Alexandra pressed her hand to her cheek. “Don’t cheat, Thomas!”
“I would never cheat,” Thomas replied, a chagrined look on his boyishly handsome face. “But I must learn how to cheat, Al; otherwise, how’ll I ever know if I’m being cheated?”
Alexandra contemplated that for a moment with a frown wrinkling her brow. “I suppose you have a point.”
“I’d better go,” Thomas said, “before Will’s whistling attracts attention.”
It was true. The terrace below could be accessed by French doors that led directly from her father’s study. An enterprising guest in search of air might very well happen outside.
Alexandra watched, wincing, as her brother climbed through the window, scaled the roofline, and then jumped like a silent cat to the terrace below. She tiptoed over to the window to close it but stopped to watch her brother greet his friend. She shook her head and sighed again. Thomas, at the age of thirteen, was self-confident and carefree. Alexandra longed to be like him, daring and adventurous. She couldn’t help it if she became nervous at the prospect of breaking rules and doing things she ought not. She spun around again in time to the music, but a thought struck her and she stopped abruptly. Thomas had said that being adventurous was an acquired skill. Was he right? If she tried it, would she enjoy it? Leaving the window open, she trailed over to her writing desk nearby, where she sat and opened her new leather-bound journal. At her age, it was high time to list the principal things she hoped to accomplish in life.
1. Become brave and daring like Thomas.
2. Become beautiful, willowy, and poised like Lavinia. Never stain my gowns with food, et cetera.
3. Have a come-out during which an exceedingly eligible gentleman asks me to dance, thereby making the affair a smashing success.
4. Marry my true love. Must be handsome, dashing, witty, kind, true, and honorable. Name to be determined later.
Alexandra sat back and surveyed her list. Becoming brave and daring would take a great deal of work, and she had little idea how she would accomplish such a thing. She tapped the end of the quill against her cheek. She must be on the alert for opportunities. Yes. That was the way to go about it.
As for becoming beautiful, willowy, and poised, it seemed more difficult than the first task. She was pretty at best, if dull brown hair and dull brown eyes could even be considered pretty. “Poised” was not a word that would ever be used to describe her. In fact, “clumsy” was probably more apt. And “willowy” was beyond an impossibility for her body. She’d already begun to develop hips and breasts and a little belly that her mother despaired of when they went to the modiste. Alexandra sighed yet again. Unless she became beautiful and poised and willowy, she had little chance of accomplishing a smashing success of a come-out in three years. Let alone one during which an exceedingly handsome and eligible gentleman asked her to dance. And if that didn’t happen, how on earth would she have other gentlemen interested enough to find her true love out of the lot of them? It was a conundrum, no question about it.
Raised voices coming from behind the house caught her attention. Dropping the quill, Alexandra hurried back over to the window, where she pushed aside the curtains and blinked out into the dark night sky. A few scattered candles resting on a table on the terrace below illuminated the space. Two young bucks stood there, speaking to someone who was hidden under the eaves.
“Say that again!” one of the bucks shouted.
“I s-said I d-don’t have no qu-quarrel with you two gents.”
Alexandra froze. She recognized the stutter of Will, the stable boy.
“You d-d-don’t?” the second buck teased.
Alexandra scowled and clenched her hands into fists. How dare those young men make sport of Will? The poor boy was barely thirteen, whereas these two had to be in their early twenties at least.
“N-n-no. I d-don’t,” Will replied. His stutter always worsened when he was anxious.
“Leave him alone!” This clearly came from her brother, who moved into her view. Thomas’s fists were raised, obviously willing to defend his friend from males who were far older and taller than he.
The two bucks laughed. “Or what? You’ll take a swing at us, lad?”
“Yes!” came Thomas’s sure voice. She admired him for his bravery, but that didn’t make her less worried. What should she do? Fetch Father?
“Try it, and we’ll lay you flat in the span of two seconds,” the first buck answered.
Alexandra held her breath. Thomas could easily tell these two fools that he was the future Duke of Huntley, but that was something else she admired about her brother. Even at his young age, Thomas never acted entitled to anything, nor desired special treatment.