Page 49 of A Gifted Earl

Chapter Sixteen

Two days had passed, since that moment in the parlour where Morgan had been convinced that Lord Jasper had done something dreadful, despite Lady Venetia denying it. There was something in her tone when she did, in her eyes, which told him that what she wanted to say was different, but that something constrained her to lie.

He had watched, but seen nothing untoward, apart, perhaps, from the fact that Lord Jasper appeared prone to watching Lady Venetia, especially when she was not aware of him. That made Morgan feel uncomfortable, but was not, of itself, bad behaviour. He’d had quite a sufficiency of time to observe, for the weather had been unmitigatedly dreary and they had not been out to ride again, or even for a walk about the garden. Which circumstances had prevented him from having any opportunity to speak privately to Lady Venetia.

Everyone was becoming a little irritable now, he thought, from being trapped in the house together.

Morgan was on his way through the foyer, intending to check with the Housekeeper to ensure that all was still well with food and the like, and with the preparations for the grand Christmas dinner which was to be held on the last night of the house party, when a very wet footman came in with the mail he had just collected from the village.

“A letter for you my Lord. The rest are the suppliers bills for the Housekeeper to deal with.”

Morgan took the letter from the footman, and quickly glanced at the seal. His man of business – that was a surprise, for he had not expected further information yet. He went to his study, to ensure that he was not interrupted when reading the missive – for what it contained was, to him at least, very important. He broke the seal, and unfolded the papers, studying their contents in detail. It was, he thought, even better than he had hoped for.

His man of business assured him that copies of each document were also held in his office, so that there was a second record of the matters, for safety. Morgan smiled at that, for it showed that his man of business had dealt with those of nefarious mind all too often. He folded the documents again, and tucked them into the hidden inner pocket of his coat – these he wanted on his person at all times, at least for the next few days.

Days in which he suspected he might need to act, to prevent wrongdoing, although he had no proof of that yet.

If he could achieve what he intended, perhaps this Christmas might be far better than expected, and not only for him.

*****

“I do hope that this rain stops! We have so little time left here, only until Christmas Eve morning, before we must leave for Brightwood Chase again, and the rain does so limit your opportunities for such things as walking out with gentlemen. And of course, if the rain continues, then our road home will almost certainly be axle deep in mud. Have any of the gentlemen shown interest in you, Venetia – any at all?”

Venetia sighed, shaking her head.

“None. Unless you count the way that Jasper looks at me.”

Lady Hardenwell gave a rather brittle edged laugh.

“No, I most definitely do not count that! I wish so much that he was not here, that you might have had this chance without his interference. Heaven knows what he whispers to the other men.”

“I can imagine. I suspect that he will be taking malicious pleasure in poisoning them against me.”

Suspect… It was more than that, she knew, after what had happened in the stables… but she wasn’t going to tell her mother about that, wasn’t going to say anything to anyone, lest it get back to Jasper, and he carry out his threat.

The last few days had been rather agonising, for Venetia had spent every waking moment trying her best to be aware of everyone, and everything, when all she really wanted to do was be aware of Lord Templewick, to have the chance to speak privately with him again, as they had at the ruins up on the hilltop. But that was impossible while it rained, and they were all trapped in the house.

And Jasper was always just there, watching her, his eyes full of a strange kind of greed, which made her skin crawl. She was, in a particular way, exhausted, and not sleeping well as a result.

Her mother shook her head.

“Your father was such a good man – I truly do not understand how his brother, and Jasper, can be such horrible people. But let us not dwell on things we can’t change – we should go down to the parlour, perhaps seek out some refreshments, and find someone to talk to.”

Venetia rose, and smoothed her skirts.

“If there are no interesting conversations, I think that I will take myself into the library, and find a book to read. I cannot imagine that I am likely to meet Jasper there – he has, from what I know, never been one for reading.”

Lady Hardenwell laughed.

“You are correct in that.”

They went down, and after partaking of the light refreshments which were laid out on a table at one end of the parlour, sought the company of Lady Merringbar and a number of the other young ladies’ mothers. Lady Hardenwell immediately became involved in their conversation, and Venetia turned to Amelia, who looked rather as if she was suffering a bad case of ennui.

“Are you interested in this conversation? Because, forgive me for saying so, you look rather uninspired – which I understand, as I must say that I do not care much at all for the details of embroidery stitches…”

Amelia laughed softly.

“I would far rather be out riding, or be doing anything except embroider, or talk about embroidery.”