Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“We’re all set, Your Grace.”
Jane breathed a sigh of relief and nodded at the housekeeper, accepting the basket the older woman gave to her.
“And everything is in place? The foods they prefer? The blanket?” Jane enquired, just to be certain.
Mrs Greene, who, to her credit, had been rather patient with the duchess since she had begun to prepare for this, nodded sagely.
“All of it has been set according to your requests, Yor Grace. Certain liberties were taken to include things you would like as well, since we noticed that you had not given any instructions pertaining to yourself. Otherwise, every thing else is ready,” the older woman assured.
Touched by the act of thoughtfulness, Jane smiled kindly, “Thank you, that is very kind. I am sorry, I know it has not been easy to go along with my whims.”
The housekeeper waved a hand in the air dismissively.
“Your Grace, we can all see what you are trying to do here. You are working very hard to provide not just the duke, but the young lord as well, with happier lives than they have led in the last few years. Your kind heart is more than we have earned, but we are grateful for your selflessness. Immensely so,” Mrs Greene said.
Jane was not so sure that she deserved the praise she was receiving. After all, her plans and attempts had fallen short consistently. What good was trying at all if there were no results to show for it?
She stood straighter with her chin up, determined to move forward, no matter what.
“I’ll keep trying. We haven’t... achieved the results we desire, not yet. But I will continue to do everything in my power to help both the duke and his son.”
Mrs Greene nodded with a gentle smile. “I trust that you will.”
The housekeeper went on her way and Jane took a moment to encourage herself to proceed with her plans.
Firstly, she handed the basket to her maid before she went to Reuben’s room. He was seated by the window sill, his gaze fixed on the pages holding whatever story entranced him for the day.
She knocked softly at the door, smiling sweetly at him once he spotted her and excitedly ran to where she stood.
“My darling, good afternoon,” she said softly, lowering herself to look him in the eye as she adjusted his collar gently. “I would like us to spend the afternoon together. What do you say?”
Reuben nodded fiercely, making her chuckle as she pushed away the curls of hair that had fallen into his eyes at the action.
“I will take your enthusiasm to mean that you willing to grace me with your presence. Wonderful. We shall leave shortly, after we invite your father. You do not mind if he does, do you?”
Reuben paused thoughtfully, then he shook his head, which made Jane pat his head fondly.
“What a lovely child you are. Let us fetch him at once.”
It had been two days since she had seen the duke at breakfast and it seemed as though whatever discontent he had felt during that time had continued to linger. Jane only hoped that his mood was not still so sour that he would be unwilling to join them as well.
The butler was leaving Thomas’ study as they arrived and he bowed before continuing on his way, giving Jane a second more to gather her wits. She peered down at Reuben, allowing his expectantly adorable face to motivate her into knocking at the duke’s door.
“Enter.”
Once she heard the prompt, she turned the knob, trying not to give herself more reasons to linger, stepping into the study. Thomas did not look up from his desk, his hands still scribbling furiously across a document. When she didn’t say anything, he demanded, his gaze still lowered.
“What?”
Jane cleared her throat and he looked up, surprise briefly crossing his features.
“Duchess. What can I do for you?” he asked, leaning back against his chair.
He noticed Reuben clinging to her skirts and one of his eyebrows was raised.
“I see you have brought company with you. What is this about?”
Jane stepped closer to his desk, trying not to busy her hands to hide the steady increase of her nerves.
“Good afternoon... Thomas. I – we have come to invite you to join us on a day out,” she said cautiously.
Thomas tilted his head to the side slightly.
“Out? Doing what?”
“Well... I thought that perhaps it would be nice for all of us to spend sometime away from the estate, as a family. I have noticed that Lord Wetherby does not go anywhere that is not his room or another room within the estate. Children are like plants – in the sense that they need nutrients, a good environment to grow and lots of warm sunlight. He barely gets to indulge in the joys of being a child because is constantly within these walls.”
“All right,” Thomas nodded, his expression still portraying confusion. “Do you need me to wish him farewell or... you both seem ready to be on your merry way. Reuben especially – that is a charming hat he has on.”
Jane had requested for a hat to help him keep the sun out of his eyes and Reuben had insisted on putting it on as soon as he had gotten his hands on it. He really looked so precious, blinking beneath the brim.
“It really is,” Jane nodded. “But we cannot leave because we are missing a member of our party.”
Thomas stared at her and Jane sighed tiredly, then she gestured at him.
“Me? Why? I am certain you both do not need me present – given what happened during our last family gathering.”
“That is precisely why we would like you to join us. I realized that I made the mistake of putting you in an uncomfortable position last time. But this is going to be better, and more relaxing for you.”
“Jane –”
She stepped even closer to his desk.
“Please. I am not only doing it for him. You are always in here, working. You deserve to have a day to relax and if you happen to grow closer to your son, then that is an additionally positive outcome. Join us.”
Thomas hesitated, gesturing at the top of his desk. “I can’t. I have too much work to do and –”
“Surely it can wait. Please?”
He sighed deeply, then rose to his feet. “Fine. All right. I will join you to... what are we doing?”
Jane grinned proudly and lifted her chin. “We are going to have a picnic.”
It was clear the duchess had put a lot of thought into this.
A blanket had been spread underneath the shade of a large tree by the lake, decorated with small pillows. Once they arrived, she collected the basket he had taken from her when they began their walk and started to arrange numerous baked goods and refreshments, clearly prepared by the chef.
“Oh! Peach tarts! How wonderful!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement.
Thomas couldn’t help but watch her, transfixed by the radiant glow that surrounded her as she offered a cookie to Reuben – who was intent on sticking as closely to her as possible.
“What do you think, Your Grace?”
The formal address made his eye twitch in mild annoyance, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be upset for too long when she looked at him so expectantly.
“It all looks good, duchess. And the weather is quite nice, as well,” Thomas nodded, accepting the glass of lemonade she offered him.
“I was quite thrilled to find out that we had a lake so close to the estate. It makes for a great location to... get away from it all,” she sighed, shoulders relaxing as she watched Reuben stare at a few birds, clearly in awe.
“Are you... does being in the estate feel smothering?” he inquired, genuinely curious.
“No,” Jane shook her head quickly. “That was not what I meant. It is not the estate – not our home in particular. I just... do not like to be indoors for too long. I do not necessarily like to be outside – not among people, floating from one social function to the next. I like this; the quiet in the air, the gentle breeze, and the lovely view. It is a nice change of pace.”
Thomas could not help but agree with her. Although he had lived on this property practically the entirety of his life, he had never thought to spend anytime by the lake.
It seemed as though Reuben was enthralled with their location, however.
He eagerly stared at everything that went by, continuously shifting his gaze each time something new caught his attention.
Still, he remained close, his small hands wrapped around one of Jane’s arms as he continued to look around.
Thomas felt... guilty. Without realizing it, he had kept his son confined to the estate, and because everyone had been accustomed to him being indoors, they never suggested otherwise. It made him wonder how many more offenses he had committed against the boy, how much more he had disappointed him.
Jane noticed Reuben’s wide, fascinated eyes and giggle.
“Would you like to explore a little? If you promise not go too close to the water, you can take a walk and look around,” she suggested, gesturing around them.
Reuben shook his head, then tugged at Jane’s arm.
“Oh, you want me to come along? Well, all right. I will accompany you,” she agreed easily, rising up.
She looked down at Thomas who was starting to feel a little too comfortable against the pillows, feeling his strong sense of responsibility grow muted with each moment that passed.
“Will you be all right by yourself, Your Grace? We will only be gone for a little bit, I think.”
Thomas waved a hand nonchalantly. “Take your time. I will remain here, indulging in the overexaggerated spread you had curated for this activity.”
To emphasize his point, he picked up a miniature sandwich and took a bite.
“Enjoy your adventure, Jane. Safe travels, Reuben.”
To his surprise, the boy waved at him, before dragging Jane off in the direction of where he had spotted some birds clawing at the dirt. A surprised chuckle bubbled out of his throat and he leaned further back, unwilling to take his eyes off of them.