Red Jacks Daughter by Edith Layton

Author:Edith Layton [Layton, Edith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Romance
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Published: 2015-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

9

The door to the salon stood open so that the gentleman caller could be seen from any part of the hall by the omnipresent Bartholomew. The butler could then perceive if anything were to go amiss. It was not as though anyone truly expected a gentleman to go mad with lust and give way to beastly appetites if left alone with a young female. But since even that unlikely eventuality had to be forestalled, Society decreed that it was not proper for any man to remain in seclusion with any young lady of breeding if there were no responsible female in the house—unless, of course, they were related by blood, law, or marriage.

However, Miss Eastwood, without even having heard the butler’s cautionary cough, after only moments of tearful indulgence upon Thomas Preston’s shoulder, decided for herself that she should not remain so close to him. Not for reasons of propriety, but because of her sudden realization that she was behaving very missishly.

She soon eased herself away from him, returned his handkerchief, and sat and composed herself. Then she explained in disjointed phrases the cause of her tumultuous greeting. He listened quietly, his face and body still, though his mind ranged far.

At length, when he felt he had heard the whole of it, he sat across from her and asked, “So Leith forbade you going to Brussels to collect your legacy?”

“I suppose he did, in a way,” Jessica answered, cocking her head to one side as the notion caused her to slow her jagged breathing. “Though not in so many words. But blast it, Tom, it is true that if I went, Ollie would feel bound to as well, and he is, after all, no longer a youth.”

“Of course,” the blond gentleman answered quickly, “but then, I suppose Ollie could have deputized me to accompany you, and you know that I should have been glad to lend my aid.”

Jessica sat up straight. That thought had never occurred to her, and her face lit with enthusiasm, but after a moment’s thought she drooped again. “Still, Alex is right, perhaps Mr. Jeffers can act more swiftly by himself. ‘He travels fastest who travels alone,’ you know. And it is true that the fact of my skirts would have meant that I could not be quite the easiest of traveling companions for Mr. Jeffers. He’s such a stuffy, pompous fellow. Why, you know I’d be glad to bed down anywhere just like any hale campaigner, but he would doubtless want to slow his steps or book accommodations ahead just because of my sex.”

“There is that,” Tom acknowledged, “but then I could have perhaps reassured him on that head. With two men as protection for you, he might not have felt so constrained.”

“But it’s done,” Jessica said miserably. “I cannot go back on my word now and I’ve told the fellow to get on with it.”

“Are you sure it is too late Jess?” Tom asked quietly. “I can pack and be ready to go within the hour.

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