Alaina opened her mouth in question, but a quick shake of Christopher’s head caused the words to catch in her throat.
“I swear I saw them come out these doors.” Alaina could hear her mother’s voice.
“Well, my dear, your eyes are not what they used to be. I do not see them anywhere,” came Edward’s response.
“I do say children do move quickly,” was Eleanor’s reassurance, but if Alaina judged the tone right, she may have meant something else entirely.
“Shall we check the gardens? Just in case,” came Charlotte’s voice again, her tone a bit worried.
“I see no need,” Eleanor responded quickly.
The chatter of voices now too close for an escape from their dark corner without ruin, Alaina felt Christopher’s hand on the small of her back, guiding her quickly down the narrow path to the door she had seen, as he pulled her further into the shadows. Only when they were at the door did he feel it safe enough to whisper.
“This should lead you somewhere close to the ladies retiring room. Go there and fix your hair and collect yourself. I will go meet your parents and tell them you made your way indoors to refresh yourself.”
Alaina nodded, too afraid to speak quietly enough, and turned to open the door. Christopher’s light touch on her upper arm made her once again turn to face him.
“Be careful, my love,” was all he said as he placed a quick kiss on the end of her nose, leaving her at the door in order to join her parents and Eleanor. Alaina watched Christopher retreat back down the dark corridor, his fingers raking through his hair before he disappeared around the planter.
Alaina, turned and clasped the handle of the door, praying for smooth hinges. Luckily, she was able to open the door without a sound and enter the small hallway inside. With the door quietly closed behind her, Alaina allowed herself to breathe, and quietly thanked the servant who maintained the door so well, and who had left it open in preparation for the party.
Allowing her eyes to adjust to the dim light of the hallway, Alaina quickly assessed that her best option was to move away from the ballroom, in hopes of finding another hallway perpendicular to the one she was traversing that would bring her out to the main hall and back toward the ladies retiring room. Alaina only had to walk a few feet before encountering such a hallway. Keeping to the carpet runner in the center of the hallway, in an attempt to mute her footsteps, she quickly turned the corner and saw an opening twenty feet ahead that looked like the main corridor, and she quietly celebrated victory. But Alaina had little time to revel in her success, as she heard a set of footsteps approaching and whispered voices. Afraid of being discovered, Alaina did an about-face, reaching the back hallway only seconds before a man and woman entered the space she had just vacated.
The back hallway was not carpeted, so Alaina stopped just around the corner, praying the couple would not come further, and at the same time hoping her footsteps had not been heard. It was not long before the couple’s footsteps ceased and Alaina could better hear their whispers, letting out a trembling sigh of relief that the partygoers, from what she could hear, only wanted a secluded place to talk.
“What are you doing here?” came a low whisper, almost a growl, from the man. Alaina cocked her head to hear better, convinced that she recognized the voice.
“I was invited. I do not see the issue,” hissed a woman, clearly perturbed by the man’s line of questioning. There was a pause, and Alaina imagined the man, whoever he was, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Do you realize the ruin we both would see to be associated with one another; it would jeopardize all of our plans.” The man restarted, this time more calmly.
Alaina could hear the woman’s tone become softer. “And here I thought you would be happy to see me,” the lady said. “No one will think we know each other, unless someone saw you pull me into this dark corner.”
“You know I am pleased to share your company, my dear,” came the gentleman’s response, a bit lighter than before. Alaina heard a crinkling of fabric, and could only surmise that the couple was caught in a passionate embrace.
Alaina strained to hear more, but only caught a manly sigh once the rustling sounds stopped, and one final remark. “For tonight, let us avoid each other, and plan better so as to not show up at the same social events in the future. I fear that even the slightest connection between us might set things awry.”
“Ok, darling, if you insist,” came a beguiling response from the woman.
Alaina heard muffled high heels as the woman raced to the outer hall, followed in a few moments by more manly boot sounds, each retreating until all was quiet once again. Finally letting out the breath she had been unaware she was holding, Alaina quickly gathered herself and made for the main hallway, focused on reaching the retiring room before she encountered her own party. Something stuck in her mind, though. The voices seemed familiar, but with the whispers, she could not properly place them.
Chapter 17
Alaina awoke with a start, surprised to find herself trembling. She had been reliving the events of the evening, but her dream had ended with the two voices in the hallway. In her dream, they had gotten closer and closer until a sound like an opening door had interrupted, causing her to wake. Pushing back her tumbled mass of hair with her hand, she assessed her surroundings.
Alaina found her room was as she had left it before falling asleep. It must not have been too much later, as the moon shone in her window, still illuminating her dress, which she had slung over her dressing table on the far wall in haste. The fire in her fireplace still burned high, radiating warmth and a soft light throughout the room. Her bedclothes and blankets were quite mussed, speaking to the anxiety of her dream and the evening’s events.
After finding the retiring room, she had put herself back together and quickly returned to the ballroom to find her parents, who were standing with Eleanor, Christopher, and Graham. Her parents had seen no reason to not accept the story that she had somehow slipped past them, but she noticed peculiar looks from Graham and Eleanor, enough to make her uneasy.
Alaina scrubbed her eyes, but something still seemed off, and then she heard it, a sound much like the door opening in her dream.
Clank!It sounded like a door latch clicking, coming from the window overlooking the garden.Clank!There it was again.
Alaina groggily got out of bed and shuffled over to her window to peer out between the light curtains, drawn for privacy. As she was trying to peek through the curtains, a little concerned about what she would find, a quieterplink!sounded again against the glass, startling her completely. Fighting her trepidation, she gathered courage to open the drapes and peer out the window. In the darkness, Alaina could make out two tall forms below, but little else. One of the forms was picking up pebbles and aiming at the window, and the other was poised by the gate leading to the garden.
Before the figure closest to the window could throw another pebble, he seemed to notice that Alaina had drawn the curtains, and stood straight and waved, stumbling a bit as he did so. In the moonlight, Alaina was able to get a better glimpse of the man in the foreground, and breathed a sigh of relief, opening the window.
“Christopher? What are you doing outside my window at this hour?” Alaina whispered into the night air, her breath floating like a cloud in the chill.
