Elizabeth Mansfield by Miscalculations

Author:Miscalculations
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-11-02T01:27:57+00:00

NINETEEN

Jane was packing her portmanteau again. She trembled with unexpressed rage as she tossed her meager possessions helter-skelter into the bag. She could not bear the thought of remaining in this household another day, a household where the master brazenly entertained his paramour right on the premises, where the staff engaged in petty thievery, and where someone who was honest and straightforward was made to feel like a prude. She wanted to go home! Home was where she could forget the emotional turmoil that Luke Hammond had stirred up in her, where she could restore her sense of herself, where she could regain some perspective on the real values of life.

The task of packing did not take long. The last item to pack was her precious Caxton Malory. She was about to slip it into the folds of her good Sunday dress when someone came knocking at her door. She stiffened. Who would want her at this late hour? The knock surely presaged trouble.

She opened the door. The butler stood in the dark corridor, his candle throwing an eerie light on his face. "Mr. Parks!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Sorry to disturb you so late, Miss Jane," he said, "but you've a visitor downstairs."

"A visitor? Who—?"

"She says she's your sister."

"My sister?" Jane's breath caught in her chest. She gaped at the butler for a moment and then drew in a breath. "Oh, good heavens," she cried, darting past him and dashing down the hallway, "something's happened to Mama!"

"I don't think so, Miss Jane," Parks said, hurrying after her with his candle, trying to light her way. "The young lady seemed perfectly cheerful."

But Jane, flying down the stairs, had so far outdistanced him that she did not hear. Only the faint light from the candles in the wall sconces prevented her from falling headlong down the main stairway.

She burst into the small sitting room. The young woman seated on the sofa, still wearing her bonnet and cape, was indeed her siser. "Adela! What's wrong?" Jane cried from the doorway.

Adela jumped up. "Jane, there you are! At last!" And she rushed across the room and enveloped Jane in a fervent embrace.

"Adela, please," her worried sister pleaded, "why are you here? Tell me at once."

Adela stepped back and, for the first time, took note of Jane's agitation.

"Goodness, Jane, you needn't fall into apoplexy," she said with a grin. "Nothing's amiss. Lady Martha arranged for me to visit London, that's all."

Jane put a hand to her heaving breast. "Mama is well, then?"

"As well as she ever is."

Expelling a deep breath, Jane sank down on the nearest chair. "Thank goodness!" She shut her eyes in relief. As her alarm subsided, however, other questions made their way into her consciousness. She looked up at her sister curiously. "Let me understand all this," she said, motioning Adela to resume her seat. "Are you saying that her ladyship suggested this visit?"

"Yes, isn't it the most thrilling pass?" The girl perched on the arm of the sofa and leaned toward her sister eagerly.

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