“I’m going to talk to her.” Lenora stood and followed the other woman.
Beatrice broke the silence. “Well, I’m willing to share answers with anyone but Abigail, except I suspect Lenora would tell her, too. So perhaps we should each focus on asking our own questions.”I just want to know if he’ll leave me alone if I marry him.
“It doesn’t matter to me.” Sadie shrugged. “We should tell Jane what we discussed either way, though. It isn’t fair that she missed this conversation. Helen?”
“Yes, we should tell Jane.”
“What about sharing our answers?”
“I already told Lenora I’d ask a second question for her.”I don’t care.
“All right, then.” Sadie looked back at Beatrice. “I suppose we can make our final decisions after talking to Jane?”
“That is logical. Shall we meet here an hour before supper? I’ll invite Jane when she returns from her walk.”
“Sure.”
Without another word, Beatrice pulled a slim volume from her pocket and began to read. Helen stared out the window, showing no inclination for further conversation, either.
Sadie stood. “I’ll just…”
They weren’t listening to her, so she didn’t bother to finish the sentence, leaving the lavender sitting room and heading for her own suite. Pippa should be at Marstede by now.
Seven
???
Nicholas led Janedown a path in one of the rare manicured sections of Marstede’s grounds. The manor sat right on the edge of the Gloaming Forest, and he preferred the wilderness to tame garden beds, so there wasn’t much to explore. They made it halfway through the gardens in silence, and he realized he would have to be the one to break it.
His mother wanted him to take the month seriously and test whether he could see himself living with any of these women for the rest of his life. He hardly wanted all his marital conversations to suffer from banality, so he eschewed the polite observance about the weather that first occurred to him.
“You make potions?”
Jane blushed. “Nothing extraordinary, my lord. I dabble.”
“Nicholas,” he reminded her. “And, it is what you chose to share about yourself; you must enjoy the activity.”
“I do,” she said softly, not meeting his eyes. “I know ladies who are witches aren’t supposed to admit as much, but I do like magic. My inborn talent is limited to understanding birds—and they don’t say much of interest—but brewing potions is so… limitless.”
“You’ll hear no censure from me. It would be rather hypocritical to say the least.” Nicholas had never hidden thathe was a witch, but he also didn’t socialize enough for it to be common knowledge. “I have an earth affinity, myself.”
Jane gasped. “You do?”
“I do. I spend a considerable amount of time in my engraving workshop, too. The manor also has a brewing room, if you’d like to make use of it during your stay. I’m not sure what state it is in; the last witch with a water affinity in the family was my great-aunt. Still, it should at least have the basic supplies.”
“You engrave charms?”
Hadn’t he just said that? “Yes. My power is warding, but I mostly rely on my affinity, too. Marstede produces a great deal of the wood and stone used for charms throughout Sidrea.” Nicholas crafted a great number of charms sold throughout the kingdom, too, but he didn’t mention that. Jane didn’t look like she could handle hearing just how much he ignored the gentry’s disdain for honest work.
She’d either faint or throw herself at him, and neither was an outcome he wanted to deal with. Yes, she remained a possibility for a wife, but he highly doubted the coming month would convince him he actually wanted to marry her. She was pleasant enough, he supposed, but he wasn’t looking for pleasant.
That thought had him frowning. Wasn’t pleasant exactly what he had wanted? Not now, of course, he still planned to enjoy his two years of solitude, but when the time came. Except his imagination no longer focused on a vague, bland woman who would fit into his life without disrupting it. Instead, he saw Sadie across from him at the breakfast table, slowly eating a slice of peach as she argued with him. It was a disturbingly appealing picture.
“I’m sorry.” Jane bit her lip. “I shouldn’t be asking you such personal questions.”
She thought Nicholas’s frown was for her and not his own wayward thoughts. He tried to smooth over his expression. “Ibelieve getting to know each other is actually the point of this walk. The entire month, in fact. Please don’t feel afraid to ask me questions.”
He meant that, too.
