“So it is,” she said plopping down beside Quinn.
“So where have you been all morning? It’s not like you to be up so early,” Quinn remarked with a grin.
She elbowed him in the ribs. “I paid a call to Stuart’s aunt then I went to the children’s home on Oxford.
Sebastian’s eyebrow came up. “Children’s’ home? Why did you go there?”
“Shopping, of course,” she said dryly.
“Sarcastic this morning, are we?”
“Well why do you think I went to a children’s home? To see the children.”
“Of course.”
“What?” she asked looking over at him. “What’s so strange about that?”
“I didn’t say it was strange.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, shooting daggers. Quinn chuckled beside her. “Will you two stop? Sebastian, as soon as I discover what happened to our real sister, I’ll let you know. In the meantime we best humor her replacement.”
She rounded on Quinn. “What is that supposed to mean? Do you really think me so self-absorbed? I can’t pay a charitable call without you two making snide remarks? I’ll have you know while you two are off gambling, wenching and swilling ale, Mamma and I do quite a bit of charity work.”
“Uh huh,” Sebastian said, returning to his paper. “What was it Mamma had to threaten you with last time you refused to go?”
“People can change,” she said quietly.
“Yes, yes they can, Jenna. But in a week? Something is going on with you. I don’t know what, but something is decidedly different.”
Guilt infused a rush of heat to her cheeks. “I have no idea what you mean,” she sniffed. “As a future viscountess, it is important that I do a certain amount of charity work. And I happen to love children. You both know that.”
“So you’ve accepted the fact that you are marrying Stuart?”
“Like I ever had a bloody choice.”
“I’ll take that as a no.” He laid aside his paper and fixed his eyes on her. “I think Papa and Mamma made a mistake letting you come to London before you married. I don’t know what’s come over you, but they wouldn’t like it, and neither do I.”
“Lucky for me it wasn’t up to you,” she said through gritted teeth.
She felt Quinn’s hand on her arm, a warning not to go too far. Good advice. She was on the verge of losing her temper completely. And the last thing she wanted was another fight with Sebastian. She took a deep breath and smiled at Quinn. He removed his hand.
“You’re not wearing your locket,” Sebastian noted.
The bloody locket again. If he said another thing about it she would scream. “It broke.”
“Broke? How?”
“Does it matter how?” she demanded. “It fell off my neck and broke.”
“Leave it with me and I’ll have it repaired.”
“Very well.” She scooted to the edge of the settee and stood up. “I am going up to my room now.” She stalked from the room and up the stairs.
She entered her room and shut the door firmly behind her. She was miserable. No, miserable didn’t quite describe the degree of her unhappiness. She had less than a week left with Gray, Sebastian were being overbearing, she wanted to marry Stuart about as much as she wanted to have a tooth removed, and damn it, she just wanted to be left alone. Wanted to make her own decisions for once. In a perfect world, she’d have as much leave as her brothers. Maybe she ought to give thought to joining one of those bluestocking groups devoted to women’s causes.
She should have been given a London season, made her come out, attended balls, been lavished with attention from a dozen suitors, plied with marriage proposals and considered who the best husband for her would be. But no, she had been told whom she was to marry, and there would be no marriage market season for her.
The wooden box beckoned her from her dressing table, but she turned away in irritation. Stuart’s family was driving her mad, even from the grave. How could she leave her own family to live with Stuart? Even as upset as they made her, she couldn’t bear the thought of being away from them.
