An Unexpected Seduction

A new start

When they arrived Beasley lifted her down from the horse and proceeded to escort her inside. The innkeeper bustled forward and Beasley stepped ahead stating

"Good day, can ya get some hot food for us as quick as ya can. And send someone down the road to help fix the wheel of his graces carriage will ya? Just had an accident in that blasted storm"

At the mention of "his grace" the Innkeepers eyes widened and he stated "of course" before calling to one of the stable hands to hurry down the road.

They took a seat and two bowls of stew were unceremoniously plonked on the table by the barmaid. Without a word Beasley began to shovel great spoonful's of the brown beef stew into his mouth as quickly as his could.  After the bowl was cleared he stood abruptly "I better be gettin back to the carriage miss, we'll need three of us to lift it and get the wheel on ya see... be calling up for ya shortly" With that he was gone.

Isabella gulped when she noticed her dark surroundings, two burley men sat in the corner smoking and on seeing her one winked before bearing his rotten teeth with a grin. She winced and turned her back on him, instead taking a hesitant spoonful of the warm stew into her mouth. It tasted quite good and within no time she had filled her stomach.

However, uneasiness then overtook her once more, so with that she rose from the table preferring instead to wait by the door. Huge raindrops cascaded from the sky causing a small stream to form in front of the inn, while a strong wind whistled on meeting obstructions to its path. After what felt like an hour, the carriage finally pulled up in front of her.

Beasley jumped down opening the door for her "good as new miss, hope his grace won't have our guts for garters now we're delayed" he laughed. She was never so glad to be back in the confines of the carriage, and proceeded to rest her head on the velvet seat, closing her eyes.

The carriage grounding to a halt awoke her from a disturbed sleep and she opened her eyes to find she was in darkness. The door was then opened and Beasley's tired face came into view "We are here Miss, out ya get". She took his extended hand and stepped onto gravelled stone noticing how it crunched under her feet.

"What time is it Beasley?" she inquired "About 6pm miss, we are a couple of hours late! Hard to get used to how quick it gets dark during winter, I seem to forget every year" he laughed.  She then peered into the darkness and gasped; there in front of her stood a mansion 3 stories tall, with lanterns hanging each side of the immense carved doorway, illuminating its grandeur.

An elderly woman then opened the doorway and on spotting them erupted "There you are! At last! I had feared something had happened" she said in a worried tone before enveloping Beasley in a hug. "Ah and you must be the new governess, Miss Bradford is it not?" Before she had a chance to reply, she linked Isabella's arm in hers and moved toward the house.

"Come- you are freezing my dear, I can't imagine being cooped up in that awful carriage for all that time!" she cooed. "Oh how rude of me- My name is Mrs Carter, I'm the housekeeper here" she announced peering into her face, a warm smile enriching her features. "I will show you to your room I'm sure you must want to rest a while and have some food , unfortunately his grace is not here at present but he should return soon" she rambled.

Her last words caused a look of worry to pervade her pleasant smile Isabella noticed. "Is his grace well?" she inquired reservedly. Mrs Carter gave her an odd look before replying "Ah yes, it's just... you see little Emma was due to arrive by ship this morning dear, but with the storm and all...there's just been a delay or so his Grace hopes, he's gone to the docks to enquire and wait for her arrival" Isabella's heart lurched and she put her hand to her mouth before mumbling "Oh dear, that blasted storm, I do hope she is safe!"

She didn't even care about her language, however she noticed Mrs Carter's eyes widen "Ah yes..." she swallowed "I hope so too". They assended two flights of stairs and came to a stop before a doorway. Mrs Carter then took a large ring of keys from her side, selecting one among them and proceeded to open the door "This is your room my dear".

Isabella gasped, "It's enormous" she thought. The room was five times the size of her room in London. A huge four poster bed sat in the middle with red embroidered curtains at each post. It faced a vast fireplace made of white marble on the opposing wall where a fire blazed, warming the great space. The focal point of the room was a large gilded painting affixed above the fireplace of a white stallion rearing on its hind legs.

Isabella was in awe admiring her surroundings before a thought stuck her "Ah Mrs Carter, I don't mean to be a bother but it was agreed that I would have a residence of my own on the estate?". "Oh his grace never mentioned, I am sorry Miss Bradford but I do hope the room is to your liking, perhaps you can discuss it with his grace when he returns" a confused tone suffused her speech. "In the meantime would you like to eat in the dining room or should I have a tray brought up?" "A tray will do nicely thank you Mrs Carter" she replied in a whisper.

She was then left in the vast room by herself and her mind began to work "Maybe he just forgot to mention to her that I will not be living here" she thought, rationalising that of course she would be expected to stay in his house for the first night to meet Emma and dine with them. "Well that was probably the plan... Oh I do hope she's alright" she verbalised out loud without realising. She then sat on the huge bed taking in her surroundings once more, the room really was amazing "I could get used to this opulence" she giggled before thinking "No! I need to keep my distance from him...well as much as is possible"

Within a couple of hours she had eaten and readied herself for bed, it was after 9pm and there was still no sign of their return. She crawled into bed relishing in the comfort of the feather mattress beneath her. Closing her eyes sleep eluded her so instead she picked up an old poetry book and began to read, her eyes eventually becoming weary.

With a start she was awoken from sleep by noises coming from downstairs. Looking at the mantelpiece clock her blurry eyes saw the time to be 3am. "What's going on?" she muttered rising from the bed and grabbing her shawl. The discarded poetry book fell to the floor as she tiptoed to her door placing her ear to it in order to listen.

She could hear muttered voices and curiosity got the better of her. Without thinking she opened her door and padded down the cold hallway floor, stopping at the top of the staircase. There on the ground floor stood Alexander, a black cloak around his shoulders, his dark hair was tousled- inevitably by the wind, making him appear more handsome than ever. Pulling her eyes from his face she noticed that at his side clung a small blond haired child. "Emma!" she whispered. Though the noise had been imperceptible she thought- he however seemed to hear it. His eyes travelled up the vast staircase and over the banister to where she stood. The look he gave her seemed to burn her very flesh and she suddenly realised how little she was wearing. Gasping she pulled her shawl more tightly around her and slowly began to make her way down the stairs; his watchful eyes making her feel like she had entered the lion's lair.