Page 55 of Stolen By the Heartless Duke

Lady Wynten squeezed her arm. “The law rarely asks for women’s opinions either.”

Jane looked at her mother. There was no bitterness in her voice. Only a weary acceptance. Her stomach rolled with anger, and she felt the rush of her blood in her ears. She could not accept this anymore. She had accepted enough during these past weeks.

She would find Colin. Somehow she would prove Zachary wrong. Even if she had to ride across every mile of England beside the most infuriating duke ever born.

The thought surprised her. She had not meant to think of him. Yet she remembered the certainty in his voice—the confidence with which he had taught her to escape a man’s grasp.

Today, those lessons had mattered.

She realized that the only one who’d actually helped her in this mess was the Duke of Sunderford.

Chapter Seven

“It is a beautiful morning,” Lavinia declared, tilting her face toward the warm June sun. “London almost looks respectable when the weather cooperates.”

The gravel crunched beneath Jane’s slippers as she matched Lavinia’s easy pace along Rotten Row.

Jane smiled faintly. “Almost.”

The avenue bustled with fashionable ladies carrying delicate parasols while gentlemen escorted them beneath rows of towering trees. Fine carriages rolled slowly past, their occupants observing as much as being observed. Children chased hoops along the wider paths, their nurses calling after them, while riders guided elegant horses through Hyde Park’s famous promenade.

It should have felt ordinary. Only a few weeks ago, Jane would have enjoyed an outing such as this. Instead, every step feltmeasured. Every glance lingered too long. Every whispered conversation seemed to stop just as she approached.

She tried not to notice. She failed.

“There she is.” The words floated across the path from somewhere behind them.

Jane kept walking, but she could still hear the ladies whispering behind their fans.

“Poor thing.”

“I heard they still haven’t found Lord Wynten.”

“I heard it was gambling debts.”

“I was told the men who took him had foreign agents.”

“My sister swears it was smugglers.”

Jane fixed her eyes upon the path ahead. None of them knew anything. Yet every one of them spoke with complete certainty.

Lavinia subtly shifted closer until their sleeves brushed together. “Eyes forward.”

Another carriage rolled past. The lady seated inside stared openly at Jane before leaning toward her companion. The companion immediately turned to look as well.

Jane recognized neither woman. Apparently they recognized her. “I imagine my face has become surprisingly memorable.”

“It has.”

Jane sighed. “That was not terribly comforting.”

“It was not intended to be.” Lavinia’s tone remained light, but Jane knew her friend was deliberately trying to distract her. For that alone, she loved her.

They continued walking beneath the shade of the great elms. For several blessed minutes, no one disturbed them.

Jane found herself listening instead to birdsong overhead and the distant laughter of children. She had nearly convinced herself to relax when a gentleman’s voice drifted toward them.

“I simply cannot imagine why Lady Jane remains in town.”