Runaway Countess by Gemma Blackwood

Runaway Countess by Gemma Blackwood

Author:Gemma Blackwood [Blackwood, Gemma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-16T00:00:00+00:00


Chapter Sixteen

The servants’ quarters at Whitby Manor were really quite comfortable. Jenny was given a little room at the back of the house, where it was cool and quiet, with a small window that gave her a glimpse of the lush green gardens she had so admired on the drive up.

Lord Beeston must have been right about the number of servants. She had the room to herself, though there were two beds in it.

She wished there were some way of letting Sebastian know that she was alone and longing to speak with him. He had not come to see her after returning from Appleby. She did not even know whether he had met with Uncle Fitz.

She did know, however, that Sebastian would be tormenting himself once more, wracked with guilt over what he imagined was his betrayal of Lord Beeston. But there was no need for him to torture himself. Jenny had made her decision. Not from fear, this time, nor in haste, but from a truer understanding of the woman she was. She knew now what affection her heart was capable of, and knew just as certainly that she could never feel it for Lord Beeston.

She would not settle for less than love.

Beeston would not bankrupt Sebastian’s father. She had his word on it.

The next time Sebastian kissed her, he need not feel guilty. She was nobody’s bride – unless she could be his.

She could not wait to tell him.

It seemed to Jenny that she had not slept a wink all night, but when the knock came to rouse her with the other servants, it took her ten minutes of blinking confusion before she remembered where she was and why. Breakfast in the kitchen was a strange, subdued affair. All the servants of Whitby Manor were whispering amongst themselves, sharing the scraps of gossip they had overheard, murmuring questions about who might be kept on and who would be dismissed. There was a strange tension in the air, the sticky, thick feeling that came just before a thunderstorm. Jenny was glad when Nurse Thomas appeared, fresh from attending Lord Beeston, and sent her to the orangery to gather some leaves for a tisane.

She took her time walking across the courtyard, enjoying the warmth of the early morning sunlight, taking in the fresh scent of the roses clambering the walls. She paused for a moment to make a half-attempt at counting the neat rows of windows set into the ancient stonework. Which one was Sebastian’s bedroom? The gentry rose late, but Sebastian was more sailor than gentleman. Could he be looking out, just the way she was looking in?

Her question was answered only a few moments after she let herself into the orangery, nodding to the solitary gardener who was moving between the pots with a watering can. As she took up a pair of secateurs and began wandering through the rows of glossy, fruit-laden trees, the door opened again behind her. The gardener gave a broad smile and a low bow.



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