Page 59 of The Rake’s Convenient Bride

Jasper gave a solemn nod. “I never should have let things progress to this point. I ought to have been up front from the first, to let her know how I…”

He tapered off. His heart was not for them. It was for Elizabeth alone.

But apparently his speech had been enough for Lady Brightstone to give him a broad smile, her hand set atop her round belly. “We can do better than pass on a message. We know where she is so that you might deliver what you wish to say in person.”

Jasper tilted his head. “Is she not in London?”

“I offered her the use of my private retreat,” Lady Brightstone said proudly. “Knowing she would go there.”

“And that if you wanted to find her,” Miss Honeyfield added, “we could tell you exactly where to go.”

“If you truly loved her and we knew your intentions to be true,” Miss Beauchamp added, that warning glint still evident in her gaze.

At this point, Bess gave Jasper a knowing smile. “I assumed correctly that there was great benefit to acquainting myself with these clever young ladies.”

“She left for Rosewood Manor this morning,” Lady Jillian said. “Or as we call it, the Spinster’s Sanctuary. It’s located in Kent.”

Spinster’s Sanctuary?

But with the wistful look that touched Lady Jillian’s face, he opted not to question the odd name.

The five women stared at him expectantly.

“I imagine if you leave now, you’ll arrive not long after her.” Lucy nodded encouragingly.

“And if I leave by horseback, I might arrive when she does,” he mused aloud.

“Marvelous,” Hannah exclaimed. “Oh, I haven’t had this much fun in an age.”

The women began chatting amongst themselves, but Jasper did not stay to listen. He exited the room with purposeful strides to seek out his valet to pack his satchel and his stable master to prepare his steed posthaste.

He needed to see Elizabeth, to proclaim his love.

Devil’s Snare—or Devil, as Jasper affectionately referred to him—was waiting for him when he arrived at the stable, saddled and stocked with a bag of provisions. The black stallion nuzzled Jasper when he arrived, and immediately began nodding his great head with an urgency. Devil had a penchant for galloping when he ought to trot, and a determination that set him above the rest. He pawed the ground impatiently, his skin quivering with anticipation, even as Jasper secured his satchel and swung up into the waiting saddle.

Jasper needed only to click his tongue and his steed was off like a shot, charging through the mews, edging around London traffic with apparent aggravation. Paved streets gave way to hard-packed dirt roads, and finally Devil was stretching his legs out in a full gallop on the outskirts of the city.

Heavy clouds hung overhead, promising rain that Jasper hoped might leave off for long enough for him to arrive at Spinster’s Manor, or whatever they’d called it.

The day was long, with Jasper scanning the horizon for Elizabeth’s carriage, even as he paused from time to time to offer Devil a respite. Not that the young stallion needed one. Jasper had scarcely caught his own breath before the beast was pawing at the earth once more, eager to race across the countryside after being penned up in the city for far too long.

They were close to the area surrounding Spinster’s Place when rain began to spit down at them from the heavy clouds.

Not that it mattered as they were very nearly there.

And then, of all ridiculous things, a tree stump came into view at the side of the road, not at all noticeable until they were directly upon it.

Devil’s Snare had always been fearless, uncaring if a cape flapped in his periphery, heedless if someone shouted near his head, and impervious to rain or shine, sleet or snow. But good God, how that horse detested tree stumps. As if these bits of foreign material jutted up from the earth with malintent, specifically to cause his demise.

Just as Jasper caught sight of the tree stump, Devil leapt from the earth as if it suddenly turned to flame, bucking his unease with a frantic, frenzied fear.

“It’s only a stump, boy,” Jasper soothed through gritted teeth as he tried desperately to hang on.

His foot slipped from one stirrup.

Jasper clung to the horse’s broad body with the force of his inner thighs. But his efforts were no match for the next buck, which sent him flying from the massive horse, directly toward that stump.

An explosion of pain rang out at the back of Jasper’s head as his body tumbled awkwardly to the ground. Stars danced in his eyes and mixed with the flecks of raindrops coming faster now, pelting his face with what felt like ice.