Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“You will be fine. It is not going to be as bad as you imagine. Perhaps a tad boring, but ultimately, it will not pose any sort of threat to you.”
Thomas shifted his gaze from the carriage he had been looking out of, his brows furrowed in confusion as he faced Jane.
“I have no idea what you speak of,” he told her blankly, before he returned to his current fixation – staring out of the widow.
Jane pointed looked down at his feet, noting that he had continued to tap his foot repeatedly to a rhythm only he knew against the floor of the carriage. She couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps she should have tried to reassure him before they had left the house.
It was finally the night of Penelope’s ball and as Thomas had promised, he had gotten ready to accompany Jane for the night.
They had said good night to Reuben before they set off and Jane had been charmed by the chivalry and attentiveness Thomas had shown her as he helped her into the carriage, mindful of her dress and cloak.
But as they settled down against the plush seats, she noticed that he seemed very nervous, despite the cold nonchalant expression he wore.
Mrs Greene had told her she was worried for the duke, as he had not been to any event in a long time, and it was gradually becoming clear to Jane that he was having a difficult time trying to reconcile the thought of himself attending one.
Yet, despite her attempts to discuss it with him, he refused to admit it. The false bravado was somewhat adorable and it left Jane feeling rather amused.
When they arrived at Penelope and Cecil’s estate, they disembarked and Thomas offered her his elbow, which she accepted with a smile, trailing after him graceful as he led them into the estate, after a group of people also making their entrance.
When they reached the ballroom, the master of ceremony had received their names and titles from the steward that had taken it at the door – along with Jane’s cloak – and he seemed surprised by the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
“The duke and duchess of Ravencroft!”
It seemed as though a majority of the other guests had stopped in shock. Jane ignored them as they walked further into the ballroom, already looking for her friends. She expected Thomas to do the same, but he seemed discontent with having her attached to his arm.
Subtly, he pulled back slightly and wrapped the arm she had been holding, with a hand braced on her waist, keeping her as close as possible. His touch caused fire to spread through Jane, momentarily distracting her from the stares and whispers that they attracted.
The reprieve did not last very long and soon, she could not seem to overlook the blatantly disrespectful things people were saying.
“– utterly horrid. How could he confidently leave his home, looking like that?”
“I am surprised to find that he is still alive. I thought he had at least left London years ago.”
“Oh, that poor wife of his. She seems unaware that she has been chained to a beast. How pitiful.”
“I wonder if she’ll be able to escape from the monster before she takes leave of her senses too.”
They were saying such cruel things, loudly enough that anyone a mere few feet away could hear it and they did not care at all if the people they were talking about heard them.
It disgusted Jane immensely, how they did not view her husband as a person, did not care much for his feelings or perception of them, clearly so willing to speak their mind and thoughts freely.
She wanted to speak up, wanted to scream at them and cover Thomas’ ears so he would no longer have to let himself be poisoned by such vile words.
However, when she looked up at him, he did not even seem to have heard a single thing, his gaze kept forward as he guided her through the crowd.
Jane did not know if she should feel pleased or sad.
“Jane!”
She perked up at the sound of her name, spotting her friends a few feet away, pulling her husband along as she went towards them.
“Nora!” she cried, slipping out of her husband’s grasp to wrap her arms around her friend.
Nora Millington, duchess of Ironwell giggled as they embraced, clearly just as excited to see Jane.
“How are you, my dear? You look well! I heard about your wedding – I am sorry to have missed it,” Nora pouted, looking slightly upset.
“It is quite all right. It was a simple affair, so you did not miss much. You look so radiant!” Jane gasped, noticing her friend seemed rather cautious of her midsection, angling that side of her body away from Jane. “Are you –”
“I am!” Nora clapped her hands eagerly, beaming with happiness and prides. “It has been a few months now. I am nervous and sometimes scared, but I am thankful to have my husband with me, through every step of the way.”
Jane smiled at her friend fondly, trying not to pointedly stare at her belly as she rubbed Nora’s shoulders.
“I am immensely happy for you. You will make an excellent mother, Nora.”
“She will,” Nora’s husband, Godric Millington, duke of Ironwell stated with a nod as she approached them, followed by Penelope and Cecil. “Of that I am certain.”
Jane curtsied politely in greeting, lifting her head up just as Godric addressed her with a fond smile.
“Duchess. It is good to see you. Congratulations.”
Jane reached blindly behind her, where she knew Thomas was waiting for her, smiling when he immediately clasped her hand, before using his sure grip to pull him closer.
“Thank you, Your Grace. This is my husband, Thomas Wetherby, duke of Ravencroft,” she beamed, resting her head against his upper arm.
“Thomas, dear, these are my friends. Nora and Godric Millington, duchess and duke of Ironwell, and Penelope and Cecil Wightman, duchess and duke of Westerdale – our hosts.”
Thomas bowed to them slightly, raising his head as he said,
“It is a pleasure to meet you all. My wife has spoken highly of you all, and it is quite refreshing to finally put faces to the names I have heard several times before.”
“Has she really? Spoken highly of us – I mean,” Cecil inquired with a narrowed gaze. “I am quite surprised she did not attempt to get you to fight on her side. You see, we are in the middle of a civil war – over who is more deserving of my wife’s affections –”
“There is no such thing!” Jane balked, confused.
“That’s because you know you will lose,” Cecil pointed out.
Jane scoffed in outrage and folded her arms.
“That is not true. I have known Penelope longer than you have. She would never cast me aside for you.”
Cecil made a face and leaned closer to whisper to Thomas conspiratorially.
“I blame my sister for her abilities to argue her way through any conversation. Nora was blessed with the ability to argue her way out of the most devious circumstances.”
Nora rolled her eyes. “I am not naming my first three children after you. It is not just greedy, it is ridiculous.”
“Perhaps the problem here is that you are thinking far too small, sister. I am of the utmost faith that it would work greatly,” Cecil nodded, clearly revering his own genius.
Jane glanced at Thomas, smiling at the amused expression on his face as he watched Nora and Cecil bicker and argue and it made her heart warm to see that he had accepted her friends already.
“Anyway –” Cecil said casually, as though he had not nearly given Nora a heart attack and also nearly acquired Godric’s wrath in the process, “It has been a pleasure to meet you. If you ever need someone to take your side during any arguments this young woman might conjure up, feel free to contact me. I shall run to your defence, straight away.”
Thomas shook his head slowly with a small grin.
“That will not be necessary. Jane is happier when she wins and I like ensuring that she is happy,” he stated easily.
His words were said so candidly, Jane felt her heart shake within her chest, surprised by what Thomas had just said. It clearly caught Cecil off guard as well, because he stared at Thomas for a moment, then he slowly smiled.
“I am happy to hear that you will that way. Despite all our fights and pending civil war –”
“Cecil, I beg of you, there is no such thing –”
“I care about her. She is like a sister to me – except that I have quite a number of those already, so I am glad she is not really mine because that means I can wash my hands of brotherly duties whenever I feel like it. But still, I value her happiness. And it seems as though you make her happy. I hope that you both are happy together for a long time,” Cecil finished, holding up his glass of punch in their direction.
Jane felt her heart warm at how kind Cecil’s words were but ultimately, she felt guilt flood her senses at the thought of the inevitable end that their marriage would come to in about a month’s time.
Jane wondered if at all things would end as amicably as they are going now, but most of all, she hoped that they would continue on peacefully for the time they had left.
“Thank you. I hope so too,” Thomas replied, his voice carrying an emotion Jane did not recognize.
Cecil nodded and shifted his attention to Penelope, who smiled at Thomas and expressed kindly,
“Thank you for gracing us with your presence. I do hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” Thomas said, with a slight smile.
As her friends shifted their attention away momentarily, Jane grew aware of the stares she and Thomas were getting once more and the disconcerting feeling from earlier returned.
It was offensive, how brazenly they stared at them and talked behind their backs, wholly unaware that their actions made them even uglier on the inside.
Jane wished she could tell them to be quiet or compliment Thomas before their eyes, so they would understand that she is right where she desires to be.
“Duchess,” Thomas beckoned softly and she leaned in closer to hear him. “Would you like to dance?”
She stared at him for a moment and agreed eagerly, deciding to seize the opportunity to put on a show. Once the eight-piece orchestra had rounded up their song and prepared to begin another, Jane bid her friends farewell and followed Thomas to the dance floor.
For once, she was glad that she had gotten all the mandatory dance lessons her mother proposed that she take, eager to impress not just onlookers, but her husband as well.
She smiled as he pulled her closer and laughed every time he spun her around or dipped her. Thomas as a good dancer as well, so they moved well together, and Jane hoped that they were the very picture of a happy couple.
“You are quite adept at this, Jane,” he mumbled to her as they continued to dance. “For some reason, I imagined that you were not much of a dancer – or even fond for such gatherings.”
She nodded sagely. “You are completely right. I did not particularly like either of those, but my parents ensured that I was sufficiently trained for such settings. I can only hope that I have made my tutors proud tonight.”
Thomas let his gaze drop down her body for a second and when it came back up, he smirked and told her,
“Well, I can promise you that they would be quite pleased if they had the honour of witnessing you tonight. Though I cannot say I wished they did. I am not particularly fond of sharing.”
Jane threw her head back and laughed, genuinely stunned by his response. But when she refocused her gaze on him, his expression had grown muted.
He drew her in closer, until their chests were nearly flush against each other and he whispered,
“You do not have to do anything. You have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not care about anyone else.”
Jane pouted, surprised that she had been found out already.
“I thought I was doing a good job of hiding it from you. I was enjoying myself with you – I mean, I am!” she stated resolutely.
“I know, darling,” her smiled, caressing her cheek. “Though I will admit that it was entertaining to see you laugh suddenly.”
“It wasn’t sudden! You have an impressive sense of humour,” she told him defiantly.
“I am not as funny as you would like to trick me to believe. I know the extent of my skills and that is not one of them,” Thomas shook his head.
“I promise, you are quite humorous,” Jane declared, lifting her chin higher as a sign of determination.
“Perhaps, but not as funny as the duke of Westerdale who has apparently returned you to your affairs when he was not interested in being your brother at the moment. Makes me imagine that he can thought of the interaction as simple as returning a pair of borrowed shoes.”
This made her burst out in laughter, garnering the attention of onlookers.
Thomas protectively drew her closers to him, smiling down at her as his grip on her waist tightened slightly.
He watched Jane as she fought to get her mirth under control, and when she had managed to settle down, Thomas leaned towards her and whispered softly,
“I want to draw you now.”
Jane’s eyes snapped to his in surprise.
“Now?” she asked, blinking at him.
Thomas nodded curtly and while Jane found it to be an odd request – given the time and place – but she found it difficult to refuse him in that moment. He had a look in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine, and soon, she found herself nodding.
“A-All right,” she agreed.
The music came to a stop moments later and she allowed him to lead her off the dance floor and out of the ballroom.