Lady Serena Fairchild stomped across the drawing room like a spoiled child, heedless of her companion’s admonitions against unladylike actions.

"How could he do this to me?" She fumed. "I’m three and twenty, practically on the shelf. I have no interest in marriage, and even less in a London season! How COULD he do this to me?"

"He probably felt it is in your best interest to marry," Emily said quietly. "Come, dear, and have your tea and we’ll discuss this quietly."

"I don’t want to discuss this, quietly or otherwise! I want to rant and rave and scream and throw things!" Then with a very sheepish look at her companion and friend, she relented and sat down on the sofa in front of the tea tray and dutifully poured tea and handed Emily a cup. Then passed the plate of lemon crisps, knowing they were her favorites.

Rena studied her friend and wondered why she had chosen to be a finishing governess instead of marrying. She was well educated, well spoken, obviously gently reared and quite accomplished. She could play the piano-forte as well as anyone and much better than most of the young ladies she had heard. Her water colors were lovely and her needle work was truly a work of art. She was small and delicate, with a cloud of pale blond curls surrounding her perfect face. With her blue eyes and flawless manner she should have been snapped up ten years earlier when she made her debut. It was odd, Rena thought, she never talked about her family or mentioned a sister or an aunt or even an old friend. That was rather strange...

"Rena! You haven’t heard a word I’ve said, have you?" Emily chided gently. "Where have you been? Off writing another story?"

Rena rubbed at the ink stains on her fingers and felt the telltale flush start. She hated to keep Emily in the dark about her writing, but it would never do to tell her the whole truth.

Willing away the incriminating color, she shook her head. "Just trying to find a way out of this mess. I can’t believe that Papa would be so insensitive as to tie my entire inheritance up until I marry, leaving me only a meager dress allowance and the household budget. And on top of that, putting Robert, Lord Fairchild, the new Earl in as my guardian. He’s only 6 years older than I am, and a rake to book! How could he do this to me?"

Rena drew herself up to her full height, tall for a woman, and again paced across the room. She was slender and graceful, when not in a towering rage as she was now. Her auburn hair was drawn up in a loose knot of curls and several had escaped to slide down her shoulder. Her brown eyes flashed amber sparks in her anger and her oval face was becomingly flushed with color. She was the only child of the 10th Earl of Fairchild, and as such had been the darling of her parents. While not exactly spoiled, she was used to her whims being catered to and had never expected her father to set about to force her into marriage from the grave.

As Emily watched her pace in her frustration, she remembered back to the 17 year old she had come to prepare for her come-out. Only one and twenty herself she had been a bit apprehensive about her new challenge as a finishing governess, but Rena had appeared resigned to her fate and did not take her frustrations out on Emily. Then Lady Fairchild had fallen ill before the season started, and Rena begged her father not to send her without her mother, so the season had been put off and Emily had stayed on. Lady Fairchild had lingered on as an invalid for nearly 4 years before she died. The Season had to be put off because Rena was now in mourning. Before the year of mourning was over for her mother, her father had fallen from his horse and broken his neck, leaving Rena an orphan.

Now her second year of mourning was at an end. They had heard nothing from the lawyers over the last year except the new Earl was an officer on Wellington’s staff and they had been unable to contact him. They could not disclose the contents of the Earl’s provision for his daughter until the new Earl was back in England. Well, they had heard from both the lawyers and the new Earl this morning.

Rena had nothing but a meager allowance, unless she agreed to a London Season, and marriage to an acceptable peer - all to be arranged by the new Lord Fairchild. Robert had written to say he would arrive in a fortnight to bring Rena and her companion to London in time for her to acquire a new wardrobe and prepare for the beginning of the season. He was opening the London House and arranging for his great-aunt to sponsor her. He had also said he was compiling a list of presentable young gentlemen for her to choose from. He had also said that if she did not make a choice before the end of the season, he would arrange a suitable marriage on her behalf.

"It is insufferable," she stated flatly. "I will not sit here for the next fortnight, waiting patiently for him to appear with my life all planned out, without so much as knowing anything about me."

"Just what do you intend to do?" Emily questioned anxiously.

"I have some money set aside, I’m leaving. If you would like to come with me, I would welcome the companionship, but I will not be able to afford to pay you right now. If you don’t want to come, I will certainly understand. I think I will look for a little cottage as far away from London as I can get and settle down and live quietly. I write under an assumed name anyway, and now one needs to know it is me."

As she headed for the door, she said over her shoulder, "I’m going to start packing. Please don’t say anything to anyone. I don’t want anyone to know that I’m leaving. I have about 10 days to pull this off and I want to just disappear."

Emily watched in dismay as Rena disappeared out the door. Now what should she do. She could certainly sympathize with her. Hadn’t she done very nearly the same thing ten years ago? She hadn’t had any money, but she had a connection who had lead her to her present name and position. Emily Proctor - she smiled at the name. It suited her somehow, much better than the name she had been born with. She new that Rena suspected there was more to her story than she was telling, but she never pressed. Emily also suspected there was more to Rena’s story writing than Emily knew, but she didn’t press, secrets were secrets after all.

With a sigh, she stood and headed for the door. She knew that she could not let Rena go on this adventure alone, and she also knew that she did not want to have to look for another position when she had not actually completed this one. Rena had never made her debut to society. So she might as well get started on her packing and let Rena know that she would have company on her adventure.

Rena sat at the desk in her bright, spacious gold and green room and drummed her fingers on the crested letter head as she stared off into space, her face drawn in thought. Looking at the letter again, she read the words from Robert for the 100th time.

Lady Serena,
The terms of your father’s will have been brought to my attention today. I am sorry I was not here sooner to see to your settling. I will contact my Great Aunt - Lady Winthrup and open the London house in time for the season. I will arrive at Fairchild Court on March 10th to escort you and your companion to London. Please be ready, I do not wish to delay my return to town.

Robert Fairchild
Earl of Fairchild

She frowned as she felt her temper rising again. The unmitigated arrogance of the man - of all men. How could he think she would go willingly to the slaughter like a dumb lamb. Well she would not. She had to come up with another plan, and very soon.

Glancing across the room at the locked cabinet, she began to smile. Taking a key from the secret drawer in her desk she walked across and opened the door to the cabinet. Inside were a dozen books by Regina Roxbury. They were all romantic gothics with heroines in distress and knights in armor to rescue them. Filled with villains and haunted castles and enough romantic nonsense to keep even the silliest young damsel happy. And they were hers. They were all hers. The fantasy and fiction and the romantic nonsense were all her ideas and she had written them down. The money she had set aside and invested under the name of Regina Roxbury was enough to keep her in quiet comfort for the rest of her life if she didn’t write another word. But how could she live without writing, the stories and ideas flooded her mind all the time. And she also knew that no husband would allow her to write and sell what she wrote, so the only answer was to not marry. Which brought her back to her present dilemma. She would truly become Regina Roxbury and disappear into the lake country, purchase a cottage and continue to write and support herself and no one need ever know where Lady Serena Fairchild had gone. She just had to be gone well before the 10th of March. That gave her 12 days to make her escape. Well, ten days. She didn’t want to risk meeting Robert.

She tried to remember the last time she had met Robert. She had been 10 and he had been 16. It was the summer before he went to Oxford. There had been no question of him inheriting the title back then. Her mother was young even if she had lost a couple of babies. And Uncle James was still alive along with both of his sons. So Robert, the 4th cousin, was barely in the running. Then Uncle James had died with both his sons in the carriage accident, and then her mother had taken ill and there had been no more babies to die. By then Robert had gone into the Army and she had not seen him in the ensuing 13 years. She couldn’t even remember what he looked like, and she was sure he would never recognize her. As a matter of fact, few people actually knew what she looked like, as she had never been to London, and had rarely left the estate since her mother had taken ill. She just might be able to pull this off.

Now, how to get off the estate without raising the suspicion of Bates, her butler, or Mrs. Carmichael, her Housekeeper, both of whom treated her more like a daughter than a mistress. They both knew about the letters that came today, but they did not know the actual contents of them. They had no way of knowing that Robert was going to come for her. She could tell them that he had sent for her to travel to London. She could take the under coachman Jamie into her confidence - after they left and tell him he was coming with her. She would probably need to take her maid if Emily wouldn’t go with her.

Just then there was a scratching at her door and Emily asked for permission to enter. Hastily relocking the books away, she opened the ornate door to her friend.

"I’ve decided to go with you, Rena," she said breathlessly as soon as the door was closed. "I can’t let you go alone, and I really have no place else I can go. So please let me go with you."

Rena enveloped the smaller woman in a bear hug, and they swung around in a crazy dance she was so excited!

"Wonderful!" She said. "I think I have it all planned out how we will make our escape without anyone being the wiser."

She proceeded to explain her plan, omitting for now only the new identity she would assume once they were away from Fairchild Court.

"It should be fairly simple to bring about. Since you are coming with me, we will only need to take the Jamie Coachman with us."

"But wouldn’t it be suspicious if you left your maid, Mary, here?"

"Not really. She really doesn’t want to go to London. She’s been walking out with the second Footman and they are planning on getting married in the fall. It would not be fair to her to drag her into exile so I don’t have to comply with these ridiculous plans of the men who want to rule my life."

"Then I guess it is all set. I will instruct Bates to bring down the trunks and we can begin to sort and pack. Is there something about this you haven’t told me that I need to know, Rena? I feel that you are holding something back."

"No, there is nothing else. Why would I keep a secret from you?" She said as she crossed her fingers behind her back.

"Very well. We will plan on leaving within ten days."

© 2002 by KayDee Ward
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