A First-Footer for Lady Jane: Sweet Regency Holiday Romance by Jennifer Ashley

Author:Jennifer Ashley [Ashley, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JA / AG Publishing
Published: 2019-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

The gardens were covered with snow, the fountains empty and silent, but they suited Jane’s mood. She ought to be in the house entertaining guests, or helping her mother, or looking after Grandfather, but she could not behave as though nothing had shaken her life to its foundations.

She should be glad John was home, feel tender happiness as the reward for waiting for his return.

All she could think of was Spencer Ingram’s gray eyes sparkling in the firelight after he’d kissed her. Could think only of the heat of his lips on hers, the fiery touch of his tongue. It was as though John Barnett did not exist.

Was she so fickle? So featherheaded that the moment another man crossed her path, she eagerly turned to follow him?

Or was there more than that? John had more or less ignored her since he’d arrived. Instead of resenting his indifference, Jane had been relieved.

Relieved. What was the matter with her?

A pair of statues at the far end of the garden marked the edge of her father’s park. Both statues were of Hercules—the one the right battling the Nemean lion; on the left, the hydra. Beyond these guardians lay pastureland rolling to far hills, today covered with a few inches of snow.

Jane contemplated the uneven land beyond the statues and reluctantly turned to tramp back.

A man in a blue uniform with greatcoat and black boots strode around the fountains and empty flower beds toward her. He was alone, and his trajectory would make him intersect Jane’s path. No one else wandered the garden, few bold enough to risk the ice-cold January morning.

Running would look foolish, not to mention Jane had nowhere to go. The fields, cut by a frozen brook, offered hazardous footing. Plus she was cold and ready to return to the house. Why should she flee her own father’s garden?

Jane continued resolutely toward Captain Ingram, nodding at him as they neared each other. “Good morning,” she said neutrally.

“Good morning,” he echoed, halting before her. “Is it good?”

Jane curled her fingers inside her fur muff. “The weather is fair, the sun shining. The guests are enjoying themselves. The New Year’s holiday is always pleasant.”

Ingram’s eyes narrowed. “Pleasant. Enjoying themselves.” His voice held a bite of anger. “What about you, Lady Jane? Are you enjoying yourself?”

“Of course. I like to see everyone home. If my brother and his wife could come, that would be even more splendid.”

“Liar.”

Jane started, her heart beating faster, but she kept her tone light. “I beg your pardon? I truly do long to see my brother.”

“You are miserable and cannot wait for the morning Major Barnett and I ride away.”

Jane lost her forced smile. “You are rude.”

“I am. Many say this of me. But I am a plain speaker and truthful.” His gray eyes glinted as he fixed an unrelenting gaze on her. “Tell me why the devil you are tying yourself to Barnett.”

Why? There was every reason why—Jane simply had never thought the reasons through. “I have known him a very long time …”

Spencer stepped closer to her.

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