Regency Romances Page 19

  “Now there’s an act that ought to win you another medal.” Jane teased. “Go on, Susan.”

  “I’ll dance with you, Colonel Riley,” Susan said. “Jane's just mean.”

  Colonel Riley flashed Jane a smile. “Mean? I do not believe your sister has a single mean bone in her body. But perhaps, my lady Susan, I am mistaken in asking you to dance, after all, you may prefer the company of my friend the Duke.”

  “I prefer the company of the man who is here and is asking me,” Susan said. “The Duke, clearly, doesn’t care.”

  “On the contrary, if I am able to reach you first it is only because the Duke, of his superior rank, has far too many men and women surrounding him at all times. I’m a humbler sort.” Colonel Riley smiled. “Still, I’m a luckier sort too, since you have now agreed to dance with me. Come, my lady.”

  He swept Susan away, and Jane watched, a little sadly, wondering if she would be called upon too. She didn’t have long to wait. Before the first song was up, a gentleman from Yorkshire had already appeared to ask her to dance. To her surprise, she was quite popular.

  Indeed, Jane had compared herself for so long with Susan, and heard so many praises sung for her sister, that she often forgot that she was a fairly beautiful woman. In fact, more than one of the gentlemen who had turned to stare when the family had entered, had been looking at her, not Susan. She looked quite fetching in her simple, yet pretty dress. Susan, of course, had assumed that every man who turned towards them was looking at her.

  Unlike Susan, however, Jane did not accept every offer to dance. While Susan spent the night dancing in the company of various men, Jane chose to stay in the corner after two dances, as she felt a little too shy to be on display all the time.

  She was resting and laughing with a group of her old friends from the village when a hand tapped her shoulder. She turned around and was met with a bow by the Duke.

  “Oh! Duke Seymour.” She curtsied. “How may I assist you, sir?”

  “I was looking for your family all evening.” The Duke said with a smile.

  “Did you find what you were looking for, then?” Jane asked, looking at the dance floor, where Susan was now giggling as she danced for the second time with Colonel Riley.

  The Duke did not answer, and instead, asked, “Will you dance with me, my lady?”

  “Me?” Jane looked surprised. “Silver is no reward for a man who hunts for diamonds.” She said gently, casting a glance towards Susan.

  The Duke looked at Susan too but held out his hand to Jane. “I’d be honored if you danced with me.” He said.

  Having given him a chance to get away, Jane saw no option but to accept. She graciously was led to the dance floor by the Duke, and a playful new tune had begun. She saw Susan frown and then walk off the dance floor.

  “My lord, I wonder if I may say something to you?” Jane asked.

  “You may say whatever you like, my lady. For I have found that not a word comes out of your mouth that isn’t aimed to please other people or somehow benefit their life. What is it you wish to say?” The Duke enquired.

  “Just that… if you truly wish for something, you must not allow yourself to be hindered in your quest for it.” Jane said. She cast a glance beyond his shoulder, at Susan once again, who was now sitting unhappily by the wall. “My sister is a beautiful woman, and she is very much keen to dance with you. Yet here you are, dancing with me.”

  “It amazes me that you can be so modest about your own attributes.” The Duke said. “Has no one ever told you that you too are a beautiful woman?”

  “As I said before, I am but silver to her diamond,” Jane said with a smile. “I do not envy her for her natural talents, I simply hope the best for her.”

  “Do you think I will be the best for her?” The Duke asked.

  “If you care about more than her looks and if you care about the sister I love, then yes.” Jane nodded. “She is impatient and somewhat immature at times, but in her heart, Susan is generous, kind and very loving to those she considers her own.”

  “All traits she shares with her sister Jane, yes?” The Duke smiled.

  Jane sighed. “You are deliberately obtuse today, my lord.”

  “Forgive me, my lady, but I enjoy my dance with you far too much to let you proclaim it as a secondhand thing that gives me less joy than other actions might.” The Duke twirled her around and brought her close to him. “I enjoy the lightness of your feet, and the openness of your laughter. I enjoy the sparkle in your eye, and the ease I feel when I dance with you. It's as though I were with an old friend.”

  “Oh.” Jane did not know what to say. Indeed the Duke himself looked confused as if he had not intended to say quite so much. The dance ended, and Jane curtsied once more as she stepped away from the crowd and headed towards her sister. The Duke followed her.

  “My Lady Susan.” The Duke bowed, “I wonder if you would do me the honor of accepting my company for the next dance?”

  Rather coldly, Susan answered, “I’m afraid I’ve already given my next dance to Colonel Riley, my lord. But surely, you’re welcome to dance with my sister again.” With these words, she linked her arm with Colonel Riley’s, and went off, leaving the Duke looking a little pained.

  “Jane, there you are.” Michael appeared, making his way through the crowd. “I’m getting tired of standing around. I’m going to get your mother, and we can all go to the tea room. Would you go and reserve a seat for us?”

  “I’ll be glad to, papa.” Jane rose at once.

  “I’ll accompany you.” The Duke said, offering her his hand.

  Chapter 6

  Tea Room

  Soon enough, Jane and the Duke were seated together, waiting for the others to join their party. After Susan’s cold treatment, Jane had thought the Duke would be quite upset, yet he hardly seemed to have noticed. As a matter of fact, the two were soon chatting like old friends about everything from the music to the weather to the Duke’s plans to build a new hospital in a village near his home.

  “It’s something my father always wanted to do.” The Duke said. “I must take up the torch he has passed me.”

  “It’s an admirable thing,” Jane said. “I’m sure your people will appreciate it, too.”

  The Duke smiled. “Well, it is my duty, isn’t it? After all, what is the purpose of my wealth if I don’t use it helping my people?”

  “There are some who would say the purpose of your money is to make more money for your future generations,” Jane said. “I’m glad to see you think otherwise.”

  “Oh, not that I plan to leave my descendants in penury.” The Duke smiled. “But if I can do some good in the world, I’ll be glad. To be honest, Jane, in the years since I’ve become Duke, I feel like I’ve led a life that includes far too much merrymaking and too little serious work. Before my father passed away, I was with the Navy and felt like I had a clear purpose in the world. Now, all I do is attend balls, go hunting, and wonder what to do next week. Sooner or later, I’m going to change.”

  “Why is that, do you think?” Jane asked.

  The Duke shrugged. “It seems that there are far too many people who will be offended if I don’t attend their balls now that I am a Duke. The same people wouldn’t have cared much otherwise. Also, my mother has told me that since I’m not producing heirs, the least I can do is go to balls and meet people.”

  Jane laughed. “So that is why you’re doing it? To please your mother?”

  “Not entirely.” The Duke said. “After I was discharged from the Navy, I had an idea, somehow, a very fixed idea of what I wanted from my life. I wanted to travel the world, meet beautiful women, engage in merrymaking and not think about all the horrors I’d seen out at sea. I thought that would make me happy.”

  “Did it work?” Jane asked.

  “It did, for a while.” The Duke said. “After the horrors of war, it was a balm to my heart to come to a land where people have no trace of pain on their faces. Then, I went to Par
is.”

  “Yes,” Jane said, not wanting to probe. Her eyes fixed on his, telling him that she was willing to listen but only if he wanted to tell. Once again, the sympathy in his eyes melted his icy exterior.

  “In Paris, I met a woman.” The Duke said. “Few people know of this, apart from Colonel Riley. I fell in love with her.”

  “A lucky woman.” Jane smiled. “But I gather that she didn’t love you?”

  “She loved me, yes, but only for my money. I paid off all her debts and bought her many new clothes. I was young and foolish, and that is my excuse. Eventually, I began to realize what was happening and began to distance myself from her. She didn’t like this. One day, Colonel Riley got into trouble when he lost a card game to her brother. Knowing I had money, and knowing that Riley was my closest friend, the girl, and her brother tried to extort me. They threatened to have Riley killed if I didn’t give them the money. Needless to say, I did what I had to. I paid them off to save Riley’s life.” The Duke shook his head. “The girl told me then that anyone who loved me would only do so for the riches I gave them. It seemed fair, too. After all, the only reason I had loved her was her beauty.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Jane said, feeling at once protective of the Duke. His eyes, which had normally shown only strength, now revealed a vulnerability; a wound that had not yet healed.

  “Don’t be.” The Duke said. “She was right, wasn’t she? That is the way the world works. It is the beauty that men covet and riches that women covet. There is no shame in admitting to it.”

  Jane shrugged. “I do not know.”

  “Oh, but you are an exception.” The Duke smiled. “I have never seen a woman who does not covet beauty. You display no envy at all, even though you are often overlooked for your sister, unjustly, if you ask me, for you are both equals. It is a mark of your wisdom and humility that you do not complain, however.”

  “I have no need to complain,” Jane said simply. “Nor can I say that my lack of envy is any real reflection on my character. I have no ill will against my sister for being born beautiful while I was not. I am hardly tempted by the riches she possesses either. My wants have always been few. Give me a book and a garden, and people who I love and who love me. That is all that I have ever desired. Since my needs are simple, I am hardly tempted by anything she possesses, so I am hardly humble. I do not seek much from life and certainly not riches or good looks. I am simply, uncaring.”

  “Uncaring? That is one thing you are not.” The Duke said. “Nor did I mean to imply that you are any less than your sister.”

  “Come now.” Jane said, “She has golden hair, and a soft face, and fine features. I can hardly compare to Susan.”

  “Ah but you have a beautiful smile and expressive eyes.” The Duke said, “That will make the right man forget all about...” He halted himself here, wondering what he was about to say, and why he had felt compelled to say it. Luckily for him, the awkwardness seemed to pass. Once again, Jane smoothed it over by talking about the antics of a few of their neighbors.

  Soon enough, they had moved on to lighter topics. The Duke marveled how easy it was to be with Jane. With other women, he often had little interest in doing much more than looking at them or dancing with them. When it came to conversation, they tended to bore him by talking about inane subjects such as laces and ribbons, or tease him in a very artificial manner, trying to entice him. Jane did neither. While she spoke to him of her own interest in nature and the books she read, she did not try to dominate the conversation like her sister would have. Instead, she encouraged him to speak too. Soon he found himself telling her about some of his favorite hobbies from observing the stars from the tower of his castle to taking long walks in the mountains.

  As a matter of fact, he was almost sorry when the rest of the party joined them. He’d felt a special sort of peace when alone with Jane, and he found himself almost irritated that her parents and Susan appeared to intrude on that feeling.

  Susan still looked beautiful with her face red from all the dancing she’d done. Her eyes were icy as they settled on him and Jane. The Duke felt almost uncomfortable under her gaze. He was glad, in fact, when a call from Colonel Riley to join some friends in the card room gave him an excuse to leave.

  Even before he had left, Susan wasted no time in speaking to her parents in a rather high pitched voice about what an excellent dancer Colonel Riley was. She turned her head to see his reaction, but the Duke had already disappeared.

  Angrily, Susan turned back to her parents. Only to find Jane watching her.

  “What are you doing, Susan?” Jane asked. “I know you like the Duke. Only a few days ago you could do nothing but sing his praises yet here you are, loudly proclaiming Colonel Riley’s virtues in front of him. Why are you acting this way?”

  “Why am I acting this way?” Susan said angrily. “What do you mean?”

  “You are most inconstant,” Jane said. “Surely, if you have feelings for the Duke, you cannot be so obtuse. He will feel most hurt by your coldness towards him. Why you have not saved a single dance for him tonight!”

  “Oh, you think he’s hurt?” Susan smiled. “Good.”

  Now this, Jane could not tolerate. “Good? Susan, you cannot be glad that your actions have hurt him!”

  “Why not? If I can hurt him, it means he does care for me.” Susan said. “He hasn’t done much to prove it.”

  “He is courting you slowly,” Jane exclaimed. “You must not lose your patience because he does not sweep you off your feet like a less mature man might do.”

  “Well, I want to be swept off,” Susan said. “I do not know why you defend the man so, Jane. He is a boring and stodgy man!”

  “He is none of those things,” Jane said, feeling unnaturally furious at her sister’s cold contempt towards him. “George is a far better man than any other I have met before. He is concerned with people other than himself. He actually cares about making the world a better place. He has been a good soldier in his time; your Colonel Riley himself admires him greatly for repeatedly saving his life. He has been a great friend, going so far as to part with his own money for a friend’s sake. His generosity is a legend among the people of his country, and so are his skills at fencing. As for wit, more than once you have missed the jokes he made, for your own mind works slower than his. He is not one to boast about his attributes, in fact, he actively dislikes praise being heaped on him. Yet in my time I have not met a better man or any man who would make a better husband to the right wife. Susan, he is a truly wonderful man. Even if he had no title and no riches, you would be very lucky to have him!”

  Susan laughed. “From that little speech, it sounds to me that you think you would be very lucky to have him.”

  Jane said nothing, shocked in part by her own vociferousness. The Duke did not need defending from her sister’s contempt. Why then had she felt driven to prove Susan’s loose statement wrong?

  Susan pressed on, looking to wound her sister. “Why little one, I have no reason to feel unhappy. You have my blessings to pursue the Duke. However, I’d advise you not to be so stupid as to think he cares for you simply because he has been paying you some attention. You cannot imagine a man like him would ever want one like you. I doubt he even thinks of you as a real woman; you’re just someone he spent time with when I wasn’t available.”

  If Susan had taken a whip to her, Jane could not have been more hurt. Each word lashed against her heart, more so because she knew these words to be true. After all, the Duke had said it himself. He wanted a woman who was beautiful, and he expected her to want him for his money. He was searching for a woman such as Susan, who would take away the breaths of all those who saw her. Not a plain woman such as herself. Jane sighed as she realized the truth. Susan was right. The Duke had only spoken to her as an amusement while waiting on her sister. He might even be fond of her, in the vague way one can be fond of a pet or a little child. The Duke did not see her as a woman with a beating heart. What wa
s worse, while she was with the Duke, Jane herself had never thought of her own heart. She had pushed aside all its cries, or locked away the stray thoughts that came into her head, yet now, they all came rushing into her mind.

  Since the very day she had seen him, since the first moment their eyes had met, Jane realized, she had been in love with the Duke. Today, when she had spoken to him, when she had seen the vulnerability hidden behind his strength, she had fallen in love with him even more deeply than she had been before. It was impossible to deny it anymore.

  She looked at Susan with tears in her eyes as this realization hit her. To her surprise, her sister was gentle.

  “I’ve said too much,” Susan said. “I know I have. Forgive me, sister. I have a temper, and I have far too much pride, and I suppose I had felt rather ignored by the Duke when he preferred your company to mine. Still, I did not mean to hurt you, please believe me. I just hope that you won’t fall in love with him. After all, he’s a Duke, and he has certain expectations of the girl he will marry.”

  Jane nodded miserably. It was no use telling Susan that her gentle kindness now felt even more hurtful to Jane’s raw heart. After all, even when she was kind, it was apparent from Susan’s voice that she didn’t think the Duke would ever care for Jane. Why would he, really? His caring for her was as unlikely as the sun coming down to visit earth.

  Chapter 7

  A Chance Meeting

  Jane spent the next few days doing all the work she was accustomed to, yet feeling rather miserable inside. She did not let the others know of her feelings, and yet, her usual bright laughter was missing from the house. Her melancholy demeanor made the others feel equally sorrowful, without quite knowing the reason why.

  Seeing their daughter’s unhappiness and bewildered as to the cause, Margaret and Michael made more of an effort to be gentle with her. Margaret cooked her some of her favorite dishes while Michael spent time with her talking of his adventures as a youth. But a broken heart does not desire the company of parents. To Jane, who wanted to hide any evidence of her unhappiness, being forced to spend time with them was a painful reminder of the past. It didn’t help that in an attempt to cheer her up, they often talked about the Duke and Susan. They told her that if Susan did marry the Duke why Jane’s prospects would become quite rosy. Neither of them saw the way Jane flinched at the mention of the Duke’s marriage.