by Meghan Sloan
“Why would there be anything wrong?”
“You’re quiet. More so than usual.” Gabriel put his glass aside, “What is it?”
For a moment, he thought Allen wasn’t going to answer him. But then his servant sighed and lowered his cutlery.
“I’m just concerned that you might be setting yourself up for heartbreak, Mr. Gabriel.”
Heartbreak? That was the second time today someone had said that to him. Gabriel frowned.
“Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know if you’ve thought this plan through completely. I’m sure it’s going to go wrong at some point.”
“You have a better idea?”
“Buy the place on credit and pay Mr. Montgomery back, as you and he agreed, but without bothering about Miss Seton. You should be focusing on paying Mr. Montgomery back rather than getting Miss Seton distracted.”
“If she’s not helping her father, then I’ll be able to pay Mr. Montgomery back quicker than anticipated.” Gabriel spread his hands, “And I want to own this place as soon as possible.”
Allen frowned.
“Things don’t happen at the snap of your fingers, Mr. Gabriel. You know that by now.”
“I know, but it’s going to happen.” Gabriel slumped in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. “I need purpose in life now; to show Father that I’m not a waste of space. He said I would be good at business, and I know he’s right. I want to prove it.”
It had been said in passing when Derek was lamenting about Gabriel not using his brain to its full potential. He had urged Gabriel to find something more worthwhile to do that wasn’t losing all of his money playing cards, but Gabriel hadn’t listened.
Maybe if he had listened to the old man in the beginning then he wouldn’t be here now, having dinner with his valet in a small cottage that was barely enough for two people. It would be a cute little place for a newly married couple, but it wasn’t quite the place for them.
Hopefully, Gabriel would be able to earn enough as an owner to buy himself a new home, somewhere that wouldn’t have him and Allen practically falling over each other in the morning. Gabriel liked his space, and as much as he liked his valet, it could get a little suffocating.
They finished their meal in relative silence, and then Allen began to gather the plates away. Gabriel was straightening up and stretching his arms, his fingers almost touching the ceiling, when there was a knock at the door. Allen straightened up.
“I’ll go.”
“No, I will,” Gabriel headed towards the door. “I’m not above answering my own front door in my current situation.”
Allen shrugged. Gabriel crossed the hall as their visitor knocked again. He was now beginning to wonder who would be calling at this time of the evening. He may not exactly be in favour with a lot of people, but rules of calling ahead of time were still abided by. And he hadn’t had many people come to visit him who wanted to just see him. They all had an agenda, and once Gabriel realised that they were out the door faster than they came in.
It didn’t sound like his father was at the door. He could hit a door hard enough to make it shake. Was it his mother? Had something happened at the house?
Then Gabriel heard a familiar voice.
“Gabe? Are you in there?”
Gabriel slowed. His heart sank. Not her again. Couldn’t she leave him alone? And what was she doing here at this time of night? Shouldn’t she be at home?
He debated not answering the door, but Gabriel knew Jessica wouldn’t leave. So he ducked back into the dining room and went to the window. Allen looked confused.
“Mr. Gabriel?”
Signalling for him to wait, Gabriel unlatched the window and opened it. He could see the front door if he stuck his head out, and Gabriel saw Jessica standing on the threshold, her knocking becoming more insistent. Gabriel glanced behind her and out into the lane. There was no sign of a carriage and no sign of a chaperone. It looked like she had slipped away from her charge, yet again.
“What are you doing, Jessica?”
Jessica squeaked and spun around, clasping a hand to her chest. She was wearing a gown she must have worn for dinner under a lightweight coat, a bonnet in her hand dangling by the ribbons. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw him.
“Gabe! You startled me. Why are you at the window and not letting me in?”
“Because I don’t want you to come in,” Gabriel snapped. “Go back home. I’m sure your parents are wondering where you are, and I would rather not have an argument with your father.”
Jessica pouted. She sauntered over to the window, and Gabriel almost shut the window in her face. Instead, he waited. His curiosity as to her stubbornness wouldn’t let him walk away.
“What’s the matter with you, Gabe?” Jessica asked. “For six months you’ve been pushing me away. And before you said I was it for you.”
“I never said anything of the sort.” Gabriel leaned on the windowsill. “What we had was a bit of fun, something to pass the time. And you know it. I don’t know why you keep pushing this when you know it’s gone and put in the past.”
“You know why I keep pushing it.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Because I love you, Gabe,” Jessica touched his arm, turning her big eyes up to him, “and I know you love me. Why can’t we just be together?”
“Because I’m not a fool.” Gabriel took her hand off his arm and set it aside. “I may have cared for you at some point, but I don’t love you, Jessica. Certainly not after the months you’ve been pestering me over something I don’t want anymore.”
He did falter for a moment when he saw Jessica waver, her bottom lip beginning to quiver. But Gabriel ploughed on. She needed to hear it, and he was past caring how insensitive he was going to be.
“You can’t mean that,” Jessica whispered.
“Trust me, I do. Why would you even want to be with someone who has no prospects at all? They’ve all been taken away from me.”
“You’ll get your title back.” Jessica lifted her chin, “You’re a clever man, Gabe. I know you will. And then we can be the heirs again.”
That almost made Gabriel laugh in her face. He had thought he was a good judge of character, but he had sorely misjudged Jessica. She had said she could keep everything separate. Either she had lied to him, or she had fallen foolishly and believed tenacity would bring him back. Either way, Jessica was fighting a losing battle. Even if Gabriel had to admire her persistence, albeit grudgingly.
“You will never be the heir to my family estate,” Gabriel said shortly. “Partly because my father would never allow you to become my wife, and partly because I will never marry you of my own accord.” He leaned out the window, watching as Jessica took a step back. “You won’t listen to gentle persuasion, Jessica, so I’m giving it to you straight. You were a bit of fun, and you were fun for a time. I lost interest shortly after my parents threw me out. I had no interest in anything, and all I asked was that you respected my decision to give me space. You knew that it was just a fling, so don’t try to pretend that it wasn’t. I never promised anything beyond a good time. Now I regret ever having anything to do with you.”
Jessica’s face went white, and then red. Gabriel might as well have slapped her. She pressed her lips tightly together and Gabriel thought she was about to scream. Then Jessica took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, her jaw tightening.
“My father says he’s written to my aunt and uncle in Bournemouth. That we’re going to stay with them for a while if they write back confirming it.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing you go. You need a break away from here.”
“But I hate them!” Jessica protested. Her expression became pinched. “I want to stay with you.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
Gabriel knew he had been talking too much. He should have just shut the window and walked away. That was his mistake. Sighing, he signalled for Allen to join him.
“Yes, Mr. Gabriel.”
“No!” Jessica scowled. “I want Gabe to take me.”
Gabriel barked out a laugh.
“I’m not going anywhere with you. Now, Allen is taking you home, and if you come back, I’m going to ask your father if he can just lock you up in your room.” He stepped away from the window. “Goodnight, Miss Gibson.”
He slammed the window shut and put the latch on, leaving Jessica standing out in the front garden with her mouth open. Allen looked bemused.
“I’ve heard of persistence, but this is getting a bit too much.”
“It certainly is for me.” Gabriel rubbed his hands over his face, “Take her home. Make sure she’s escorted inside by someone reliable before coming home. I don’t want her back here.”
“Very good, Mr. Gabriel.”
Allen left the room. Moments later Gabriel could hear Jessica protesting outside, along with the lower, softer tones of his valet. Jessica was still arguing even as her voice faded away. Gabriel slumped onto the window seat and buried his head in his hands.
He had made a lot of mistakes in his life, and that included Jessica Gibson. Just like his other mistakes, Jessica kept coming back to remind him of how stupid he had been. If he had known she was not quite in her right mind, Gabriel would have steered clear of her.
It was a shame they had run out of alcohol. Gabriel needed a drink.
#
“Oh!” Emily sat back in her seat with an exaggerated huff. “My Lord! How awful was that?”
“I know!” Cassandra opened her fan and wafted it in front of her face. “It was so hot in there. I thought I was going to suffocate.”
“And the people?” Emily made a face. “How can they think behaving like that can be permitted in polite society?”
Cassandra had no answer to that. People in society knew how to behave and do as they were told. Cassandra didn’t approve of some of the limitations on women, but she went along with them. She knew how to blend into a crowd and behave like everyone else when needed, even when it was grating on her nerves. But tonight, nobody seemed to be paying attention to the rules or even remembering how to act at a ball. Cassandra and Emily had had to push away far too many men who had drunk a little too much. And a couple of those men didn’t like being told no.
If it had been in Seton Hall, Cassandra would have given them a piece of her mind. Instead, after being pestered one too many times, she had made it look like she tripped and tipped her drink all down the man’s front.
He was furious and started shouting at her, and it was only when Sir Walter hurried over and took the man away that Cassandra was able to escape. Emily, by that point, had already decided that she was going to leave. That disruption was a perfect opportunity to go.
And they were expected to find prospective husbands in that crowd. Cassandra wasn’t entirely sure where Sir Walter and his wife had found these people, but they were certainly not the type of crowd she would gladly associate with beyond tiny doses, if that.
“At least the alcohol was nice,” Emily conceded with a slight giggle. “That white wine was good.”
Cassandra laughed.
“I’m surprised you didn’t pick up the bottle with the amount of glasses you picked from the tray every time the footmen went past.”
“I would have done it if you had let me,” Emily pouted. “Everyone else was behaving like pigs, and I wanted to join them.”
“Not everyone, but I understand your point.” Cassandra tugged the long pin holding her hair up out from under her curls, letting her hair fall about her shoulders. That felt better. “Drinking away our annoyance is not going to help us. We’ll just end up embarrassing ourselves if we let the alcohol go to our heads.”
“I can hold my liquor. I work in a public house!”
Cassandra rolled her eyes.
“No, you can’t, and you’re lucky your father hasn’t caught you in the past when you sneaked away some of his stash when we were young,” Cassandra giggled. “I noticed that Geoffrey Irons seemed quite taken with you.”
“Geoffrey Irons! Argh!” Emily made a face and shuddered. “He is a vile man! I don’t know what any woman sees in him. He’s a complete cad.”
Cassandra could concur with that. Geoffrey Irons’ father, the last Earl of Newmarket, had been a decent man. A regular visitor to Seton Hall, Cassandra had liked him. The same couldn’t be said for his son Geoffrey, who walked around acting like the world owed him for something.
Every time Cassandra saw him, Geoffrey was openly crass towards any woman, including Cassandra, and looked deeply offended when he was rejected each time. He seemed to believe that women would fall at his feet, but it never happened. It was almost amusing to watch.
And now he had set his sights on trying to charm Emily. Something Emily didn’t appreciate; and she had spent a lot of the evening keeping away from him. Cassandra was reluctant to leave her side in case Geoffrey did corner her, because Emily looked to be in the mood for an argument.
“He probably thinks you’ll be flattered if he gives you attention.”
Emily snorted.
“I’m not going to be flattered being followed around by that snake. I don’t want to be pursued by him at all. I just want to be left alone.”
“So do I,” Cassandra sighed. “Unfortunately, society has different ideas for us. We’re getting to the point where we’re going to get passed over for marriage.”
“I thought you didn’t want to marry.”
“Not unless it’s by my own choice. But even then, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on us to get married.” Cassandra closed her fan and laid it in her lap. “You and I are not going to be able to keep prospective husbands at bay for much longer.”
“I think we can.” Emily started taking off her gloves. “Father can’t force me to marry if I don’t want to. Unless I love my future husband and he loves me in return, there will be no marriage. And he knows that.”
“So does mine. But both of them are starting to push her towards what we don’t want.” Cassandra sighed, “I think Father’s beginning to realise that he’s not immortal and he wants to make sure I’m going to be all right one he’s gone.”
“But you will be. You’ve got Seton Hall.”
“If my uncle doesn’t have anything to do with it,” Cassandra grumbled.
She told Emily what she had learned from Alice. When she was done, Emily’s eyes were wide.
“So, even if your father secures your future in his will, you may not be permitted to live as he wants?”
“Essentially.”
Emily scowled and shook her head.
“Your uncle is a...well, you know what I think about him.”
“You can say it, Emily. It’s just us in here and even if the driver heard us, he’s not going to say anything.”
“Knowing my luck, Father will hear me being very unladylike.” Emily huffed and folded her gloves into her lap. “Why is it men are allowed to behave in such erratic ways and have some freedom whereas women get scolded if we get in the wrong colours for the wrong occasion?”
Cassandra had nothing to say to that. She had no response to that, but she was just as frustrated. Men were able to go around without chaperones and behave outrageously - the majorityof them could ride out a scandal - but with women, they had to be a lot more careful. They couldn’t get rid of a scandal so quickly, if at all.