After The Storm (24 page)

His eyes narrowed. “Jen … I, I wish that you may
remain so. He has a reputation, and, well, I don’t want you
hurt.”

She laughed. “I believe, truly believe, that he loves
me.”

“Jen, I don’t want to burst your bubble … but—”
he started.

She cut him off. “Stop. I won’t hear one word of
disparagement about him. He is everything good and honest and kind,
and I don’t give a rap for what was said of him. I have come
to
know him
.”

A sound made them turn around to find the earl, his
hand resting on his lanky brother’s shoulder as they approached
them.

The earl’s eyes had narrowed, but his brother called
out jovially, “Hallo, you two. What have you been up to? Oh,
flowers … eh, Jen, lovely, but you have missed a grand
breakfast, which I daresay is still on the serving table but cold
by now.”

Jenny smiled brightly at her brother-in-law, for she
already adored his boyish enthusiasm. “Ah, but I was there before
you and devoured two hot cups of coffee early this morning and I
think three pastries before I went out for my walk.”

They all returned to the castle with Brad leading the
conversations with jests and idle nonsense; however, as they
reached the front doors he said, “I tell you what. We should go for
a ride and show our Jen the countryside. What say you, Jason?”

“Excellent notion, but what does
our
Jen
think—can you ride with your hand still bandaged?”

“She thinks it a splendid notion, and the bandage is
just to keep the wound clean. It is nothing more than a bit of a
hole from the nail.” Jenny laughed.

Mac, however, declined, saying he was off to Dover,
and they watched him make his way towards the stables. Then Jen
beamed at her husband and touched his fingers as she told him she
would go upstairs and change into riding clothes.

* * *

The earl watched his wife rush upstairs as they
entered the house and then turned to find his stepmother coming
towards him. Brad said under his breath, “My cue to leave, by God!”
He hurriedly went back outside, presumably to go to the stables and
have the horses readied.

The earl noted that his stepmother was looking regal
in a gown of dark maroon, though the many jewels she wore spoiled
the effect. Her eyes were glittering with anger. “Jason, I wish to
speak with you.”

“Is that a command?” He cast her an arched look, for
he would not brook her nonsense, and he could see she was in the
devil of a mood.

“Please, do afford me a moment.” She backed down a
bit.

“I only have a moment,” he answered. “Jenny has gone
to change, as we are going for a ride, and I don’t want to keep her
waiting.”

She almost spit as she spluttered, “I must
insist …” She motioned towards the parlor.

He went with her and sighed. “What is it now,
Diane?”

“Don’t take that attitude with me. You have always
been too puffed up in your own consequence.” She was wringing her
hands.

Seeing that she was genuinely distressed, he
relented. “Right then. Tell this arrogant man what is the
problem.”

“
Bradley.
You have put some notion in his
head, and he thinks to go off to India for a year before settling
in London.” She paced. “I won’t have it—I
won’t
.”

“I have not put the notion in his head.” He felt a
touch of sympathy for her. She had been shunned by the local gentry
and had led a lonely life with his father gone and then Brad off to
school. He could understand that now with her son home, she would
not wish to be left alone again. “He came to me with this idea of
following in our father’s footsteps. He wants to make a fortune for
himself in India, and I have said that I would help him if he came
to me with a viable venture.”

“You have robbed him of his home … his
inheritance. You said you never wanted to marry … and
yet …”

“Diane, I know that you are distressed, so I shan’t
bandy words with you. I don’t see the problem here. Brad wants you
to travel with him, meet people, be his hostess for the meetings
and dinner parties he will have to conduct as he looks for just the
right investment. I would think you would be excited.”

She wagged a finger at him, and her eyes filled with
hatred. “I was your father’s
true wife
—I was the one he
loved,
not your mother
 … he never loved your mother.
This is
my home
 … I don’t want to leave it.” She turned
to walk away and did not look back.

He watched her go. He hadn’t before realized how very
much she must resent him and her sister. She had a point. His
father had loved her and had doted on Brad. It was one of the
things that had so distressed Gwen.

Perhaps, he thought as he made his way back to find
his wife, she would, given time, get used to Brad’s idea. He
thought it a wonderful scheme for his younger brother and even for
his stepmother.

His wife
. How those words excited him. He
wanted to say them over and over again. Was it possible for any man
to feel what he felt?
It was magic
. Her touch, her taste,
the sound of her voice wielded itself around his heart and took
possession. He was hers, and this knowledge thrilled him. He wanted
to be hers, just as he was damn sure no other could ever have
her!

* * *

Joy bursting from her, Jenny almost skipped down the
stairs. She noticed that she had left the basket of flowers on the
round center table. She found Wimbly in the dining room putting
away the silverware and handed him the basket. “Would you be so
kind as to find Joan for me and have her put these in water in my
room?”

He inclined his head, a soft smile lighting up his
elderly features. “That I will, my lady.”

She turned and found her husband coming towards her.
Her husband
. The words shot through her system like a bolt
of charged energy, thrilling her beyond expression.

“Jenny,” he said, taking her kid-gloved hands and
standing back to look at his wife in her dark blue riding habit.
“You are enchanting.”

“Am I?” she said and moved in closer to him.

He bent, brushed his lips against hers, and then took
her hand. “Come on then. I am certain Brad must be pacing like a
lunatic waiting on us.”

Some twenty minutes later, they were on a wide riding
trail. All their horses were fidgety for a run, and when Brad
called out, “Come on, you two,” they complied with spirited
laughter.

The freedom to canter was invigorating, and it wasn’t
long before Brad had moved his horse into a gallop. Jenny and the
earl looked at each other, laughed, and gave the horses their head
as they followed suit.

They pulled in as they approached the field fence,
and Brad said with a strange, all too excited glint in his eyes,
“We will have a moon tonight, you know.” He eyed his sister-in-law.
“If you like, Jen, I’ll take you to the beach and show you those
French lights I mentioned.”

Before she could answer, the earl said dryly, “A
delightful scheme, my brother, and you certainly may
join
us
.”

Brad cast him a look and barked a laugh. “Right
then—so it shall be.” He stood in his stirrups and said with a wave
over his horse’s head, “All of this, Jen, is Danfield land.”

“Beautiful,” she said and smiled at him.

“Come on then, let’s ride … see there?” He
pointed into the distance. “If we take this to the right we will
reach a creek with a small bridge that gives us access to
Bridgewater Farm. Papa had the bridge constructed—it saves us an
hour’s ride to the Hedleys. Fine band of men they are, and a
successful farm they run. We lease them the land, but they have
always wanted to purchase it for their own, and Jason here has a
mind to let them.”

“Oh, Jason, how wonderfully kind,” Jenny said.

He shrugged. “They and theirs before them have always
worked the land—it should be theirs.”

She smiled, so very pleased with him, and asked,
“Where does the other path lead?” she asked curiously.

“Aye, the other path leads us to some of the finest
riding territory in this county!” he said proudly.

“Well, then, ’tis to the left,” she declared and
started off at a lope.

They reached a fence-line with a wide gate, and Brad
cursed, “Who the devil locked it?”

“Never mind, brother. We will jump it,” Jason said
happily.

“Aye.” Brad’s face brightened. “But, Jenny, are you
game?”

“Watch me,” she said, pacing her horse easily and
taking the three-foot jump at a trot.

“Top sawyer!” he declared and followed her. They
turned to the earl, who laughed and started his horse forward.

Suddenly, as the earl’s horse gathered itself to
jump, Jason’s expression changed to puzzlement and then grim
determination. The reason became apparent when his saddle flew in
one direction while he went in another.

Everything went dark then for Jenny.

Terror made her body tremble.

Disbelief made her heart accelerate. All her senses
were heightened into one thought.
No,
no,
she
couldn’t lose him … not Jason
. She couldn’t.

The earl toppled and rolled on the earth, and his
horse narrowly missed hitting his head. He lay there where he’d
fallen, unmoving.

Jenny was off her horse and rushing to lean next to
him on the ground. She was vaguely aware that Brad stood next to
her.

His head must have hit something sharp, for blood
dripped down the side of his face. She cried out, “Jason,
Jason …”

He groaned, but relief flooded her because he was
alive. Her worst fear had made her sick, but now she wondered how
this could have happened. She had seen Jason tighten his girth. How
did the saddle come off?

He was winded but not unconscious. She tore off a
piece of her petticoat and put it to the wound. His hair was
already sticky with his blood, and she repeated his name.

His eyelashes rose and drooped, and then he opened
his eyes wide and blinked as he seemed to absorb what had happened
to him.

She felt the dark that had descended over her start
to lift. “Oh, my love …” she whispered, and a sob she had been
holding back escaped her throat.

He blinked his eyes once more and touched her hand.
“Went off, did I?” He shook his head and sat up to look around.
“Odd that … it was an easy jump …”

Brad was already at the Jason’s saddle, examining it.
“You must have not have tied your strap—” He cut himself off as he
bent over the saddle and studied the leather girth more closely.
“What the deuce?”

Jenny was flooded with suspicion.

Brad had gone to the stables before them. Brad stood
to inherit everything if Jason died without an heir. And where had
Diane gone? A saddle didn’t just fall off a horse. Then Brad said
grimly, confirming her worst fears, “It has been cut, Jason—the
leather has been sliced clean.” He shook his head. “I knew
something was wrong as soon as I saw the saddle on the ground. Your
leathers are not old enough to tear … and you are too good a
horseman not to have tightened your girth.”

The earl got to his feet, and Jenny objected as she
rose with him, “You shouldn’t—”

“I am fine, sweetheart.” He patted her hand and then
walked over to his brother and examined the leather girth.
“Indeed,” he said gravely. “This is a clean cut—no doubt someone
thinks he has played a fine trick.”

But Jenny knew he was making light of it for her
sake. She knew this had not been a prank. Setting fire to the shed
had been deliberate, and this had been deliberate!

~
Seventeen ~

A SOLEMN MOOD held the returning party silent. The
saddle had been propped up against a tree and left behind to be
retrieved later by the groom with his pony and cart.

Jason rode bareback with only the blanket between him
and his gelding. They dropped off their horses at the stable with
instructions and walked quietly to the castle.

Jason would not be talked into allowing a doctor to
be fetched, saying his injury was but a bruise. He flicked her nose
and told her what he needed was a hot bath, nothing more.

“Very well, then, my love. Go take your bath. I think
I will just take a walk,” Jenny said.

He nodded but turned to her with a frown. “Jenny,
stay close to the castle. With this last event … well, stay
close.”

She smiled, nodded, and waited for him to call his
valet. She watched as they went up the staircase before she turned
to Brad, who stood silent and darkly thoughtful at her side.

“Brad …” she started.

He looked uncharacteristically out of temper as he
said harshly, “Someone is going to pay for all these
so-called
tricks. First
you
—damn it, Jenny, I’ve been
thinking that you could have been killed in that fire … and
now this
?” He shook his head. “What did they think, Jason
would just take a tumble?”

“Well, they had no way of knowing he would take a
fall during a jump,” Jenny offered.

“Did they not? Well, then, who closed the gate?” he
asked, his eyes narrowing.

“How would they know we would take that direction?”
she asked on a frown.

“They couldn’t be sure, but stands to rights that is
what we would do if we were out for a decent ride.” He bowed to her
and said, “Excuse me, Jen, must have a word with m’mother and let
her know what is towards.”

She watched him go. Could he pretend such concern?
She couldn’t believe it was Brad. He was such a lighthearted man
and only a year or two older than she. Could he plan such a thing?
Would he have locked her in and set the shed on fire? That was
beyond a prank. Would he set out to injure or kill his brother?

It was unthinkable.

She turned, went back outside, and marched to the
stables, where she found a young groom, as the head groom had
already gone off with the pony cart to fetch the saddle.