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She smiled at him. “I’m glad that you’re here.”
“Me too, old bean, me too,” he agreed. “Now, tell me all that you know about these crimes.”
* * *
It was a bright, sunny morning. Jasper rode Pilot over to Kirby Hall, where Lord Windermere and Selina met him out front. They were carrying poles and the other gear, and Selina held a basket with some refreshments in it.
Jasper left Pilot with one of the grooms, and then they all walked in a group, toward the other side of the lake, where they would not be overheard.
“How is Lord Sandbourne holding up?” Selina asked.
“About as well as can be expected,” Jasper replied. “He’s been wrongly accused, and if you can keep a secret—Sandbourne Hall was robbed, while he was in custody.”
Her hand went to her lips. “No.”
“Yes. His staff was tied up, downstairs, then his safe robbed and his clockwork swan smashed.”
“Oh, dear,” she said, going pale. “It’s all my fault.”
“No. Not at all, Selina,” he assured her. “You came to a logical conclusion. If anything, it’s my fault for letting them take him into custody.”
They arrived at a good spot, all the way on the opposite bank from Kirby Hall. The gentlemen both prepared their rods, casting off. Selina meandered a short way away, picking a bouquet of wildflowers.
Jasper settled in. He knew that Lord Windermere wanted to question him thoroughly, so he waited for the other gentleman to proceed.
“She’s told me everything,” Lord Windermere said in a low voice.
“Everything?”
“Well, all that’s relevant,” he said with a chuckle. “Although, I have to ask, Your Grace—why haven’t you ended the engagement with Lady Leah? If you’ve been sure, why are you still going forward with that?”
“Don’t think that my intentions with regard to your sister aren’t honorable,” Jasper began, his eyes on the lake.
“That’s the thing—it does, in fact, lead me to question,” Lord Windermere explained. “If you’re keeping Lady Leah in suspense, then you could easily do the same to my sister.”
“I can see where you’re coming from,” Jasper admitted. “I love your sister. I would never do that to her.” He glanced over at Selina, whose back was to them. She knelt down to pick another flower, adding it to her handful of buttercups.
“I believe you,” Lord Windermere said. “I want to believe you. I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt since you seem to have your hands full.”
“I’m going to do everything in my power to stop the wedding,” he said.
“I can see it in your eyes that you desire her,” Lord Windermere said. “Do you love her?”
“Yes,” he said, with no hesitation.
“Let me take her to Staunton, then,” Windermere urged. “Until things blow over.”
Jasper panicked, at the idea of Selina being away from him, for any amount of time.
“Perhaps you can both reunite in London, during the Season,” Lord Windermere said.
“The Season? Next winter?”Absolutely not.He planned to marry Selina as soon as possible. By late August, at the very latest. He couldn’t imagine being away from her formonths.
“If Selina asks it of him, my father will extend an invitation to Staunton. He’s like putty in her hands.”
Jasper turned to Lord Windermere. Their eyes met. Windermere looked sad for him.
“This is for the best,” he insisted. Jasper felt a flash of anger. He was used to others bending to his will. Lord Windermere seemed to be cut from a similar cloth.
