“You are utterly incorrigible.” Jane shook her head, but it seemed more like she was trying to clear it.
“I try.”
“You do more than try—you succeed.”
“It is rather nice to be a success in some things.”
“Are you admitting to your failure in others?”
The question caught him off guard, and for a moment, his footsteps faltered. “A rather personal question, do you not think, Miss Pembleton?”
“Is it?” Jane canted her head.
“What if I were to ask you the same question?” Blake asked.
“If I am a success?”
“Yes.”
“I suppose that depends on your definition. I would like to hope that if I am not, I might one day become one.” Jane shrugged, color spreading across her cheeks.
“And what would success look like to you?” he asked curiously.
“I do not know. What would it look like to you?” she asked him back.
He thought for a moment. “A life lived for myself.”
“That sounds like a very lonely life.” Jane sounded sad.
“Perhaps loneliness suits me.” Blake meant it to sound nonchalant, but it sounded bitter.
“I find that hard to believe. After all, you do so love to be the center of attention,” Jane teased him.
“And there is the Miss Pembleton I know.” Blake laughed softly.
To his surprise, Jane laughed with him. “Did you think she had gone somewhere?”
“No, I was just enjoying a different timbre to our conversation,” Blake replied easily.
Jane raised an eyebrow at him. “I thought you enjoyed things being unpredictable.”
“I did not thinkyoudid,” Blake pointed out.
“Perhaps you do not know me as well as you think you do.”
“Perhaps I do not. But does it matter?”
“No, I suppose it does not.” They lapsed into silence as Jane chewed on her bottom lip, apparently deep in thought. “What will you do when the wedding is over?”
“Why? Will you miss our littletêtes-à-tête? Has Miss Minton and Glassbury’s plan worked—have we struck up an acquaintance?” Blake said the last part in a hushed tone, as though it were a thing of deep scandal.
“Are you incapable of taking anything seriously?” Jane scowled at him.
“Where is the fun in that? After all, you seem to do that enough for the both of us,” Blake pointed out.
“However will you cope when we are apart?” Jane sighed theatrically and rolled her eyes.
“I have managed thus far without you, I am sure I will find a way to soldier on.” Blake shrugged.
