The Passionate Love of a Rake. Jane Lark

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      “Ah, my dear.” Violet smiled and beckoned Jane forward. “You must be starving.”

      Jane smiled and took the seat that a footman withdrew, facing Violet.

      “Coffee, please,” Jane ordered. She needed something to get her thoughts in order. The footman poured it.

      “And now, Daniels, disappear. I am sure Jane will be happy to serve herself.” Violet waved him off with a flick of her hand.

      Jane’s fingers trembled as she reached for her cup and, yet again, she remembered the things Robert had done last night.

      He’d dislodged her sanity. Her tingling senses just kept stirring memories in her head, of his kisses and his touch. The image of his predatory stare in the ballroom hung in her mind, too, and the conversation she’d overheard.

      He knew how to capture a woman’s interest. He knew how to speak his intention without words. He knew how to make a woman feel special. No wonder he was infamous.

      She thought of his room, of the props set out for Lady Baxter, not her. Yet, as she pictured it, she heard the apology he’d given as he’d left.

      The door clicked shut behind the footman. Jane looked up and met Violet’s gaze.

      “Well, well, Jane,” Violet whispered, her eyes dancing with silent laughter. “And there was I thinking you the shy and retiring type. How wrong I was!”

      Jane opened her mouth to answer, but Violet lifted her hand.

      “No need for explanations. I am not shocked in the least. But surprised, yes! Your husband is but weeks in the grave and you allow Barrington to take you home. I am sorry, Jane, but you are fooling no one now. You must take off those blacks.” Violet laughed.

      Jane opened her mouth again, but Violet’s butter knife lifted and bobbed up and down, pointing in Jane’s direction.

      “Do not try to deny it, my dear, you cannot. I saw you return in his carriage in the early hours, with Barrington in dishabille.”

      “But I did not—”

      “Oh Jane, there is no need to explain. I really do not care what you do. You know I am partial to the company of men. But you have outdone me by a mile. It was at least a year after my dear Frederick passed before I took another man.

      “However I suppose the former Duke of Sutton can be no comparison to a buck like Barrington. Yet, you strike me as a woman with a tender heart, Jane, and Barrington is likely to break it. As I said last night, he is not known for his constancy. The man is fickle. He’s littered Europe with broken hearts.”

      Jane interrupted then, her coffee cup clicking back down on its saucer. She could not let Violet think Robert was any man. “Violet, you misunderstood. He and I are old friends. Last night was not our first meeting, and—”

      Violet’s knife bobbed again. “Jane, have you been keeping secrets? Friends with Barrington, indeed? Why did you not mention it?”

      “Because I had no idea he was in London, and it is a lifetime since I last saw him.” To Violet’s knowing look, Jane added, “It is not what you think, Violet. My father’s estate and his bordered one another. We knew each other as children. We were catching up, that is all.”

      Violet laughed. “And does catching up remove a gentleman’s cravat?”

      Jane felt a blush rise in her cheeks.

      “Well, it is of no concern to me if you were catching up or not, just guard your heart, Jane. Your friend or not, he is not reliable.”

      That hardly mattered. Jane knew she had no heart to break. He’d shattered it years ago. Then why was there a deep ache lodged in her chest this morning?

      “See.” Violet pointed her knife again, and her voice rose in pitch, but she smiled. “You are already affected. You cannot take your mind from him. Beware.”

      Jane smiled too, and wondered where she would be without Violet. But she still denied the truth with a blatant lie. “I am not affected. He has simply reminded me of the past, that is all.”

      Violet’s eyebrows lifted.

      Jane blushed, but she did not let Violet speak. “We were very young, nothing happened, and please, do not say anything to anyone else, or to him. It would mortify me if it became common knowledge, especially with his reputation as it stands. I would rather keep our former friendship between ourselves.”

      Violet’s colour suddenly heightened, too.

      Jane assumed she had caused offence.

      “I am not a gossip, Jane. You are my friend. But if you wish to keep it secret, then disappearing with him from an event the size of the Duchess of Weldon’s was not the way to do it.”

      “I know, it was foolish.” Jane felt a blush again. “I was just surprised to see him, and when he suggested it, I did not think.”

      “A symptom which is common for women in Barrington’s company, I believe.”

      “You do not like him?” A memory of the scene in his bedchamber spun through Jane’s head. Had Violet?

      “I only know him by reputation. But he is not for me, and I have not, Jane, if that is what you are asking.” Jane felt her skin turn crimson as Violet continued. “He is polite and indecently good-looking. But just keep your head over the man, Jane. I do not wish to see you hurt.”

      The thought gave Jane pause. The man who’d apologised before he’d left had been the Robert she remembered and had loved, and the one who’d kissed her palm … But Violet implied he treated women callously and last night, it had seemed he could. The room had been dressed so carefully, and they’d shared such intimacies, yet he’d shared the same with numerous women. It appeared it was the act of sex he was attracted to, not the woman, if he could swap his attentions from Lady Baxter to her so easily.

      She’d known he’d changed though. It was no surprise. “I did not have to come to London to hear his reputation. The gossip sheets have been full of tales about him for years, Violet. I know what he’s become. You do not need to warn me. But he was like a brother to me as a child.” She could not think him callous.

      “A brother?” Violet challenged with another laugh.

      “And later, a good friend,” Jane redefined at Violet’s dismissive hand gesture.

      “A good friend who is a good kisser, no? You did not look at all like brother and sister from my bedroom window last night. You looked thoroughly kissed, and he looked—”

      “I—” Jane again sought to deny it, but Violet stopped her, lifting her hand.

      “Never mind, Jane. I am only teasing you. You do not need to justify yourself to me.” Then with a smile she asked, “Well, then, what shall we do today? Lord Sparks has invited us to the horse races, if you would like to go?”

      Jane smiled and nodded. Most of their days had been spent visiting or shopping. Watching the races would be a novelty. СКАЧАТЬ