Lord Rakehell (31 page)

“Oh, your lordship, how very generous you are.” The housekeeper was all smiles.

“Much as I would like to see the surrounding villages, I have decided to stay at Sandringham today, Lord Hamilton.” Anne and James made a point of addressing each other formally to allay any suspicion that they were lovers. “I need to make myself familiar with the layout of the rooms, and take stock of the linen, the tableware, china, and silver. I'll also need to see the servants' quarters to make sure there is adequate accommodation for a large staff.” Anne stood up from the table. “I believe I'll start with the kitchen, pantry, and larder, if you'll be so kind as to lead the way, Mrs. Roydon.”

Anne decided to make notes as she toured the myriad rooms. She also made a list of things that must be purchased immediately, and another list of things that could be acquired in August and September, while the royal couple was in residence.

The housekeeper provided her with all the sources of food provisions Sandringham would need, since it had no home farm to supply it, and the prince expected seven-course meals. Since they were on the coast, fish and shellfish would be no problem, but they would need a reliable source for milk, eggs, cheese, poultry, beef, and lamb. Of course, once Prince Teddy and his friends arrived, their hunts would provide the table with an abundance of game and fowl.

“We'll need the services of seamstresses right away. I'll design a simple gray dress with white aprons and caps for the maids, but we'll need people to sew them. Are there any tailor's shops in the vicinity?”

“I think you'd have to go to King's Lynn for those services, Lady Anne.”

“Well, that's no great distance. But we would need them to stay at the estate for a few weeks. We cannot send all the new staff we will employ to King's Lynn.” There were so many things to think about that Anne's mind was racing ahead. Not only were there products the household would need; there were things the staff would require. She also had to keep in mind items that both male and female guests would expect, and most important of all she must focus on the comfort of the Prince and Princess of Wales.

“Mrs. Roydon, it would be a great help to me if you'd make a list of items you'll need such as silver polish, beeswax to make the furniture shine, and vinegar to clean all the windows. In the meantime, I'll be off on my tour of the house.”

Anne was pleasantly surprised when she arrived at the master suite on the second floor. It consisted of two large bedchambers, two dressing rooms, a bathing room, and a sitting room. Since it was freshly decorated and had new bedroom furnishings and hangings, she surmised that all had been done after the late Prince Albert had purchased Sandringham.

In the afternoon, Anne decided it would be better to tour the rest of the house with James. She went outside to view the lake to the west of the house, and walk beneath the ancient oak trees. When she discovered an enchanting walled garden behind the house, she longed for James to explore it with her. She decided to curtail her exploration of the gardens until they could do it together, and walked across the grounds to Sandringham's own parish church, St. Mary Magdalene. She was enthralled to discover a host of carved, painted angels, and knew at the first opportunity she would bring James to see them.

•   •   •

“I hope I'm in time for dinner. Something smells good, and I've lots to tell you.”

“It's partridge tonight. Apparently the estate is teeming with game.”

“That will make Teddy happy, I'm sure.” His eyes licked over her, telling her in unspoken words that her presence made him happy.

“The house is amazing. I want to show you the master suite, but I left a lot of chambers unexplored so we could see them together. The gardens are fascinating also, but each time I discovered something, I wished you were there to see it with me.”

“Pleasure shared is pleasure doubled,” he murmured with an insinuating wink.

Mrs. Roydon served them the partridge, along with roast potatoes, peas, and watercress salad. Anne ate the bird with her fingers, and James watched in fascination.

“It's delicious, but Ethel is only used to preparing one course, which will be totally inadequate for the prince. I think you should write and advise him to bring his chef.”

“That's the only solution. I want to advise him about the convenience of traveling by train, as well. It takes less than five hours from London and would be much more comfortable for Alix than being jostled about in a carriage.”

“Did you make any progress today?”

“I visited the villages of Heacham and Hunstanton. I stopped at all the inns and public houses to spread the word that Sandringham Estate would employ any and all who were willing to work for royalty.”

Anne laughed. “We'll be inundated by scores of villagers.”

“We'll need a score of servants to run this place. It's a good thing Teddy's coffers are full. I put in an order for ale to be delivered every week, but things like champagne, and even a good claret will have to be ordered from London.”

When the housekeeper left the room, James reached for Anne's hand across the table. “When you were licking your fingers over your partridge, I wanted to sit you in my lap and feed you.” He took her hand to his mouth and bit her fingers.

She took her hand back quickly. “Biting isn't allowed.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Licking, however, I might consider.”

“I'll hold you to that, Lady Anne.”

After dinner they walked through parts of the house they hadn't yet seen. On the ground floor they discovered a billiard room, a smoking room, two gun rooms joined by a weapons corridor, and a long bowling and skittles alley. Down the opposite side was a ladies' gallery for walking, with fine paintings and portraits on the walls.

“Tomorrow, I am taking you to pay a visit on our neighbors at Houghton Hall.”

“Who are they?”

“Houghton Hall was built by Sir Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister. His descendant George, Marquis of Cholmondeley, and his wife, Susan, live there now. It's only fitting that we tell them the Prince and Princess of Wales will be taking up residence for August and September.”

“What's the real reason we are going?”

“Do you suspect
all
my motives?”

“Of course not—just most of them.”

“Walpole constructed the mansion and supposedly filled it with magnificent treasures, yet the estate today provides a relatively small income. The marquis just might be open to selling off some of their fine possessions.”

“I can't wait to see Houghton Hall. Are there any other country estates in Norfolk?”

“Actually, yes. Walpole's younger brother Horatio built Wolterton Hall, but it's a bit farther afield in Norwich.”

“Then for the time being I'll cross that one off my list of things to do, and before you ask, I really do have lists.”

“For everything?” James rolled his eyes suggestively.

“Come to think of it, yes. But my imaginary list is too scandalous to put on paper.”

“Ah, it must include some of that licking you mentioned,” he teased.

“You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?” Anne changed the subject. “While it's still dusk, and before it gets completely dark, let's go outside. There's something I'd like to show you.”

Anne led the way to the back of the house and opened a wooden door in a stone wall. “This is a walled garden. It's so completely private in here, it must have been designed for lovers.” The fading light and shadows lent the garden a romantic aura, and the night-scented flowers were giving off their exotic perfume. “You can hear the fountain that splashes into a water garden. It's too dark to see now, but beneath the lily pads the water is teeming with tiny colored fishes.”

James drew her into his arms. “The garden is telling me it's been too long since it's been asked to hide secrets of love.” Just then they heard the night song of a nightingale.

Anne opened her lips to receive his kisses. The lovers clung to each other, kissing, whispering, touching, tasting. As their passion mounted, everything faded away until there was just the two of them, alone in paradise. “I wanted to show you the intimate stream walk I found, but I'll save that for tomorrow night.”

Reluctantly, they left the walled garden and returned to the house. “You go up first. I'll go into the library and write that letter to Prince Teddy.”

When Anne got to her bedchamber, it occurred to her that she should write to her mother and let her know she was at Sandringham, in Norfolk. She lit the lamps and sat down at the small writing desk. When she neared the end of the page, she wrote:
I likely won't see you until the end of September, but hope and pray that by that time you will have been able to work your magic and persuade Father to change his mind.

When James came through the adjoining door, he was delighted that Anne was still dressed. Removing her gown, admiring her provocative underclothes, and pulling off her silk stockings was a ritual he loved. Tonight he decided to do it in front of her tall mirror to double their pleasure.

When the mirror reflected their naked bodies, emphasizing the contrast between male and female, hard and soft, large and small, dark and fair, they became immediately aroused and James knew they would never make it to his bedchamber. As always it became a wild, erotic love ritual, burning, thrusting, surging, pulsing, throbbing. James was all rippling muscle, all rampant, driving male. Anne was all silken, liquid heat, all scented, sultry sensuality. At their mutual, bursting implosion, lust melted into delicious, overwhelming love.

James cradled her against him with one powerful arm, while his fingers brushed the clinging tendrils of hair from her temple, then traced the lovely curve of her cheek and throat with his tongue.

At dawn they awoke in each other's arms, strands of red-gold hair entangled about James's throat. James groaned as he contemplated returning to his own bedroom. “When we are married, and sleeping in our own chamber, we will have a long, lip-licking breakfast in bed every morning.”

“Followed by a lovely warm, scented bath,” she murmured huskily.

“L
ady Cholmondeley, how generous of you to see us on such short notice.” James took the slim woman's hand to his lips. His warm brown eyes conveyed the unmistakable message that though she was crowding sixty, he sti
ll found her attractive.

“Lord Hamilton, you may call me Lady Susan.
Cholmondeley
is such a mouthful.” She smiled. “Even in the wilds of Norfolk, we have heard that the Prince and Princess of Wales will soon be in residence at Sandringham.”

James knew that the news had traveled through the grapevine of servants. “Lady Susan, I'd like you to meet Lady Anne Howe, Princess Alexandra's most trusted lady-in-waiting, who has come to make sure everything is in readiness for Her Royal Highness.”

“I'm delighted to meet you, Lady Anne. I am hopeful for an invitation to meet Princess Alexandra. Alas, this is likely our last journey to Norfolk. My husband's gout prevents him from walking or even riding these days. He will be much more comfortable at Cholmondeley Castle in Cheshire.”

“I'm so sorry the marquis has problems with his health, my lady.”

“Well, his legs may be impaired, but his
upper works
are still functioning. George is in the great hall by the fire. Do come and meet him.”

James and Anne followed Lady Susan into the hall and were greeted by the marquis, who was about seventy and sitting in a bath chair. “Hamilton? Now, let me see, you must be the Duke of Abercorn's heir. What?”

James smiled. “Absolutely right, your lordship. You must have sat with him in the House of Lords.”

“Yes, your father is a good Tory, like myself.”

During the next hour, the two men shared whiskey, and the ladies drank sherry. When James calculated that the marquis had imbibed enough to make him mellow, he broached the subject of being in the market to purchase furnishings for Sandringham. Since price was no object, James soon acquired two blue upholstered sofas, and eight leather armchairs.

When Anne admired two cherrywood writing desks, and a nest of matching tea tables, she was not surprised to hear James make an offer that was instantly accepted. But she had never expected him to talk them out of the beautifully polished grand piano.

“We have no children to whom we can leave our possessions,” Lady Susan explained. “I'm quite tickled at the idea that Princess Alix will be playing my piano.”

“What about silver services and things in that line? I noticed that Sandringham is singularly lacking in fine silver.”

Lady Susan drained her fourth glass of sherry. “We have two full sets of silver services, complete with tureens and chafing dishes, that are packed away. We never use them because they are monogrammed with
W
for Walpole.”

“I'd be happy to take them off your hands. Just name your price.”

Anne smiled her secret smile.
James, you are so clever.
W
for Wales!

“When will the royal couple be arriving?” Lady Susan inquired.

“Early August. They are hoping to stay for two full months.”

“I wouldn't recommend them staying past the end of September. By October, we get the worst of the gales here on the coast.”

“Thank you for the warning,” Anne declared. “I shall pass your advice on to Princess Alexandra. And I won't forget about your invitation, Lady Cholmondeley.”

As James and Anne walked to their carriage, she began to laugh. “You are a bloody marvel. When you offered to buy or rent any saddlery they could spare from their stables, I was dumbfounded.”

James grinned down at her. “I'm about to acquire two dozen saddle horses. What the hell good are horses without saddles?”

On the way back to Sandringham, James drove through Heacham, secretly anticipating a reaction from Anne.

“James! Stop the carriage! Lavender fields stretching for miles. I never saw anything quite so lovely. Just breathe in the heavenly scent.”

“When I saw them yesterday, I knew you would be enchanted.”

“We must buy some. Now I know why the bed linen smells of lavender.”

“If you start talking about bed at four in the afternoon, my beauty, how do you expect me to last until dark?”

“Oh, I just had a decadent idea, Lord Hamilton. How would you like to make love in a field of lavender?”

My God, she is so uninhibited. I absolutely adore this woman.

•   •   •

The following day, two dozen horses arrived from Sykes's breeding farm. The grooms who accompanied them put them in a large pasture behind the stables. “Lord Sykes sent more horses than His Royal Highness ordered with instructions to choose the ones you like and we'll take the others back to Doncaster.”

With the help of Daniel Hingham, James checked the horses' teeth, fetlocks, and gait. He could tell that Sykes had chosen quality animals. The majority were hunters, but there were also half a dozen easy-gaited palfreys suitable for ladies. “Please thank Lord Sykes on the Prince of Wales's behalf. We'll keep all of them.”

For the next few days, both men and women arrived at Sandringham Estate seeking employment. James interviewed all the men and hired any who had experience as stablemen, gardeners, or gamekeepers.

Anne, with the help of Mrs. Roydon, interviewed the women. Most of them were hired as housemaids, kitchen help, or laundresses, but Anne kept her eyes open for girls who were well-mannered and neatly groomed, who could serve Princess Alexandra in a more personal capacity.

Anne compared notes with James and reminded him about the need for uniforms. He agreed to drive her to King's Lynn the next morning. “While you are employing seamstresses, I'll try to find a couple of experienced carriage drivers. We should be back by afternoon when the furnishings from Houghton Hall will be delivered.”

•   •   •

By the end of the first week, Sandringham Estate was busy as a beehive. All the furniture was being polished, the linen sheets on all the beds were changed, and the chambers plenished with toiletries, writing paper, towels, and chamber pots.

As James carried Anne back to her own bedchamber early one morning, he teased, “I thought you were simply a decorative female. I hadn't the faintest idea you had a domestic side. You will make someone a hell of a good wife.”

“Mmm, if I ever decide to marry,” she teased back.

“I think you need a break from all this domesticity, sweetheart. I'll saddle a couple of horses and we'll explore all twenty thousand acres of the estate. Who knows what secrets we'll discover.”

“That sounds wonderful. I am ready to cast aside duty for frivolity.”

He caressed her bare bottom. “You're always ready. That's one of the things I love most about you, my beauty.”

An hour later they were riding around the large lake that lay on the west side of the house. “I fancy another swimming lesson. I'd love to challenge you to a race from one side of the lake to the other.” Her mouth curved in a smile. “I have visions of winning.”

“By distracting me with your provocative undergarments?”

“I couldn't win unless I took advantage of your vulnerability. You would have to reveal the secret of your great strength. Playing Samson and Delilah could be most diverting.”

“I believe debauchery appeals to you, Lady Anne.”

“At heart I am a sybarite.”

“So I discovered in bed last night.”

“Your compliments always make me feel extremely feminine and desirable.” She urged her palfrey into a trot. “Let's go this way. I want to show you the intimate stream walk. Like the walled garden, it must have been designed for lovers.”

The treelined path followed a babbling stream that led from the lake. Rustic benches were tucked into alcoves between flowering rhododendron and fragrant rosebushes. Marble statues of naked nymphs and cherubs in playful poses peeped from borders of exotically scented flowers.

The path took them down a lush green dell where natural springs bubbled up through the grass, which was carpeted with marsh marigolds and water irises.

Anne gazed at the lush beauty before them. “This is an enchanting place.”

“It reminds me of Barons Court in Ireland. I promise to take you there someday.”

“Sometime . . . somehow . . . someway . . . someday,” she said wistfully.

“Darling, don't be sad. I promise it will happen.”

Anne tossed her hair over her shoulders, determined to banish the darklings. “Lead the way, James. There's lots more to see.”

The estate encompassed over thirty square miles of woodland and heath. When they reached the open stretches of rolling hills, they galloped full out, sending coveys of woodcocks and grouse into the air. When they slowed to ride through the woods, they laughed as they encountered startled herds of deer that lifted their heads, then sprang off through the leafy green branches. They in turn disturbed flocks of warblers and brilliant golden orioles.

The acres of the estate were dotted with small lakes and ponds that attracted abundant small creatures such as rabbits, hares, stoats, weasels, and foxes, as well as ducks and wading birds.

James and Anne drew rein beside a rocky stream. They dismounted and allowed their horses to crop the tall grass, while they sat down on a fallen oak to enjoy the lunch that Ethel had wrapped up in a linen cloth. Laughing, they fed each other buttery scones, dried sausages, cold partridge, apples, and cider. Anne was thrilled when a curious red squirrel approached and boldly snatched the piece of scone she offered.

James brushed back her fiery curls and kissed her brow. “Even the
cratures
cannot resist you.” He plucked a wildflower and tucked it behind her ear. “Queen Anne's lace.”

In the afternoon they rode along the tidal mudflats of the Wash, then galloped across miles of empty sandy beach. They dismounted to wade in the surf and poke about in the tide pools, finding jellyfish, tiny crabs, and cockles. Then, hand in hand, they strolled along the shore watching terns and oystercatchers run before them, picking up crustaceans that the sea had left behind on the glistening sands.

They had heard about the glorious sunsets of the Wash, but as they stood together watching the bright golden sun sink toward the sea, the sky turned pink, then red, then deep purple. James and Anne were left in awe at the magnificent spectacle of nature they had witnessed. At the last moment, the sea swallowed the sun, and left them in complete darkness.

Back at Sandringham, during dinner, they discussed the things that still must be done in the short time that was left before the royal couple and their guests would be arriving.

“Tomorrow I have to visit a couple of kennels that have hunting dogs for sale.” James finished his ale. “This stuff isn't bad. I should order a few more barrels.”

“I have to make sure the uniforms are finished. Then I have to teach all the servants about the bellpull system. Some of the younger girls have never been in service before.”

“We've accomplished quite a lot, though I'm sure there are things we've overlooked.”

“I'm too tired to think about it. I had such a wonderful day today.” Anne yawned. “The sea air has made me soporific.”

“How I'd love to carry you up to bed,” he murmured low. James cleared his throat as a new serving maid came in to clear the table. “I shall see you in the morning, Lady Anne. Good night.”

“Good night, Lord Hamilton.” Anne looked at the earnest young maid and didn't have the heart to tell her that she should not clear the table until the diners had left the room.

An hour later when James came through the adjoining door into Anne's chamber, his mouth curved tenderly when he saw that she had fallen asleep. He undressed quietly and slipped into bed beside her.

Without opening her eyes, she whispered his name. “James, my dearest love.”

He enfolded her against his heart. “Go to sleep, sweetheart.”

•   •   •

Grosvenor Square, London

 

“Her Majesty has informed Alexandra that she will no longer tolerate her living apart from Bertie.” Emily gave her stepmother a triumphant glance. “Anne's idyllic days at the villa in Chiswick will soon be over.”

Lord Howe's daughters from his first marriage were at Grosvenor Square for dinner with their father before Adelaide and Georgiana departed London to spend August at their country homes.

“So long as the royal couple live separate lives, Queen Victoria realizes there will be little chance of Alexandra producing an heir to the throne,” Emily continued.

“But surely the queen doesn't expect the princess to spend August in London?” Adelaide felt rather sorry for Alexandra.

“Her Majesty has informed her daughter-in-law that she and Bertie will be going to Sandringham, the country estate in Norfolk that her dearest Albert acquired before he died. She made it plain that she expects Alexandra to be breeding when she returns.”

“Oh, that's splendid news. Sandringham is only thirty-odd miles from Apethorpe Hall. I fully expect an invitation for Fane and me.”

“Norfolk is lovely in August and September. I'm sure the princess will be taking Anne with her,” Georgiana remarked.

Earl Howe threw down his linen napkin. “I don't like the idea of Anne going to Sandringham. The prince will be inviting his dissolute friends and the very atmosphere will be conducive to licentious behavior.”

Lady Howe felt her stomach knot. Only this morning she had received Anne's letter that she was already in residence at Sandringham. “Richard, surely you're not implying that Adelaide and Fane are dissolute because they are friends with the royal couple?”

“Of course not. But Anne's situation is entirely different. She's an unmarried lady.”

And whose fault is that, you hypocritical swine?
“I have every confidence that our daughter Anne will conduct herself with propriety at all times.”