Page 71 of A Stormy Season

Jane was glad when it was time to go in to dinner, and that she had been paired with Luke.

During dinner Henry joined them, and he and Penelope engaged their guests enough that Jane and Luke were occasionally able to converse while no one else was listening.

“I hope you didn’t mind my visiting you at the shop yesterday,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to disturb you when you are working.”

“I don’t mind at all. I was not disturbed.”

“I was concerned after I saw you had been out in the rain the day before.”

“Yes, you saw me in quite a state. I looked a fright.”

“I did not see a fright. I saw a young woman who had been caught in the cold rain and might suffer ill effects from it.”

“I suffered no ill effects.”

“I am very glad.”

He looked so warmly at her that her heart started to race and her gaze was inadvertently drawn to his lips, thoughts of their kiss once again at the front of her mind.

“Are you always so kind?” She felt slightly bewildered, an unfamiliar feeling.

“Not always. But I do try to be, whenever possible. I have my share of negative thoughts and feelings, I daresay. But I wish to be kind to those who are kind to me—to my fiancée, for example.”

He smiled and she smiled back. But it did not feel as if they were playing a part. At this moment, it felt as if they truly were engaged.

“When I compare how you have been the last few days,” she said softly, slowly, knowing she was treading on ground that would crumble if she was not careful, “with how things were in Hertfordshire . . .”

“I was not very kind then, was I? I said some things that were contentious, but I never imagined then that you—”

“What are you speaking of over there?” Lady Hampstead said quite loudly. “We ladies are making our way to the drawing room now and leaving the men to their port and cigars.”

Everyone was standing up, so Jane and Luke stood as well. But her stomach was twisting. He never imagined that she what? What was he about to say?

She held Luke’s gaze a moment. He was giving her quite an intense look. Would he finish what he was saying when they were together again? Surely not tonight. She sighed and followed the other ladies into the drawing room.

~ ~ ~

Luke’s heart seemed to burn inside him while Jane played at the piano and he was able to watch her without guarding his expression, as the others were also watching and listening to her play. She often said she was not an accomplished player, but he probably would not have known if she made mistakes, and he thought she played beautifully. He was certainly glad to have an unobstructed view of her face. How serious she looked while she concentrated, an expression he didn’t often see on her face, but she was no less beautiful.

He could no longer deny that he was falling in love with Jane Gilchrist.

For the longest time, he’d refused to believe that marrying Anne was a mistake. But when she’d practically admitted she was unfaithful to him, when “well-meaning” souls were telling him of her unscrupulous behavior while she was in London, the unsavory element with whom she was spending her time, he was forced to admit that he’d made a mistake. It had torn his heart in two. He’d actually carried a physical pain around in his chest for months, a pain that was made worse when he heard of her violent death.

He’d rather face a dozen giants in battle armor than make that mistake again.

When it was time to go home, Lord Hampstead and his talkative wife kept lingering, talking on and on. Finally, Luke felt so torn between staying and trying to say good-bye to Jane privately and his nervousness over what to say to her that he left abruptly.

Jane was probably used to his abrupt departures by now.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jane sent word to Catherine that she would not be coming into the shop and went instead to Luke Watley’s townhouse.

When she reached his door, she found her breathing was actually a bit shallow. She stopped and forced herself to take a deep breath and let it out slowly before knocking on the door.

Luke greeted her with, “I thought we would start looking downstairs, in the sitting room, unless you have an idea of somewhere else you would like to look.”

“I was thinking we might look inside your clock. Do you happen to have a large clock?”