jordan was not smiling at nine o'clock the following morning , however , when a footman returned with the information that alexandra had most assuredly not gone to his grandmother 's house ; nor was he smiling a half hour later when the dowager duchess herself marched into his study to tell him that he was entirely to blame for alex 's flight , and to deliver a stinging diatribe on jordan 's lack of sensitivity , his high-handedness , and his lack of good sense .