Page 52 of Discovering Grace

He settled back into his seat and released a put-upon sigh. “You might as well tell the story. In years to come, I imagine most will be more amused than troubled by it.”

Grace looked to Jacob. He had been part of the story. As of yet, she had not revealed his place in it. His abhorrence of deception would make him reticent to admit to it.

“Tell your story, Grace,” he encouraged gently. “I will let you know if you leave anything out.”

Mrs. Barnes instantly turned to face her son. “How exactly would you be capable of that?”

“Someone recently told me I needed to be more courageous in my words and actions.” He faced her father. “I knew of Grace’s deception, from the very first day.”

“You what?” Papa started to rise from his chair but seemed to think better of it and lowered himself back most abruptly. “Oh, I suppose that does not surprise me at all. You and the girls have always been thick as thieves.”

Grace turned to Mrs. Barnes, ready to defend Jacob, but she stopped when she saw the way Mrs. Barnes was staring at her son. The woman regarded him with narrow-eyed amusement.

“I see. Well now. That does explain a few things.” Mrs. Barnes tapped one finger against her lips in a speculative manner. “A great many of my son’s conversations suddenly make sense.”

Jacob blushed. “You wanted to hear the story, Mother.”

“Indeed.” Mrs. Barnes turned back to Grace, appearing vastly entertained. “Tell us all about it, Grace.”

Gathering the threads of the story in her mind, Grace began her tale. To her immense relief, her father did not react to one detail in anger, and Mrs. Barnes laughed aloud more than once. Especially when Grace mentioned her efforts to put together the charity baskets under Cook’s nose. Jacob said little, except when his mother appealed to him at points where he had been present to witness Grace’s acting abilities.

When the story drew to a close, so did the visit. Grace and her father bid their guests farewell, walking all the way to the door with them.

“Will we see you at the ball held in Mr. Spratt’s honor?” Mrs. Barnes asked, just before stepping into her gig.

Grace had not dared to ask her father if they might go. Though he had been in better humor with her, she had no desire to test the limits of his patience.

“We will attend, yes. Mrs. Everly will have returned by then; we will all go.” Her father put his arm around her shoulder, giving her a quick wink. Her heart grew lighter.

Jacob handed his mother into the gig and then came back to the door. “Since you will be there, I must ask if you will honor me with a set.”

Her cheeks warmed and she glanced at her father, who raised his eyebrows. She always danced with Jacob. Just as she always danced with Silas and Isaac when they were at home for such events. None of them had ever asked her, had ever bothered thinking they need ask her, before the evening of the event.

“Of course, Jacob,” she said at last.

He bowed to them both and then went on his way, climbing up into the seat with his mother and taking up the reins.

“Perhaps,” Papa said as they watched the horse and gig go down the lane, “we should have separated you and your sister a trifle earlier.”

Grace blushed, but she made no reply. Jacob’s gesture in asking was nothing more than giving her reassurance that he was no longer angry with her. That was all it was. A show of friendship. She would content herself with that.

* * *

“When you told me your interests were redirected to another young lady, it was Grace you meant, wasn’t it?” Jacob’s mother asked as they left the Everlys’ lane for the main road. She sounded quite smug about her discovery.

He saw her smirk from the corner of his eye and quickly focused on the horses. “What would give you cause to think that?” he asked, attempting to sound innocent.

“The way you have been staring at her, for one thing.” Mother folded her hands in her lap. “You are trying to puzzle things out, I gather. One moment you appeared as if nothing brought you more delight than to hear her speak, the next you were confused. This is a most interesting development. I cannot wait to see how things play out.”

Jacob winced. “Neither can I.”

“Oh, come now. It cannot be all that difficult.” His mother nudged him with her elbow. “She either likes you or she does not. Given how often she looked to you for approval during her story, I think your chances are better than not.”

“I am not even certain that is what I want, Mother. We have been friends for so long.”

“What better way to begin a courtship? And though it is premature of me to say it, what better thing to have in a wife than a friend? Your father was my very closest friend, before and after our marriage.”

Jacob remembered well the way his parents had often looked at each other. Illness had stolen his father away five years previous, leaving their family shattered for a time. When Jacob thought back on those terrible days, he clearly remembered his friends making every effort to be near him. Silas and Isaac had distracted him, Hope and Grace had comforted him.