“You’re a dreadful tease,” she grumbled.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For what?”
“Coming to see the children.”
“Oh, well, I wanted to see how Meg was getting along.”
“After they eat, it’s story time. Perhaps you’d like to read to them today?”
“I’d like that. Where shall I do it?”
He led her over to a rocking chair in one corner of the room. “They’ll be in shortly.”
On cue, the sounds of laughter and chatter reached their ears, growing louder until the children burst into the sunroom and ran madcap over to the rocking chair.
“Is Lady Jenna reading to us today?”
She smiled at them. “Indeed, I am. And I have a special story to tell you today. It’s about knights, dragons, and fair ladies.”
Gray watched as the children hung on every word, completely captivated by Jenna. She was a natural with children. No doubt she’d have a nursery full.
Of someone else’s children.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Did he never learn anything? What was he thinking to get so involved with yet another unattainable woman? And why wasn’t this just an affair as he’d planned it to be? She was just a woman, someone to share physical pleasure with. Nothing more than a mistress. Something he should have taken on years ago.
He’d entered this arrangement with the purpose of expunging Roslyn’s memory from the bowels of his soul. It had worked. Too well. Instead of being haunted by the memory of golden hair and sparkling blue eyes, he was plagued by a brown-eyed minx who infiltrated his every conscious thought.
Apparently, he’d learned nothing from Roslyn. He was headed down the same path with yet another aristocrat’s daughter. A woman he could never have but wanted all the same. Only this time things wouldn’t go as far. He’d make certain of that.
Their time together was drawing to a close. He would forget her in time, just as she would forget him. She’d marry the viscount’s son and produce the necessary heir. Retire to the country with occasional trips to town for the season. No reason to lament. Their affair would always hold a special memory for him.
So why did his heart contract when he imagined their last night together? Why did jealousy seize him at the thought of another man ever touching her,hisJenna? His jaw clenched. No, she wasn’t his anything. Never had been. He was a passing fancy for her. An amusement. Something to occupy her time before she married.
His mood now sour, he turned and abruptly left the room. The children were ensconced in Jenna’s tale, and Mrs. Drennan would be in shortly to announce naptime. He had other things to attend to.
###
Jenna watched as Gray’s face hardened and he strode from the room. She frowned slightly. What had come over him? It wasn’t like him to be anything but solicitous.
She smiled back down at the children, careful to conceal her agitation. Mrs. Drennan popped her head in the door and called them to bed. They clamored around her, hugging her and thanking her for the presents. She kissed each one on the cheek and shooed them toward the waiting house mum.
When they’d gone, she put away the book and walked out to her carriage. Her earlier excitement over the surprise Gray planned had diminished in the face of his peculiar behavior. Perhaps it was nothing more than a pressing engagement. He was a businessman after all. Perhaps he had forgotten an important appointment.
But still, could he not at least have said goodbye?Until midnight. The words curled around her like a warm cup of chocolate. But he hadn’t said it.
As the carriage pulled to a stop, she reached under the seat for the wooden box and carried it with her. She walked into the house to find her brothers in the drawing room.
“Hullo, Jenna,” Quinn called out. “Come sit awhile.”
She handed the box to Thomas who was standing by the door. “Have Margaret take this up to my room,” she whispered, chagrinned that she wouldn’t get the chance to go over the contents immediately.
He nodded and backed away.
She entered the drawing room, a bright smile on her face. “Good morning.”
“It’s afternoon,” Sebastian said after a quick check of his fob.
