Chapter 4 #2
For the first time, Jenny noticed the tear in the sleeve of his navy blue greatcoat. “You should go inside and have it looked at,” she said urgently.
“I will. It’s nothing,” he said.
One of the little ones had succumbed to the cold and excitement and had begun to cry, Penelope was shivering, and belatedly, Jenny reclaimed her senses. “We’d best go in and warm up. We might be able to persuade the cook to bring us hot chocolate and biscuits.”
The little one immediately stopped crying, and Jenny turned back to face Brat, only to find that he was gone, heading into the house ahead of them without another word. She watched him go, the lean, panther-like grace of him, and for one brief moment of self-indulgence, she sighed,
“Are you all right, Jenny?” Horry asked anxiously.
“Fine, dear. Just a little wet and cold.” And she heard the group inside, determinedly putting Brat out of her mind.
“Damned appalling,” Benedick, Viscount Rohan said at the dinner table that night. “Any closer, and Brat might have been killed, and yet no one will admit to the misfire.”
“Language, dear,” said his wife.
“Yes, it would have ruined Christmas,” Brat drawled.
He’d joined them for dinner that night, but he’d barely glanced at Jenny, something she counted as fortunate.
He was far too distracting, and the last thing she needed to be thinking about.
He was as far from her as his uncles, and she needed to maintain her equilibrium around him, something that was a lot easier to do when he was ignoring her.
And he wasn’t ignoring her, she reminded herself, any more than the other people were.
He just wasn’t focusing that dark attention on her, which was a great relief.
He didn’t appear to be hurt—he wore no bandage on his arm, though he did appear to favor it slightly.
She was watching him too closely, and if she wasn’t careful, someone would notice.
She turned her head to continue her conversation with Emma Rohan.
But not before she caught a glimpse of Brat’s dark eyes, looking into hers for a brief moment before turning away.
The effect was like a glass of whiskey, warming her insides, and she silently cursed.
Josiah and she used to share a glass of whiskey on a cold night, but she hadn’t touched it since his death three years ago. The warming sensation was the same.
“You’re taking the twins ice skating tomorrow, James?” Miranda asked from her seat at the foot of the table.
“I am.”
“I trust you’ll look after them carefully. We wouldn’t want another accident. Miss Lancaster will be with you, of course. Tell me, Miss Lancaster, do you skate?”
“Never in my life,” she replied, hoping that might give her a reprieve from the outing.
“Don’t worry—James is an excellent teacher. He taught the twins a few years ago, and they’re quite adept.”
“There’s no need for me to put on skates,” Jenny said hastily. “In fact, won’t I simply be in the way of the skating lesson?”
“Not at all.” Brat’s low voice made her heart skip.
“I know the girls would want you.” There was nothing else from him, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he wanted her to come too.
Another risk to her sangfroid, but at least her heart wasn’t involved.
This was a game he was playing, one he’d already lost interest in, and she should count her blessings.
It was the only thing he said to her the entire evening, and there were no more covert gazes, which was a profound relief, she told herself.
She would watch the girls skate and simply refuse to try it herself.
While she possessed a reasonable amount of grace, she wasn’t particularly adept at sports-like pursuits, and she could easily see herself flat on her rump on the hard ice.
It would amuse the twins, but annoy their cousin, and she would be much better off watching from the side.
Indeed, the next day it almost seemed as if he’d forgotten his promise.
The girls wandered the halls disconsolately, but Brat was nowhere to be seen, and Jenny was beginning to wonder if he was going to renege on his promise.
Their disappointment would be Jenny’s relief, and she silently hoped he’d forgotten and gone off elsewhere.
But her hopes were in vain. At precisely one o’clock, Brat appeared in the salon, homing in on the girls. “You don’t look dressed for skating,” he said, eyeing their frilly dresses critically. “You’ll need something a great deal warmer.”
The twins leapt up in excitement. “We thought you’d forgotten about us,” Horry said plaintively.
“Never. That goes for you too, Mrs. Lancaster. You’d freeze to death in the silk.”
Jenny froze. No one else seemed to notice that he’d addressed her by her married name, but there was almost a teasing note in his voice that was unsettling.
“I rather think I’ll miss this occasion and let you concentrate on the girls,” she said with seeming ease. “I’ve never been terribly good at outdoor sports.”
“I rather think you’ll come with us,” he shot back. “The girls are counting on you, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yes!” Penelope said. “You must come!”
“It will be boring without you,” Horry added.
“I beg your pardon?” Brat said, feigning offense.
“Tell her she must come, Brat.”
“I already did. I’m certain Mrs. Lancaster will do her duty.” There was a trace of mockery in his deep voice, and she wanted to kick him. The laughing man from yesterday had disappeared again, leaving the devious cynic in his place. Unfortunately, both men fascinated her.
“I always do my duty,” she said stiffly. “We’ll be ready in half an hour, if that’s agreeable to you.”
“Completely, Prepare to fall down.”
“I’m not skating.”
“Oh, but you must,” Penelope said. “We won’t go without you.” And with those simple words, Jenny’s fate was sealed.