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But when he entered his home and inquired of Oaks, he was informed that his wife had gone out. Jasper nodded to the butler and gave him his tricorne before mounting the stairs to the upper story.
Strange. She’d only lived here less than a week, and already her presence was imprinted on the house. She hadn’t redecorated the rooms or replaced all the servants, but she’d made the house hers nevertheless. It was in the little things. The elusive scent of her Neroli perfume in the small sitting room, the fire that was always laid there, the thread of yellow silk he’d found on the carpet the other day. It was almost like living with a ghost. He reached the upper hall and turned toward his rooms but hesitated as he passed her door. His fingers touched the doorknob, and then he was inside her rooms before he could rethink the impulse.
The room was so neat it might not’ve been inhabited at all. The hangings were freshly washed, of course, in preparation for a new viscountess. She had the same tall, dark wood wardrobe his mother had used, a dressing table and chair, and several low chairs by the fireplace. For the first time, it occurred to him that she’d not brought anyeadt broug of her own furniture when she’d come to live here.
He wandered to the wardrobe and opened it, seeing rows and rows of dull-colored dresses. Her bed was neatly made, no lace pillow or sachet to give it her own touch. The bedside table held only a candlestick, no pins or a book she might read late at night. He crossed to the dressing table. A gilt and mother-of-pearl brush lay on the surface. He ran his fingers through the bristles but couldn’t find any hairs. She had a small china dish to hold her hairpins and next to it, a pretty ivory box. Inside was her jewelry—a few pins, a string of pearls, and the garnet earrings he’d given her. He closed the box. There was a single drawer in the dressing table, which he pulled open but found only ribbons and lace and more pins. He shut it gently and looked around the room. She must have something of her own, some possession that had special value to her.
If she did, she kept it well hidden. He crossed to the chest of drawers and pulled out the top, finding linens neatly folded. The scent of oranges rose as he fingered them. The next drawer held the same, and the third as well, but underneath the linens in the bottom drawer he finally found something. He sat on his heels to examine it: an old tin snuffbox, no bigger than the length of his thumb. He turned it over in his palm. Where had she gotten such a thing? Surely her father and brothers, if they took snuff, owned much fancier boxes?
He pulled back the little hinged lid. Inside was a silver button, a tiny china dog, and a pressed violet. He stared at the button, then picked it up. It must be his own—the monogrammed V proclaimed it, but he didn’t remember losing it. He placed it back in the little tin box. He hadn’t a clue what it or the other items signified to her, why she saved them, if they even were important to her or perhaps only placed there on a whim. She was right: he didn’t know her, his wife.
Jasper closed the tin snuffbox and replaced it under the linens in the bottom drawer. Then he stood and looked around the room. He wouldn’t find her here. The only way to learn Melisande would be to study the lady herself.
He nodded to himself, decision made, and left the room.
Chapter Six
Well, this was a terrible thing, but what could Jack do but continue on his way? After walking for another day, he came to a magnificent city. When he entered the gates, people stared and laughed, and a little crowd of boys followed him, jeering at his long nose and curving chin.
Jack threw down his pack, placed tiny hands on hips, and yelled, “D’you think me a figure of fun?”
And then behind him came another laugh, but this one was soft and sweet. When Jack turned, he beheld the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, with rich golden hair and rosy cheeks.
She bent down and said to him, “I think you the funniest little man I’ve ever seen. Will you come and be my fool?”
And that was how Jack becathe„me fool to the daughter of the king. . . .
—from LAUGHING JACK
Melisande was enjoying her usual coddled eggs and buns the next morning at the usual time—half past eight o’clock—when something unusual happened. Her husband entered the breakfast room.
Melisande paused with her cup halfway to her lips and darted a quick glance at the china clock that stood on the side table. She hadn’t mistaken the time. The clock read 8:32.
She took a sip of her chocolate and set the cup precisely back down on the saucer, glad that her hands didn’t tremble at his presence. “Good morning, my lord.”
Lord Vale smiled, those lines beside his mouth deepening in a way she’d always found devastatingly charming. “Good morning, my dearest wife.”
Mouse came out from under her skirts, and for a moment, man and dog eyed each other. Then Mouse wisely conceded the moment and retreated to his lair.
Her husband strolled to the sideboard and frowned. “There isn’t any bacon.”
“I know. I don’t usually eat it.” Melisande beckoned to the footman, standing by the door. “Have Cook prepare some bacon, eggs, a few buttered kidneys, toast, and a fresh pot of tea for Lord Vale. Oh, and make sure that Cook includes some of her good marmalade.”
The footman bowed and left the room.
Vale came to sit opposite her. “I am enchanted. You know what I like to eat in the morning.”
“Of course.” She’d been studying him for years, after all. “That is one of a wife’s responsibilities.”
“Responsibility,” he murmured as he slouched in his chair. His lips twisted a little as if he found the word distasteful. “And is it the responsibility of a husband to know what his wife eats?”
She frowned, but as she’d just put a forkful of egg into her mouth, she couldn’t reply.
He nodded. “I think it must be, so I shall take note. Soft coddled eggs, buttered buns, and hot chocolate. No jam or honey for your buns, I see.”
She swallowed. “No. Unlike you, I don’t much care for jam.”
He slouched farther into the chair, his turquoise eyes lazy. “I admit I have a sweet tooth. Jam and honey and even treacle syrup. Spread it on anything and I just might lick it off.”
