After The Storm (11 page)

Yes, the prospect of avoiding the Season and all
that goes with it as an unmarried woman.
To her friend she
said, “Do you smell that? Gooseberry pie!”

“My favorite! Come on then—lead me to it, but we will
share one tiny wedge, as we must watch our figures,” said Lavvy on
a bubbling laugh.

They joined hands as they reentered the house, and
Jenny had to admit to herself that she did ‘feel’ better, she did
feel ‘excitement’ at the prospect of seeing the earl again, and
that gave her pause. Where did that come from? Why should she feel
anticipation for his return? No doubt because she was anxious to
get it all over with.

Her bridegroom would not be her bright, shiny coin,
her lifelong friend, her Johnny. Johnny was gone, and although she
had thought she could never fall in love again, she knew she felt
something for the earl. This would be a new beginning, away from
the agony of young men trying to win a heart she could not give
them. It would spare her from their courtships and their flirting
and all that went with it.

It would give her a life of her own, this marriage
of convenience.

~
Seven ~

Pause not; the time is past! Every voice cries,
away!

—Percy Bysshe Shelly, 1814

THE EARL’S ANNOUNCEMENT in the
Gazette
caused
quite a reaction. He was bombarded with congratulatory mail from
his friends, as well as a good many remorseful notes from ladies
who feared their connection might, upon his marriage, be
terminated.

His first reaction was to sit and write these ladies
that nothing would change, but when he sat at his desk and picked
up his pen, he found that the words sounded (in his mind)
calculating and disrespectful to Jenny.

A deep frown inserted its presence upon him.
This
is ludicrous
, he thought.
There is no need for me to assure
any of these ladies of anything! There is no need for me to
participate in a correspondence that could perhaps cause
embarrassment to my future wife.
He was too well acquainted
with the wiles and petty cruelties engaged in by some of the gossip
mongers, and he had no intention of allowing Jenny to be hurt in
this fashion.

This reaction hit him as something new. This
forethought for someone he barely knew was a surprise. It troubled
him, for while he had no wish for Jenny to be unhappy, he also
wanted to continue to enjoy his life as he had before.

Time, however, was not his to use as he wished, as
his every moment was filled with one errand or another. However,
one note that came to his attention could not, he felt, be ignored,
and so he made it his business to stop by Drury Lane, where he took
the knocker in hand and frowned.

He hadn’t thought he was quite ready to part with the
lady on the other side of the door. She was a lovely, fair-haired
actress of little talent and less style, yet she was well able to
please in bed and rarely expected him to spend more time than he
wished in her company.

A parlor maid opened the door wide and dropped her
eyes as she greeted him, advising him that her mistress was
upstairs, awaiting him.

The earl’s eyes regarded the stairs, but even as he
stepped towards them he stopped. Suddenly he had an urge to bolt.
What the deuce was wrong with him? The notion of making love to
anyone other than Jenny seemed somehow all wrong. Absurd, but he
found himself turning back to the maid and saying, “If you would be
so kind as to advise your mistress that I should like to have a few
words with her in the parlor—”

“Jason!” He was interrupted by a lovely voice from
the top of the stairs as Aurora Davis wiggled her shoulders with
pleasure and smiled a welcome.

“Aurora, you are, as always, enchanting. Do come down
so that we need not speak with all these steps between us,” the
earl said quietly.

“Come down?” The lady stiffened, somewhat
startled.

“Yes, come down.”

“Are you all right, Jason?” Aurora picked up her
skirts and descended the stairs carefully towards him.

He waited for her to reach his side and then put his
arm around her delicate shoulders. He led her away and into one of
the two rooms that made up the first floor of her small
residence.

He pulled her to a soft gray velvet loveseat and sat
with her in his hold for a moment before setting her shoulders away
and saying, “Aurora, I have something to tell you.”

“Very well, tell away,” the lady said, looking
puzzled.

“I am about to be married, soon … in less than a
week, in fact, and things will change.” There, he thought with a
sigh of relief. It was out, it was done.

She sat straight up and put a hand to her heart.
“Bless me—but did you think I would throw a tantrum? I wish you
both very well.”

“You do?” Jason eyed her suspiciously.

“Of course I do. It comes at precisely the right
moment, as now we may part on the best of terms.”

“We may?” His brows rose.

“The Duke of York has made me quite an attractive
offer, my dear.”

“Ah, of course,” the earl said dryly even though he
was filled with relief.

“I have played fair with you, Jason, as you have with
me. We had an understanding, and I’ve lived up to it, but now it’s
time we kissed good-bye. I am not getting any younger, and this new
situation will allow me to put away a little nest egg—you do see,
don’t you?”

He kissed her fingertips. “I do, and, yes, I wish you
well, Aurora.” He stood up and started to take his leave, but she
pulled at his sleeve.

“Jason?” Her blue eyes opened wide. “Are you not
going to stay a while? I haven’t left your house yet, and you
haven’t yet tied the knot, so what is to stop us?” Both her body
and her voice coaxed him as she ran a hand over herself.

He answered her by dropping a kiss upon her lips and
saying softly, “Fare thee well, Aurora, fare thee well.”

He walked into the darkness of the night and made his
way to Oxford, where he hailed a passing hackney and directed the
driver to take him the gentlemen’s club, White’s. In the cab, he
sighed to himself, but as a smile took over his face, he realized
how relieved he was to be done with that chapter. Odd that, and
why?

* * *

Wednesday, two days before the projected wedding,
brought two elegant coaches, some luggage, a few servants, Sir
George, Lady Gwen, and the earl onto the road towards Devon.

It was a two-night trip, and on the third day they
found themselves on the road once more towards Ashley Grange quite
early in the morning.

Gwen’s mood was volatile, and at that moment in time
she was complaining that she would not have enough time to spend
with Jenny before the wedding.

The earl, tired of the conversation, changed it with,
“I miss my nephew. Poor little man, shipping him off to Brighton
with his nanny. I think he would have enjoyed my wedding.”

“You are just trying to change the subject, and poor
little man, indeed! If I had made him take this long trip with us
only to leave the next day for Brighton, it would genuinely be poor
little man!” his sister retorted.

“Careful, Gwen, if you continue to harp at me like a
shrew I shall quit yours and my dear George’s company for the quiet
comfort of my own coach up ahead.”

She pulled a face at him but did, in fact, brighten
as Ashley Grange came into view.

The earl checked his pocket watch and with a raised
brow saw they barely had more than two hours to spare before the
wedding. When they all were exchanging greetings with the squire
and his sister, the earl looked hopefully for Jenny, but she was
nowhere to be seen.

The squire and Jenny’s aunt made them comfortable,
exchanging surprised greeting with Lady Gwen, whom they had met in
Brussels. They had not realized she was the earl’s sister.

“My, but when one looks at you together, there is a
remarkable likeness.” Aunt Beth put a hand to her cheek. “Indeed,
twins … oh my.”

“May I go up to Jenny? I do so want to speak with her
before the ceremony,” Lady Gwen said excitedly.

“Of course—she will be so pleased,” Beth replied.

A moment later, a knock sounded at Jenny’s door, and
she turned away from the long mirror, picked up her cascading train
of white organza, and invited the interrupter of her daydream to
enter.

Jenny remained fixed in position as she stared at
Gwen. Seeing her now, she put a hand to her mouth. Lady Gwen was
the sister her earl had spoke of? That was why
his face
always seemed so comfortably familiar!

“Gwen … I can’t believe it. I didn’t know you
and the earl were brother and sister! Why, he mentioned you but not
your name,” Jenny said, rushing to put her arms around her.

“Horrid man. Did he not tell you that his sister is
his twin?” She pulled a face. “Though thankfully not
identical.”

“No, only that he had a sister, and I neglected to
ask for any details.” Jenny shook her head.

Gwen did a circle around her. “Jenny, you are a
diamond. Oh my goodness, but you are stunning. Where is your
veil?”

Jenny pointed to the vanity table, where the crown of
silk roses and lace reposed.

“Oh, how lovely,” Gwen said as she returned to
appraising Jenny with open admiration. “Those lace sleeves, so
delicate against your creamy skin, and the heart-shaped bodice,
perfect, simply perfect.” She touched one cascading chestnut curl
and made a cooing sound. “There is gold lighting up your hair as
though you sprinkled gold dust throughout the curls. No wonder my
brother chose you.”

Jenny blushed and turned away from her, only to have
her hand taken so that she had to give Gwen her attention as her
ladyship said, “You are radiant, my dear, and I do wish you
happiness. But are you certain this is what you want?”

“Gwen!” Jenny objected. “He is your brother.”

“My brother, yes, and I adore him and want the best
for him, but you are such an innocent.”

“
Stop.
I may not be sophisticated, but I am
not naïve or blind. I have my eyes wide open. Your brother was
honest with me, and I with him. A very good beginning I think. So
few married couples understand that. This subject is not open to
debate. I would never withdraw now and hurt his chances of making a
respectable marriage in time to obtain his rightful inheritance,
and besides that, this arrangement suits me more than you can
imagine.”

Gwen hugged her. “My brother has won for himself an
amazing woman, and I have by his good graces a wonderful
sister.”

They embraced, and Gwen sighed. “It is too bad you
are not going abroad for a prolonged honeymoon. It would have been
so good for both of you,” Gwen said, gazing at Jenny
speculatively.

Jenny blushed. “Timing is everything, and it is not
the time.”

“You realize that you and Jason will not be alone at
Danfield Castle,” Gwen said on a note of disgust.

“Why, yes, I seem to recollect something the earl
said about his brother—”

“The earl?” Gwen laughed. “You needn’t be so formal
any longer, my dear. And, yes, his half-brother is there, and I
believe the place is not what it once was in its day.”

“Oh? Haven’t you been there lately? You speak as if
you haven’t seen your home in ages.”

“I left for my aunt’s in London some nine years
ago—for the Season—and no, I never went back there.” Gwen did not
elaborate.

They were interrupted by her aunt’s maid, Biddy, who
saw that Jenny had company and shyly began to withdraw. Jenny
called her back on a short laugh, and the maid dropped a curtsey
and said, “Your aunt says we shall be late, miss. I’m to help you
with your veil and escort you to your papa’s carriage. The earl
will be meeting us at the church, as he must not see you till then.
Bad luck, you know.”

Gwen excused herself and went below stairs while
Jenny and Biddy began working the veil over her cascading
locks.

Her aunt appeared and murmured, “Ravishing, my
child.” She went to her niece and held her lace-covered fingers,
“My dear, are you anxious?”

“I … yes, I am, but only because I will be
leaving you and Papa and … well, that is very
frightening.”

“Indeed, but this is your home, and whenever you
want, you come running to us. Understood, my sweet child?”

Jenny hugged her aunt and bit back a sob. All at
once, she wasn’t sure. Doubts flooded through her body and beset
her mind. Then for no reason at all the earl’s bright blue eyes
twinkled at her in her mind’s eye, and she felt a sudden warmth
buck up her spirits.

Her aunt led her down the rear stairs and ushered her
to the coach, where she found her harassed father. She climbed in
beside him and saw that his eyes were teary, which immediately made
her burst into tears herself. She exclaimed, “Oh Papa, oh Papa, I
shall miss you so very much!”

“Just say the word, my Jenny, and we will put a stop
to this,” he said, taking her hands.

She glanced at her aunt, who was dabbing at her cheek
and muttering about her making a mess of her face, and burst into
laughter. She swiped a tear away and said, “No … oh no, I am
being sentimental and silly. This is what I want.”

“Do you know, Jenny my sweet child, that when I was
about to be married, I cried into my father’s coat so that my tears
stained his collar.
I did
, and I wanted to marry my sweet
Thomas with all my heart, but there you are. It is an emotional
time. Only natural, it is a big step, and still, I rather think
for you
, it is the right one.”

She trusted her aunt’s opinions and gazed at her now
as she squeezed her hands.

They had reached the parish church, and Jenny found
herself shepherded into a small antechamber, where she discovered
Lavina in pink silk and flutters. They held each other tightly.