Chapter 11
Beyond flustered at overhearing the gentlemen besmirching gossips, Anna approached Emily and Lord Tipton even though she had hoped the two might have some time to truly get to know each other.
Emily glanced over and smiled, her eyes bright. “Oh, Anna. Lord Tipton was just telling me how much he loves to read. Why don’t you go and fetch a story and read it to us all?”
Lord Tipton smiled, his teeth perfect. Anna didn’t think she ever saw him smile before. “Please.”
“A grand idea,” the duke said as he walked over. He draped an arm around Lord Tipton’s shoulder.
Poor Lord Tipton looked positively uncomfortable, and Anna nodded and ducked out of the room. She was far too uneasy to be able to recall a story from memory, and she would not risk making a fool of herself in front of them.
In the small office off a library that her mother gave her from which to conduct her charity work, she riffled through her papers, trying to decide which story to tell. She wanted to save the pirate story for the children at the orphanage, as she had finished it just two nights past. The second one she wrote with Lord Pershore as the villain, the one where Emily and Lord Tipton end up together… if she were careful to give them different names… Yes. That would do quite nicely.
A knock at the door had her jumping, and a few of the papers slipped through her fingers and drifted to the ground.
“Allow me.” Without waiting for her to invite him in, Lord Pershore entered the room and picked up some of the papers.
She picked up the rest and clutched them all to her chest. He hadn’t noticed his name on any of the papers, had he? “What are you doing here?” she demanded, glancing around.
He flushed. “You were taking a long time, and Lady Emily thought… I did not mean to startle you.”
Anna lowered her gaze. “I’m sorry, too. Shall we?”
Amazingly, he offered her his arm, and she only hesitated a moment before taking it. They rejoined the others, and despite the brisk weather, everyone agreed with her suggestion that she read outside. She led them to her favorite rock, which she stood on and read the story by lantern light. Everyone enjoyed the tale and clapped when she finished, and Anna flushed with pride.
But then it all crumbled apart. The duke bid everyone farewell and left, and Emily and Lord Tipton, along with a chaperone, went off for a walk, leaving Anna alone with Lord Pershore, and her maid as chaperone.
Anna fiddled with her papers and clutched them to her chest. “I confess I overheard you talking earlier about gossips. You seem rather… predisposed toward not liking them. Which I understand,” she rushed to add. “Speaking about others behind their backs is not kindly at all…”
Oh, perhaps one day she should learn that the words out of her mouth were nowhere near as eloquent as the ones she quilled!
Why was Lady Anna bringing up this conversation? She seemed so flustered and rattled. Were his musings about her role in that particular nasty affair correct after all? Her story had been enjoyable and adventurous, and he had enjoyed hearing it immensely. It suggested that she took up the quill often. Why, she might even write for…
Jasper did his best to not scowl. “I think that those who would lie to sell papers should be hanged.”
Her eyes widened, and she took a step back on the rock.
He held out his hand to help her down. “I do not care for the likes of The Teatime Tattler especially. It grates me that—”
“Have you read Aunt Augusta’s column? She gives ladies and gentlemen hope and advice about love and more. I, myself, find it a kind read. Surely even you can find no fault with it.”
He scoffed. “Every week, Aunt Augusta repeats herself. ‘Love will find a way.’ ‘Love is worth the wait.’ She oversimplifies love.”
“So you think love is complicated?”
Belatedly, he realized their hands were still clasped, and he released his hold on her. “Matters of the heart are complicated, trying… very difficult.”
“It sounds like there might be a story there,” she said with a teasing smile.
He couldn’t tell her, wouldn’t, but for a brief moment, he did consider it. Why bother? It was trying to move on as it was, and he was having difficulty doing so. Talking about it would not help, and of all people, why should he tell her?
For once, though, conversation with her did not feel forced or awkward.
A sudden gust of wind blew a few papers from Lady Anna’s hand. Laughing, they chased each one down, and when they captured them all, Jasper held out a hand to secure them for her. They stood far too close together—their chaperone seemed to be missing—and he stared down at her. He couldn’t understand why she hid herself away from gatherings, like he did. If she went to all the balls and gatherings, she would be betrothed herself. She was a fine, beautiful lady and…
“You make me want to become a thief,” he murmured, not quite understanding why he felt this way.
“A thief? I make you want to steal what exactly?” She looked up at him from beneath her long eyelashes.
“A kiss.”
Her cheeks were a lovely shade of pink. From the excursion of retrieving her papers? Or from his words?
Her eyes fluttered close, and she lifted her chin. He started to close his eyes when he spied a word on one of the papers she held.
His name.
How curious. He stepped back and read a page he held. “I’m the villain of the tale? Not George?”
Lady Anna opened and closed her mouth. Words seemed to have failed her. Crossing his arms, Jasper waited for an explanation.
Mortified, Anna tried to think of something to say that did not sound completely horrible. He is going to think the worst of me, and I deserve it. Mother wanted me to give him a chance, and I hadn’t wanted to at first, and now…
She stared at the papers he held. “When I first met you, I…” she said slowly, attempting to explain the matter honestly, “I thought you appalling and terrible, and, well, I even wrote you a letter about how unsuitable you are, and why am I still talking? You could have stopped me at any time!” If she had a free hand, she would have covered her mouth.
To her astonishment, Lord Pershore laughed, the sound strangely settling her nerves. “Unsuitable for what?”
“I would rather not say.” Her cheeks felt so warm despite the brisk air.
“I wish to see such a letter.”
“Oh, no! I didn’t know you and—”
“You don’t know me entirely now.”
“Not yet,” she conceded, “but… I think… I think I might want to. Will you be going to the duchess’s house party?”
“I hadn’t decided yet, but I might be able to be persuaded to.”
Anna smiled shyly. She should have given him a chance right from the start, as her mother had wished. Perhaps first impressions weren’t always accurate.
They started to walk back toward the house, completely at ease with each other, when curiosity stirred her to ask, “Might you one day tell me your story?”
In an instant, he stiffened. “Perhaps.”
“Don’t you trust me?” she asked lightly.
He didn’t answer.
Was it because of her letter? Why had she mentioned it at all?
Or perhaps it was because he thought her prying and prone to gossip. If he were to discover that her mother was Aunt Augusta…
It did not surprise Anna that Lord Pershore left shortly thereafter, but it did surprise her that she missed him already.
Perhaps the house party would thaw her heart from Benjamin, and perhaps one day, Lord Pershore would steal that kiss.
Perhaps a Christmas kiss…
She found herself hoping that might be the case.