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“In the original script, she did,” Jo explained.
“Please, would you sit with us?” Lady Vane finally spoke. Her face was serene, but Jo didn’t know what lurked beyond those enigmatic blue eyes.
Jo licked her dry lips. She didn’t want to sit through the awkward conversation if Lady Vane was displeased with her. So she decided to be proactive. “Actually, I was hoping I could speak with you,” she said. “In private.”
“Oh, of course!” Lady Vane stood eagerly. “Please, make certain Milly doesn’t tire the dog out too much,” she flung over her shoulder.
Jo looked at the giant dog barking and prancing around. Her first worry wouldn’t be about tiring him out, that’s for certain.
“Come,” Lady Vane beckoned her. “We can talk in my husband’s study. It’s not far, and nobody shall disturb us.”
They made their way in silence, only occasionally greeting the other guests who crossed their path. They entered the study, but instead of sitting behind her husband’s desk, as Jo assumed she would, Lady Vane sat in the chair by the hearth, offering for Jo to take another one across from her.
“Would you like some tea? Chocolate?”
“No, thank you.” Jo was too nervous to drink anything, anyway.
“Very well. What did you want to talk about? Are all the actors comfortable on the premises? Do you need anything else?”
“Oh.” Jo smiled. “Everything is perfect. Everyone is very grateful. We’ve never had such generous accommodations before.”
“Truly?” Lady Vane raised her brow. “I find it odd.”
Jo’s smile turned gentle. “We are hired help. That’s how we are treated most of the time. Not like the guests.”
Lady Vane scrunched up her nose. “Well, that’s unfortunate. You deserve a lot more. But if you’re not here to talk about that, what did you want to speak to me about?”
Jo stifled a grimace. “About last night… I wanted to apologize that you had to witness—”
Lady Vane interrupted her with the only reaction Jo did not anticipate.
She laughed.
She quickly covered her mouth with her hand but her eyes were still brimming with laughter. Jo watched wide-eyed as Lady Vane continued laughing, then fanned herself as she tried to calm down.
“I am so sorry,” she finally said as she wiped at her tears. “I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just… It was truly an embarrassing situation for both of us. Perhaps me more than you… Actually, more for Richard.” She grimaced in distaste. “I didn’t wish to see my brother doing… that.” She shuddered.
And that was the first time Jo even contemplated how Lady Vane truly felt about the entire situation. She was worried about her reputation and how Lady Vane might judge her, but what she’d said made the entire ordeal even more terrifying and oddly comical. Richard was her brother!
“Oh my God!” Jo covered her mouth with her hand and burst into laughter, too. “I am sorry. That must have been unpleasant, to say the least. Oh, Lord!” She fanned herself, suddenly wishing she had a cup of tea to drown her embarrassment.
Lady Vane waved a hand. “You have nothing to apologize for. Passion sometimes catches us in unexpected places. But it is a gentleman’s duty not to subject the object of his passion to others’ scrutiny. So if anyone’s, it is Richard’s fault. It was rather careless of him.” She smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles on her gown.
A gentleman’s duty was not to subject his object of passion to others’ scrutiny?
Jo suddenly remembered the passionate interlude she’d witnessed in the garden, where Lady Vane’s husband was rather careless with displaying his object of passion to anyone to see in all her naked glory. Jo pursed her lips and forced herself not to say anything.
“I just wanted you to know that I don’t always… I am not the one who”—she expelled a deep breath—“it is not in my nature to seek out liaisons during house parties. I am usually very professional. I do the job, I entertain the guests, and I keep the entertainment to a strictly clothed variety.”
Lady Vane watched her curiously. “I find it rather unfair that if I’d walked into Richard with an unmarried young lady of an aristocratic background, he’d be forced to marry her.”
“I am lucky I am not of an aristocratic background,” Jo said with a smile.
“How can you say that?” Lady Vane sounded appalled. “Don’t you want to get married?”
Jo chuckled. “Not everything is about marriage, my lady. Some things are about passion.”
Lady Vane frowned. “But don’t youwantto get married?”
