“Erm,” clearing his throat, he answered. “My name is Jack. Might I ask your name?”
It never occurred to him to introduce himself formally. The urchin with the golden curls couldn’t have been more than three or four.
“Emmy,” she said rubbing her small hand against his cheek. “You have whiskers like Papa does in the morning.”
Jack wasn’t sure how he should respond to that. But it didn’t matter, he was saved when another two children walked into his bedchamber without knocking.
“Emmy, get off of his lordship! Mary Alice has been looking all over for you.” This admonishment came from a boy of nine or ten. The one standing next to him was nearly identical to the first.
“Sorry, Sir,” the second one said. “Emily Rose has what Papa calls boundary issues.”
Jack found himself smiling, despite the fact that he had a rather unusual awakening. “Not to worry, lads. I have younger siblings of my own. What might your names be?”
The first one pointed to his brother. “This here is Nathanial and my name is Benjamin.”
Jack nodded. “I would greet you properly, but I have not as yet had time to dress.”
The boys stared at him, and Jack stared back. Emmy crawled down off the bed and moved to the door.
“He wants us to leave, dummies.” Emmy said in a tone that clearly stated her role of authority in the home.
Nathanial flushed. “Of course, shall I call a footman for you?”
Jack thanked him for his polite manners and was grateful to see that his clothing had been brushed and his boots polished. It wasn’t ideal for him to have to wear the same thing as the previous day. But at least he was somewhat presentable.
The servants had even given him a fresh cravat that had to be pilfered from Mr. Burke. Jack found himself rather enjoying this unusual family. They didn’t have the starch and circumstance that he was used to. But they were thoughtful and kind, that went a far way in Jack’s book.
Lizzie had dressed, eaten breakfast with Mrs Burke, and had gone exploring in the library. Still having the second volume of Frankenstein to read she promptly found a cosy nook and opened its pages.
Before long she had the strangest sensation that she was being watched. It was hard to describe, but the hairs on her arm had risen and she felt on edge.
Glancing about, Lizzie tried to see who might be watching her. There wasn’t another soul in sight, or so she thought. Once again, she began to read, but this time she heard whispering.
Setting the book down, Lizzie called out, “Who is there?”
Silence met her question.
Feeling frustrated, Lizzie tried another tactic. “I would love to tell you about this story if you would please come out.”
There was a bit of rusting and then the bookcase in front of her popped open. Standing in the open door was a young girl with spectacles and large violet eyes.
“I did not mean to startle you, miss.” The girl’s words were hesitant and shy.
Lizzie felt her heart melting as she took in the young lady who couldn’t have been more than twelve.
“I know that this is rather unorthodox having not been introduced and all. But let us do something to rectify that, shall we? My name is Elizabeth Rotherford, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Rotherford in York. I am sure you are wondering what I am doing in your home. The carriage I was travelling in met with an accident, and we were forced to find shelter. Your parents were kind enough to take us in.”
The young girl nodded a few times. “Mother said as much this morning in the nursery. My name is Agnes Burke, but everyone calls me Aggie.”
Lizzie smiled at the shy young lady. “Everyone calls me Lizzie. I hope that you will do the same. Tell me, Aggie, are you fond of reading?”
Aggie beamed at Lizzie. “Yes, indeed, it is my favourite pastime.”
The girls got into a discussion of favourite books and soon Aggie had curled up into the nook next to Lizzie. This is how Jack found them after he had broken his fast.
“You must be another of the Burke children,” he said kindly.
Aggie jumped up and make her curtsy. “Yes, Milord. I am Agnes Burke, the eldest. Then come the twins Nathanial and Benjamin who are nine years of age. Emily Rose is four and the baby, Fanny is not quite a year.”
Lizzie gasped. “My goodness, that is a full nursery! I myself am a twin, my sister Ellie and I were quite a handful to our nurses.”
Jack’s lips twitched. “As I remember it, one of you more so than the other.”
Lizzie’s eyes narrowed, and Aggie looked on with interest. She didn’t have a whole lot of experience with adult banter, and she really liked her new friend Lizzie.
Jack motioned for Aggie to retake her seat next to Lizzie and then he grabbed a chair and moved it near them so they could talk.
Lizzie was thrilled to see that in a few moments Jack had charmed the shy young lady. Aggie was animated and adorable as she gushed about her favourite works. Looking over the child’s head she regarded Jack.
He didn’t put on any airs with the girl. In fact, he had gone out of his way to help her feel a part of the grown-up’s conversation. It struck Lizzie in that moment what an excellent father Jack would someday be.
It didn’t take long for the remainder of the children to find them in the library. Before she knew what was happening, Jack had arranged a game of hide and seek. Benjamin covered his eyes and had begun to count.
Lizzie looked around frantically for a place to hide but couldn’t see anything that would do. When Jack held his hand out to her, she immediately trusted him and grabbed it.
Chapter 14
Jack led Lizzie toward the large draperies that had two small boots sticking out from beneath the hem. Lizzie stifled a giggle, and Jack was hard pressed to suppress the grin that threatened to emerge.
Her dusky curls were threatening to escape her pins and she had bright pink spots on her cheeks as she grinned up at him.
Jack’s gut clenched and he had the strongest urge to kiss her. However, that thought was soon replaced as Lizzie reached out and snatched his hand. The contact had his brain short circuiting. Stupidly he stumbled along after her as she tugged them into a large wardrobe.
The tiny giggles and snorts of laughter emitted from the children could be heard behind the closed doors, but they were deeply muffled. Suddenly it became all too clear to Jack that he, a man, was trapped inside of a wardrobe with an arm full of a very curvy young lady that smelled of gardenias. The urge to kiss her again came on full force.
Not certain where to place his hands, Jack was trying his utmost to be a gentleman. However, Lizzie seemed to have other ideas as she squirmed this way and that on his lap trying to get comfortable.
Jack knew that he had to put a stop to that before other, more noticeable things, came to light. With firm hands, he grasped her waist.
“Stay still!” he hissed in her ear.
Lizzie, feeling unaccountably warm, had no intention of remaining still. There was a distinct sense of heady danger that had come over her. Much like the saying, don’t poke the bear. Lizzie couldn’t help but give Jack a run for his money.
“No,” she snapped, although it came out rather breathlessly.
Jack’s hands tightened. “I am warning you, Lizzie.”
Outrage boiled up inside of her as she whispered, “Who are you to tell me what to do?”
His lips caressed her outer ear as he answered, “Your husband.”
“We are not married yet, Sir!” she snapped.
“Something I will be sure to rectify as soon as possible!”
Lizzie stilled. “Why?”
“Why?” Jack expostulated. “Because I should have done so ten years ago. Because it is my duty, my honour demands it.”
Suddenly Lizzie wanted to be anywhere but in that cabinet with Jack. The last thing she wanted to be was Jack’s responsibility.
But it seemed that Jack had other ideas, for as she tried to pull
away, she found his mouth crashing down on hers. His lips were warm and surprisingly soft considering that they were smashed against her own.
Having never been kissed before, Lizzie was overwhelmed with sensations. Jack was pressed so slightly against her and she felt the strangest feeling inside as if she wanted to rub up against him like a cat.
His hand had slipped around her waist and the other was sliding down to cup her bottom. The tingly feeling that had started in her belly was sinking lower and her forbidden places began to throb.
Something was definitely wrong with her. Never before had Lizzie ever felt so out of control. His lips began to part, and she felt the whisper of his tongue against her sealed lips.
“Open for me Lizzie,” he whispered hotly.
“No,” she replied querulously, but it didn’t matter. Her lips were opened wide enough for Jack to slip inside and that is when things really started spiralling out of control.
With a cry, Lizzie wrenched herself away from Jack, elbowing him in a rather inopportune area and causing him to grunt with pain. Not taking a moment to see if he was alright, she raced past the children who had gleefully come to find them. Not knowing where else to go, she ran past the library and up the stairs to the bedroom that she had slept in the night before.
With a cry, she hurled herself onto the coverlet and the tears began to fall.
It wasn’t more than a quarter of an hour later that a soft knock came at the door. When she didn’t answer, the door was opened, and she heard the voice of Mrs. Burke.
“Is it as bad as all that?” Mrs Burke asked kindly.
Lizzie tried to wipe her tears away as she sat up and turned her face to the side. “No, of course not, Madam. I am sorry to be such a watering pot.”
Olivia moved into the room closing the door behind her. “You know, it was not that long ago that I was being courted by Mr. Burke. Matters of the heart do make one terribly tender do they not?”
Lizzie nodded jerkily. “It is just so.”
“Well,” Olivia said in a conspiratorial voice. “We ladies need to stick together in these troubling times. I have alerted the staff to bring us some tea. Let us dry your eyes and have a little cose, shall we?”
Lizzie looked up, her red rimmed eyes causing Olivia’s mothering nature to kick in full force. “You are not being forced to marry the Viscount, are you dearest?”
Lizzie laughed, truly laughed. Olivia seemed somewhat taken aback. “I do not know what is so funny about that. Please share the joke.”
Lizzie shook her head a wry smile on her face. “It is not me that is being forced to marry, you have it the wrong way around. The Viscount is being forced to marry me by his own sense of honour.”
Olivia’s eyes widened. “Nonsense! I have seen the way that he looks at you my dear. He is not being forced into anything. I would say that your young man was rather chomping at the bit.”
Lizzie frowned. “You must be mistaken. Jack has only ever looked at me with disdain.”
Olivia’s brows came together. “I am afraid that you are going to have to tell me the whole of it then. Because I cannot make tops or tails out of it.”
Lizzie started at the beginning. When she finished with her flight from Mangrove Manor Olivia was two parts horrified and a third highly amused.
“It was not very well of your cousins to escape with you. Not at all the thing, you know. Even with your maid in tow, the gossips love a story like this.”
Lizzie blushed. “I know it was rather poorly done of me. I just could not take his pity. I thought that one day Jack would learn to love me. But it never happened. I am tired of being his cross to bear. I want to give him back his life.”
“You want him to be just as miserable as you have been all of these years,” Olivia interjected kindly. “Call a spade a spade, my dear. There is nothing altruistic about your actions, is there?”
Lizzie’s face was beet red as she fessed up the truth. “Yes, madam, it is just as you say.”
“Oh! Do not poker up at me! I was young once myself and it seems that your young man did deserve a set down. I do not fault you, dear girl. However, I can see that man has feelings for you.”
Lizzie’s lip trembled. “He will never love me.”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Nonsense! His eyes light up when you enter a room and he cannot seem to tear his gaze away. He may have made all the wrong choices in your courtship. But consider this, it is not him that is turning away now, is it? I want you to know that because of a few hot tears, the Viscount is beside himself with worry. That does not sound like a man that will never love you. Perhaps you have both misjudged each other?”
Lizzie sat dumbfounded. Could Jack actually have feelings for her?
Before she could respond, Olivia hit it home saying, “He does not seem like the type of man to be pushed into anything. If your viscount did not want to marry you, nothing would induce him to do it. Mark my words.”
A small kernel of hope that Lizzie had thought long dead leapt to life inside of her heart.
“Do you really think so, Mrs. Burke?”
The older woman nodded decisively. “I am positive it is so.”
Chapter 15
The next morning the roads were deemed safe enough for travel. Lizzie and her maid, Martin, were once again riding in the opposite seat that Jack was. Things had been rather tense after their shared kiss in the closet. Jack wasn’t certain how to proceed with Lizzie.
In the back of his mind he was reminded of the blasted wager he had made with his father. The last thing he wanted was for Lizzie to feel like he was playing fast and loose with her feelings again. Rather than instructing the coachman to take them to Gretna Green, Jack informed the coachman that they would be going back home.
It was only two days until Christmas and the annual Christmas Ball would be held on Christmas Eve. Jack wanted nothing more than to tell the world that he had been an idiot. He wanted to take Lizzie into his arms and shout from the rooftops that she was his and only his. But was she?
He had noticed the few uncertain looks that she had given him. No longer was she glaring at him with raw hostility. Jack figured that this had to be a good sign. But try as he may to engage her in conversation, Lizzie simply wouldn’t play along.
Questions were answered with single syllables and she spent most of the trip hidden behind the pages of the book that he had loaned her. When they finally arrived at her uncle’s home, Mangrove Manor. Jack was feeling very anxious. So many questions were still unanswered.
“Lizzie! Dearest child, do not ever do that again!” Lizzie’s mother Cece came racing out to meet the coach despite the lateness of the hour and without a cloak. A large man with greying hair followed shortly behind carrying a cloak that he promptly wrapped her in.
Cece didn’t even pause for breath. “Do you have any idea how worried we were? And then when those vile boys came home without you…” She broke off as if it was too difficult to even think about the situation. “Well, mark my words, Lizzie, I gave them a piece of my mind.”
Lizzie paled. “You did not hurt them, did you?”
Cece’s lips thinned. “They are a lot faster than they used to be, I will grant you that. If I could have caught them, it would have been much worse.”
The large man turned and wrapped Lizzie in a warm embrace.
“Papa,” she whispered against his sleeve. “I have ruined everything.”
Her father, Charles, pulled back and looked into his daughter’s face. “It was only a little adventure, dearest. I promise you, with something to eat and a little sleep you will be right as rain now that you are home.”
“I hope so,” Lizzie said softly.
Jack stood there wondering if he had somehow become invisible. Not once had Lizzie’s parents even addressed him. Considering that he had grown up in and out of this household it was rather intimidating to become invisible.
The party began to move indoors, but Jack hesitated to follow. It wasn’t un
til Cece turned and saw him standing there that she addressed him.
“Are you coming in, Jack?”
It wasn’t the warmest of welcomes, but it was an invitation inside. And Jack was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“We have already had supper, but a light tray of meats and cheeses can be arranged.” Cece was transitioning more into her element of hostess. “I will send something to your rooms. Jack, I assume that you will be staying here? I do apologise that I cannot spend more time with you dearest. But we left the guests of the house party playing cards and I would hate for anyone to see you both coming in together.”
Lizzie paled. “Where did you tell the others we were?”
Cece looked at Jack with a shrewd glance. “You have been ill in your room, too sick for company. Ellie corroborated the story, so nobody is the wiser. As for Cavendish, his parents put about a story that he is about the Duke’s business, very hush, hush.”
Jack smiled at the thought of his conversation with his grandfather before he set out to see Lizzie. Hard as it was to believe, at that point, Jack was dreading the notion of a marriage between them.
Now he was chomping at the bit. A niggling thought came to mind. The wager with his father. Now he knew that his father was only trying to show him what was right in front of his face. The perfect woman was right in front of him all of this time.
Jack knew that it wouldn’t do to let Lizzie in on the wager. He could see her taking the intentions behind the bet the wrong way. Now that she was warming up to him, he didn’t want to go back to where they started.
After bidding his hosts goodnight, Jack was escorted to his bedchamber. He wasn’t surprised to see his mother there waiting. The Countess of Saxton, or Maddie to her nearest friends, was still a lovely woman with soft curly hair the colour of straw and bright intelligent eyes.
Jack had found through the years that his mother had a sympathetic ear and a kind heart. Immediately he went to her side kissing her cheek and taking her hands in his own.
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