Page 58 of Stolen By the Heartless Duke
Jane frowned harder.
“You are making that face again.”
She blinked. “What face?”
“The one that says you are arguing with yourself,” Lavinia said.
“I was not.”
“You absolutely were.”
Jane looked away. “I was merely thinking.”
Lavinia laughed. “That sounds dangerous.”
“It often is.”
Lavinia slipped her arm through Jane’s again. “Then perhaps you should tell me these dangerous thoughts.”
Jane smiled. “I believe I’ll keep them.”
“For now?”
Jane smiled. “Forever.”
“We shall see.”
They resumed walking. Ahead, the promenade widened where several benches overlooked the Serpentine.
Ladies gathered beneath colorful parasols while gentlemen discussed politics nearby. A violinist played softly beneath a great oak tree.
The world continued as though kidnappings did not happen… as though brothers did not vanish… as though titles were not hanging by a thread.
Jane wondered if she envied those people. Or pitied them. Because she now understood something they did not.
Life could change in a single gunshot. Everything one believed secure could disappear before the evening ended.
She had learned that lesson. She suspected she would never forget it.
Beside her, Lavinia gently squeezed her arm. “You disappeared again.”
“I fear I do that rather often lately.”
“Then allow me to rescue you,” Lavinia said.
Jane glanced sideways. “How?”
Lavinia smiled mischievously. “By insisting we continue walking until someone offers us lemonade.”
Jane laughed. “I fail to see how that rescues anyone.”
“It rescues me.” She linked their arms more firmly. “And if I am rescued, naturally my dearest friend must be rescued as well.”
Jane’s laughter lingered longer this time. For the first time since arriving in the park, she felt almost normal. She knew the peace would not last.
There were still secrets to uncover. A missing brother to find. An uncle tightening his grip upon Wynten House.
And somewhere in London, a brooding duke who would undoubtedly appear again far sooner than was good for either of them.
