After The Storm (13 page)

“Faith,” Jenny said. “But then, we must applaud your
brother’s kindness,
yes
?” She touched Gwen’s hand.

Gwen considered her for a moment and squeezed her
fingers. “Pay no attention to me. Come, let us hurry, for if I know
Jason, he will be in a fidget.”

Lavvy leaned into Jenny as they left the room and
whispered, “Jenny, if you need me, write me, and I shall drop
everything and come stand with you against your stepmama-in-law,
for if Gwen does not care for her, I fear she might be a
handful.”

Jenny laughed. “Do you think I cannot take care of
myself?”

Lavvy giggled. “My, my, what was I thinking?”

Within a few moments she was beside her new husband
and surrounded by friends and family. Her father held her close for
a long moment as did her aunt, and Jenny wagged a finger before she
turned away. “You will come and visit me soon, promise?”

They promised, and some moments later Jenny found
herself with her face plastered to the coach window, a myriad of
feeling rushing through her.

* * *

The earl sat beside her and watched her as the coach
lumbered off. He was experiencing some very strange emotions. When
she’d walked down the aisle, it was as though a door had opened up
inside him and waited for her to step inside. She hadn’t, not
quite. It seemed as though she stood at the threshold, but he held
the hope she would soon cross over.

All he had wanted was to be alone with her, but now
that he was, instinct made him reticent, cautious. She was like a
young filly, full of spirit, willing to get to know her new human,
but wary and ever ready to spook.

He had known many women, widows, opera singers, other
men’s wives, Drury Lane actresses—all lovely. Most of them had
satisfied his physical needs. He had watched his friends fall in
love and watched them marry, though few marriages had fostered in
him a good opinion of marriage. Yet, oddly enough, he had never
fallen in love.

He wanted Jenny in every way a man could want a
woman.
Was it love
? He doubted it and thought perhaps it was
a mild infatuation because she was so different. He knew, however,
that he had to have her, and that meant he would have to romance
and seduce her.

Could he do that?

Was the course he had set wise?

He wasn’t sure, and yet, it was something he was bent
on doing.

~
Eight ~

JENNY WAS THE first to speak. “Tell me, my lord—I
mean, Jason—about your home and family, for I really know so very
little.” She couldn’t help but look into his blue eyes and was
momentarily diverted as it occurred to her that his eyes were more
than just a beautiful shade of blue; they were full with
warmth.

A mirthless laugh escaped his lips, and those lips of
his seemed to curl. It surprised her; however, she waited for him
to answer.

He said after a long moment in which she did not
press him, “They are, my sweet Jenny, a cumbersome crew. However,
you will not be expected to bear with them if they misbehave, as
Gwen has predicted to me she is sure they shall.”

“Yes, Gwen mentioned something about your
half-brother and stepmother, but I don’t really understand why
there are such hard feelings.” Jenny felt her brows draw
together.

“Gwen believes our stepmother should retire to the
Dower House, and I suppose
she should
. I am, however, loathe
to ask them to leave immediately and hope that they will do so at a
pace that will be comfortable for them and still convenient to us.
After all, this will be your home as well as mine, and you, as my
bride and lady …” He smiled sweetly at her, and she felt such
affection in that smile as he paused and then said, “should have
the running of it.”

“Well, I do not wish to shoo them out of the house
either,” said Jenny sincerely. He was kind-hearted, more than she
had at first realized, and that pleased her. She smiled at him. “It
will all work out—things usually do.”

“Undoubtedly.” He regarded her a moment before
saying, “Right then, who shall you have to deal with at Danfield.
There is my stepmama, Diane, of course, and her son, my
half-brother, Brad, and then of course my wards, the Wendall boys.
The Wendall brothers were the sons of my father’s closet friend
over at Dean. When Peter Wendall died the two boys were no more
than babies. Their mother died a few years later when they were
still five and, I think, seven. While their estate is run by
trustees, my father was named guardian, and they came to stay with
us. Unfortunately, I lost my father shortly thereafter, and their
guardianship reverted to me.”

Jenny regarded him with some surprise. “Oh
my …”

“Indeed, and they were devilish things, routed
governess after governess for a few years, but they seem to like
this new young governess, a local girl who tends to them at
Danfield, and I visit them often. You need not concern yourself
about them, though, Jenny—do not think I mean to foist them into
your care.”

She said nothing to this as she contemplated the full
household she was about to meet in the near future.

“Have I frightened you?” he said with a quirky
smile.

She laughed. “I am an only child, and I do look
forward to a household full of people. It should be fun.”

“Oh, I can’t allow you to believe that. It hasn’t
been fun,” he said on a frown. “And there is more.”

“More?” She was in fact beginning to feel a bit
overwhelmed.

“In addition to this menagerie, I have a cousin,
Howard Danfield, but he does not actually live at the castle. He
has a small cottage on Danfield lands and acts as my agent—a damn
good one, I might add.”

“Well, then, perhaps it has not been fun, but I think
we can manage to turn that around. Imagine living in the castle
with no one about! My, but that would be gloomy,” Jenny said
brightly.

He smiled at her. “Lord, Jen, there is no need for
you to live at Danfield throughout the year. We must spend a month
there under the conditions of the will, and I do like to visit with
my wards. However, you and I will soon go off to London and take up
temporarily residence in my London lodgings until we can find a
more suitable townhouse. There are also our estates in Bath and in
the New Forest.”

“My goodness, so many homes. What can you possibly
want with so many?”

“Most of our estates are farmed and bring in an
income,” he said lightly and then eyed her. “You know I can build
you a home anywhere you choose, if you like.”

Jenny laughed. “Be careful or I might ask for a
cottage, only a small cottage, in Devon.”

He touched her chin. “Easily done, my dear. You have
but to say the word.”

She blushed and looked away. “When did your father
remarry?” she asked to change the subject.

“Ah, the story of my father’s life starts for me and
Gwen when he met my mother. She was wealthy, and although he didn’t
need the money or the additional lands, he married her because she
was an only child and everything would go to her. He never truly
loved her and soon grew tired of her. She, however, adored him. It
was over between them when she found him in their bedroom with one
of the serving girls during the middle of the morning.” He shook
his head. “Gwen and I had just been born, so we have no firsthand
knowledge of this, only the gossip.”

He looked away from her and spoke as though shedding
a weight. “My mother took up residence in another part of the
castle, and though both parents doted on us, we never really knew
any normalcy. We were six when Mother took to her bed and died
rather suddenly. By the time we were seven we knew and understood
just what was meant when the servants whispered about our father
having a mistress. By the time we were ten we discovered Brad, our
half-brother, and a great deal more ten-year-olds should not have
to learn.”

Jenny gasped. “How awful for you at such a young age.
How confusing …”

“Yes, I suppose it was confusing. Father soon married
his beautiful mistress, Diane, and brought her and Brad to the
castle to live with us, and everything changed.” He paused and
frowned as he added, “Papa had adopted Brad to make it all legal,
and he loved our younger brother, which makes this will of his so
very odd, as it allows nothing more than a stipend to Brad and
almost nothing to Diane. Gwen was never able to forget that Brad is
Diane’s son, and as she believed that Diane secretly poisoned our
mother …” He shrugged.

“Oh, faith! And did she?”

“I don’t think so. But I think my father thought so
or came to think so just before he died.”

“Oh, no, Jason, but why would they think such a
horrid thing?”

“We were in town with my father, and Gwen and I had
wondered off. Gwen overheard some of the tattle mongers going on
about my mother’s death and about my father’s mistress. Apparently,
while Mother was ill in her bed, Diane had been visiting Father in
his bedroom several times a week. She was there the day our mother
died. When we got back to the castle later that day, Gwen marched
right into the kitchen and interrogated the cook, who admitted that
Diane had taken a tray to our mother on that last day. That was all
Gwen needed to know. After that Gwen was convinced that Diane had
murdered our mother.”

“Oh my word,” Jenny said, not knowing what to think
of this. “Now I understand why Gwen dislikes her so.”

“I never thought it was true. When I got older I
looked into it further and saw for myself that the doctor signed
the death certificate, which read that our mother died of
consumption.”

“That did not convince Gwen, though, did it?”

“No, she was certain he had been bribed by
Diane.”

“What a ghastly thing for two young people to deal
with, and I must say, it does make one wonder,” Jenny said
thoughtfully.

“Twenty-three have passed—it is over.” He sighed. “I
told you because you are entitled to know about our skeletons.”

She ignored this last and said, “Jason, it does worry
me, because I must tell you that I think very highly of Gwen, and—”
Jenny felt a chill tickle her spine.

“Does it? It shouldn’t. I told you all this not to
worry you. I told you, I don’t agree with Gwen about our
stepmother. I do not think she had anything to do with our mother’s
death,” Jason said, interrupting her. “Diane is many things, but a
murderess?” He shook his head. “I cannot believe that, and I do
have a certain sympathy for her, for people gossiped about her and
never did accept her as the Lady of Danfield. As a net result they
were more often unkind, and I think that served to harden her.”

“Perhaps people have not been kind to her, but you
certainly have,” Jenny said with growing admiration. It seemed the
more she learned about him, the more respect she felt for him. She
slipped her hand in his and was surprised by the bolt of sensation
that coursed through her. She had meant it only as a comforting
gesture, nothing more, and then all at once, he looked into her
eyes and she realized he might misread this. She withdrew her
fingers.

He chuckled and tweaked her chin. “So, and that is
exactly how my wife should feel about me.”

She stiffened at once and told herself she would have
to be careful lest he misunderstand the friendship she offered.
That nagging voice seemed to laugh at her.
Jenny
, it
shouted,
who are your trying to bamboozle—yourself
? She
turned her gaze towards the changing sky and felt a touch of dismay
as a light rain splattered across the window.

It was well past four in the afternoon when they
reached Yeovil and stopped at a quaint thatched-roof inn called the
Red Bull Posting House. Tulips decorated the window boxes, and
scores of red and yellow tulips protruded around the building in
nearby flower beds.

The earl jumped out of the coach and instructed his
drivers to water the horses and enjoy their repast before turning
to assist Jenny. He held her waist a moment, and once again she
found herself looking into those blues of his. She hurriedly looked
away and downward.

“Thank you,” the earl said in an amused tone.

“For what, my lord?” Jenny’s eyes opened wide.

“I could not help but notice that you were admiring
my hessians.” He lowered his voice conspiratorially. “My valet uses
champagne—he mixes it with the blacking. He learned the knack from
the Beau.”

She realized he was teasing her and laughed lightly.
“Indeed, I have heard a great deal about the Beau’s sense of
fashion. Is he still in London?”

“No, after his falling out with the Prince Regent he
retired to Paris.”

She took a good look at his boots for the first time
and said, “His secret formula must work, as they do have an
exceptional shine.”

“Now that we have thoroughly exhausted the topic of
my exquisite boots, would you take my arm, my lady, and perhaps
this country inn will have something to satisfy your palate.”

“I am not really hungry, but thank you for stopping
here, Jason.” She had to work to remember to call him by his given
name. She smiled and added, “This is lovely, and it feels so good
to stretch my legs.”

They were ushered into a private parlor by the
landlord, and although Jenny had declared she was not hungry, when
the food was put in front of her and her new husband began reciting
a few anecdotes, she found herself stuffing herself with food in
between laughter.

Suddenly, she realized how much she was enjoying
herself, and a frown descended over her eyes.
Johnny
? She
had not thought of him once. She felt a sure heartache,
Not
heartache, Jenny
, said that same voice again,
guilt
. She
pushed away what little remained of the cake she had been
enjoying.