Joan Wolf (20 page)

Jessica’s head was in a whirl. She found it hard to comprehend that this was actually Philip’s sister who was sitting here, smiling at her, speaking of welcoming her into the family! “And what was it that caused such a change?” she managed to say at last.

“Two things, actually. The first and the less important was our discovery of who you are. You must realize yourself that Jessica Andover of Winchcombe is a very different matter from Jessica 0’Neill, Irish actress of unknown origin.”

Jessica’s eyes, wide and dark and unreadable, were fixed on Maria’s face. “And the second?” she asked steadily.                             

“The second was Philip.” Maria looked straight back into Jessica’s eyes, her own sober and deadly earnest. “I love my brother,” she said. “I did not realize what losing you would do to him.” For the first time Maria saw a change in the self-contained face of the girl she was addressing. “And it won’t get any better for him,” she added. “Philip is not the kind who forgets.”

Jessica made a small, involuntary gesture with her hand, which was quickly stilled. The pallor of her cheeks had flushed to warm ivory. Maria leaned forward. “He loves you, Jessica. It didn’t matter to him who you were. If you love him in return, I think you owe it to him to marry him.” She paused, then asked quietly, “
Do
you love him?”

There was something in Jessica’s face that caused Maria’s breath to catch. “I love him,” the girl replied simply. “That is precisely why I would not marry him.”

       Maria tried to keep her voice steady.  “Well, it was very noble of you,” she said. “Our intentions were noble as well. In fact, we have all been so busy saving Philip from you that we have neglected a very important point. We have, among us, made the poor boy perfectly miserable. The time has come to put matters right.”

“Can we?” asked Jessica, a faint gleam of hope glimmering deep within her eyes.

“Certainly. Your birth is excellent. Your conduct, once it is seen in the proper light, will be understandable.”

“Will it?” The clear gray eyes were steady on Maria’s face. “Do
you
understand it? Does Philip?”

“Philip’s exact words to me were that you had more courage in your little finger than most men he knew had in their entire bodies.” The gray eyes began to glow a little, and Maria continued, “I find I agree with him, Jessica.” She folded her hands in her lap. “There will be a great deal of talk, of course. But if you are married in the presence of both our families and are introduced to society by my mother, at a ball given by me, there is no one who will refuse to accept you.”

The glow in Jessica’s eyes was more pronounced. “Can that possibly be true?” she breathed.

Maria raised a haughty eyebrow. “Scandals worse than yours have been forgiven. Look at the Stanfords. Two years ago no one could talk of anything else. Today they are entrenched at the top of the ton. It all depends on how you carry it off.”

Jessica looked for a long minute at the imperious, splendid beauty of Lady Maria Selsey. For the first time in this interview she smiled. “I am quite sure you could carry off anything,” she said. “Even me.”

The haughtiness vanished from Maria’s face, and she grinned. “I don’t like to boast, Jessica, but I do wield a great deal of influence. Set your mind at rest. If I say you will be accepted, you will be.” She rose to her feet. “Philip is waiting in the library and I’m sure he has paced a hole in the carpet by now. Shall I go and send him to you?”

Wild roses flew in Jessica’s cheeks. “Please,” she said breathlessly.

Maria left and, after what seemed an eternity, the door opened again and he was there. “Jess?” he said, and with a small cry she ran across the room and into his arms.

Half an hour later Maria returned, knocking discreetly on the door before she entered. Jessica and Linton were seated side by side on the sofa. Jessica’s eyes looked like stars and Linton’s hair was disordered. He grinned at Maria. “You are a pearl among sisters, my dear,” he said, rising and setting a chair for her.

She looked into his face and heaved a little sigh of relief.
It was all right. She smiled mischievously. “I am having a marvelous time,” she declared. “And did you remember to give Jessica mother’s letter?”

“He did,” Jessica replied softly. “It was very kind. She wants us to be married at Staplehurst.”

“I don’t care where we are married so long as it is soon,” said Linton decidedly.

The stars in Jessica’s eyes dimmed. “Philip,” she said in a low, muted voice, “what am I going to tell the boys?”

“I have been thinking about that,” he replied, turning to look down into her anxious face. “I assume they will make their home with us at Staplehurst?”

Jessica bit her lip, “I’m all they have, Philip.”

He nodded, then picked up her hand.  “Jess, what do you want to do about Winchcombe?”

There was silence as she sat thinking, then he felt her hand stiffen in his. “Philip,” she said excitedly, “I’ll give Winchcombe to Geoffrey!”

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Yes. He loves it. It’s part of him. And it will enable him to have a financially secure future. Adrian will be a doctor. He’s wanted nothing else ever since he was a small boy. But for Geoffrey it’s Winchcomb.  Winchcomb and horses.”

“He sounds exactly like my Matthew,” said Maria resignedly. “I suppose that’s why they’re such great friends.”

“Well, that’s settled, then,” Linton said briskly. “You tell the boys that you are going to marry me and move the family to Staplehurst but that we will continue the stud here at Winchcombe. We can plan to spend a part of their holidays here each year and I’ll hire someone to be here at the stables full time, supervising. In fact I have someone in mind. By the time Geoffrey is ready to take over in a few years the place should be established.”

Jessica had been watching him steadily all through this speech, and now she said, a hint of accusation in her voice, “You had all this planned out already.”

A smile glinted in the blue of his eyes. “It does seem the practical solution.”

The corners of her mouth deepened.

“You tell the boys you are going to marry me, my darling,” he said gently. “Tell them about your plans for Winchcombe. Let me tell them the rest.”

Jessica’s throat was dry. “I suppose they have to know?”

“They go to school.  It will be better for them to hear it from me than from the other boys,” he said reasonably.”

“All right,” said Jessica, deeply thankful not to have to tackle that particular task.  It would be bad enough telling Miss Burnley.

They had a celebration dinner at Winchcombe that evening. Whatever Linton had told the boys had left them a trifle awed and respectful of Jessica, a state of affairs that had lasted all of forty-five minutes. By the time they sat down to dinner their usual youthful spirits had been restored.

The security of their young lives had been threatened by financial problems ever since the death of their father. They had also been upset by the prolonged absence of their sister and then by her preoccupation when she finally returned. It felt comfortable sitting at the table with this big, fair-haired man, who looked at them with interest and who was obviously competent to deal with any problems that might arise to plague them in the future.

Geoffrey was happy because he was to have Winchcombe and because he would be living near his greatest friend, whose mother had already invited him on a visit. Adrian, more of a child, was content because his sister looked happy and now he was sure she would not go away again.

Miss Burnley, too, was relieved to know that she would be staying at Winchcombe, although she still had not gotten over the shock of Jessica’s revelation that afternoon. That Jessica should become an actress was bad enough, but the other. . . . Even now Miss Burnley’s mind shied away from the awful truth. Her eyes went once again to the Earl of Linton who, miraculously to Miss Burnley, wanted to marry Jessica, even after...

Linton had been listening to Adrian and, as Miss Burnley watched, his eyes, warm with laughter, turned to Jessica. She was talking to Lady Maria and for a moment Miss Burnley, too, watched that unconscious, serious face.

It had always been a serious face, Miss Burnley reflected. Too serious for so young a girl. But then Jessica had had burdens foreign to most young girls of her age and class. They had been responsibilities she had uncomplainingly taken on her slender shoulders, but if she had not protested, that did not mean they were any the less heavy. She had run Winchcombe for years, watching helplessly as her inheritance was steadily milked of everything that had once made it prosperous. She had virtually reared two small boys by herself. And then, after working like a laborer for over a year, she had faced the prospect of losing everything to a man she distrusted and despised.

Jessica’s head turned, and her eyes met Linton’s. They looked at each other for a minute, then he turned away to answer something Geoffrey had said to him and Jessica went back to her conversation with Lady Maria. Miss Burnley bent her head and stared at her plate.

It had sounded sordid, Jessica’s revelation to Miss Burnley this afternoon. But who was she to judge Jessica, Miss Burnley thought now humbly, as she gazed fixedly at her peas. The very food on her plate, the roof over her head, were there because of Jessica.

She
had never had to make the kind of decision Jessica had. She had always been protected by the very girl whose conduct she had been silently condemning.

She had been shocked at Jessica’s revelation, but she had been almost equally shocked to find that, instead of being punished, Jessica was actually going to benefit from her misdeed. The wages of Jessica’s sin was marriage with one of the richest nobles in the country.

Instead of her peas, Miss Burnley saw once again the too thin face of her former pupil. She remembered the withdrawn, sleepwalker’s expression that face had worn during these past months. If Jessica had sinned she had suffered as well. And if her future looked bright now—well, no one deserved it more. Miss Burnley thought fiercely.

“Burnie!” It was Jessica’s voice, lightly teasing. “Have you gone off into a trance?”

“No, my dear.” Miss Burnley looked at the glowing face on her right. “I have been thinking about you.”

“About me.
Oh.” Jessica’s voice was ever so slightly defensive.

“Yes,” said Miss Burnley clearly. “I have been wondering if Lord Linton realizes how very fortunate he is.”

There was a moment of surprised silence; then Jessica smiled, a radiant, youthful smile. “Thank you, Burnie,” she said.

“Why is Philip fortunate?” asked Adrian, his inquisitive eyes on his sister and governess.

“Because your sister has done me the honor of accepting my offer of marriage,” Linton replied promptly.

“Oh, that,” said Adrian. He helped himself to more peas and then, apparently feeling that more of a response was called for, he added kindly, “It’s true, you know. There’s no one like Jess.”

For the second time during the meal Linton’s eyes found hers. “I know that, Adrian,” he said softly.

“Jess!” said Geoffrey urgently. “If we brought Northern Light to Staplehurst, do you think you could go on working him?”

“No, Geoffrey,” Linton said with great firmness. “We will engage adequate staff to fulfill all your instructions. Your sister is going out of the horse-training business. Permanently.”

“Goodness,” Jessica said to Lady Maria, laughter in her eyes. “Is he always so autocratic?”

“Yes,” Maria said decisively. “He may have a smile that melts stones but in his heart of hearts, Philip is a despot.”

They all looked from Lady Maria to the blue-eyed man sitting at the head of the table. “But I’m very kind to women and children,” he said serenely. He smiled. “May I have some more peas?”

Jessica smiled back. “Certainly you may. Pass Philip the peas, Adrian.”

Adrian hastened to obey, and Geoffrey said, “If you aren’t going to train horses, Jess, what
are
you going to do?”

Jessica tilted her head reflectively. “I am not quite sure, Geoffrey,” she said at last with wide-eyed solemnity. “Perhaps Philip will be able to think of something.”

“I’ll try,” he assured her, his eyes glinting between narrowed lids. “I’m sure I can find something to keep you busy.”

Lady Maria, who felt the conversation was entering dangerous waters, firmly changed the subject, and Jessica obligingly followed her lead. Linton calmly went on eating his peas.

Copyright © 1982 by Joan Wolf

Originally published by Signet (ISBN 0451114590)

Electronically published in 2007 by Belgrave House/Regency Reads

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This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.