'Twas the Night Before Mischief by Nina Lane

Author:Nina Lane [Lane, Nina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781954185135
Publisher: Snow Queen Publishing

Chapter 5

Over the course of the next two days, the post-chaise stopped in Helmsdale, Glospie, and another town whose name escaped Penelope in the midst of fretting about her father’s reaction to her flight and trying to maintain her composure in such close confines with Jacob Hall. Though Jacob was solicitous and polite, ensuring her comfort during travel, he remained mostly silent as they made their way along the coastline toward the town of Inverness.

On their third day of travel, cold, salty air filled the carriage when the warmth from the reheated bricks began to die. Jacob unfolded a blanket and passed it across to Penelope. She reluctantly appreciated his care—Simon hadn’t been quite so concerned for her comfort during their journey from London.

For the hundredth time, she studied Jacob from across the expanse of the carriage. She tried to tell herself she looked at him so often because she had nothing else to do, but in truth she liked looking at him. He was physically powerful, with hard, sharp features intensified by the darkness of his hair and eyes. His spectacles didn’t soften his features either; instead, the wire frames and clear glass enhanced his air of angular, focused intelligence.

Which, Penelope knew, was not actually an air at all, but a mere fact. Jacob Hall possessed a scientific, mechanical mind that worked with the precision of a clock. Despite his evident physicality, he seemed to live within his mind rather than the world, containing himself behind a shield of reticence.

And yet, he’d come after her all those years ago when she’d been so upset about her father’s remarriage. Three weeks prior, Jacob had followed her to the library at Lady Wentworth’s soiree. He’d kissed her, a heated, passionate kiss that sparked tingles throughout her entire body. And then he’d followed her all the way to northern Scotland when he discovered she had planned to elope.

Jacob Hall’s intelligence couldn’t fully account for his adeptness in tracking down the daughter of a confectionery shop owner. Surely there must be something else, some other…emotion that compelled him to follow her.

The very notion gave Penelope an unexpected but decidedly intense thrill. It made her wonder what else Jacob Hall concealed behind his impenetrable shield.

“Why did you come back for Christmas this year after having been gone for so long?” she asked.

“My brother needed my help a couple of months ago. I’d intended to return to St. Petersburg in November, but then Longman, Brown, and Green offered me the contract for the dictionary. I decided to stay in London in order to work.”

“You’re staying with your father?”

He shook his head. “At the Albion Hotel.”

“At a hotel?”

“I always stay there when I am in London,” Jacob studied the pattern of raindrops on the window as if they were the key to a puzzle. “For my sister’s sake, I spend a few days at Rushton’s townhouse over Christmas, but I prefer the hotel.”

“Why?”

“Rushton’s townhouse isn’t quite a home.” He paused. “Not like your father’s house.”

A hollow feeling opened up inside Penelope.

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