At The Stroke Of Midnight (9 page)

"A good many other of your
servants have been with you that long as well."
 
Sebastian toyed with a fork, all traces of his earlier teasing
demeanor gone.
 
"I learned that
this morning as well.
 
Your late mother
was a saint in their eyes, and you treat them with the same dignity and respect
that she did.
 
They adored her and
therefore you as well."
 
He
shrugged.
 
"Angeline?
 
Not so much."

Jane could only nod in
agreement.
 
Her stepmother
did
often treat the servants poorly, a trait that, unfortunately, Lizzie was
picking up as well, despite Jane's efforts to curb it.
 
"She feels they are beneath her."

"And in turn, they despite
her.
 
Deeply."
 
He regarded Jane for a moment, as if
deciding how much to reveal.
 
There was
look in his eyes that Jane could not begin to interpret.
 
"They also despise the way you are
treated.
 
They want you to be
happy.
 
They know your mother would wish
it as well."
 
Then he looked away,
almost as if he was preparing to reveal something that he should not.
 
"And, despite your father's best
efforts to keep things secret, they know about you and what you desire.
 
And...well...me.
 
They know I desire you for my wife."

Jane felt as if she was going to be
sick.
 
That last thing she wanted was to
be the subject of the servants' gossip.
 
She had hoped to leave for Scotland with her head held high and not as
an object of pity.

When he realized that she was not
viewing this as good news, Sebastian grasped Jane's hands in his.
 
"Don't you see?
 
They will cover for us.
 
Both of us.
 
They know I am enamored of you, that I wish to marry you, and they all
approve of the match.
 
They also know of
the difficulties we face and are willing to help us have our stolen
moments."

Again, Jane knew she should object,
much as she should have objected to his plan last night.
 
If her father and Angeline discovered what
she and Sebastian were up to, Scotland would be a preferable destination for
her.
 
Several years ago, she had been
threatened with being sent to a convent in Spain, even though the family was
not Catholic.
 
The thought of being
banished to the peninsula made her shudder.
 
Scotland was not perfect, but at least it was still England.
 
In a way.

Except that, deep inside, she did
not want to object.
 
She had three
days.
 
Three precious, shining
days.
 
And she wanted them.
 
Fiercely.
 
For the first time in her life, she had been given a gift, complete with
willing accomplices, and she would not waste it.

"As long as you are certain no
one will discover us.
 
That my father
and Angeline will not know what we are about."
 
She felt she had to voice at least one objection, weak though it
was.

"I am."
 
He rose and offered her his hand.
 
"This morning, I am riding the border
of Blackstone with the head groom so that I might familiarize myself with your family's
holdings.
 
You, my darling, are in the
kitchen helping Cook prepare a special dessert for tonight."

"And where are we really
going?" she asked as she allowed him to lead her into the servants area
just as the first of the house party guests began to make their way downstairs,
their footfalls heavy on the old steps.
 
It was, she realized, a bit difficult to be sneaky with a house full of
guests, most of whom were Angeline's friends and not hers.
 
Yet she also had no doubt that somehow, they
would manage.

He grinned at her and Jane felt a
little bit of his infectious spirit creep into her as well.
 
"You will see soon enough, my lady, and
I guarantee that you will enjoy it."
 
With his hand on her lower back, he guided her through the door and into
the back hallway.
 
"Now, allow
Tildon to bring you your wrap and we will be off!"

Two hours later, Jane was wondering
why she had ever doubted Sebastian.
 
At
the moment, it seemed to her as if he could do anything he wished.

From the moment he had whisked her
out the servant's door in the kitchen and into the stables where a sleigh was
waiting, he had seemed to anticipate every detail of the outing she might
desire, including warm bricks for their feet and a basket full of food,
including a most delicious spiced cider that had been packed in hot bricks as
well to keep it warm.
 
Now it sat in its
metal holding pail at her feet as Sebastian guided the sleigh along the edges
of Blackstone's property.

The snow from the night before had
turned at some point from slushy to powdery and it was just perfect for the
sleigh's runners to skim along the surface, the sound of the ice cracking
beneath providing a welcoming noise in the crisp morning air.
 
A pale winter sun cast its rays down to
earth but they were there more for moral support than actual warmth.
 
Beneath a pale blue sky mottled with gray
and white clouds, the earth was silent and still, and there was only the sound
of the horses' hooves clipping along and the swish of the sleigh's runners over
the snow.

It was the most prefect morning in
Jane's memory.
 
Though she suspected
that had more to do with the company than anything else.

On their journey, they saw any
number of forest creatures including a bright red fox darting in and out of a
thicket that she recognized as being one that had escaped during the last hunt
at Blackstone the summer before.
 
She
was happy to see that it still lived.
 
There was something enchanting about the animal, as if it knew the fate
it had been spared and was doing all it could to live life to the fullest.

Just like Jane herself.

"You are too quiet,
Jane."
 
Beside her, Sebastian gave
her a little nudge with his elbow.
 
"Where are you off to in that pretty little head of yours."

Not wanting to spoil their first
outing together, she simply shook her head.
 
"No where, really.
 
Just
admiring the countryside.
 
It has been
forever since I have been out here.
 
Not
since I was a child.
 
It's just as
beautiful as I remember."

With sure and steady hands,
Sebastian slowed the sleigh until it glided to a gentle stop near a small
outcropping of trees that Jane knew marked the entrance to the bank of a stream
that ran along the northern edge of Blackstone's boundary.
 
"There is much you have not done since
your mother passed, isn't there?" he asked as he helped her down, his
hands encircling her waist and making her feel small and delicate.
 
Those were two things she had never felt
around a man before and she adored the feeling.

"It was a difficult
time," she admitted as she took his proffered hand and linked her fingers
with his.
 
Just as if they were courting.
 
Or more than courting, since, if they were
in London, their linked hands would surely incite a scandal.
 
Though she also knew she should not put too
much emotion into this moment.
 
It would
not last.
 
Still, it was Sebastian.
 
She could not refuse him anything.
 
"I know it is difficult to believe, but
my father loved my mother very much.
 
He
risked much to marry her, including society's scorn and ridicule.
 
She was Scottish, poor at that, and a
marriage between them was not as accepted back then as it is now."

"He still loves her,"
Sebastian supplied easily as he helped Jane over a fallen log and continued on
towards the trees.
 
A gust of wind
caught the edge of her bright red woolen cape and Sebastian reached out to tuck
it more securely around her.
 
"If
he did not, he would not be sending you away.
 
You remind him far too much of her."

Jane watched as he clambered over
the log with ease to land beside her in a puffy cloud of snow.
 
With the sun glinting off his hair, he
reminded her of a painting of a forest god she had seen once at the
museum.
 
"He does?
 
How do you know?
 
He married Angeline so soon after my mother passed.
 
He was not even officially out of mourning
when the ceremony took place."

"He was aching to replace her
and picked the first woman who whispered sweetly enough in his ear."
 
Sebastian threaded his fingers through
Jane's once more and they continued on towards the stream.
 
He imagined the area would be lovely in the
spring and he could envision picnicking here with Jane.
 
Of making love to her on a blanket beneath a
warm spring sun.
 
He pushed the thought
aside.
 
Now was not the time to
daydream.
 
"It is not uncommon.
 
I have seen it often enough among my
father's old friends.
 
Like them, your
father did not have an heir, just a daughter, and he was afraid of being alone
again.
 
So he selected the first pretty
young thing to display proper manners and a blushing innocence he found
charming."
 

Sebastian stopped, causing Jane to
stumble a bit, but he righted her smoothly enough and again, she found herself
shivering at the contact.
 
Even through
the heavy layers of their outer garments, she could feel the powerful heat of
him.
 
"But he doesn't love her.
 
Not the way he adored your mother.
 
Angeline is merely a substitute.
 
And she is well aware of the fact.
 
It is why she is pushing to have you
banished.
 
It is partly to assert her
power and partly to erase the last trace of your mother.
 
Namely you."

Closing her eyes for a moment, Jane
struggled to take in all he was telling her.
 
Around them, she could hear the birds chirping in the trees and she
found their light song a marked contrast the heavy words Sebastian spoke.
 
"How do you know this?" she asked
quietly.
 
For all that she lived under
the same roof as Angeline and her father, she had been blissfully unaware of
anything it seemed.

"Because I met with them, both
of them, when I was asking for your hand.
 
The second time.
 
The time I
begged your father to reconsider."
 
By now they had reached the stream, which was partially frozen over with
ice, reminding him of the crystals on Jane's gown the night before.
 
"I observed the way they interacted,
hoping to use any knowledge I gained to my advantage.
 
She leads, he follows, partly anyway, out of fear that she will
leave him, just as your mother did."

"My mother died," she
reminded him softly.
 
"She did not
choose to leave."

Sebastian was quiet for a moment,
weighing his next words carefully.
 
"In his mind, there is no difference.
 
Men are odd creatures that way."
 
He stared out across the water for a moment, as if remembering
something from his own past, his eyes blank and unseeing.
 
"Often times, we take and accept what
is right in front of us instead of fighting for what we truly want and desire
simply because it is easier."

In Jane's mind, that same theory
could perfectly sum up their current relationship, but she let it pass.
 
Sebastian was here with her now and she
would not spoil it.
 
The end would come
soon enough as it was.

She would have her longed-for happy
Christmas.

Together they strolled by the edge
of the stream for a bit, picking their way carefully over the icy spots.
 
A few times Jane almost fell, but in each
instance, Sebastian was there to catch her and put her back on her feet.
 
It was perfect.
 
But before she realized it, however, the sun was beginning to dip
low in the sky.
 
As they approached the
winter solstice, the days were shorter now, much to her annoyance.
 
They would need to return to the manor soon
or they would be missed.

Given the choice, she would have
continued strolling with Sebastian all day, despite the cold.
 
They had far more in common than either of
them had imagined, more than just the unbridled attraction that leapt between
them nearly every moment.

However, she was also practical
enough to know that despite the servants' attempts to deflect Angeline's
curiosity, they would be missed soon enough and with a gentle tug on his hand,
she turned to lead Sebastian back to the sleigh.
 
This afternoon had been magical, the very kind of afternoon she
had dreamed of as a little girl when she imagined being courted by a handsome
gentleman.
 
It was colder, perhaps, and
in her dreams they picked wildflowers but still just as wonderful.
 
Just as magical.
 
Just as perfect.