Chapter Two

“You amaze me, do you know that?”

Jane laughed, her eyes meeting Louisa’s in the mirror. The marchioness stood behind her, raking a brush through Jane’s hair. She winced when the brush caught in a snag, but Louisa tenderly worked her way through it with a soft sigh.

“You truly, truly amaze me,’ she murmured again, expertly twisting Jane’s hair into a chignon.

“I’m not sure what you mean, Louisa,” Jane drawled. “Are you referring to the fact that I was caught tending to your flowers again or the fact that I attempted to assist His Grace with his luggage?”

“Both! Heaven only knows what Charles must think of you now.”

“Well, I’m sure I must have left quite the unexpected impression.” For some reason, Jane was more amused by that than horrified. She knew it would not be deemed proper for a lady of her stature to dig around in fresh dirt, and then greet a guest while covered in it, but there were so few things Jane cared about lately. Making a proper impression was the least of them.

“If he is a friend to you and Stephen then I’m sure he is not a stick in the mud, Louis,” Jane stated simply.

“You’re right about that,” Louisa sighed. “Now, let me have a look at you.”

Jane stood and turned to face her friend. She’d discarded the dirty apron and washed her hands and face before sitting down to let Louisa tend to her hair. Normally, she preferred to leave her hair free from curls and tight holds but she decided to indulge Louisa today simply because they had a long-awaited guest.

Louisa gave her an appreciative once-over, then nodded. “You look as darling as ever,” she stated. “No one would have guessed that you’d just gotten done uprooting our plants.”

“I was merely removing weeds,” Jane corrected with a laugh. Louisa rolled her eyes at that, but she smiled all the same. She slid her arm through Jane’s and, together, they made their way out of Louisa’s chambers and down to the drawing room where the duke and the marquess awaited them.

The room was alive with laughter when they arrived. Jane’s eyes instantly went to the duke, feeling that odd tingle that had appeared in her stomach when she first laid eyes on him.

His deep green eyes shone with mirth and he combed his long fingers through his light brown hair in an unconscious action. He was tall. That was the first thing she’d noticed about him, as a lady who was used to standing at the same height as nearly every gentleman she’d come across. He stood at least a head taller than her and had a face that would make ladies grow giddy and lose their minds.

Their eyes met. Jane didn’t look away, continuing to study him as she made her way over to the tea table already laden with sandwiches, cakes, and teas. She sank into the chair across from him and offered a small smile.

“What’s so funny?” she asked curiously, turning her attention to the teapot in front of her. She could still feel the weight of his eyes, however.

“Charles was just telling me about his trip from London,” Stephen explained, still chuckling. “And hell, if it isn’t the most dramatic story I have ever heard.”

“Oh?” Jane took a sip of her steaming black tea. “I would love to hear it.”

“It is not as dramatic as Stephen makes it seem,” the duke stated. “I just do not like carriage rides, that’s all. I also dislike sitting in one place for too long, I fear. I must have really annoyed my coachman because I asked for us to take a break nearly three times on the way here.”

“Perhaps you would have arrived far sooner if you hadn’t,” Louisa added with a giggle. She’d already taken the chair next to her husband, leaning into him. Stephen’s hand instantly covered hers, a simple act that Jane was sure they both did without realizing it. She quite enjoyed seeing them together, one of the few happy married couples in England.

“He is dramatic!” Stephen insisted, laughing loudly. He clearly found this quite hilarious and his laughter was infectious.

“Oh, perhaps not,” Jane said with a giggle. “I quite understand him.”

The Duke of Southampton seemed surprised by that. “Do you, now?”

“I find myself with the same dilemma at times,” she said. “It is why I often walk to Crompton Estate when I am feeling restless.”

“Is that so? And where do you reside, fair lady?”

His charm was overwhelming, the slight dimple in his cheek when he smiled capable of making a weaker lady weak. And the duke was quite aware of it. Jane felt a flutter in her chest at the sight even though she didn’t dare to show that emotion to him. Rather, she gave him her usual look of idle indifference.

“I reside about five or six miles from the estate,” she answered.

The duke’s eyes widened a bit. “And you thought to walk all the way here?”

“It isn’t a long walk if you are enjoying it,” Jane dismissed with a smile. “I quite enjoy stretching my legs. Just like you, I can hardly keep myself still at times.”

“She downplays herself,” Stephen jumped in, leaning back in his chair to recline his hand behind his wife. Jane didn’t miss the way he began to rub his fingers over her shoulder in an idle motion. “She will oftentimes walk back and forth between our estates simply because she finds herself bored.”

“And boredom finds work for idle hands,” Jane finished. “Just look at your flowers, Stephen. They look lovely because of me.”

“We can’t doubt that,” Louisa agreed with a small giggle.

Jane smiled at the laughing couple, even though she was quite aware of the fact that the duke had not taken his eyes off her. There was something about his gaze—perhaps how direct and bold it was—that made her feel more alive than she’d felt in months.

“The earl must be dreadfully bored when you are not around,” Stephen hummed.

Jane simply shook her head. “Father enjoys having me out of the manor. He thinks—and this is entirely his opinion, one in which I do not agree with—that I am a busybody.”

That sent Louisa into a fit of laughter, which she somehow managed to keep as prim as a proper lady should. “Your father has always been rather astute!” she said between giggles.

“Somehow I am inclined to believe that is true,” the duke joined in, a smirk touching his lips.

Jane tilted her head to the side as she regarded him. “I resent that,” she murmured, her voice filled with mirth.

“So says the lady who tends to her neighbors garden without hesitation.”

His quick quip took her by surprise, bringing a broad, genuine grin to her lips. Jane wasn’t used to having someone match her wit with such ease. It was a bit refreshing.

The duke shifted, stretching his long legs as far under the table as he could get it. Still, his gaze did not lift from her, studying her as if she were an enigma he could not figure out.

“Since it has not yet been clarified, Charles,” Stephen spoke up. “Jane is the daughter of the Earl of Borrowton, our neighbor.”

“The Earl of Borrowton?” the duke echoed in surprise. “Then would that mean that you are Lord Gregory’s sister?”

Jane frowned at him. “How do you know my brother?”

“What a small world! Gregory and I are friends, of course. We would often have long nights at our club in London, but he had never mentioned that he had a sister. How is it that I have never seen you?”

She had no intention of answering such a question. The judgment she would face, the scrutiny…she wasn’t in the mood to defend herself against such things. So, she simply shrugged and hummed, “A confounding conundrum.”

“Yes, it truly is,” the duke said. Jane could tell that he was going to press the topic, perhaps even tease her further, but Louisa—bless her heart—was quick to pick up on Jane’s reluctance.

“When will Gregory be coming to visit us, Jane?” she asked, and Jane gave her a brief look of gratitude before the duke could take notice. Though, from the way he kept staring at her, she wondered if anything escaped him.

“I am not sure,” Jane answered honestly. “He is so enamored with his betrothed that he has hardly given anything else any thought.”

“Ah, right, he proposed marriage to the daughter of a viscount, didn’t he?” Stephen cut in. He looked at his wife. “Why don’t we invite the Carroways and Gregory’s betrothed to dinner this evening?”

“A wonderful idea,” Louisa agreed. “I would love to see Fiona again as well. I’m sure she’s grown quite a lot.”

Jane nodded in agreement. She tried not to glance at the duke, whose silence felt deafening. “She’s matured quite nicely. It’s hard to believe that my younger sister will soon be ready to be married.”

“I’m sure it is something she has been looking forward to for some time,” the duke joined in.

“Perhaps not,” Jane countered without thinking.

He raised a brow at her. “What lady doesn’t?”

“You would be quite surprised, Your Grace.”

He looked rather confused by her response but Jane had no plans of expounding for his benefit. He opened his mouth—to question her further, she presumed—and Jane braced herself for it but then Louisa stepped in once more, asking Charles if he would like to see Daisy when she’d woken up from her nap.

The conversation shifted to Stephen and Louisa’s adorable four-year-old child, saving Jane from having to talk about herself for a while. She let the couple engage their friend, sitting back and listening for the most part. She observed the duke—the way he laughed, the way he spoke, his charming wit and quick responses.

There was something about him that drew Jane to him. If she wasn’t so certain that he would try to press her with questions, she would have engaged him again. Very rarely did anyone new come by and Jane was always eager for a change.

The duke, however, felt different. Jane wasn’t sure if that was a good thing yet.

By the time they were finished with tea, Jane had learned next to nothing about him other than the fact that he was quite comfortable in London and very unused to being in the countryside. She had to bite on her tongue to keep from questioning him herself, though her curiosity threatened to consume her.

“Well,” Jane said as she came to a stand, “while I would love to spend the rest of my day here, I must return home before it grows dark.”

“Will you be returning alone?” the duke asked, instantly getting to his feet as well.

Jane nodded. “Yes, that is the plan. Unless you are offering to walk with me?”

“Is that an invitation?” he teased.

“It is a warning,” she shot back with a smile.

“If you’re warning me against your company, my lady, you are failing miserably.”

“Then perhaps you aren’t as smart as I thought you were.”

The duke chuckled, something passing over his face. Jane tilted her head to the side, wondering if she could figure out what he was thinking when he looked at her like that. Before she could make the attempt, however, the duke spoke again.

“I must apologize once more for my mistake earlier,” he said. “Had I known that I was speaking to a lady, I never would have let you carry my luggage like that.”

“Worry not about that,” she dismissed. “It is quite all right. I was rather surprised to see how politely you’d spoken to me considering the fact that you thought me to be a maid. I’d assumed that a London fancy man would be far more dismissive.”

“Dismissive?” he echoed, the constant smile around his lips disappearing for a moment.

“Accept the flattery, Your Grace,” Jane said breezily, stepping away from the table. “I do not give them out easily.”

He said nothing to that and she didn’t stay around long enough to wonder why. She gave him a polite curtsy, said her farewells to Stephen and Louisa, and then left the drawing room.

She made her way out of the manor, through the driveway, and all the way home thinking about the duke and that smirk of his.