At The Stroke Of Midnight (11 page)

In some small way, it gladdened
Sebastian's heart that perhaps, just perhaps, he cared about Jane's happiness
as well and not just the happiness of spoiled, over-indulged Lizzie.
 
With that, Sebastian began to relax a
little, thinking that maybe he was overreacting and that his desire to spend
time with Jane was clouding his judgment.

What happened next however, made
him rethink that position rather quickly.

Just as Jane reached into the bowl
to retrieve a raisin, the baron reached for her breast and this time, made
contact - unwelcome contact at that. She jumped back a bit and to the side,
obviously trying to escape Rockville's grasp.
 
In doing so, she knocked into the woman beside her - Ovalia, perhaps? -
who, just as Sebastian had feared, reached for the bowl and inexplicably
smacked at it with her flailing hands.

That, in turn, sent the
still-slightly-flaming bowl in Jane's direction.
 
While it all occurred slowly enough to give the baron - not to
mention his wandering hands - time to scurry away, it was still quick enough
that Jane could not react in time, the smoldering brandy splashing all over her
gown and gloved arms.

Sebastian did not think.
 
He reacted on instinct, knocking Jane to the
ground and quickly snuffing out the flames, rolling her body beneath his to
smother them before they could spread.
 
He wrapped her in his arms and held her there for a moment, trying to
make certain that the fire did not spread.
 
Just because he could not feel the heat did not mean the flames were
completely gone.
 
It was better to be
safe than sorry.

Together they lay there, their
bodies entwined, and he was thankful that he could feel the rise and fall of
her chest beneath his.
 
He might have
knocked the breath from her, but she was unharmed.
 
At least he thought she was, as he could not smell any burned
flesh but merely singed cloth.

"Are you well,
sweetheart?" he whispered quietly in her ear, just low enough for her
alone to hear.

"I am."
 
Her voice was quiet and shaking slightly,
but she wasn't crying or shrieking the way some females might.
 
She was strong, his Jane.
 
"Thank you, Sebastian.
 
I..."

The rest of what she was about to
say was lost when the baron, who had clearly not gone far enough away from Jane
to suit Sebastian, appeared above them, tisking loudly.

"That is a fine thing to be
rolling around on the floor with the sister of your betrothed.
 
Some would say you prefer her to the lovely
creature across the room, not that I could blame you.
 
She is a luscious piece."
 
The baron was already grasping for Jane once
more, as if his proposal of her becoming his mistress had been accepted and she
was already in his bed.
 
To Sebastian,
both the man's words and actions spoke to how foxed he already was.
 
It also angered Sebastian beyond reason to
the point where he could not think or remember what was proper.
 
Instead, he reacted.

Leaping to his feet, Sebastian
pushed Rockville backwards, away from Jane and into the crowd that had quickly
assembled during the commotion.
 
Much to
Sebastian's chagrin, the baron did not land arse first but instead hit a table
full of sweetmeats and caught himself before he fell, sinking only to his
knees.

"What in God's name are you
doing, man?" Rockville bellowed, righting himself and straightening his
blood red waistcoat and ugly green jacket.
 
"I was only seeing to the lady's comfort.
 
You had her pinned to the ground like a bloody rake!"

Sebastian saw red rather literally
and not only from the baron's waistcoat.
 
"I was putting out her gown before she went up in flames, you
ruddy-faced buffoon!
 
She was on fire,
no thanks to you and your wandering hands!
 
Were you not trying to grope her like the lecher you are, this would not
have happened."
 
Breathing hard
now, he imagined that his face was a terrifying sight given the way the other
guests slowly began edging away.
 
He
knew from experience that when he was angry, he could be quite terrifying.
 
"Now remove yourself from Blackstone
before I have you thrown out!"

"Now see here!"
 
The baron looked ready to both charge at
Sebastian and reach for Jane again, though it was also clear he did not know
which he wanted to do first.
 
"This
is not your house and not your concern!
 
You haven't even gotten betrothed to the chit's sister yet!"

"But it is
my
house," a voice behind the baron said softly and altogether too quietly to
be reassuring, "and I would like you do leave.
 
Do not think your behavior here tonight has gone unnoticed,
Rockville."

Sputtering and fuming, Rockville
tugged his waistcoat down and attempted to glare at Devonmont.
 
Instead, he simply managed to look even more
foolish than he already did.
 
"Do
you mean to tell me that you believe this young upstart rather than a man you
have known nearly all of your life?
 
I would
never presume to..."

"But you did," Devonmont
cut in icily, his fury barely contained.
 
"I saw you and everyone heard you.
 
It was Covington who acted honorably.
 
Unlike you, who has always attempted to convince me to match you with
Jane, I think he has her best interests at heart.
 
At the very least, I believe he did not wish to see her
grievously injured or, at worse, somehow in debt to him."
 

He glanced over to where Sebastian
was helping Jane to her feet, acting like the perfect gentleman everyone in the
room believed him to be.
 
Sebastian also
took notice that her father's eyes lingered on the singed front of her gown and
the small red burn on the back of her hand where the fire had made its way
through the glove she wore.
 
"I can
also see for myself that he was not acting improperly but rather saving my
daughter from a fire that might have killed her.
 
For that, I can find no fault with the man."

Rockville went to speak again but
then obviously thought better of it and instead, sniffed and turned on his boot
heel, stalking out of the room as if he had been the injured party.
 
No one said a word as they watched him go,
all eyes on the man who had just created the largest spectacle seen in the area
in years.

Sebastian took the opportunity to
reach out and squeeze Jane's hand.
 
"Meet me later," he whispered softly, knowing they didn't have
much time.
 
Soon, propriety would
dictate that they be forced apart, no matter that he had just saved her
life.
 
But he didn't want to leave
her.
 
Instead, he wanted to hold her and
whisper that she would never come to harm again.
 
And he would.
 
Later.
 
As soon as he was able to get them both away
from prying eyes.

"The conservatory at
midnight," she whispered back quickly, much to his surprise.
 
Obviously she was seeking his comfort just
as much as he longed to give it.
 
"We will be safe there."

With a sharp nod of agreement, he
released her hand just in time to see Devonmont turn back to them as the back
side of Rockville disappeared thought the ballroom doors.
 

"I apologize, my lord, for my
rash actions."
 
Sebastian thought
he should at least offer some type of apology in the event that Devonmont
was
angry with him, even though it made no sense.
 
He did not want to get thrown out of the house party before he
had his few remaining days with Jane.
 
Though given how desperate Angeline was for him to marry Lizzie, that
possibility was unlikely.
 
"I saw
the flames and in an instant, I was returned to Clover Hill and the tragedy
that occurred there."
 
The sheer
destruction of the fire in Wessex caused by an overturned Snap Dragon bowl was
legendary, and he was certain that the old earl had heard of it.

As Sebastian expected, Devonmont
shook his head and brushed away the apology.
 
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Covington.
 
You saved my daughter.
 
For that, I owe you more than I can
repay.
 
She is beyond precious to me,
and I do not wish to see her come to harm."

Then the old earl reached out and
pulled Jane into a tight hug, surprising everyone, but no one more so than Sebastian.
 
If this man loved his daughter so much, why
was he not fighting his new wife harder for her happiness?
 
If he truly cared, why did he simply not
allow Jane to marry the man she clearly preferred?
 
Why was he forcing Elizabeth on Sebastian?

He prayed that he figured out the
answers to those questions well before his betrothal to Lizzie was announced in
a few short days.

Later that night those same
questions were still puzzling Sebastian as he waited impatiently for Jane in
the conservatory.
 
Attached to the main
house by a long, narrow hallway that was difficult to locate at the best of
times, it was also at the moment stuffed with trees bearing citrus fruits and
toasty warm stoves to ensure the delicate trees did not freeze.
 
It was also the perfect place for a midnight
assignation he decided as somewhere in the main house, the gong sounded the
midnight hour as one day slid into the next.

From the moment he entered the
glittering glass building, now bathed in pale moonlight, Sebastian understood why
Jane had chosen this spot to meet.

The most obvious reason was that it
was on the west side of the estate, far from the guests' rooms on the
east.
 
It would be much harder for
anyone to accidentally spot them either coming or going from the rendezvous.
 
It was also easily accessible from a single
side door that was located near the back staircase that Jane favored, making it
easy for one or both of them to leave the main house without being seen.
 
There was a set of main doors that led in
from the outside, of course, but neither of them was stupid enough to risk
entering that way.
 
Well, Jane probably
wasn't, but Sebastian had always liked to live on the edge a bit and had gone
exploring, just to see if there were other ways inside that he needed to be aware
of.

He was feeling particularly
restless after the events of the evening.
 
He itched to hold Jane in his arms once more and reassure himself that
she was well and unharmed.
 
That she was
not dead.
 

Therefore, he decided to explore,
mostly to keep himself calm and occupied.
 
Otherwise, he was fearful that he might do something foolish.
 
Like abandon his life and spirit Jane off to
Gretna, consequences be damned.

Another reason was that it was
almost sinfully warm in the conservatory, unlike most of the rest of Blackstone
at night.
 
The manor house's hallways
were cold, even with the fires blazing in every hearth and grate throughout the
night.
 
True warmth could only be found
in individual rooms and both he and Jane risked much moving from place to place
where any number of people might stumble upon them.
 
No, the conservatory was far safer for both of them.

The final reason she had chosen
this spot was that it was private - almost exceptionally so.
 
The high number of trees and other plants
inside the conservatory provided a thick, lush shield to protect them from
prying eyes outside.
 
Sebastian had been
about to enter through the outer doors when a servant who had just been inside
to stoke the fires left, whistling a merry holiday tune as he departed.
 
Until the young man was at the very doors,
Sebastian had been unable to see him, so dense was the foliage inside the
conservatory.
 
Therefore, if he could
not see inside, then neither could anyone else.

Once he let himself inside, he sat
down to wait on one of the iron benches that dotted the brick and tile
floor.
 
It was a rather lovely place he
decided but it was missing the loveliest flower of all.
 
His Jane.

Somewhere over the course of the
night, she had transformed from being simply "Jane" to "his Jane,"
and he knew that there was no going back, at least not for him.
 
No matter what, he could not marry
Lizzie.
 
The sheer terror he had endured
when he saw Jane's dress afire had affirmed that knowledge in a way few other
things could have.
 
Until that moment,
Sebastian hadn't realized how deeply he cared for Jane.
 
What he felt for her went beyond mere
flirtation or caring.
 
It was more than
just a deep affection as well.
 
He did
not want to call it love, not yet anyway, but a little voice in the back of his
mind whispered that it just might be - whether he liked it or not.