The Wedding Escape by Karyn Monk

Author:Karyn Monk [Monk, Karyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-01-16T01:49:27+00:00

A MELIA SAT UPRIGHT, HER CHEST POUNDING.

She was lying on top of Jack’s bed, fully clothed. A soft glow radiated from the oil lamp beside her, thinly illuminating the confines of the chamber. Sadness clutched her in a suffocating grip as her gaze fell upon the pile of trunks stacked in the corner.

The soft click of the front door closing told her that Jack was finally home. A quick glance at the clock on the mantel revealed that it was nearly three o’clock in the morning. The lateness of the hour surprised her. Since Jack had invited her and Alex to stay with him, he had made every effort to come home at a reasonable time each evening. This enabled him to eat dinner with everyone and then spend some time with Alex and Amelia before they retired for the night.

True to his word, Jack had tried to make the little thief Amelia had brought into his home feel welcome and safe. He had even volunteered to help teach Alex her numbers. The poor girl had sullenly endured Amelia’s attempts to teach her to script the letters of the alphabet, and her progress was slow. But when it came to her numbers, Jack actually managed to keep Alex amused. He and Oliver would put on loose overcoats, the pockets of which were stuffed with various treasures. Then they would stroll up and down the drawing room, whistling and pretending to be distracted while Alex deftly picked their pockets. At the end Alex had to count the articles she had collected, which were then placed back into the coats’ pockets. Then Alex wore the garment while Jack and Oliver worked together to steal the items back, each time asking her how many things she had left as they showed her what they had managed to lift.

Although Amelia was not entirely convinced that a game of pickpocket was the most appropriate way to teach a child the rudiments of addition and subtraction, it was clear that Alex enjoyed the game immensely. There was no question she was mastering her arithmetic skills at a much swifter rate than she was reading and writing.

She was also becoming better at picking pockets, which Oliver seemed to think was wonderful.

Smoothing her hands over her gown Amelia hurried to the door, anxious to speak to Jack before he disappeared into the small bedchamber at the end of the corridor. With Alex occupying the guest room and Amelia still in Jack’s chamber, Eunice and Doreen had insisted that another bedroom be prepared so that Jack would stop sleeping on the sofa in the drawing room. A chamber that had previously been used for storage was subsequently cleaned out and a modest bed and wardrobe were purchased. While Amelia felt guilty that she had put Jack out of his handsomely furnished room, Jack assured her that he didn’t care in the least about his surroundings.

She peered into the corridor.

“What’s wrong?” Jack demanded the moment he saw her.

His gaze was steady and his demeanor serious, suggesting that he had not consumed a drop of alcohol.

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