for herself? It would have been the obvious delaying tactic! She could not believe that it had not occurred to her to invent a secret fiance, or indeed to plead guilty to an affection that was not returned! There was only one problem- the identity of her secret love…
‘Harry Marchnight, for instance,’ Alex was saying, carefully expressionless. ‘I have observed that you are very fond of him, but perhaps your feelings are of a deeper nature than mere affection…’
Dark eyes and hazel met and held. Jane trembled on the edge of committing herself. Henry was a perfect candidate for her unrequited love, handsome, dashing…Yet there was something in Alex’s gaze that compelled her honesty.
‘Oh, I have known Harry for an age,’ she said, as carelessly as she was able, ‘and I love him like a brother! I wish I could claim that you are right, sir, but it is not true and I shall not pretend otherwise.’
She thought she saw Alex relax infinitesimally, but could not imagine why. The silence between them suddenly seemed oddly significant.
‘Let us speak of other matters,’ she said impulsively. ‘Tell me about Hayenham, sir. I have heard that you spend most of your time there.’
Alex’s description of his Yorkshire home took most of the rest of the meal and by the end Jane could almost taste the sea spray and feel the wind in the heather.
‘I can tell that you love it very much,’ she said, a little wistfully. ‘It sounds so very beautiful! Yet I would have thought that a man like you would still need other employment…some sort of gainful activity-’ She broke off and flushed at the look he gave her. ‘I beg your pardon, sir. I was thinking aloud.’
Alex was smiling. ‘So you do not think that my estates provide sufficient interest or occupation, Miss Verey?’
Jane blushed all the more. ‘I did not intend…I suppose that I see you as needing more of a challenge…forgive me,’ she finished hastily. ‘I am tired, I think, and should retire.’
Alex put out a hand to detain her. ‘A moment. This is interesting-an interesting insight. What would you see me doing, Miss Verey?’
Jane made a vague gesture. ‘Well, take Harry Marchnight as an example-’
‘Must we? I am fast becoming tired of his name!’
‘Nonsense! Harry is the perfect example! He gives the impression of being a rake and a gamester and yet he is nothing of the sort!’
Alex’s gaze was suddenly very intent. ‘What do you mean, Miss Verey?’
‘Why, that Harry is forever disappearing on mysterious errands and pretending that he is nothing but a pleasure-seeker, but anyone who knows him must realise he is no dilettante! It is obvious that he must be engaged upon secret government business. Just as you-’
Jane broke off and blushed scarlet. ‘Excuse me, sir. I have said too much. My imagination runs away with me.’
Alex leant forward. ‘What does your imagination see for me, Miss Verey? A self-proclaimed recluse using his somewhat eccentric reputation to cover-what?’
Jane shrugged. ‘I know not, sir. I promised that I would keep quiet about that night at Vauxhall-and about your activities in Spitalfields-and I have kept my word! But I do not have to be a bluestocking to calculate that there is some strange business afoot! Only…’ she frowned, aware that her glass was empty and her mind slightly fuzzy from drink and tiredness ‘…I do believe that you should be careful, sir. It cannot be right that someone is stalking you armed with a knife!’
‘I will take your advice, Miss Verey,’ Alex said gravely. ‘I do take it. And once again I am touched at your concern for me. What does that betoken, I wonder?’
Jane suddenly realised how very tired she did feel. The food, the warmth of the fire and most of all the wine, had filled her with a sudden lassitude. She stood up. It seemed very late. The shadowed room was far too intimate for comfort and Alex was coming far too close to the truth. It was best to retire before she gave away all her secrets.
‘I hope that my mother may stand as chaperon even though she is asleep in bed,’ Jane said doubtfully. ‘I do not think that this is at all respectable, your Grace!’
Alex smiled. ‘Perhaps you are right! Certainly I could argue that you are hopelessly compromised!’
Jane blinked at him a little owlishly. ‘Surely it is your brother who has the rake’s reputation!’
Alex’s gaze was bright with mockery. ‘Perhaps,’ he said again, ‘but you have had the proof that I am not safe, have you not, Miss Verey?’
The room suddenly seemed far too small. Jane edged towards the door. Alex stood up and stretched with a lazy grace. ‘Allow me to escort you to your room…’
Jane started to protest, but to her horror she found that she was so tired she could not be bothered to form the words. She grasped the back of a chair to steady herself.
‘Oh, dear…’
‘It is just a reaction to all the events of the day,’ Alex said practically, and before Jane could object, he had swept her up into his arms. ‘I will take you upstairs.’
‘Oh, no!’ Jane’s eyes opened wide, sobriety suddenly restored. ‘You cannot do that!’
He was laughing openly at her, the mocking tone still very much in evidence. ‘You are quite safe, Miss Verey! I have never had to stoop to seducing young ladies in alehouses…’
‘No, but…’ The effort of argument was almost too much for Jane, whose eyes seemed to be closing of their own volition. ‘If somebody saw us-’
‘Then you would have to marry me. It is a perfectly simple solution.’
Suddenly it all seemed perfectly simple to Jane also. Various pieces seemed to slot together in her mind. ‘Yes,’ she said sleepily, ‘because that is the real reason that I cannot marry your brother, sir…’
She opened her eyes. Alex’s face was very close above her own, his eyes so dark she imagined that she might drown in them. The firelight cast its shadow along the hard line of his jaw, his mouth…
‘Why is that, Miss Verey?’
‘Because it is you that I…’
Jane’s eyes closed. Her head rested against his shoulder. She thought she heard him say, ‘You stopped at the most interesting moment, Miss Verey!’ Then he was holding her even closer and she felt his mouth brush her hair with the lightest of touches. She could not protest, could not even open her eyes. She felt warm and safe and by the time he had carried her up to her room, Jane was fast asleep.
It was very late when Jane awoke the following day. The sounds of the voices upraised in the kitchen floated up to her room mingled with the rumble of wheels on the cobbles of the yard. Jane stretched. She felt warm and content-until she remembered the events of the previous evening. She had been very sleepy…what had she said? She must have fallen asleep in the parlour and Alex…She was in her shift! With growing horror, Jane saw that her clothes were neatly folded over the back of a wooden chair by the window. She closed her eyes in dread. Certainly she could not ask…
‘Miss Verey!’ The landlord’s daughter had knocked briskly at the door and stuck her head inside. ‘Your mother is asking for you and your brother is already arrived! Do you care for some breakfast, madam?’
When Jane reached her mother’s chamber it was to find Lady Verey was up and dressed, partaking of breakfast and in a surprisingly buoyant mood.
‘I am very well, my love,’ she said in answer to Jane’s inquiry, ‘though the arm pains me a little. Of all the foolish accidents! Your brother is come to take me back to Town and the Duke has graciously agreed to drive you-’
Jane flushed bright red. ‘Oh, no, Mama! I am persuaded that it would be better for me to accompany you and Simon to tend to your comfort-’
‘Your mother will be more comfortable with the additional space in the carriage,’ a smooth voice said from the doorway behind her. ‘Lady Verey, your servant, ma’am! I can scarce believe I find you looking so well!’
Lady Verey fluttered becomingly. ‘Oh, your Grace! So unfortunate an accident, but I thank you for all your help…’
‘It was nothing,’ Alex said easily, smiling at her. His gaze travelled to Jane and lingered. ‘Good morning, Miss Verey. I believe you were just evincing a desire to be rid of my company?’
Jane dropped a slight curtsy. She did not choose to be diplomatic that morning. It was so very frustrating to
