Alexandra

Chapter Four

As guests slowly began filling up Kit and Cassandra's parlour, Allie wished that it would once again become as empty as it had been when they'd first arrived two hours before to spend a little time with the children.

The main reason for her wish was the simple fact that among the guests invited to dinner was Richard Kensington, the last man Allie wanted to see, no matter what Kit had to say on the matter. Even if she was mildly more understanding, she still did not like rakes in the least, no matter how sad their story.

Of course, to Allie's great misfortune, the man himself, amused upon seeing her, crossed the room at the sight of her, beaming wryly and mockingly "If it isn't the exceedingly charming Lady Alexandra herself."

"Master Richard." Allie said with a curtsy, doing all she could to maintain decorum in front of everyone else. She'd already seen him sizing up all his options in the room, eyes scanning over all the ladies, presumably to see which of them he could bed. Rakes like him were certainly most annoying.

"What, no snark tonight, milady?" He asked teasingly, eyes alight. At least he was not angered by her words and had, instead, chosen to make light of the situation. That was an appreciable quality in any man, she supposed, even if the man was he.

"You see," Allie spoke before she could catch herself, "Tonight, I am determined to be the perfect lady. If I am not, then however am I to trap the perfect husband?" She said, as she fluttered her eyelashes. Slowly, it dawned on her what she had just done and, mortified, her eyes widened and met his. Firstly, she'd been joking along with him and, secondly, she'd made a remark that could be construed as being almost flirtatious in nature.

Fortunately, he took it exactly as she'd meant it, and he grinned widely at her. It was the sort of smile that was so perfect it was practically designed to lure women in with all its splendour. Even she found it difficult to resist the beauty of that smile.

"Well, milady, I'm sure that in this room you shall find very few options." He advised, his eyes making it evident that the conversation was anything but serious. "Nearly every man in this room is married."

"That still would not stop quite a few of them." Allie quipped before she could stop herself from speaking, and she flushed in embarrassment as she realised that she had made it sound as if she was willing to.....seduce, for lack of a better word, a married man. "That was not how I meant it."

"Of course not." He agreed with her, his tone making it sound as if he did not believe her in the least. She opened her mouth to defend herself but, when her eyes met his, she found that they were twinkling in amusement and certainly did not belie anything but humour at the situation. Fortunately for her, she had found someone who did not misconstrue the things she said when she spoke without thinking.

Perhaps he truly was not all that bad.

His eyes caught sight of something across the room that made him grin, and she followed his gaze over her shoulder to a woman who had just arrived. Her untied hair was a jarring shade of red that looked like flames that fell across her shoulders and her eyes, even from such a distance, were a striking green that could not be missed. Her skin was like porcelain— pale and almost delicate looking— and her beautiful white dress was of a very flattering cut.

Needless to say, Alexandra was entirely awestruck by her beauty and didn't blame Richard Kensington for reacting the same way.

Her gaze followed the gorgeous woman as she spoke briefly with Kit and Cassandra and, much to Allie's surprise, made her way across the room to where Allie was standing with Richard.

"Annaliese, it's lovely to see you." He greeted warmly as she came to halt right before them, and Allie's eyes widened as she recalled hearing the name Lady Annaliese Walker being mentioned in close connection with his by Rebecca and Susan. From what she could remember, they'd said the two of them were...intimate.