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“I am.” She paused briefly. “I came today to check on your health, of course, but also to invite you to a boxing match. My father has tickets, and he would like you to go with him.”
Wayne arched an eyebrow. “Boxing?”
“Yes. My father enjoys the sport.”
“Will you be coming with us?”
She laughed louder. “Of course not. I have never liked watching two men punch each other until their faces are bloody.” She shivered. “But it would please me if you would go with my father.”
Wayne hoped his headache was gone by then because he needed any excuse to be with the earl more. “When is the boxing match?”
“Tonight.”
He nodded. “I shall go.”
She squealed with delight and hugged his arm. Wayne cringed from the loud noise. Neither did he like the closeness with Jane. “So, tell me how the ball went last night. Did you enjoy yourself with your friends?”
“Oh, yes. It was a pleasant evening, even though you weren’t there to share it with me. However...” She frowned. “My friend, Reggie, will not relent about her disagreement over our engagement. As many times as I told her to stop, she would not listen. But later in the evening, she didn’t feel well, so she returned home.” She giggled. “At least I think she went home. One of my other friends thought they saw her climbing in a coach with a man.” She flipped her hand. “But I don’t believe Reggie would do something so irresponsible.”
The pound in his head increased. Why was this sounding so familiar to him? “I’m sorry your friend is so strait-laced and doesn’t understand that people get engaged within a month of knowing each other. Some people become engaged sooner, in fact.”
“I know Reggie means well. She has always protected me, but she doesn’t know when to stop. I don’t mind her caring so much about my welfare. At least I know she loves me.”
“So, in truth, did she cause a scandal last night?”
“I don’t know.” Jane shrugged. “But I feel she did not. Why would she be so judgmental about me falling in love with a man I have barely met and then turn around and do the same thing – but worse?”
Something about this topic was churning his stomach. Suddenly, a woman’s scent filled his head. The woman he had been with last night smelled like a rose garden. Jane had never smelled that way.
“Oh, my dearest man.” Jane frowned and touched his cheek. “You have gone pale.”
“I’m... not feeling well. My stomach is churning.”
“Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Yes.” Wayne pulled away from her and stood. “Would you inform the cook to make me a drink that helps with being intoxicated? I need to return to my room and lie down.”
“Of course.” She jumped to her feet. “You will need to feel well by tonight.”
“Indeed.” He walked out of the parlor without telling Jane goodbye. But he needed to hurry to his room before he emptied his stomach on the floor.
He yanked off his suit coat, waist coat, and cravat as he entered his room and fell upon the bed. Inhaling deeply, he tried to calm his stomach. Yet, his turbulent memory wouldn’t ease.
The woman he’d been with, kissing so passionately, had long wavy hair. And wasn’t it the color of a maple tree in autumn? Her skin was so soft, which was why he couldn’t stop kissing her throat. While they kissed, she had touched his chest and ran her fingers through his hair, pleasing him immensely. So, why couldn’t he remember more?
Her lips had been responsive, and yet, she wasn’t experienced like most women he’d kissed. She enjoyed being taught, he could tell.
He chuckled lightly. Hopefully, he would remember who the woman was because he would find her once this case was over. Being with a passionate woman like that would prove to be exciting. He wanted that kind of woman in his life.
The conversation he’d had with Jane popped back into his head. Something he recalled her saying made him freeze. Panic closed in around him. She had mentioned that one of her friends thought she saw Reggie going with a man to his coach. The woman Wayne had been with had dark blonde hair. Miss Regina Taylor also had hair that length and color.
When he first met Miss Taylor, he admired her pretty attributes. Her deep brown hair was so long that her ringlets hung past her shoulders. Her slender body held nice curves, but it was her curious silver-blue eyes that had grabbed his attention. He thought they were a pretty color, even if she didn’t hide the dislike for him in her glare.
His stomach lurched, and he had never jumped off his bed so fast in his life. Moments later, he had emptied what little he had in his stomach into the chamber pot. Sitting on the floor, he leaned against the wall, wondering if he would keep anymore down.
Had it really been Miss Taylor he’d kissed so passionately inside the coach last night? But, if it was her, then he must have been parked outside of Jane’s uncle’s estate. And if that were true, why hadn’t Harold Meyers noticed and told his daughter?
Wayne wasn’t certain how he would discover if the woman in his coach had been Miss Taylor or not. Did he go up to her and ask her outright? And if it had been her, how could he convince the woman that he wasn’t going to break the engagement? There was no way he would let Miss Taylor know about his undercover assignment. He didn’t want the woman blabbing anything to her friend about him.
