Page 46 of To Follow her Heart

“Oh, there are, but I refuse to believe you the least bit ignorant. You are funning, my lord, I know. What a marvellous painting of your father by Reynolds, though. Quite his finest, I think. I studied it for the longest time. There’s a strong resemblance between you.”

“Is there?” Jasper asked, genuinely surprised. “I confess I’ve never found one, and I have looked. Both Jerome and I favour our mother.”

“Oh, yes certainly,” said Lady Frances, her blue eyes grave. “But if one looks carefully you are like your father too. It’s in your bearing, in the breadth of your shoulders, and a…” A smile played over her rosebud lips and she sent him another hesitant glance. “A certain je ne sais quoi.”

“I know what it is,” Harriet said, making him jump as she came up behind them and poured herself a glass of lemonade. For once, he’d not heard her approach.

“Oh?” Lady Frances replied, snapping open her fan and giving Harriet a cool glance from behind it.

“Yes,” Harriet said, taking a sip of her lemonade and regarding the selection of cakes and biscuits laid out for the guests. “I was here when that was painted.”

Jasper watched her peruse the extensive assortment. Ginger, he thought, and watched as she reached for the spicy treat with a smile.

“Don’t you remember?” she asked, surprising Jasper again by addressing him directly. “He’d eaten a great deal too much rhubarb compote and had terrible indigestion. I made him mint tea, but it was days before he was comfortable again. I always thought Reynolds caught his rather pinched expression. I noticed the other night you have a fondness for rhubarb yourself. No doubt you’ve got the same constitution as your father and Lady Frances has remarked the same expression of discomfort.” She took a bite of her biscuit, sighing with pleasure before adding. “You should try one of these, my lord. Ginger is noted for being good for the digestion.”

Harriet sauntered off again, biscuit in hand, and Jasper stared after her for a moment in quiet awe before giving a bark of laughter.

“Well,” Lady Frances said, looking outraged. “How dare she say such things about you? I’ve heard nothing so insulting in all my life.”

Jasper looked at her with disbelief. “Really?” he said, unable to hide his amusement. “Have you not been paying attention? She’s been insulting me since she got here. That was an excellent one I admit, though she can do far better when I’ve annoyed her, I assure you.”

She stared up at him, her confusion at Jasper’s humour apparent, not that he cared.

“But she insulted your father, too, not to mention that fine portrait.”

Jasper frowned. “No, she didn’t. She adored my father. What she said is quite true. If my father were here, he’d be in fits. He always appreciated her sharp tongue,” he said, allowing himself a wistful smile. He gave Lady Frances an amused nod, noting her utter bewilderment, and walked away, smiling.

Whether or not she had meant to, Harriet had saved him from Lady Frances, and Jasper was in an excellent mood.

Chapter 13

Dear Father,

I received your letter and quite understand that your studies will keep you abroad sometime longer. However, could we not return home? I know the work to the house was more serious that you expected and is not yet completed, but surely the entire place is not reduced to dust and rubble.

It’s not that I dislike remaining with St Clair until summer’s end, and he certainly won’t mind a bit. Harriet is not comfortable here, though, and this news will not please her. You know how prickly she is when she is not pleased.

Could I respectfully ask you to reconsider?

―Excerpt of a letter from Mr Henry Stanhope to his father, Mr William Stanhope.

23rd August 1814, Holbrooke House, Sussex.

Luke laughed as Henry groaned and rolled his eyes when they announced the winners. Not that there was much surprise. Miss Stanhope and Jerome had won the trophy with ease. Jasper and Miss Campbell had taken second place, Miss Stone and Henry third, with himself and Kitty tying with Mr Burton and Matilda for last place.

Luke was astonished he’d got a single arrow to hit home, to be honest. All his attention had been riveted on Kitty, even though he’d forced himself not to look at her too closely or too often. He was simply aware of her, as aware as of his own heart beating; he didn’t have to feel it pound to know it was doing so, but he’d know if it stopped quickly enough.

Waves of nostalgia assaulted him when he allowed himself a moment to watch her. Her thick black hair was escaping its pins, and more of it tumbled loose with each passing hour. His fingers itched to touch it, and he remembered the silky feel of it, how it looked when it was free and unbound as it had been when she was a child. He’d been fascinated by it as a boy and had often wound her curls about his finger, tugging them and watching them spring back around her face like magic.

She’d seemed a wild thing from the first, like some tricksy fae come to tempt him into her realm where he’d be kept a prisoner for the rest of his days. She had done just that, he thought with a smile. He’d been hers from the start, bewitched by those dark eyes and the touch of her hand on his cheek.

“I’ve found you, and you’ve found me, and so… we shall be together, and never alone again.”

Her words echoed through him, making his heart ache. They had been alone for far too long, but it hadn’t been her fault. She’d searched for him, waited for him, when he’d believed his life was over and had given up, crushed beneath the power of the family who’d taken him.

Kitty would never have been crushed, he thought, experiencing equal parts pride and guilt at the idea. He’d been weak to allow others to trample his dreams, but he was done with such weakness. He’d made Mr Derby and Trevick promises and commitments, but they had wrung those promises from a boy they had bullied into submission and moulded into their perfect heir. Well, he’d learned his lessons. He’d learned how to be like them, and whilst he had no intention of being like them, he knew he was strong enough to defy them now. He would take their teachings and play by their rules, which was to say with his own best interests at heart.

With Kitty at his side he felt like a knight on a quest, like they had as children when they planned their next great adventure. Now, the greatest adventure of all lay before them, and Luke was beside himself with excitement. Now that freedom was in his grasp, he realised he had been imprisoned all this time. The future which had loomed on the horizon like a great hungry beast, ready to devour him, was now an open expanse of possibilities. The weight that had sat upon his shoulders had lifted and he was as hopeful and optimistic as he’d been when a boy, before Derby had stolen his life and his hopes, and locked him into the cage made for Trevick’s last living heir.