At The Stroke Of Midnight (21 page)

"It is," he finally said,
glancing at his wife, his forehead creased in a frown.
 
"We feel that it is best for Jane to
marry a man who is at a later point in his life, especially as her prospects at
this point are rather limited.
 
At
first, she was to be governess to his four children, just as we discussed while
in Town, but then after thinking on the matter, my wife and I decided that this
course of action was best."

"Best for whom,
precisely?" Lady Covington asked, casting a shrewd eye at Angeline and
Lizzie before moving her gaze to Jane.
 
"And why on earth would you send your eldest daughter away while
keeping your youngest in Town?
 
That is
not proper at all, Devonmont, and you well know it.
 
I had been given to understand that..."
 

Then, as if thinking better of what
she might have said, she stopped, though her eyes continued to dart back and
forth between the Ashfords who sat near her and Jane at the far end of the
table.
 
"Is that why she is seated
so far away from you, as well?
 
To make
a point that she is no longer one of you?"

Jane sat there, stunned, her hands
clenched tightly in her lap, not wanting to betray even a hint of emotion.
 
Never had anyone taken her part before or
spoken up on her behalf.
 
The last
person she had expected to do so was the woman who had, just the previous
night, warned Jane to stay away from her son.

"Your grace, I do not
think..."
 
Angeline pushed her
freshly delivered plate of beef aside, much to a footman's chagrin.
 
She also nearly knocked over a small
container of jelly that had been placed at each setting for the guest to enjoy
with their meal.
 
This time, it was
Angeline who was causing a scene.
 
Not
Jane.

"I am beginning to see that
what you just said is correct.
 
You do
not think.
 
At all.
 
I am also beginning to wonder what
I
was thinking, as well."
 
Jane
watched as Margaret took slow, careful inventory of her son.
 
At the moment, he looked as miserable as
Jane felt.
 
His head was hung low, his
color was dull, there was none of his usual sparkle in his eyes, and he looked
as if he had just been sentenced to the gallows to hang.
 
He did not smile, either, and pain tugged at
Jane's heart, for she knew her rejection of him was the reason.

The conversation was giving Jane a
megrim, but she also knew she could no sooner turn away than she could give her
heart to another man.
 
Whatever was
occurring over the dinner table was far too compelling.
 
Especially since it entailed someone finally
- finally - giving Angeline a bit of the comeuppance she deserved.
 
Even though it was far from proper to be
doing so at the moment.
 
Not to mention
that Jane herself was rather involved in the situation at hand.
 
There was that, as well.

"Lady Jane."
 
At the mention of her name, Jane turned to
the countess who was frowning now, the lines marring her otherwise unwrinkled
face.

"Yes, your grace?"
 
Jane pasted another polite smile on her face
and hoped for the best, though expected the worst.
 
She did not know if she could hold up under another of Margaret
St. Giles' interrogations.

"Do you wish to marry?
 
You.
 
Not your family's wishes for you, but you yourself.
 
Do you wish to marry and have a family of
your own?"
 
Margaret sat stiffly,
almost regally, as she waited for an answer.

The question caught Jane off
guard.
 
It also seemed to catch the rest
of the room off guard as well for immediately, everyone fell silent,
breathlessly waiting for Jane's reply.
 
This was far better scandal and gossip than anything going on in London,
Jane was certain.

However, there was still the
question to be answered and Lady Covington deserved an answer.

Of course, Jane wished to
marry.
 
Specifically, she wanted to
marry Sebastian.
 
Margaret already knew
that.
 
They had discussed it.
 
Well in a round about way, at any rate.
 
Also, what young woman in her position
didn't desire a husband of her own?
 
It
was all she had ever dreamed of since she had been a little girl.
 
Society misses were born to aspire to the
role of wife and mother, not governess.
 
Yet instead of blurting out her thoughts, she chose her words carefully.

"Of course, your grace.
 
I have wished to marry since I was a small
child.
 
It is what I dreamed of, as all
young women in my position do."
 
There.
 
That answer was the truth
and not anything that anyone, not even Angeline, could find fault with.

"Then why was I told that you
did not wish to marry?
 
Why was I led to
believe that you preferred the life of a governess to that of wife and
mother?
 
That, despite what those
closest to me insisted, you were flighty and prone to changing your mind on a
whim?
 
Why all of that, if you were
intent on marrying a Scottish laird not of your acquaintance?"
 
The countess was frowning harder now, to the
point where her eyebrows were angry slashes and her face almost contorted with
what looked suspiciously like rage.

Jane bit her lip, looking from one
angry face to another.
 
Everyone was
angry.
 
Her father.
 
Angeline.
 
Lizzie.
 
Most certainly the
countess.
 
The rest were curious.
 
All but Sebastian.
 
He alone looked at her differently, as if he could see her
struggle.
 
Then again, he had always
been able to see her for exactly what she was.

That was why she loved him so very
much.

Taking a deep breath she slowly let
it out as somewhere in the distance she heard the servants begin to whisper,
probably relaying the news through Blackstone that a great commotion was about
to take place in the dining room.
 
Given
how many factions of loyalty there were among the servants, she would not be
surprised to find many of them clamoring for a prime position at the doorway.

"I do not know, your
grace," Jane said finally, swallowing back her fear, but allowing the new
Jane to surge forward a bit.
 
But not
too much.
 
At heart, she was still a
good girl, bound by propriety.
 
"But you were, indeed, misinformed.
 
I do wish to marry, though I do not desire to wed a Scottish
laird.
 
I never did.
 
My desire for a husband lies
elsewhere."
 
Though she did not
speak his name, she was certain that every person in the room knew she was
referring to Sebastian.
 
They were blind
if they did not know.
 
"Though I am
also well aware that I am considered by many to be on the shelf and well past
the prime of my life.
 
A spinster, many
would call me.
 
Still, I would marry the
man of my choice.
 
If I could."

"And the claims of not knowing
your own mind and being fickle?
 
Flighty, even?"
 
There was
an edge to the Countess of Covington's tone, one that Jane could not decipher,
nor did she try.
 
The day had drained
her and she did not have the energy left to do so.

Instead Jane gripped her fork,
which she had not realized that she had been holding, tightly for a moment
before placing it back beside her plate.
 
She did not wish to injure anyone.
 
"I do not know, your grace.
 
Though much has been said of me over the years, I am not certain that
flighty was ever a word used to describe me.
 
Nor fickle.
 
I have been referred
to as plain and boring.
 
Staid even,
though a recent column by Lady X disputes that.
 
Still, I do not recall the word flighty being applied to me.
 
Dreadfully dull, however, has been on many
occasions."

Margaret St. Giles seemed to mull
that over for a moment.
 
"As I
said, a puzzle.
 
And I do not like
puzzles."
 
It was as if she was
talking to herself, not that Jane would point that out.
 
She was already embarrassed enough as it
was.
 
The only time she liked to be the
center of attention was when she was playing her beloved pianoforte and there
was unfortunately no instrument within reach at the moment

Then, as if coming to some kind of
decision, she glared at Jane again, though there did not seem to be much anger
in her expression.
 
Merely
confusion.
 
"And does this man you
claim you wish to marry know of your affections?
 
Does he know that you are genuine and not one prone to making
rash decisions?"
 

Margaret pinned Jane to her chair
with a single glance, but somehow, Jane found the strength to respond, a surge
of hope growing inside of her.
 
This was
her life.
 
Hers and Sebastian's and she
would fight for it.
 
"He does, your
grace.
 
He is the only one who has ever
truly known me.
 
He is the finest, most
honorable man I know.
 
That is why I
have already released him from any lingering feelings he might have towards
me.
 
He has a duty that he must do, as
well, and, like me, his choices are limited in many regards.
 
He is good and honorable and knows his duty,
and that, above all else, must come first, even before affairs of the heart."

Silence reigned throughout the
room, the only sound the popping and cracking coming from the two large
fireplaces that sat at either end of the room.
 
The scent of pine mixed with the smells of dinner scented the air.
 
On any other night, the party would be
lively and fun, the guests enjoying themselves.
 
Tonight, however, all that anyone was waiting for was scandal.

The countess tapped her fingers
against the table, clearly not seeing at all.
 
Her nails were the only sound in the entire room, though, in the
distance, Jane could hear the ticking of a clock, though she had no idea which
one it was.
 

"I see."
 
The countess finally spoke, and when she
did, the others in the room let out a collective breath, even though her words
were dipping in ice.
 
"I also see
that I have been misled and lied to, among other things.
 
I do not appreciate that.
 
Not a bit."
 
She also didn't seem a bit concerned that she had just created a
minor scandal.
 
That kind of behavior
was simply not tolerated, even from one such as the countess.
 
Then again, at Blackstone, so far into the
country, it was unlikely that anyone would care.

"Now see here," Devonmont
blustered, rising to his feet, as if something had finally snapped him out of
his state of shock, most likely Angeline's foot to his shin.
 
"I appreciate your position Lady
Covington, but I will not have you revealing this family's private affairs to
strangers!"
 
Then he glared at Jane
and she felt the full force of his anger, unlike anything she had experienced
before.
 
In that moment, she believed
that he truly hated her.
 
"And you,
Jane, have embarrassed this family quite enough for one night!
 
How dare you speak to the countess so
frankly?
 
I did not give you leave to do
so!"

"Do not speak to her as if she
were a simple child who does not know her own mind!
 
Or that she is some worthless thing not worthy of respect!
 
Jane is worth ten of every person in this
room, including me!"
 
That came
from Sebastian, who, until this moment had simply been watching the events
unfold before him.
 
Now he stood
glowering at everyone, his face once more full of color and his anger
unmistakable.

"You have no say in
this!" Angeline screeched, her cool
façade
of indifference slipping for the first time all
night.
 
"It is not your
concern!
 
Your only concern should be
for my Elizabeth!"

Sebastian was clearly about to say
something that he might regret, probably a slight against Lizzie, one that
would send the entire affair careening out of control - as if it wasn't
already.
 
Jane could not allow that.
 
Enough damage had been done for one night,
especially after her scandalous questioning by the countess.
 
So many rules of propriety had been broken
that people would surely be gossiping about this incident for weeks on end.
 
She would not be surprised if it made Lady
X's first column after Twelfth Night ended.
 
They were, she could see clearly, all teetering on the edge of social
ruin.