Page 43 of An Engagement with the Enemy

“I’m all right.” Jessica smiled at her maid. “My hair is perfect. Thank you, Bessie.”

“Would you like to wear a bracelet over your glove?” the younger woman asked, tone still gentle. “The one with the blue beads, perhaps? It would match the gown.”

And provide her fingers something to do when they were not occupied with knife and fork.

Jessica relaxed and nodded. She would twist the beads, count them, slide them across her wrist. And try to keep her disappointment in herself tucked away.

Planning for the fair, for the arrival of her horrid cousins, for helping James, would take up most of her energy in the coming week. If she could survive that much upheaval, then she could prove to Catherine that a visit to York was within reach, too.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

James waited half an hour past their usual meeting time before giving up on Jessica. He knew she wasn’t ill. Though he hadn’t seen her alone since their last meeting at the kissing-gate, as they had agreed, Catherine had been to visit at Fairbrook Lodge several times. She’d returned from each visit to inform the family that all the Westcotes were in good health, and their guest was a perfect gentleman.

Mr. Holly had come with Mr. Westcote to meet the baron, and James had been introduced to the newly certified solicitor, too.

He hadn’t been impressed. Though he couldn’t say why it mattered, one way or the other. But he hoped the gentleman wasn’t proving a bother to Jessica. Up until the moment he’d seen them in church, the day before, seated side-by-side in the Westcote family pew. James had expected Tom’s friend to sit on the far end, next to Tom. Instead, Mr. Holly had sat between Jessica and Tom. And shared a prayer book with Jessica.

Though the sight had caused him alarm, James had put aside that feeling. He didn’t know what was going on. He would ask Jessica when they met. In private. The next day.

And she hadn’t come.

Ottis was as confused as James. The terrier would run to the gate to peer through it, then come back to James and sit, settling in the grass with a huff of displeasure. Or maybe James was giving the dog too much credit.

Perhaps their last meeting had impacted Jessica more than James had guessed. While it had served as a revelation for him in every positive way, she may have had an altogether different reaction. While he had admitted his heart bent toward her, she could have found herself wanting nothing more than to run in the opposite direction.

After waiting until his hope had withered to nothing, James took Ottis back to the kitchens, then made his own way to the library. Unfortunately, Catherine found him before he made it to his safe haven of leather-bound books and comfortable furniture.

“I need you to come with me to the village.”

He blinked at her. “The village is literally outside the castle gate. You can be there in thirty paces.”

That was the one failing of living in a castle from a more feudal time. The village had been built on the castle’s doorstep, the better for merchants and tenants alike to run to the stone walls for protection should any of their neighbors turn threatening. Not that anything of the sort had happened, according to what history James knew of the castle and his ancestry.

“I want you to come with me,” she said, amending her previous statement. “I’ve just been informed that Jessica and Mr. Holly are taking in the preparations for the fair, and I’d like to see them for myself.”

“The preparations or Jessica and Mr. Holly?” he quipped, then winced. He didn’t like coupling the two of them together. Not even in conversation with his sister. Misery churned in his stomach. Had Jessica missed her meeting with him to spend time in Mr. Holly’s company?

Jealousy wasn’t a pleasant emotion in the least. The sooner he could rid himself of it, the better. But the only way to do that would be to reassure himself that Mr. Holly hadn’t captured Jessica’s interest. And if he was trying to, and Jessica didn’t wish him to, then James had a responsibility to sabotage the solicitor’s suit just as he had the other men who had visited that summer.

Catherine stared at him as though he’d said something utterly stupid. “Are you going to come with me or not?”

He took in that she already held gloves and reticule in one hand and her bonnet in the other. He could lay claim to his hat and gloves as he left the castle. There was no reason to delay.

“I’m coming, of course. Why would I deny my favorite sister such a small favor?”

“I am your only sister.”

“That is beside the point.”

She took his arm, and in next to no time they were blinking in the summer sun and crossing the courtyard to the gate, which already stood open. In thirty paces, as James had said, they were in Amoret Village. Though it was far busier than he had seen it in years. Servants from the castle, along with the occupants of the village, were walking to and fro, carrying crates and baskets, tools and lumber.

They followed the traffic flowing down Hollybank Lane, turning right at the Market Cross just east of All Saints’ Church. A statue of a boar, dating back to the founding of the village according to local legend, had been decorated so as to make the boar appear to be wearing a waistcoat and straw hat. They crossed the street in front of the Boars’ Head Inn and came at last to the large field where their village held its largest gatherings.

The road along the field was awash with vibrant colors, the sounds of hammers and saws, and the chatter of townsfolk as they prepared for the next day’s festivities. Children darted between stalls, their laughter mixing with the calls of merchants arranging their wares, while women gossiped and compared notes on ribbons and fabric to decorate their booths.

Visiting merchants, arriving in creaking wagons filled with their goods, negotiated spots with the Amoret steward, their voices rising above the clatter of excitement.

At the far end of the field, a large wooden stage was under construction, a hive of carpenters and laborers working diligently to erect it. The stage would be the centerpiece of entertainment, adorned with bright banners and garlands, ready to host musicians, dancers, and the visiting theatrical troupe. Long benches had been set up, facing the stage, with space left for people to bring their stools or simply sit on the grass, too.