After The Storm (12 page)

Singing filtered into the room, and Lavvy gave her an
encouraging smile as she picked up Jenny’s lovely train. Jenny put
her hand on her father’s arm, and they made their way down the
aisle.

Jenny saw the minister, Bible in hand, and thought
she would not be able to do this. How could she marry anyone other
than Johnny? And then she saw the earl.

A boyish smile covered his face as he watched
her.

An endearing twinkle in his blue eyes caught and held
her attention.

An inclination of his head seemed to ask her to trust
him, and all at once, she did; she trusted him ever so much more
than she ever thought she could.

He was definitely a mesmerizing figure, standing
there in his cutaway of black superfine, looking so devastatingly
handsome, so tall and strong. His presence seemed to fill the air
all around him with an aura of command. Something sensual and
bewitchingly inviting lurked in his eyes as he glanced at her, and
she was conscious of the attraction she felt for him.

He tilted his head to give her a gaze meant only for
her, and when his black silky hair fell across his forehead, she
found she was taken, so completely taken by him. It was as though
they were alone in the World.

She bit her bottom lip and told herself she was
pretending this was more than it was. What it was—oh, what it was
had a name, and that name was a marriage of convenience. And yet
something about him drew on something inside her, and she realized
how good it felt to see him after their week apart.

* * *

The Earl of Danfield watched Jenny walk down the
aisle towards him, and he actually felt his heart stop in
mid-beat.

He had been with beautiful women; it wasn’t her
beauty that ravaged him. It was the glow she exuded, as though
something—her soul, he thought—had burst and surrounded her, even
as that same glow reached for him and he basked in its warmth. He
was taken and could not look away.

He realized he had been anxiously awaiting this
moment, not because he needed to obtain his inheritance, but
because he had actually missed her. What was that?

He had felt lonely in London in an inexplicable way.
He had felt lonely although he had joined his friends and laughed
with them. He had felt empty without her.

He had wanted to be with her, talk with her, watch
her expressions flit with her thoughts. What was happening to
him?

He realized he was holding his breath and let it out,
only to suck in another long drag of air. His dreams had been
filled with her, and he knew, yes, he lusted for her, wanted to
kiss her, touch her, undress her and … here she was, looking
more exquisite than any woman that ever existed.

When she was near, he had this idiotic sensation of
eternal spring. Her green eyes always seemed to tease a smile from
him, and this was all so impossible. He didn’t know her. They
really had only just met. Yet—something inside him knew her beyond
reason.

She was so near to him now, and all he wanted to do
was scoop her up and run off with her, but he saw a sudden fear
trickle into her tentative smile. He whispered into her ear,
“Friends, my Jenny, remember that we have promised one another
friendship.”

Her body visibly relaxed, and he felt relieved when
he looked into those green pools and saw that he had calmed her. It
occurred to him that he genuinely wanted to make her happy. He
hadn’t realized he had such an overwhelming respect for the state
of matrimony and all that it entailed, but more than that, he was
filled with the dream of making Jenny happy.

He heard her repeat the words the minister gave her.
She sounded as though she were in a daze, and he wanted to soothe
and protect her.

George, who had agreed to be his best man, grinned
broadly as he produced the ring he was asked for, fumbled it, and
nearly dropped it. Jenny’s eyes sparkled with amusement, and he
could have hugged George for that, as it eased the tension of the
moment.

He slipped the ring on her finger and heard the
minister instruct him to kiss her. He squeezed her hand and bent
first to her ear and said, “I will never take more than you will.
This is, my Jenny, just a sweet kiss of friendship.”

She closed her eyes, and though he wanted to press
his lips against hers with all the ardor he felt, he dropped a
light kiss on those full cherry lips and sighed to say,
“My
bride.”

She seemed startled as her eyes flashed open and
looked at him. He squeezed her hand again. “My friend and my bride,
I think we shall go on very comfortably.”

“I do, as well,” she said shyly.

He felt his heart swell. He couldn’t have asked for
more. What was he doing? Courting his wife? Absurd, but, he wanted
her to be the mother of his children, didn’t he? That meant he
would have to court her, and damn, that was precisely what he
wanted to do!

* * *

His lips on hers were a gentle brush of sensation. He
hardly touched her lips, and yet his touch sizzled through her
mouth and ran through her body. She could think of no reason for
the heat to ram her full with sensations she had never, not even
with Johnny, ever experienced before.

She had a sudden urge to cross her thighs as desire
flooded through her and felt a saucy urge to cling to him for more.
What was happening to her? What was it about this big, handsome man
that made her feel … warm all the time?

She knew a wild desire to fling herself into his arms
and demand that he take her away. She wanted privacy with him, to
experience this new thing she had done. She had married him. She
was his wife. He said they were friends, but when he touched her,
she felt something more. Absurd.

She was fantasizing. She was—what was she doing?

Time banished such fleeting thoughts as they hurried
back down the aisle together as man and wife. Rose petals were
flung at them; laughter was all around. She should be sad. She
should mourn the fact that it wasn’t Johnny at her side, but
somehow she felt a surge of happiness tingle through her.

Suddenly, they were in the earl’s elegant traveling
coach and heading for Ashley, where her aunt had everything
prepared for a raucous wedding party.

“Well, my Lady Danfield?” the earl said to her with a
warm smile that made her heart flutter.

She managed to return an amiable smile and ignore the
thumping of her heart. “Well, my lord?”

He laughed and relaxed back against the seat. “I
suppose it is to lunch, hearty congratulations, and then, my girl,
we shall be off for Danfield Castle. Are you afraid?”

“In truth, afraid is not precisely the word I would
use. Anxious would describe my feelings more appropriately, my
lord.”

He chuckled and took her chin in his gloved hand. “My
dearest and most lovely bride, can you not find it in your heart to
address me as Jason?”

She peeped at him and released a short laugh.
“Indeed, Jason then. Oh, I have a grievance, Jason.” She inclined
her head and gave him an arched brow. “Horrid man, you did not tell
me that Gwen was your sister—
your twin sister
.”

He laughed. “It did not occur to me.”

She eyed him. “I see that it did not.” She smiled.
“Just like a man.”

“Well, Jenny, you must admit, my darling, that I had
the devil of a time getting you to accept my very handsome proposal
of marriage, and then you did not ask who my sister was, you
know.”

“Yes, true,” she had to in all honesty agree. “But I
must tell you, Jason, that it is very agreeable of you to have Gwen
for your sister. She and I get along very well.”

He laughed again. “At last, my sister has been of
some use to me. I thought that would never come to pass.”

She rapped him. “Gwen is perfectly right in calling
you an odious man—so you are.” He had put her at ease with his
gentle conversation, and Jenny felt an easy friendship forming with
his lordship. She sighed with some contentment.

“Odious? Well, you will not think so when I tell you
that I have found and hired the best of lady’s maids and sent her
to await your arrival at Danfield. I sent her there with my valet
ahead of us and directly from London,” the earl said with no little
hint of pride at his forethought.

She brightened and clapped her hands. “Well, you have
been busy boy in London!” She arched a brow. “So I forgive you for
being away so long. How did you know I do not have a maid of my
own?’

“Your aunt advised me of this, actually. Said you
have been sharing some dear creature with the odd name of Biddy. I
mentioned this to Gwen, and once again, she proved very useful.” He
glanced at her speculatively. “So then, you missed me while I was
away?” He didn’t wait for an answer but hurriedly added, “You know,
I made a quick run to get back to London and was scarcely there
more than a couple of nights as it took us three nights to make it
back here with the heavy coaches.”

“Oh, I did not mean to complain,” she hastened to
say.

“Women never mean to complain, but they are forever
doing so.” He laughed at her expression. “Although, if you missed
me, complain on, my sweet.”

He was rapped once more across his forearm for this,
and they both shared a laugh.

They had no time for further banter, as the coach had
arrived at Ashley and they were soon surrounded by family and
friends.

Jenny was chattering with Gwen and Lavvy when the
earl came up to her and touched her elbow to whisper in her ear, “I
must tell you, madam, that while I relish the sight of you in your
bride raiments, I must ask you to remove them.”

Wide-open eyes turned to his face as she processed
his words, and then she clucked as she realized he was teasing
her.

He laughed and said with mock gravity, “My lady, I
see you misconstrued my innocent remark. All I meant was that it is
time for you to change into traveling attire, for while I am told a
mail coach can span the distance between Devon and Dover in
thirty-four hours, I am quite certain we will not! Those poor mail
horses don’t live above five years, and you and I care too much for
our animals to abuse them.”

Jenny’s face took on concern. “Oh, you are quite
right. We must pace them, but must we leave so soon?”

She saw a flicker of consternation cross his face as
he said, “It actually hurts me not to be able to give in to you in
this, Jenny, but I am afraid that we really must get on the road.
We don’t want to be traveling the coast road in the evenings, as
between high tobys and smugglers it can be dangerous.”

“Yes, my lord,” she said. She understood but really
hated to leave when she was so thoroughly enjoying herself. In
fact, it surprised her how happy she felt.

“Jenny, I shall very likely wring your neck if you
pursue in this lamentable habit of calling me ‘my lord’,” Jason
said, eyeing her grimly.

His twinkling blue eyes made her giggle at his words.
“I forgot—but wring my neck? And as to highwaymen, how very
exciting. We, you and I, could hold our pistols in our laps and
wait for them. I am a very good shot,” she returned.

“There is nothing exciting about having to kill a
man.” He was suddenly solemn. “And that is what you would have to
do to deter those scoundrels.”

“Yes, but we would rid the world of their scourge,”
teased Jenny in an attempt to lighten the moment as she realized he
was thinking of battle.

She saw an expression enter his blue eyes and thought
for a moment he was going to catch her up. He was going to kiss
her. She felt it, but obviously he did not, for he said instead, so
softly that she felt his caress, “If you are going to have a hand
in this courageous act, I suggest you retire to your room and adorn
yourself with the proper garments for such delivery.”

She chuckled appreciatively and called Lavvy to join
her in her room. Gwen raced along with them, and as the ladies fell
in together, laughter filled the air.

She heard herself and marveled at it once more. A
twinge of guilt skipped through her, and silently she said,
‘Johnny’, but she knew he would never want her to stop laughing. He
had always said he loved to hear her laugh.

As they helped her get into her traveling ensemble of
sky blue velvet, Jenny sighed and said, “Gwen, I wish you could
come with us to Danfield Castle.”

Lavvy opened her eyes wide and blinked incredulously.
“Jenny, what a zany you are. How can you want company on your
honeymoon?”

Jenny blushed and said without meeting her gaze,
“Well, as to that, it is not really a honeymoon, is it? From what I
understand, Jason’s brother will be at the castle, as well as his
stepmother, and it would be so much more fun if Gwen and George,
and you too, Lavvy, were all there as well. We could organize all
sorts of things to do together.”

Gwen hugged her. “My dear Jenny, I do feel for you.
How awful that you have to go directly to the castle. George and I
must go to Brighton. Our son is already there waiting for us …
and I don’t get along with my stepmother.”

“Oh no,” said Jenny, suddenly going very still. “What
if I don’t get along with your stepmother? Stands to reason that if
you and I are friends, and you two don’t—”

“Nonsense,” Gwen stuck in, cutting her off. “If you
don’t care for her and she interferes with what you want as
mistress of Danfield, you can ask her to leave.” A sneer marred
Gwen’s pretty features.

“Oh, I could never do that. After all, it is her
home.”

“It is not!” hissed Gwen, apparently overcome. “She
was left the Dower House, and that is where she belongs, but she is
too tight fisted and uses the staff at the castle as though …”
She calmed herself. “The point is that she is the dowager and
should retire to the Dower House, which is a lovely, lovely home,
but no, that woman and her son have been living at the castle, paid
for by the trust that belongs to Jason.”