Page 36 of A Stormy Season

After the servant left, she saw the card. It read,Beauties for a beauty. L. Watley.

Her heart did a little flutter inside her chest.

Of course, he was only sending flowers because it was a customary gift from a gentleman to his fiancée when they became engaged. But she couldn’t help admiring both his taste in flowers and the fact that he called her “a beauty.”

Jane felt herself smiling as she carried the armful of flowers back down the stairs.

“They are beautiful, Jane!” Penelope cried as she emerged from her room, and then she gasped. “Are they from Mr. Watley?”

“Yes.”

Penelope hurried down the stairs after her. “May I read the note?” She giggled.

“I’ve never seen you so excited, Penelope.” Jane couldn’t help but laugh in return. “Of course you may read the note.”

Penelope seized the card and read it silently, then sighed. “He is so romantic,” she whispered.

Jane wanted to scold her and say it was not romantic when their engagement was feigned and not real, but she couldn’t, in case the servants were listening.

Penelope had never been artificial, so Jane feared her sister-in-law truly hoped Luke Watley was in love with her. But Jane knew that he wasn’t. He hadn’t protested in the least when Jane refused his offer of marriage and gave as her reason the fact that he did not love her.

For several moments, after Jane saw the flowers and read the card, she had the kind of strange sensations that she imagined she would feel if she truly was in love, and engaged to, a man who loved her. And she liked those sensations very much.

Was this deception destined to end badly for her heart?

~ ~ ~

Luke called on Jane the next day, as a good fiancé naturally would. She seemed to be expecting him, and the flowers he’d sent to her were prominently displayed in the sitting room.

The engagement was beginning to feel real.

Penelope Gilchrist was in the room as well, no doubt for propriety’s sake. She had her child with her, who was about a year old, and was playing little games and singing nursery rhymes while she sat on her lap.

“She would make an adorable playmate for Jeffrey, would she not?” Jane was smiling at the little girl.

“She would indeed.” Luke felt a fresh ache in his chest at the mention of Jeffrey. “I was hoping to return to Hertfordshire to visit Jeffrey in a few days. Would you like to accompany me?”

He expected Jane to say that she couldn’t spare the time away from her shop, or make some other excuse, but she said, “Yes, that will be lovely.”

Luke felt an immediate rise in his spirits.

“Would you be willing to accompany us, Mrs. Gilchirst?” Luke couldn’t think of anyone he would rather ask to be their chaperone than Henry’s wife. “Perhaps Henry will allow you some time away from London.”

“As a matter of fact, he has been urging me to go back to our country home and away from such dangers as you and Jane have suffered.”

“Yes, do come with us, Penelope,” Jane said, her face suddenly quite animated. “It will do us all good to get some fresh air.”

“But first, the two of you should be seen publicly together. You can let everyone know you are engaged to be married.”

“Is there not a concert or theatrical at which we could promenade ourselves?” Jane glanced around. “Where is the paper?”

The newspaper was fetched and they soon realized they’d have to settle for purchasing whatever tickets could still be had.

“For myself, I would prefer a theatrical,” Jane said, “but if there are no seats remaining, I will be content with a concert. What do you think, Mr. Watley?” She turned her bright blue eyes on him.

“I am content with either. Just don’t force me to attend any lectures.”

“You dislike lectures?”