Page 26 of The Duke's List
She simply smiled, her long silver curls lifting softly in the wind, and continued walking toward him. “If you think she ran off to London with that hellcat artist, you’re wrong.”
“What do you mean? Have you been eavesdropping again? Were you the one I saw creeping into one of the actors’ wagons in the moonlight last night?”
“Sidmouth, you know I promised you long ago all of that was in my past. The men who adored me and wanted to keep me, none of them mattered after I met you.”
His still beautiful grandmother’s eyes glowed a hazy green in the morning light, and he realized with a start that she enjoyed manipulating all of them with the fantasy that she was mad. The lie allowed her to get away with all manner of escapades without repercussions.
“Nana, please stop. You know perfectly well who I am.” He put his arm around her frail shoulders and steered her back toward Bocollyn House.
Inside,in the family sitting room, Sidmouth drew out Nana’s story of how a special courier had arrived at the main house that morning looking for him. Carrington had directed the man to the stable master’s cottage where the footman had directed him on to the stable, since neither the duke nor the duchess were still there.
He’d given the message to Jane, and shortly thereafter she’d ordered her curricle readied before tearing off.
“Do you know where she might have gone?”
Nana tilted her head and gave him a long look. “Do you really love her and want her back?”
“Of course. You know I do.”
“No more sleeping in different houses? In different beds?”
“I can assure you that particular insanity will end the minute she sets her dainty foot back on Wyndham lands.”
“Porthtowan.”
“Why in the name of St. George would she hie off to that Godforsaken place?”
“There’s been a cave-in at one of the Lemon mines.”
When Sidmouthand Major Bourne thundered into Porthtowan just before dark, he left him at the local stables finding accommodations for their animals before he headed out of town on a fresh steed to find Jane’s family tin mine at the coast’s edge.
He’d asked Captain Thorne to sailThe Falconaround the coast to Porthtowan so they’d have a place to stay while awaiting word of the missing miners.
When he arrived, Jane was huddled with a group of women and children waiting for word of their loved ones below. She’d had food prepared for the families while they waited.
He tied off the horse and joined her. When he put his arm around her, neither of them spoke. There was no need for words.
Six Months Later
Bocollyn House Outside Falmouth
Sidmouth lookedup from the breakfast table to see Carrington bring a package addressed to Jane from the latest post. The writing on the outside wrapping had a familiar, swooping look. Sidmouth’s blood ran cold.
Jane said nothing but carefully unwrapped the contents and spent so long looking at what was inside, Sidmouth walked over to her side of the table to investigate.The Tattler, a London gossip sheet, was spread out on the table in front of her.
“Gad - why would she send you that thing?”
“Look at the latest bit of scandalouson ditthat all of thetonis buzzing about.” She pointed to a long article complete with an illustration on the front page.
Sidmouth leaned over and read the article. It seemed the model who had posed some years ago for a titillating set of illustrations in a sensual instruction book by the infamous C. Sparrow had been revealed.
The face staring back at him from the illustration was not Jane, but someone who looked very nearly like her. It appeared a Miss Mary Brown was now the toast of the demi-monde. The books at White’s were full of wagers on who would be her next “protector.”
When Sidmouth finished reading the article, he turned to his wife. “Don’t we still have that naughty little book somewhere in the house?”
Jane’s eyes flew to a locked chest now kept safely in the sitting room. “Why yes, I believe we do, Your Grace.”
“Does the key still hang from a chain around your neck?”