What else could he say without bringing Cecily’s reputation into disrepute? He wasn’t going to blame her for their entanglement. No one had held a pistol to his head and forced him to go out into the gardens that night. But he certainly wished that her father hadn’t discovered them and forced him to turn an impulsive decision made under the influence of a few too many drinks into a proposal to bind them forever.
His fate had been sealed, and all for a few kisses and an ill-placed hand. Ten minutes of his life, at most, had determined everything that followed.
“Yes, I trust you’ve matured a great deal since then,” Jane shot back in a tone that betrayed significant doubt. “But there’s nothing to forgive. You were entitled to form whatever attachments you wished. Then, as well as now. Excuse me, please.”
She made as if to return to the rout, turning her back on him as neatly as if he’d been a stranger.
“Wait.” Eli wanted to stop her. To pull her into his arms and force her to face him. But it would have been ridiculous, so he had little choice but to call after her. “It’s been years. Can’t we talk about this?”
Jane paused at the door, finally looking back at him over her shoulder. “Silence is contagious, it would seem.”
With that, she disappeared from the door frame, leaving Eli alone to contemplate his mistakes.
Jane wasn’t sure how she put one foot in front of the other without stumbling as she fled the library, shaky as a newborn foal. She’d held her composure before Eli only through supreme force of will, but now it threatened to leave her. Where had Della gone to? The crush was so great it would take half the night to find her friend now. Instead, Jane tucked herself in a corner of the ballroom and pretended to admire a landscape on the wall. If she stayed here long enough, perhaps Eli would leave.
How could he seek her out as if they were old friends, after all this time? He should have been a stranger to her by now. Yet she hadn’t been able to stop herself from drinking up the timbre of his voice and the mannerisms that marked him as the man she’d known—the way he spoke with his hands when he was trying to make a point or tilted his head when he was listening. Everything about him was as familiar as if he’d never left England, and only yesterday they’d been sitting in the shade of the oak tree on Uncle John’s estate. As if his long absence had been nothing but a story they’d told to pass the time.
“Is it a Turner, do you know?”
Jane jumped at the sound of a woman’s voice behind her. The painting. She must be asking after it, and here Jane was studying her own memories, heedless of the image on the canvas.
She opened her mouth to admit she had no idea which painters graced her cousin’s wall, until she realized that the young lady had been talking to her companion.
“I expect so,” the other woman replied. “You have a discerning eye, Lady Eleanor.”
LadyEleanor.
Jane did a quick assessment of the woman’s appearance, her mind leaping through the possibilities. She was quite young, perhaps eighteen or so, and trussed up in so much lace that her ruby pendant was in danger of being swallowed whole. Could this be Eleanor Grosvenor, daughter of the Marquess of Westminster? If only Della were here. She knew how to enchant people with her conversation, whereas Jane was liable to say the wrong thing, especially in her current state.
But she couldn’t let this opportunity escape her. Increasing their club’s numbers was a delicate balance. They needed to grow their base of invitees to assure steady profits, but they had to be careful to remain exclusive so that women would be begging them for an entrance instead of the other way around. What a coup it would be to secure Lady Eleanor’s patronage!
“A lovely piece, isn’t it?” Jane ventured, as if it were perfectly natural to approach two ladies vastly above her station with whom she had no prior introduction. Never mind. They’d been invited tonight and they’d chosen to come, which meant they knew Cecily, which was only one step away from her, really. “I believe Lady Kerr has more of Mr. Turner’s work in the study, if you’re an admirer.” This was a shameless fib, but it seemed to pique Lady Eleanor’s interest, so it served its purpose.
“Does she, really? Oh, but I wouldn’t want to intrude.”
“Nonsense. I’d be happy to give you a tour of the house, if you like. I’m Jane Bishop, Lady Kerr’s cousin.”
“Lady Eleanor Grosvenor.” The woman extended a dainty, bejeweled hand. “And this is my friend, Mrs. Harriet Duff.”
Jane scarcely had time for an obligatory curtsy and a “How doyou do?” before Mrs. Duff interjected, “Her cousin, you say? Why, you must know all about it then!”
The “it” in question was obviously something more exciting than the landscape on the wall, for Mrs. Duff was practically bouncing on her feet as she continued, “Lady Kerr was just telling us that her former fiancé is here tonight, after two years missing and presumed dead. Is it really true?”
Not again.Must Eli hound her all evening?
But Jane suppressed her wince as she gave the answer the pair wanted. She was off to a promising start, and she wouldn’t let Eli spoil it for her. “Itis. I believe I caught sight of Lieutenant Williams earlier, alive and well.”
Much as she would’ve liked a fine story for her audience, Jane was hardly going to reveal they’d shared a tête-a-tête in the library. Uncle Bertie had already proven his willingness to force a proposal under such circumstances, should word get back to him. She had no desire to be the second woman in the family Eli pledged to marry under duress.
“Which oneishe?” Lady Eleanor dropped her voice to a whisper, casting curious looks about the crowd. Though she held herself in check a bit better, she was clearly as enthralled as her companion by the tale.
Jane hesitated. She needed to impress these women and keep them talking long enough to casually inquire, first, whether they held any moral objections to gambling, and second, whether they were free on Monday evenings to join a select group of friends with heaps of money to wager.
For the profits that Lady Eleanor would bring her, Jane could endure the sight of Eli again.
“Why don’t we take a turn about the room together, and I’ll point him out if I see him?” With any luck, she could steer the conversation where she wanted before they even found him.
“What a dear you are,” Lady Eleanor accepted on behalf of them both, and the trio set off together.
