by CJ Archer
***
"You got back all right?" Jack asked me the next day as we waited in the entrance hall for the carriage to be brought around.
"No thanks to you." I'd spent half the night wondering if I'd lost a potential friend and the other half considering what I ought to do. By the time I finally fell asleep, I'd decided I needed more time before I admitted that I was not Violet Jamieson. Jack was keeping too many secrets, and until I found out if they would endanger Vi, I would pretend to be her. I was utterly convinced that August Langley's reasons for kidnapping me weren't purely charitable, and I suspected Jack's lies were somehow tied in with his uncle's. All I needed to do was unravel them so that I could make a clear decision.
"It was unforgiveable of me to leave you like that," he said. "And for speaking harshly. I'm sorry."
I had still not come to terms with the fact he'd lied to me, and after he said he liked me too! Jack Langley was more of a mystery than ever. I wasn't about to make life easy for him. "It was unforgiveable."
He sucked in a breath. "I suppose I deserved that. I'll have you know that I didn't neglect you altogether. I checked not half an hour later, and Olson said you made it back in one piece shortly after me."
"I could have been lying dead in a ditch by then, and no one would have known."
Tommy approached and handed Jack his coat and gloves. Jack slung the coat over his arm and clutched the gloves. "Olson would have alerted me immediately if Clover had turned up riderless."
"That may have cost valuable time."
"If you'd been dead, there wouldn't have been any hurry, would there?"
I gave him a withering look, and he gave me a triumphant smile. Tommy smirked in the background, but sobered when I switched my glare to him.
"I notice you've been avoiding me ever since," I said to Jack. "Any reason for that?"
"None in particular."
The carriage pulled up in front of the house, laden with our luggage. Sylvia descended the stairs wrapped in fur from head to toe. "Are you two arguing?" she said. "It's going to be a long journey if you are."
Jack walked outside, ignoring her.
"Everything's fine." I caught up to Jack. "You can't avoid me now," I said. "You'll have to endure my company all the way to London."
He held the door open and Tommy helped me inside, then he did the same for Sylvia. She sat opposite me as Jack shut the door without getting in. I pushed the window down and poked my head out. He doffed his hat, gave me another one of those irritatingly smug smiles, then sprang up onto the driver's seat alongside Olson.
I sat back heavily and clicked my tongue. "Your cousin is..." I couldn't think of what to call him. The truth was, I liked Jack and he liked me. I just wished he hadn't lied to me.
"Infuriating?" Sylvia offered. "Stubborn? Secretive? Volatile?"
"Secretive, yes! Tell me about his past. He said his parents died when he was young, yet he didn't come to live here with your uncle until he was fourteen. What did he do in between? Where did he live?"
She stroked the fur collar of her coat near her chin to flatten it. "It's not my place to tell you. Besides, I'm not really sure of the entire story myself. Be patient. He'll tell you in time."
Time. How much did I have?