it is! It will take weeks just to clean it up. The back room is not as bad. Many of the fabrics there could be salvaged, though I fear they will smell of the smoke.”

“Let us go home. In the daylight we will be able to assess the damage better. I feel extraordinarily tired.”

* * * *

It was some time before the rest of the guests had left the Court. When the last carriage had pulled away and the residents were sighing with the relief of being alone, Stronbert asked that his mother, Miss Susan, Dorothy, and Rowland join him in the library. Everyone else thankfully trudged off to bed.

“I thought it best that the four of you know what has happened this evening. Lady Coombs’s shop was set fire and a great deal of damage done. The culprit has been caught and is being brought before a magistrate.”

He paused while they each expressed their horror and indignation, ranging from the dowager’s fiercely raised eyebrows to Rowland’s fist pounded against the chair arm. “I fear that Lady Coombs has not the resources to withstand this financial burden. I would, of course, be willing to assist her, but I cannot believe she would accept my help. Therefore, Mother, I have a favor to ask of you—a very tiring one.”

“Well, what is it?”
she asked when he paused.

“I should like you to go to Lady Gorham first thing in the morning. I will send a letter explaining the situation, and asking that she suggest to Lady Coombs a silent partnership with her for providing the necessary funds to restore the shop. The details can be worked out by a solicitor. Would you be willing to undertake such a journey?”

“I suppose so,”
the old woman grumbled.

“I could take your letter, Uncle Nigel,”
Rowland suggested eagerly.

“You and Dorothy are to leave in the morning, Rowland.”

“I should not mind delaying our departure,”
Dorothy protested.

“No, but your mother is expecting you. I would rather Mother went, but Miss Susan might go in her stead if she were willing.”

“I said I would go,”
the dowager proclaimed with a majestic wave of her hand, “and I shall.”

“In that case, Cousin Evelyn, perhaps I might accompany you,”
Miss Carnworth suggested.

“As you wish, my dear. I am sure the company would not come amiss,”
the dowager admitted.

“Excellent,”
Stronbert approved. “I would have suggested an early start, but after such a late night it might be wise to start later and plan to spend the night at Peshre Abbey and return the following day.”

“Nonsense,”
his mother said scornfully. “I am not so old that I cannot be up and about early.”
The dowager marchioness typically rose at ten and was not seen outside her chamber before noon. Stronbert regarded her skeptically, and she responded smartly, “We can leave at nine, can we not, Cousin Susan?”

“I shall certainly be ready by then,”
her relation said flatly.

“I thank you both. I shall have the letter ready for you in the morning.”

When the others had left, Rowland stayed behind to ask, “Is there nothing I can do? Who set the fire? Why?”

“It was the same man, attempting to cause further trouble. I do not see any way in which you can help, Rowland, though I imagine you and Dorothy will wish to stop by to see Felicia before you leave. Rest assured I will do what I can for them,”
Stronbert said wearily. He toyed with a quill for a moment before replacing it on the desk.

“I know you will, sir. Thank you.”

Stronbert rose to shake his nephew’s outstretched hand. “Take care of yourself, Rowland. I shall expect to see you here again in the not too distant future.”

When his nephew had left him he sat down again at the ordered desk to compose his letter to Lady Gorham. It was not a simple letter to write. After considering for some time he dipped the quill in the standish and began:

Dear Lady Gorham,

I regret to inform you that still another calamity has befallen Lady Coombs. Mr. Tackar set fire to various goods in the shop tonight which caused a great deal of damage. I do not believe that Lady Coombs’s resources can handle the necessary repairs and replacement of stock. I feel in part responsible, as I had undertaken her protection, a matter I had discussed with her brother in Oxford. Mr. Tackar has been apprehended and I shall do what I can at the next assizes to make him responsible for the damage, but the immediate necessity for funds is great. I do not believe that Lady Coombs would accept any assistance from me and I do not wish to ask her to do so. On the other hand, I cannot imagine that you would have the ready amount to assist her, even if you desired to do so. Therefore, I would suggest that we draw a private understanding between us in which I will advance the funds and you will permit that they appear to come from you, as a silent partner in the business, to be paid off when possible over a lengthy period of time. If you are agreeable, you need only send a letter with my mother and I will see that all is arranged. My intent is not to deceive Lady Coombs but to spare her feelings. I have every intention of marrying her if she will have me, but the time is not ripe to put my suit to the touch. I would prefer that no one else know of our arrangement, should you agree to it, and I sincerely hope that you will.

Your most obedient servant,

Stronbert

He could not feel entirely satisfied with the letter but decided it would have to suffice. He would send a letter to Stephen Newton when he knew the situation better, but that would be more difficult to write and he did not mind that it would have to wait.

Mr. Allerton, who lived in a village a mile northeast of town, arrived at the shop unaware of the previous evening’s activity. Alicia entered to find him standing horror-stricken by the sight, which even at her second viewing made her cringe. She carefully explained what had occurred, stressing that she did not as yet know how she would handle the matter. “But I shall have to start clearing the mess and do what I can until I make a decision. I do not know if I can continue to offer you a job, Mr. Allerton,”
she said helplessly. “And I am embarrassed to ask you to help with this,”
a hopeless gesture of her hand to the pile of soaking fabric, “for it is not what you are employed to do.”

“If you are thinking that it would be beneath my dignity,”
he said with a rueful smile, “you are very much mistaken. I shall find a smock from the second room, where things appear a bit less damaged, and start to work.”

Alicia smiled warmly at him and said simply, “Thank you.”

Felicia arrived with Mavis, who was determined to help wherever she could, and the three women donned aprons. “For the time being we shall carry everything damaged to the backyard. Then we will inspect for items which may be salvaged,”
Alicia remarked, sadly surveying a charred paduasoy which ran twenty guineas the yard.

She had made two trips, the water soaking through her apron to the old gown she had worn, her face streaked with soot, when she glanced up to see Stronbert enter the shop. With a blackened hand she pushed the straggling auburn tresses back from her face and attempted to greet him with a cordial smile. “Ah, our first customer for the fire-damage sale.”

It was necessary for Stronbert to keep a tight rein on his emotions. He wanted to shake her and hold her and tell her to get the hell home and leave this work for others to do. He did none of those things. “I have come to offer my services,”
he said, as his eyes met hers following a brief scan of the damage.

Alicia took in his immaculate buckskins, ruffled shirt, and riding jacket with amusement. “I think you are not dressed for the role.”

“Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I had not actually intended to lug sodden bolts of fabric about, as I wish you would not either.”
He did not miss the lift of her chin and continued calmly, “I had hoped you might sit with me a moment and allow me to arrange for some carpenters and painters.”

Alicia sighed as she glanced at the damaged counters, the burnt hole in the floor, and the singed paint all about the shop. “Yes, that will have to be done, even if only to find a purchaser for the shop. Come with me to the office and we shall make a list of what is necessary. I would not know where to begin contacting people for such repairs.”

“I am hoping that my knowledge of the area will be useful.”

“I am sure it will. Which reminds me, do you know this Jeff Thomas who apprehended Mr. Tackar?”
Alicia asked him curiously.

Stronbert nodded carelessly. “Yes, a good man.”

The very casualness of the gesture made Alicia suspicious. “Just how well do you know him? Why did he come to you?”

“Because he is an employee of mine.”
Stronbert was forced to stop as the woman leading him toward the rear of the shop swung about.

“How providential that he should have been here at just the right time,”
she said sharply.

“Yes, I thought so.”

“The men who stayed behind after the fire said Jeff had instructed them to do so. He also said they would be paid for their time. That was my responsibility,”
she said angrily.

“I am sure he will allow you to reimburse him,”
Stronbert replied placatingly.

“You shall send him to me so that I may.”
There were bright spots of color on her cheeks.