Jane gritted her teeth but did not bother to dignify her with an angry retort. Instead, she made her way to Cressida’s room. Until she had said it to Lady Waterburry, she had not realized how true it was.
I am never going back to the Jane I was.
Jane smiled to herself, wondering what Blake might think of her revelation. As she strode down the corridor, she heard familiar voices—Blake speaking to Lord Glastonbury.
She was about to move past the door—after all, she needed to help Cressida prepare for the wedding ceremony—when she heard a snippet of conversation that pulled her up short.
“Now I will get to be the best man at your wedding.” Richard’s laughter was muffled by the closed door.
Jane’s heart twisted, only to come crashing down as she heard Blake’s reply. “There will be no wedding.”
There will be no wedding.
Jane heard Richard’s voice as though from a great distance. “What do you mean there will be no wedding?”
The rest of Richard’s words were drowned out by the hammering of Jane’s heart. She felt sick. Lady Waterburry’s words echoed in her head. A moment’s madness.Surely, she could not have been right.
“Exactly that. There will be no wedding. I cannot marry her. I will not marry Jane…” His words were like daggers to her heart.
Jane stumbled backward and fled. Her breaths came hard and fast. Tears streamed down her face.
“How could I have been such a fool?” she murmured as she stopped a few doors down from Cressida’s room. “God, I should have known.”
She was shaking. She clutched at her side, feeling as though she was about to be violently sick. The entire corridor seemed to be spinning.
I will not marry Jane.
“How could he do this to me? Why would he do this?” Jane whispered, wiping tears from her cheeks.
Blake the Rake.The monicker echoed in her head. She felt as though all the air had been knocked out of her lungs. She gasped.
“Jane? Jane? Oh my God, Jane, are you all right?” Emily dashed to her side, wrapping one arm around her waist. “What has happened?”
Jane shook her head and clenched her teeth. “It does not matter.”
“Jane?” Cressida called from her room.
“Just a moment!” Jane called back as she hissed at Emily. “Cressida cannot see me like this. I will not ruin her wedding. day with my foolishness.”
“But what has happened?”
“Nothing. Nothing. I… I have been a fool. That is all. I just need a moment to collect myself.” Jane stood with Emily’s help and took a shaky breath. “I will be fine, do not worry.”
“But…”
“There is no but. This is Cressida’s day, and she needs us.” Jane took a steadying breath and gave her sister’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “Let us go to her.”
Her voice sounded a long way off to her, but at least it seemed steady. She forced herself to smile as she walked into Cressida’s room.
Cressida stood before her, looking radiant in her fine yellow silk gown. It was cut in an elegant French style. She wore a beautiful pearl necklace and fine white gloves. When she saw Jane, her eyes widened in alarm.
“Jane? Are you crying?” Cressida moved towards her.
Jane waved her away. “They are tears of joy, dear Cressida. You look simply wonderful.”
“As do you!” Cressida beamed at her, taking her hands gently in her own. “Those alterations are simply divine.”
Jane smiled weakly at her friend, feeling as though her heart had been replaced by lead. “Thank you.”
