“I do not intend to answer them.” She closed the door behind her, leaving Owen to sit back in his seat and rest his head in his hands. It was abundantly clear Mrs Jarvis wasn’t going to tell him any secrets.
***
“Why would she not tell you?” Diana asked as Owen took the cards away to shuffle them. It was late at night, and they had once again retreated to the sitting room to spend an evening of cards with stolen kisses. Diana let her fingers trail across Owen’s hands as he took the cards from her, bringing a small smile to both of them.
“She clearly thinks it a secret worthy of keeping,” Owen said wryly. “I highly doubt if I pressed Mrs Jarvis more, she would tell me. Without that information, I do not know how to persuade Jessie of who the duke really is.”
They paused as Owen shuffled the cards and dealt out their next round. As he finished, he drew his hand across Diana’s, drawing a thrill from her. She bit her lip, remembering what they had shared the night before on the rug in her bedchamber. She longed to experience such a thing again, but she knew it would be reckless with Jessie watching them so closely. As it was, it was still a risk to be with him in the sitting room; escaping to the bedchamber could be too much risk altogether.
“What if I asked her?” Diana asked, alighting on an idea. Owen paused as he lifted his hand of cards, his eyes finding hers. “Do you think Mrs Jarvis would tell me?”
“I think it highly unlikely she would tell you if your husband has made several maids with child and is hiding them somewhere.”
“Perhaps not, but … she is my housekeeper, is she not?” Diana asked nervously.
“Ah, I see,” Owen placed down his cards, fixing her with his full attention. “You think she might tell you because you outrank her?”
Diana knew there was another way she could appeal to Mrs Jarvis. She was a woman bound to a man that Mrs Jarvis clearly knew more about. If Mrs Jarvis had a heart, she might take pity on Diana and tell her more.
“It’s possible,” Diana answered. Before she could say any more, there was a tap on the door, light yet unmistakeable. They both darted their heads towards it in fear. “Hide!” Diana hurried him.
Owen jumped to his feet and crossed the room, once again hiding behind the door that led to the room where the drinks cabinet was kept. Diana slid the card piles together on the table, making it look like there had only been one player rather than two.
“Who is it?” Diana called to the door, trying to sit comfortably, as though she weren’t nervous of discovery.
The door swung open rather than the person answering, revealing Jessie’s face on the other side. Diana stood to her feet, feeling her legs shaking beneath her.
“Jessie, you should not be up here at this time of the evening.”
“I thought you had company,” Jessie said, walking into the room, but then she frowned when she saw the card table only set up for one. “I wish to speak to you.”
“What about?” Diana asked, fidgeting with her hands.
“Mr Arnold asked to give you time, so I have come to say that I will give you that.” Jessie looked rather nervous to Diana’s eyes, with her gaze on the floor and scuffing her shoes on the blanket. “You have four days. On the fourth day, Your Grace, you must leave this house. Or I …” She lifted her hand, finding Diana’s gaze with her own. “Or I will tell the duke then of your relationship.”
Diana couldn’t find words; she was too busy examining the woman in front of her, with the rather nervous and shaky behaviour, almost as nervous as her own. It was evident Jessie was not so comfortable with what she was doing now she’d had time to think of it, but it was also apparent she was not going to back down.
“Are you really doing all this to be with my husband, Jessie?” Diana asked with a quiet voice. “He is truly not worthy of such devotion.”
“How would you know?” Jessie asked, her voice raspy. “You do not know him as I do.”
“Perhaps it is you who do not know him as I do.” Diana thought of the papers she had seen her husband hiding and the scrap of paper listing the locations of the fires. Yet she had no proof of her husband’s dealings being illegal.
“I will never believe that,” Jessie said, backing up again as she moved towards the door. “That is all I came to say. You have four days, that is all.”
She slipped back out of the door again, and Diana waited until her footsteps faded across the hallway before turning to the door behind which Owen hid. He emerged, opening the door enough to peer his head out.
“Four days is not long,” she said, sitting down in the chair, so afraid she couldn’t keep standing after the fear swelled within her.
“Four days to show Jessie the duke is not the man she thinks he is.” Owen stepped out of the door and hurried to her side. He knelt in front of her chair and took her hands in his, bringing them both to his lips to kiss the backs. “Trust me, Diana. We’ll make it work.”
Diana truly hoped so, or it could be four days until she was thrown out of the house on her ear.
Chapter 19
“Laura, please send for Mrs Jarvis,” Diana said as she sat at the desk in the library with the untouched paper in front of her. She had tried again that morning to write the next story that had come to her in the night but couldn’t bring the quill to the paper. Each time she attempted it, her mind argued against it.
“Of course, My Lady.” Laura curtsied to her and hurried out of the room, leaving her alone.
