AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘You do not understand.’
‘Oh, I do. Believe me, I do.’ She stood up. ‘Go and help Bessie with your packing and then we will have an early supper and go to bed. We have an early start in the morning.’
Lady Cartrose returned as Jane was staring out on to the terrace, her mind in a whirl. ‘I have had a trunk sent to Isabel’s room,’ she said. ‘Bessie is packing, but Isabel is sitting on her bed weeping.’
‘She does not want to go home.’
‘I know, but I do not flatter myself it is because she wants to stay with me.’
‘You know?’
‘I am deaf, Jane, but I am not blind. It has been obvious to anyone with eyes to see what was happening.’
‘It is very worrying, especially for Mark.’
‘He seems to be bearing up very well.’ She paused. ‘I do not think you should force her to go ahead with the marriage, Jane. It would be a disaster.’
‘It is not up to me, Aunt. I am hoping when we are home again and our parents take a hand in the matter, Issie will come to see that her tendre for Mr Ashton is mere infatuation, a fleeting thing she can put behind her.’
‘I wonder you can advocate that, Jane, considering your own feelings.’
Jane was startled. ‘My own feelings do not come into it, Aunt Emmeline.’
‘Then they should. You are making a martyr of yourself by ignoring them.’
Jane did not answer. She had spent more time than usual with Mark of late, which had done nothing but strengthen her feelings for him. Had it become that obvious?
* * *
Mark was busy giving orders about preparing the carriage, packing and shutting the house when Drew found him.
‘How did it go with the lawyers this morning?’ he asked.
‘Very well. The trust has been set up and the jewels will be auctioned.’ He paused. ‘After our business was concluded, I left Jane in the carriage to go back inside. I wanted to rescue her pearls from the auction. Her father gave her those for her twenty-first birthday and she ought not to have sacrificed them. I bought them back.’ He smiled at the memory of that peck on the cheek. ‘While I was away, Bolsover turned up and he and Jane had an altercation about the rumours, which had her in tears. Even Jane is persuaded it is more than Teddy’s debts with him.’
‘Yes, it is. It cost me the forfeit of a thousand pounds and a top-of-the-trees stallion in winnings, but according to our friend Toby Moore, it is a long-standing grievance, something to do with the fact that his forebears once owned Greystone Manor and were cheated out of it by an ancestor of Sir Edward. He has vowed to get his revenge and establish himself once again as Lord of the Manor of Hadlea. He has not only bought up all Teddy’s debts, but is doing the same with Sir Edward’s. He is almost ready to make his move.’
‘It is worse than I thought.’
‘I wonder if Sir Edward knows what is happening.’
‘I do not think so. I am sure neither Jane nor Isabel know the story or I am sure Jane would have told me. It is going to cause the most dreadful scandal if it gets out...’
‘Which it cannot fail to do.’
‘Poor Jane, I do not know how her orphan home will survive it.’
‘And there is your wedding.’
‘Yes. We must endeavour to resolve the situation before then. I am wealthy, but I do not think I can rise to such a vast sum without endangering my own estate. We must think of something else.’
‘If it is money you want, then you shall have it, but it is my opinion Bolsover will refuse it. He is prodigious wealthy and is determined on having the Manor.’
‘How did he come by his wealth? He seems not to have a large estate.’
‘Gambling for the most part, though whether he cheats is a matter for conjecture—no one has ever caught him at it.’
‘Perhaps, if we could prove that...’
‘By “we”, were you including me?’
‘Only if you want to be included.’
‘I am off on my travels again, Mark. There is nothing for me in this country after all. I came to bid you goodbye.’
‘Is it because of Jane?’
‘Jane?’
‘Yes. It was Jane who drove you away last time, wasn’t it?’
‘Did she tell you that?’
‘No, I guessed. Did you come back to try again?’
‘I wasn’t sure, but I was intent on letting Sir Edward know I had made good and that he had made a wrong decision in refusing his permission for us to marry.’
