Page 107 of The Seduction of an English Scoundrel

“We shall all travel the road back to respectability together,” Esther said heartily.

And Jane had to smile. It was good to have the comfort of friends when one had almost ruined one’s life.

She was relieved to find her family back in residence at their Grosvenor Square home when she and her entourage of protectors arrived in London. Her father embraced her in a crushing hug, his face pinched with emotion. She had not expected this, had not realized how she had missed her parents. Their heartfelt anxiety forced her to forgive them for the trick they had played on her.

In fact, forgiveness seemed to be in order all the way around. They forgave her. She forgave them. They were even polite to Nigel and Esther, acting like true aristocrats, as if the sabotaged wedding had never happened.

“Well, then,” Lord Belshire said as he served brandy and biscuits to his guests, “all we lack is Sedgecroft for our little reunion. Where is your fiancé, Jane?”

Jane paused, a petit four halfway to her mouth. “We aren’t officially engaged yet, Papa.”

Her father looked as if he might faint. He glanced helplessly at his wife, who had managed to decode this mystery from what Simon had told her. “There is to be a period of courtship, Howard.”

He turned a ghastly shade of gray. “Why? I mean, the contract is signed. They courted. Yes, they did. In this very town, in this house. I saw them with my own eyes. I—” The cool smile on his wife’s face told him to expect no help from that quarter. “I thought it was a courtship,” he finished lamely. “Was I wrong?”

Athena’s mouth tightened in warning. She had been so guilt-ridden, so worried about her daring eldest daughter during Jane’s stay in Brighton that she was determined to mend the breach. Even if it meant naysaying Howard for the first time in their relatively peaceful marriage. “It wasn’t a proper courtship, Howard.”

“Proper?” He blinked, once, twice, like an owl exposed to a burst of bright light. “As if anything in this household has been proper of late. Pregnant governesses. Sabotaged weddings. Conspiracies in every corner.”

Nigel looked down at his plate. Jane nibbled her petit four with a pensive expression. Caroline and Miranda sat on the sofa like a pair of statues with their heads bend over a scrapbook. Esther took a third pastry.

“A courtship,” Athena said, drawing a breath, “will put an end to the gossip once and for all.”

“Only if it ends in a marriage,” Howard said, staring at his wife in frozen horror as another possibility struck him. “This is all going to end in a marriage between them, isn’t it? Jane isn’t going to change her mind again?”

“Honestly, dear,” his wife said with an impatient shake of her head, “one simply cannot answer that question without spoiling all the romance.”

It was a question that had clearly been answered to the satisfaction of Jane’s two younger sisters. By candlelight in Caroline’s bedchamber the pair poured over fashion plates and menus in preparation for the grand event.

“We’ll have to start completely from scratch,” Caroline said, stretched out across the bed. “Jane cannot wear the same gown.”

“Should we invite Nigel?” Miranda asked.

“Yes, but we will have to reserve an entire pew for the Chasteberry. The woman must be carrying triplets.”

“Do you think Grayson will invite his past mistresses this time?”

Caroline’s eyes glimmered with mischief. “I think he at least ought to ask Jane first, although they do bring a certain flavor with them.”

“I’ll say.”

Caroline rolled onto her back, sending lists and sketches fluttering to the floor. “Can we get that French chef from Gunter’s again?”

“We’ll want new dresses, too,” Miranda murmured.

“I wonder if Drake and Devon will show up this time,” Caroline said absently.

“I should think so. They seem to be a close family.”

“A scandalous one.”

“And passionate.”

“So are we.”

Miranda perked up. “What? Passionate or scandalous?”

“I think the potential is there for both.”