Then the doorway into the hall stood empty. Jane? She had been announced, so surely she had come with the others?
Two strides took him out into the hall, pulling the door shut behind him. A maid had taken her cloak but Jane had stopped to talk to Miss Purkiss, his grandmother’s companion, who had been told her presence was not necessary at the tea party and had been heading for the sanctuary of her own room when the Darcys had arrived.
“Jane.”
She spun round, colour flaming into her cheeks, remembering that the last time she had seen him, they had kissed with a passion that was outside her understanding. “Mr Maitland.”
“Archer, please. l think we are long past the polite niceties of society.”
“I am so sorry to have kept Miss Jane talking. I do hope I have not delayed tea. Lady Goddard will not be pleased.” Miss Purkiss pulled worriedly at her necklace and then squeaked in horror as the thread broke, sending beads scattering across the hall floor.
“Oh dear, oh dear! No, no, dear Mr Archer, Miss Jane, please do not bother yourselves to pick them up…only a silly old necklace…no value…no value at all…one of the maids will help…oh, please, Lady Goddard will be wishing your attendance immediately…she will blame me for delaying you …”
Ignoring her, Archer scooped up a few beads and pressed them into her hands, remembering with a jolt how he had thought moments before about the pain of having to be continually grateful. Thanking him profusely, she turned and hurried up the stairs, still apologising as she went.
Jane was on her knees, groping for an errant bead that had rolled under a marble table. She gasped as Archer’s handfastened on her arm and he drew her to her feet. To her surprise she found he was smiling, his eyes full of humour.
“Jane, Jane, Jane. It must be your influence. No one else I know can cause such chaos in my life so easily!”
She felt her lips twitch in a smile against her will. “I assure you, Sir, it is not intentional.”
She realised his fingers were still grasping her bare skin—she felt they were burning, that she would bear the mark for ever. But she couldn’t pull away. He was standing so close, the humour was dying from his gaze and she felt her head swim at the passion and love she read in his eyes. She longed to return it, but knew she had to hide how she felt. He must never know. Never!
“Jane—listen—I want to explain—you must realise that—I must know if you—”
The front door was flung open and Andrew strode in, bringing a gust of chill air and a scutter of dried autumn leaves.
“Archer! Miss Jane! I am damnably late. My most abject apologies. Is everyone in the drawing room? Celeste, too, I hope.” He flung his riding cape at a footman who had appeared from the back of the house. “Come, I must make my apologies to Lady Goddard and all the Darcy ladies.”
He led the way into the drawing room, just as Lady Goddard was ringing the bell for tea to be brought in. She accepted Andrew’s apologies for his late arrival, nodded briefly in acknowledgement of Jane’s curtsey, and gave Archer a long, considering stare.
“Andrew, I am sure Signorina Celeste would be delighted to see my collection of little miniatures in the cabinet. Pray show them to her. Archer, come and sit next to Miss Darcy. She wishes to hear all about what is planned for the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament. A competition, it is rumoured. Seems like a waste of time, but then it will be a mammoth undertaking. Suchcarelessness in allowing such destruction. I do hope someone will be severely punished.”
Anne held out her hand, smiling as Archer took the chair next to hers on the far side of the room. Jane was only too aware of Lady Goddard’s keen appraisal of her face as she found room on the sofa next to Bennetta. She had seen her expression harden as she and Archer had come into the room.
“You look quite flushed, Miss Jane,” the old lady said. “I hope you do not have a cold coming. Is this daughter of a delicate disposition, Mrs Darcy?”
Elizabeth took a cup a footman offered her and waved aside the plate of little cakes. She frowned slightly: it was extremely impolite for a lady—even one with great age on her side—to ask such a personal question of a guest, especially with the object of her question sitting within hearing distance.
“She was perhaps not quite as robust as her sisters, Ma’am, when young, but she suffers no more from ill health than any other young lady of my acquaintance.”
“Mama! How can you say such a thing. Jane is always the first to take cold and she suffers from bad headaches very often. I feel for her, indeed I do.” Anne sounded as sincere as any sister should be.
“It is good of you, Lady Goddard, to be concerned for my health. I assure you, I am quite well. I was, perhaps, prone to childhood complaints more than my brothers and sisters,” Jane broke in quietly, “but coming up to my twentieth birthday, I am no longer a child.”
Archer gripped the handle of his teacup so hard he feared it would snap. He quite well understood the undercurrent of his grandmother’s question to Mrs Darcy. She was determined to point out that he needed a wife who was strong and Anne with her high colour and brilliant gold hair looked every inch the sort of woman who would shine at his side.
He glanced across the room to where Jane sat. Their eyes met and he felt the room tilt. She loved him! He could not be wrong. Every time she looked at him, he knew in his heart that his feelings were reciprocated.
He found himself smiling. Strength came in various ways—the girl on the cliff top, admonishing the ruffians at the Green Man, travelling alone across London to help a pregnant maid—this was a quiet strength that Anne did not have.
“And do you have many beau, Miss Jane?”
“No, Ma’am, I do not.”
Anne caught the question, turned from Archer and laughed. “Why Jane, there is no need to be so shy. We are all friends here. My sister has indeed a very faithful follower, Lady Goddard. A handsome gentleman from Cheshire. His name is Digby Frobisher.”
Lady Goddard’s stern features relaxed slightly. “And do you, Mrs Darcy, approve of this liaison? In my day, a young girl would never strike up a relationship without her mother’s approval.”
