Chapter 2

Alice stood to one side in Ascot Hall, looking at the assembled people. Most everyone was aristocrats, with only the few rare exceptions. The party was one thrown by the new Lord Ascot. Less than a month before, while Alice had still been on her way back from her last trip to China, the original Lord Ascot had suddenly died of his heart. Now Hamish was the new lord of the manor and already Alice despaired.

She turned her head slightly to look at the preening Lord Hamish Ascot and his mousy little wife. She nearly shuddered at the idea that once she had almost been guilted into marrying the red-haired man. Time had not been friendly; nor had years of feasting helped. The weak-chinned red-haired young man had turned into a plump, balding man. His wife, standing demurely beside him, was not much better. She was at least ten years younger than her husband, with mousy hair, an impressive overbite and little chin. Alice smiled to herself as she realised she knew exactly what their children must look like: like them, for though the new Lady Ascot had mousy hair and Hamish red, they looked alike enough to have been siblings.

Then Alice sighed to herself. Hamish was her new partner in trade. Ten years ago she had signed up as an apprentice in the company originally owned by her father, but bought over by the old Lord Ascot a few years after his death. Since then Alice had worked herself up to junior partner and recently to full partner. But as the Ascot heir, Hamish had inherited everything, including half of the company. So though Alice had evaded marrying the man, she would now be forced to do business with Hamish.

Wonderful.

Someone strolled by with a tray laden with delicate flutes of champagne, and she snatched one up. Carefully, ladylike she took a small sip even though she would have preferred drinking it quickly. With this crowd she needed every ounce of control though. Ten years ago she had shocked this same community in the process of securing her freedom. What she had not realised back then, though, had been the fact that these people seldom forgave one for past trespasses and never, really, accepted you back into their midst once you have severed the ties of what they considered decent.

And now, suddenly, she knew that no matter how rich she ever became, she will never again be allowed into decent society. Though they would not be turned away, they would avoid her and freeze her out. And indeed, where would she fit in? She looked over at a group of women, young and old, gossiping together. Even when she had been considered decent, those gossips had held little appeal to her. She looked over at a laughing group of men. She lived more in their world than in that of the sheltered women, yet she was never considered one of them. Her life might be closer to that of the men, but they have never treated her as an equal, as a man. She could join the group now, but she would just end up being delicately shunned, and within minutes the group would break up: each going their own way.

Suddenly Alice felt the pain of that aloneness. With a shrug of her shoulders she sighed and suddenly she felt like screaming. In an effort to distract herself from her thoughts, she tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling almost two storeys above. A few years back Lord Ascot the elder had fitted it with great mirrored panels. If one wanted to, one could watch the entire ballroom from above in the reflection.

It took Alice just a second to find her own reflection in the mirrors. A dispassionate observer would have noted that the promise of her loveliness as a young lady had been met as her prettiness had blossomed into a stunning beauty. Her skin was pale and delicate and her golden hair had darkened only slightly without losing its richness or curl. This she wore on top of her head, pinned with a single jewelled comb. Her body was strong and perhaps slightly leaner than fashion dictated, but her long, delicate arms were offset by the cut of the powder blue dress she wore.

What Alice saw as she looked at her reflection was a single woman alone amidst a swirling, laughing mass of beautiful people. Around her they danced and gossiped and smiled, but she was a single, still figure caught within the mass. Almost for comfort her hand came up and touched the small, bright pendant around her neck.

The moment her fingers closed around it, she thought she saw a scurrying movement at the edge of the crowd. Immediately her head snapped back and she frowned slightly as she regarded the people in the direction that the movement had been. None of them moved with any more speed than usual: which was not very fast at all.

"Alice," a delicate voice spoke next to her. Alice turned to find her sister – now slightly shorter than her younger sister and pregnant with her third child – standing at her elbow, smiling. "Come, a group of women are withdrawing to the conservatory," she informed Alice. Distractedly Alice nodded.

"Very well, I will join you within a few minutes," she assured her sister. Since Alice had caught Lowell in the garden ten years ago, he had been a dedicated husband and her sister had flourished. Alice sometimes wondered – fleetingly – if she would have been as content in marriage as Margaret. She doubted it, no matter the person. Marriage to Hamish would have crushed her, she suspected. Or, if she was more honest with herself, she would probably have tried killing him by now. She threw a quick glance at the man who would have been her husband, but was distracted by the same scurrying movement as before.

"Margaret, did you see that?" she asked her sister.

Margaret at least had the decency to turn her head in the direction Alice was looking. "No, dear," she smiled at her sister. Alice frowned slightly.

"It looked like..." she began and suddenly she realised what the movement had reminded her of. She smiled, but it was a smile of astonishment more than pleasure. "It looked like a white rabbit," she told her sister. She turned her head slightly to look at Margaret. "I love you very much," she told the older woman. "And I believe of all the people I know, you are the only one who understands why I had done what I did," she earnestly spoke. "I thank you for that gift. But if you will excuse me for a moment, I will be right back," she added even as she squeezed her sister's hand lightly between her own. Then she turned and made her way quickly through the throng of people to the side entrance where she had seen the movement. Her heart raced and for the first time in a while she truly smiled with pleasure. Had Nivens McTwisp really found her again?