Alix and the Spy

Chapter Eight

London, England

1825

The next day

“You’re doing it again.”

            Alix jerked out of her reverie, tearing her eyes away from the array of bonnets she had been staring blankly at, and fixed her gaze onto her sister. 

            “Doing what?” she queried bemusedly, staring at Diana and wondering whether she had missed anything her sister had said. Her mind felt heavy and slow today, except for when she replayed last night in her head. Then her pulse sped up and everything was brought into crystal clear clarity, which had to bode ill for her. Illicit night encounters should be stored safely in the back of one’s mind, and not revisited twice a minute.

            “Smiling! Constantly smiling! What’s wrong with you?” Di snapped impatiently, before catching her mother’s eye behind Alix’s back and lowering her voice. 

            “Nothing! I just – ” Casting her mind about wildly, Alix fixed onto the first thing that caught her eye. She shot out a hand and grabbed one of the bonnets on display, waving it at Di. “ – absolutely adore this bonnet. Isn’t it lovely?” 

            Di squinted suspiciously at the bonnet, as if it were a dead rat. “It is purple, has a rather unfortunate cluster of flowers that would make the wearer look as if there were a garden on her head, and is overall perhaps one of the ugliest bonnets I have ever seen.”

             Alix took a second look and concluded that her sister was right. 

            “I’m in a good mood, is all,” she protested, gingerly setting the bonnet back onto its display stand. “You can hardly fault me for it.”

            Di continued surveying her suspiciously, as if Alix had something to hide – which she did – and would have plunged further on with her interrogation had their mother not chosen that moment to call for her. Left with little choice, for one did not ignore Lady Hathaway without good reason, she flounced off, leaving Alix to muse over the reason why encounters with Colin Oakley always seemed to leave her in such good moods. 

            It was most definitely a problem, especially after having climbed onto her moral high horse last night and insisted they not meet inappropriately anymore.

            Yet…Feeling the hints of a smile tug at the corners of her lips, Alix forced her bottom lip to stretch in a rather severe manner, cutting her smile off, but also making herself look rather mournful instead.

            She was currently in a hat shop with her mother, Diana and Elsa, picking out bonnets that caught their fancy. Since it was the season, London had been filled with more members of the ton than the city would see any other time of the year, so even casualwear for a stroll around the city required one to be dressed in the height of fashion. The Hathaway sisters often shared their bonnets amongst each other, but the constant wear had led to some of them fraying, requiring the oldest few to accompany their mother in search of new headwear.

             Normally, Alix would be able to find at least one bonnet that she liked, but today she was too lost in her thoughts to do anything more than stare at the bonnets uncomprehendingly, with a faint smile on her lips, which Diana had evidently observed.

           The next time I see Mr. Oakley, I shall be the model of decorum, she promised herself. There was another ball tomorrow night, hosted by Lord and Lady Tavernport, and it seemed a likely prospect that she would run into Colin Oakley there. Gentleman of his ilk were bound to attend, especially since Lord Tavernport kept a famed collection of the best whiskies and ales money could buy – an attraction hard to pass by. Lady Hathaway had already written to promise an attendance by herself and her two daughters who were already out, so there was no question of Alix going.