Chapter 23

CHAPTER23

Jane had never felt more proud to be holding someone’s hand. And she knew deep down that the feeling was mutual. It seemed that they were the center of everyone’s attention that Saturday at the ball. Everyone wanted to greet them, to congratulate them, to tell them how wonderful they looked together. The perfect couple.

Jane listened to the compliments, her heart increasing in size after each subsequent one was expressed. She allowed Leo to lead most of the conversations. As for her, she was content just being there by his side. She needed nothing else. She did not need the affirmations of others, but they felt nice. Most importantly, she felt that they were coming from a good place.

After they had some refreshments, he noticed that she was glancing around as if in search of someone.

“Am I not enough for you?” He came close to her and whispered those words into her ear.

“Sorry?” She turned to him, not really certain what he had just told her.

“You seem to be looking for someone,” he pointed out with a smile on his face, teasing her, “so I was asking if I wasn’t enough for you.”

“Oh,” she chuckled, her hand grabbing his upper arm to reassure him that no such thing could ever be possible. “I was simply glancing through the crowd to see if my parents are here.”

“Are they?” he asked, looking around himself although she was certain that he had little desire to see her father. She didn’t care to see him either, but she wished to see her mother and exchange a few words with her.

“I do not believe so,” Jane shook her head. “I am surprised. Mother likes to attend balls.”

He frowned. Obviously, he wished to say something, but he changed his mind at the last minute.

“What is it?” she urged. “Tell me.”

She did not want there to be any secrets between them. They were finally in a place where they could truly be who they were without any fear of being misunderstood. That meant that they never needed to bite their tongue or fear that their words might be misconstrued—not when there was love and understanding. Such a thing could not happen then.

“You know how I feel about your father,” he admitted. “It seems to me that your mother has little say regarding what goes on in that household.”

She knew that her father was a touchy subject with Leo. That was why they very rarely discussed him. They had not seen her family for a while, and Jane had to admit that she missed her mother’s comforting presence. She was still upset with her father—less so than before, but there was still the fact that he never apologized for making her go through with this marriage. Fortunately, it all ended well, but she believed that she was still owed an apology. And knowing that her father would never apologize… she did not know how to approach this. Perhaps time would help her find means of rectifying this situation somehow.

“Yes,” Jane nodded, looking down at her feet. “You are right. I wish she could understand that she doesn’t need to accept such behavior from him.”

“She has to learn that lesson on her own,” he reminded her. “You cannot help someone who does not wish to be helped.”

“I know that,” she said with a sigh. “It just saddens me so to know that she is alone with him, and he… well, he is the way he is.”

She remembered her own bruise. She was certain that her father did not mean to cause it. He didn’t mean to grab her so forcefully. Then, she remembered all the tears her mother had shed, trying to conceal them. Jane believed those lies as a child, but as an adult she finally learned the truth. She wanted to help her mother, but she did not know how. She needed to make her father see that violence was never the answer, especially not enforcing it onto those who were too weak to defend themselves. That did not make him a man. In fact, it made him less so.

Leo took her by the hand and kissed it softly. “I love your heart. Do you know that?”

She smiled at him. “Somehow, you always manage to make me forget about everything else, other than you and me.”

“Because that is the only thing that matters,” he told her. “You and me. No one else.”

At that moment, she noticed Seth approaching them. He was waving with that usual cheerful grin on his face. She waved back. When she looked at Leo, she thought she noticed a look of annoyance on his face, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. It was probably nothing, she told herself.

Seth came over, greeting them both cordially as usual. He was breathing heavily as if he had been running.

“Finding my way to your through the crowd was no easy task, let me tell you,” Seth whined with a heavy sigh. Then, he looked about. “I say, quite a lot of fetching young ladies are here tonight. Some of them I do not even know. That is promising.” He turned to Leo and Jane again with that mischievous look on his face.

Jane had already come to accept the way Seth was. She did not particularly like his opinion on women, but he was Leo’s best friend. Their relationship went back for years, and the last thing she wanted was to end it simply because of one disagreement with him. Also, he never showed any disrespect towards her. He treated her as if she were one of the gentlemen when it came to discussing things. Seth seemed to value her opinion. He asked for it and acknowledged it every time. She appreciated this and saw it as effort to change. Such great changes of character never happened overnight.

“And you look particularly ravishing tonight, my dear,” Seth complimented Jane, looking at her from top to bottom—although there was nothing lewd or odd about it. At least, she did not feel that way.

“Thank you,” she smiled.

“You put all the other ladies here to shame,” he continued.

“Oh, I do not know about that,” Jane waved her hand dismissively at him. She did not like to be overly complimented. She always doubted whether such compliments were sincere. However, since they were coming from Seth, she did not doubt them this time.

“Nonsense!” Seth assured her. “Leo here knows exactly what I am talking about. Don’t you, Leo?” With those words, he slapped his friend on the back so hard that Leo coughed once as a result which made all three of them laugh. “Sorry about that, old boy. Sometimes, I do not know my own strength!” Once again, the trio chuckled.

Seth looked around, inhaling deeply. “Now, where are those refreshments?”

“Right there in the corner,” Leo pointed out. “I could go fetch some for us.”

“I shall join you,” Jane said, but the moment she started to take just the first step in that direction, she felt a sudden onslaught of dizziness. The whole room started to spin about, and she grabbed at Seth for balance as he was the nearest to her. He immediately understood what was happening and held her by the elbow. She could see a look of concern in his eyes.

“Are you all right, darling?” Leo jumped in possessively, taking hold of his wife, and Seth stepped back respectfully.

“Yes,” Jane managed to muster, pressing her hand to her forehead. She did not feel hot to herself. She couldn’t be ill. It was simply a sudden attack of lightheadedness, nothing else.

However, it would not subside. The room kept spinning about, and the presence of all these people seemed claustrophobic. They were all too close to her. She felt as if there wasn’t enough air in the ballroom, and she needed to get out. She looked around her, searching for an exit to the terrace.

“I think I need to go out for some fresh air,” she told Leo, gripping at his upper arm.

At that moment, they noticed the host waving at them, at Leo in particular, urging him to come over. Jane knew that it was rude to refuse such an obvious invitation.

“Go,” she smiled at Leo. “I shall be waiting for you out on the terrace.”

“No,” Leo shook his head. “I could not leave you alone.”

“She won’t be alone, old boy,” Seth jumped in. “I shall keep her company. You can go talk to old Willoughby then bring Lady Jane some water when you come to the terrace. She might be dehydrated, and it is damned hot in here.” He frowned, looking about as if he were angry that the hosts were not considering the wellbeing of their more tender guests.

Jane saw this as yet another instance where Seth was revealing his more tender side which was slowly but surely surfacing. She smiled. If he managed to change the way he perceived women, they would like him more, and he would have no trouble finding a lovely bride very soon. That was, after all, what every gentleman was after, was it not?

Leo looked at her, concern etched on his face. “Are you certain, darling?”

“Of course,” Jane nodded. “It is rude to refuse a host’s invitation. Go. We shall be fine.”

Leo glanced at Seth. “I shall be there momentarily.”

Jane could not understand the tone of jealousy in her husband’s voice. This was his best friend, after all. A part of her even liked it. His jealousy meant that he was afraid of losing her as much as she was afraid of losing him. But that would never happen. Now that they found each other, they would always have each other as well. Nothing would tear them apart.

“We shall be waiting for you, old boy,” Seth assured him.

Leo seemed to hesitate for a moment longer then turned around and disappeared in the crowd. Seth immediately offered Jane his arm.

“Shall we?” he asked gently with a smile that assured her she would be safe with him.

“Yes, thank you,” she nodded, leaning onto him for balance as they slowly found their way through the crowd and out onto the terrace.