The Passionate Love of a Rake (16 page)

“Robert!” Ellen called back across her shoulder, heedless, if she sensed it, of his reluctance to participate in the happy image of reunion. “Robert!” she persisted.

He glanced over and gave Ellen a quelling glower.

She turned and smiled at Jane. “Wait a moment. I will just secure his agreement.” She then walked back with determined strides.

“If he’s in a mood, she’ll snap him out of it,” Edward stated. “She has more patience than I do with him, and the two of them seem to understand each other in a way he and I cannot.”

“But you were always close.” Jane was surprised by this turn, and her eyes followed the scene behind Edward.

Another pang of sorrow and longing pierced Jane’s heart as Ellen took the girl from Robert. He shrugged. Then his lips parted in a broad, sudden smile. He said something. Ellen laughed. She struck his shoulder with the back of her hand and shook her head. Robert then walked away. Ellen turned back.

Jane met Ellen’s gaze as she approached, smiling. Ellen looked as though she had a deep affection for Robert.

Her son was at her side, as tall as she, and the little girl was still balanced on her hip.

“Robert has remembered something urgent to do. He cannot join us for dinner, but he’s quite happy for me to invite who I like. So, you will, of course, come. You have to tell me all about Edward in his childhood and arm me with more ammunition to taunt these brothers with when they are churlish.”

Jane smiled. How could she not like a woman who was so open-hearted? “I would love to. Thank you. I’ll look forward to it.”

But Edward frowned and glanced back at Robert as he walked away. “He has remembered something urgent?” Edward looked at his wife when he turned back. “What? Is he in a mood?”

Edward’s young daughter held out her hands to her papa. “Uncle Robert promised me an ice.”

Edward’s frown deepened as he took his daughter from Ellen. “And then he disappeared? What is up with him, Ellen?”

Jane felt the heat of a blush as Ellen’s son also complained. “And he’d promised to play backgammon with me … ”

“John,” Ellen admonished. “Your uncle is a busy man when he is in town. He will give you a game tomorrow, I am sure.”

“Uncle Robert does not make promises he cannot keep, but he’s broken two.” The boy’s words sounded arrogant, but his voice said he thought something amiss.

Edward looked at Jane. “I cannot understand him—”

Feeling the heat of a blush, Jane interrupted. “I think it is my fault. We have fallen out.”

While the boy eyed her as though she had three heads, Edward’s eyebrows lifted.

Jane felt her blush burn.

“It does not surprise me,” Edward said, obviously seeking to ease her discomfort. Then, ending that conversation, he smiled. “And I am being extremely rude, I have not yet introduced my son and daughter.”

“John, this is the Dowager Duchess of Sutton. Jane, Lord John Harding, the Marquess of Sayle. He is the heir to Ellen’s father, the Duke of Pembroke.”

Jane remembered Robert mentioning John was to be a Duke. She’d not really registered it then.

“Your Grace,” the boy acknowledged, bowing with perfect manners.

“And this is Lady Rimes, Jane’s friend.” Edward said, glowing with pride. He obviously loved his stepson.

“My Lord,” she and Violet acknowledged.

Jane smiled. This family bore no comparison to the Sutton’s. John seemed charming.

“And this,” Edward stated, his hand running over the little girl’s ebony curls, as she was balanced on his arm, “is my imp of a daughter, Mary-Rose.”

A sharp pain pierced Jane’s breast. She’d given up all hope of children when she’d realised any child born to her would be sentenced to Hector’s imprisonment, too. Now, confronted by this familial scene, that scar tore open.

“I want my ice, Papa,” the child said, looking only at her father.

“You are rude, mite,” John said, holding his hands out to his sister. Again the girl changed her host, now clinging to her brother’s neck. “You have not even said hello to Papa’s friends, and you are asking us to leave them. Are you going to be polite and say hello to these ladies? You must call this lady, Your Grace, and her friend, Lady Rimes.”

The girl made a frustrated face, but then wriggled to be let down before slipping from her brother’s grip and performing a perfect curtsy. “Your Grace, Lady Rimes, good day. My name is Mary-Rose.” Instantly it was done, and her bright smile turned back to her papa. “Now may I have an ice?”

Edward shook his head, but Jane could see the smile he struggled to hide. “Not yet, you must wait a while. I wish to speak with my friend Jane. I shall take you to Gunter’s in a little while if you are good, and patient.”

Edward had taunted Jane more than Robert when they’d been children. Robert had been the one who looked out for her, while Edward had always found her presence irritating. He seemed mellowed now.

“Come,” Ellen stated, picking up her daughter.

“You are very pretty, Mary-Rose. I am sure your papa is very proud of you,” Jane said.

“And in debt for one ice,” Ellen added with a laugh.

“She is a poppet,” Violet said, her eyes sparkling.

“She is a
monster
,” Edward answered in an overzealous voice that had the little girl laughing.

“A monster who devours ices,” John enthused, bending to form an impression of a monster, which made the little girl squeal with delight.

They all began walking, and after a few paces, as Violet moved to speak to Ellen and pet the little girl, Edward caught hold of Jane’s elbow gently and held her back.

With the others walking a few paces ahead, Edward asked bluntly, “What did Robert do?”

Jane glanced sideward at Edward, smiling, but feeling guilty. “Nothing. The blame is mine. He misunderstood something, and he would not let me explain.”

Edward sighed. “My children idolise him … ”

“And that is a bad thing?”

Edward threw her a lopsided, awkward, smile. “I am happy that they like Robert. It constantly amazes me just how close Robert is to them, but he is hardly the material of a hero. The children dote on him, and he on them, too, but Robert is no saint and someday the pedestal they have put their uncle on will topple. The man he’s become is not the boy we grew up with, Jane, as you have possibly discovered if the two of you have fallen out. What caused it?”

Jane sought for a believable half-truth. The whole truth was too humiliating to tell. “Robert saw something which caused him to make an incorrect judgement.”

Edward’s eyebrows lifted. “Your fault or his, answer me truthfully? Has he upset you? Because I know more than anyone how good he is at that. He returned from the continent acting as though it was I who was in the wrong.”

She shook her head and met his gaze. “Mine.” She changed the subject. “But why have you two fallen out? You were always in each other’s pockets before.”

Edward grimaced. “We were until he went abroad without any explanation. He sent no word when mother died, and when our father died, he sent me a cursory note, giving me permission to manage in his stead. I was eighteen and tied down by his responsibilities, or perhaps more accurately, his irresponsibilities’. Then, all of a sudden, a couple of years ago, he returned, expecting the world to revolve about him again. I made it plain I would not be at his beck and call. Since then, we’ve got along reasonably well, but our relationship is not what it was. As you can tell by the fact he did not mention to me you were in town.”

Was there something behind the change in Robert? Jane looked ahead and watched Violet walking beside Ellen and leaning to brush back the little girl’s curls. Jane glanced at Edward again. “Why did he go abroad?”

“I still have no idea. He dropped out of Oxford early and went carousing in town. I remember father in a rage, waving about the I-owe-yous Robert had sent home for payment.”

Jane had not known Robert had dropped out of university. An odd feeling of coincidence settled in her stomach.

“Ellen is closer to him than I am. If you are seeking someone to talk sense into him, then it’s her. The two of them have an understanding that escapes me. Fortunately, I know exactly how Ellen feels about me, otherwise, taking into account my brother’s reputation, I would have cause to be a very jealous man.”

“Ellen is wonderful. You’re lucky, Edward, and your family is lovely.”

He laughed and said, “I know.”

This was a man very confident of what he had, and very happy.

She wondered, then, if the problem between him and Robert could be envy. She
envied
Edward.

Their conversation shifted, turning to the past. Smiling, Edward reminded her of when her skirt had caught on his hook when she’d insisted on fishing with them. She had lost her balance, struggling to free it, and fallen in the lake. Robert had pulled her out. She’d been covered in weeds and crying.

“You were a cruel boy,” Ellen uttered.

Jane looked up, holding back her laughter as she realised Ellen, Violet and John had stopped to listen. “In fairness, I think I was a pain.”

“In fairness, you were a downright nuisance. Robert was always rescuing you from one thing or another, like when you climbed up that tree after us then were too afraid to climb down.”

Jane laughed again. Oh yes, she remembered. Robert had always come to her rescue. He’d rarely grumbled about it, but often chastised her for her stupidity.

“Papa!” Mary-Rose held her hands towards her father. “May I have my ice now? I’m hot.”

Edward smiled at Jane, as he accepted his daughter once more. “We shall reminisce some more tonight. But for now, if you will excuse us, ladies, I have a promise to keep. We shall see you this evening, Jane.”

“Yes, this evening at seven, if that is not too early,” Ellen completed.

“I will look forward to it. Till then,” Jane answered.

Edward and his family walked away.

“I’m sorry I did not believe just how thick you really were with Barrington when you said you’d been close,” Violet whispered when they’d gone.

Jane shot her friend a dismissive look. “What does it matter? He’s still angry with me.”

“But not disinterested if he must run.”

“You forget, Violet, I do not want him interested. It is better if he does run. Less complicated, certainly.”

~

Jenkins held the door as Robert entered his townhouse, listening out for voices. He’d returned after midnight, hoping Jane would be gone. There was no sound of conversation.

Robert stripped off his gloves and took off his hat, then passed both to Jenkins.

“Robert, I did not think you would be so late.”

Ellen.

Robert’s fingers rubbed the tense muscle at the back of his neck. “Sorry. Did I miss your guest?”

“I should think so. It is nearly one, Jane left hours ago.” Ellen arched an eyebrow.

It was the look she gave him when she knew he was fabricating. At times, it was intensely irritating how easily the woman could read him.

“I have asked Jane to come to our dinner party on Friday.”

“It was supposed to be a family meal … ”

“Well it seemed to me, from what Edward has said, that Jane is virtually that. But she said you may disapprove.”

Robert narrowed his gaze. If he argued, Ellen would know there was something more to it. If he let Jane come, he need not speak to her.

“She can come,” he answered, then changed the subject. “I am going to have a nightcap. Is Edward still up? ” He began crossing the hall to escape her.

“I’ll have hot chocolate, Jenkins, please,” she called back to the butler, following. “Edward’s retired. I waited up for you.”

The woman was too tenacious when she got hold of something. Ignoring her intense gaze on his back, Robert disappeared into the male sanctuary of his study, but Edward’s beautiful, determined wife invaded it.

Sighing, Robert turned about and folded his arms over his chest as he leaned his bottom against the desk. “Go on, then, Ellen. Pray, have out with it. Tell my why you stayed up. What are you stewing on?”

“I am not stewing,” she declared, crossing to the decanters and upturning a glass. “Which would you like?”

“Brandy,” he said with little patience. He was tired. He’d been tired for days. He’d hardly slept since he’d seen Jane with Sutton.

Ellen brought him the full glass, as if the liquid contained in it could fix all ills. “Edward told me Jane married the Duke of Sutton not long before you left for the continent.” Her voice was all social gossip, and yet her gaze swept his face for any sign of reaction.

Women. Who on earth would want one for a wife?

“Yes.” Was his only answer, in a
so what, Ellen
, voice, as he took the glass from her hand.

“I was merely wondering if there was any connection.”

“If there was, I would not wish to tell you about it,” he answered, sipping the fiery liquid and watching her calculate her next move.

“Why have you fallen out with her?” Again, she watched carefully, undoubtedly looking for some slip in his expression or demeanour.

“That, my dear, is for Jane to tell you, not I.”

“She said it was her fault, a misunderstanding.”

Robert’s eyebrows lifted. If you could call being caught
indelicado
with your stepson a misunderstanding. “Perhaps.”

“So, you agree it was a mistake? I’ll send her an invitation tomorrow.”

He grunted acceptance, but felt manipulated.

Ellen’s hot chocolate arrived.

“I’ll take it upstairs,” she advised the maid before looking back at him. “Goodnight, Robert. Jane is very beautiful, isn’t she?”

At that, he gave her a twisted, mocking smile, silently telling her to stop fishing, then bid her goodnight.

His sister-in-law had clearly taken three pieces of a puzzle and made a jigsaw. Well, she would find herself disappointed if she expected anything of it. Jane was not for him and never would be. He just wished his bloody heart would recognise it and stop hankering after what he could never have. Even now, the loss of her was like a lead weight in his chest. But he could not forget the sight of her in Sutton’s arms. It hurt, even more than it had hurt at nineteen to be told the woman you loved had chosen in your stead a man old enough to be her grandfather.