A smile touched Jasper's features. "I never thought I would live to see the day Oliver Bargrave would consider getting leg-shackled. What changed your mind? And who is the fortunate lady?"
"I have not decided, but Clifford’s sister seems delightful." Oliver took his turn while Jasper’s body tensed.
"Lady Natalie?" he asked, wondering if he had shot himself in the knee by suggesting Oliver to Natalie as a dance partner. Could it be that after just that one encounter, Oliver fancied her now? Was he the reason she ran away?
"Oh, as interesting as Lady Natalie is, I am afraid she is not my choice. I speak of Miss Hannah Reeves," Oliver replied. Jasper felt himself go weak with relief.
"Good." He cleared his throat after realizing what he had just said. “That is to say, Miss Reeves is a good young lady.”
Oliver chuckled. “You are flustered by the news of my intention to seek a wife. Something the matter?”
“Not at all.” The thought of Natalie with another man corroded his mind. He played a turn after Oliver, and then he thought of something. He decided to invite the family to the manor for dinner. After all, it would give him a reason to speak to Natalie and learn why she left.
Since Oliver and Clifford were good business partners, it would be a good opportunity for Jasper to learn about the business and for his friend to spend time with Miss Reeves.
Jasper told him his plan, and something odd passed over Oliver's features before he declared that it was a good idea. They continued their game, and Oliver began to inquire about what Jasper had done while he was away.
"Don’t say that you have not met anyone of interest, Jasper," Oliver remarked impishly, and the image of Natalie writhing in his arms invaded Jasper’s thoughts.
"Oh, with that sort of expression on your face, I think there definitely is someone you are hiding," Oliver chuckled.
Jasper dismissed his friend's suspicions, but deep within him, he found a part of him thinking about Natalie and how he wished they could mean more to each other. He tried, with some success, to return his attention to the game, but his lungs were being starved of air again.
“Your dream is coming true, Aunt Phoebe,” Jasper said as he walked into the drawing room that evening. “Oliver has found a lady he wants to marry.”
“Truly?” Phoebe set down her book and sat up.
"Yes. He finds Miss Hannah Reeves, in his words,delightful," he continued. "As a matter of fact, he intends to offer for her. I told him that I would host the family for dinner."
His aunt smiled. "Our numbers are even then. While Oliver keeps Miss Reeves company, you shall be with Lady Natalie." Jasper thought her choice of words, ‘be with Lady Natalie,’ was deliberate, but he said nothing. "Don't you think this is a sign, Jasper?" Phoebe asked.
"What sign, Auntie?"
"A sign for you from your friend to select your bride, too," she replied.
"Not again, Auntie. We have talked about this," Jasper sighed.
Phoebe ignored his protest and carried on. "Oliver recently returned to the country, and he is already thinking of marriage. Why can you not do the same after all these years?"
"Oliver is not dying anytime soon!" Jasper snapped before he could control his emotions. "He will not leave his wife widowed shortly after marriage. He will not be placed in the ground filled with regret about dashing a young woman’s dreams. And God forbid he leave her with child.”
His aunt’s eyes widened, and she raised a hand to her chest. "Oh, come now, Jasper, do not tell me that you still dwell on that and believe those baseless superstitions." Phoebe’s regard was nervous, and there was a tremor in her voice.
"Let us be realistic for once, auntie. Do you think it mere coincidence that both father and grandfather died at the same age and of mysterious illnesses? What are the odds of such happening in a family?" He waited patiently for her answer. Her features wrinkled with something akin to worry.
"Nothingis going to happen to you, Jasper." Phoebe rose and wrapped her arms around him. “I will not allow anything to happen to you, my child.” It sounded to Jasper as though she was somehow trying to convince herself now.
“Father and grandfather had strange headaches, and within hours, they died.” He pulled away and held her shoulders. For the first time, it appeared Phoebe was beginning to truly consider his condition. She looked afraid. “Both shortly after their thirty-fifth year.”
“I will not allow it.” She shook her head.
"You cannot do anything, auntie," Jasper said. He did not want her giving him hope or harboring any hope herself. They would both certainly be disappointed, and that was not the way he wanted to leave her. It was always best to keep one's heart protected. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and he drew her close.
"I would die before I let go of you, Jasper," she vowed, sniffling against his chest. He blinked against the emotion blurring his vision.
That night, the Rogue traveled to East End, but he did not gamble. He found a pub and sat at a table, drinking and pondering his life; the people in it he did not want to lose or bid farewell.
Natalie continued to sit at the fore of those thoughts, and Jasper let out a snort at how ridiculous everything was. Natalie may desire him, but he meant no more than that to her.
