Chapter 4

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Chapter Four

The next day Jane was distracting herself from the shock discovery about Daniel by getting to know her newest nephew. She loved Henry as much as she loved her last four. There was something about the innocent look a baby gave someone that made one feel as though they were the most important person in the world

Henry gurgled as Jane bounced him on her lap. She cradled him in her arms and tickled his stomach to which he let out an adorable laugh. She loved his big brown eyes, they were so full of wonder and the smallest thing made them widen as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. Even though she didn’t desire a husband for herself, she would love a little baby to nurture one day.

“Who’s a handsome boy, Henry?” Jane cooed.

There was a light knock on the door and Mr Carter cleared his throat. “Ma’am, you have a visitor,” he said formally.

Jane found it humorous that Mr Carter called her ‘ma’am’. He couldn’t call her ‘milady’ as she wasn’t titled so she was called ‘ma’am’ and it made her feel frightfully old.

“A visitor?” she furrowed her eyebrows. She didn’t know anyone on London aside from her family and they all resided in the same house. “Who is it?”

“Lord Southerby, ma’am,” Mr Carter replied.

Jane’s stomach churned at the thought of seeing the adulterous man. She didn’t want to be rude, but in his presence she wasn’t sure if she could hold her tongue. “Tell him I am not here ... tell him I’ve gone out and won’t be back until dawn ... I don’t know, Mr Carter, you make something up, just make sure he leaves.”

“Miss Alcott,” Mr Carter said awkwardly.

“Miss Alcott, Lord Southerby is standing directly behind Mr Carter and just heard your diversion speech. Lord Southerby also knows you are home,” she heard Daniel call sarcastically from outside the door.

Jane felt as if she would be sick when she heard his voice. She felt embarrassed at her own stupidity but she also felt murderously angry at him. She nodded once to Mr Carter to allow Daniel’s entry.

He entered the room with a solemn expression on his face. His clothes were made of the finest material and she could have sworn that his buttons were real gold. His dark eyes bore into her from the other side of the room. Reluctantly Jane clutched Henry to her chest as she rose to receive him.

“Lord Southerby,” Jane sniffed as she curtseyed out of duty.

“Miss Alcott,” Daniel bowed his head.

“What service may I do of you?” she asked curtly.

Daniel’s shoulders relaxed a little as he spoke. “I have not come to ask of you anything, on the contrary. I have come to ask your forgiveness for my behaviour yesterday. I pride myself on being a gentleman and I was not so yesterday.”

“I should think not,” Jane scoffed without thinking. She quickly pursed her lips as Daniel’s eyebrows rose.

“Even so,” Daniel sighed. “I should not have spoken so harshly to you, you are a lady after all and I should have been more polite.”

Jane furrowed her eyebrows as she adjusted Henry onto her hip, after holding him for so long he became rather heavy. “Are you apologising, milord?”

Daniel nodded once. “I am. Do you accept?”

Jane could forgive him for being short with her but it went against every moral she was raised upon to forgive a man who willingly betrayed his wife. She would not remain silent; to do so would be to deny her beliefs. “How could you do it to your wife?” she shook her head in disbelief. “Do you not think of Lady Sabine whenever you try to seduce another lady of the ton?”

His brown eyes turned to black as she asked the question. He looked as though he wanted to hurl something at her. She instinctively covered Henry’s face from view. “Does it please you to be so painfully blunt, Miss Alcott?” he seethed.

“I speak only the truth, Lord Southerby. You are committing adultery and it would make me a terrible person to just stand by and watch.”

“Don’t I know it?” Daniel exclaimed. “I know exactly what I am doing, and who I am hurting!” his voice rose to a shout. Henry began to stir and grizzle at the sudden noise. “You have no idea what is going on, you are a child yourself, what say have you?” he demanded. He ran his hand through his thick, dark hair as what Jane assumed to be a way to calm himself down.

“I am not a child,” Jane growled. “And please lower your voice, you are distressing the baby.” Jane rocked Henry soothingly and he seemed to calm down at the movement.

“Do not pretend to be an expert on matters to which you have no idea about,” Daniel said darkly. “I came here to seek your forgiveness but clearly that was a complete waste of my time.”

“What is a waste of your time is seeking comfort with another when you have a perfectly good woman at home. Why do you never spend any time at your estate in Nottingham?” Jane pressed the issue angrily.

Daniel let out a loud hiss. “You don’t know anything, Miss Alcott, and you are way out of line speaking to me like this. I am a nobleman.”

“You do not behave like one,” Jane retorted. “I’m sure Lady Sabine shares my opinion.” Jane knew she was pushing him. If she’d spoken to her father like this when she was young she would have been spanked.

“Do not speak of Lady Sabine as if you know her, Miss Alcott,” Daniel snarled. “And to clarify your narrow views, I think of her every day when I ‘commit adultery’ as you so tastefully put it.”

The door opened once more and a concerned looking Emilia entered. She set her sights immediately on Jane and Henry and crossed the room, taking her son from Jane. “What on earth is going on in here?” she demanded as she cradled her baby in her arms. “I heard raised voices.”

Daniel bowed his head to Emilia respectfully. “I apologise if you were startled, Lady Ethridge. Miss Alcott and I were having a disagreement, and if you’ll excuse me I’ll take my leave.” He eyed Jane almost hatefully as he turned towards the door, before he left he looked at Emilia and spoke. “I suggest you teach your ward how and when to hold her tongue, Lady Ethridge.” And with that he disappeared.

Emilia turned on Jane with an amazed expression. “Care to enlighten me?”

“I may have accused him of being an adulterous letch,” Jane admitted sheepishly. She knew she pushed him too far. She did not know of his situation, she was acting on assumptions rather than facts.

Emilia groaned. “Janey, we all know what goes on behind closed doors but we do not confront people about it. What was he even doing here?”

“He came to apologise about being short with me yesterday. I saw a letter addressed to ‘Lady Sabine Winchester’ and I sort of flipped out. And now he probably thinks I am an inappropriate, crass girl from the country.” Jane sunk down on the white settee and placed her head in her hands.

“Who is Sabine Winchester?” Emilia asked as she sat down next to Jane on the settee. “I haven’t heard of her before.”

Jane sat up straight and looked at Emilia’s confused expression. “You haven’t?” she furrowed her eyebrows. “Isn’t she his wife?”

Emilia shook her head. “No, I don’t believe he’s married, I only thought he was ... many years ago. Ellen ... Ella, I don’t recall her name correctly, but she was certainly not ‘Sabine’.”

Jane let out a frustrated sigh. “I have just made myself utterly ridiculous. Well then who is Sabine?”

“I don’t know, maybe his mother or sister? Perhaps even a cousin,” she suggested. “One thing is for sure, as much as I don’t like the man, you do owe him an apology.”

Jane nodded, defeated. “I know, and what a horrid thing to do, admit defeat. If he is not married then he is not an adulterer. What a horrid thing for me to accuse him of. Lord, how terrible a person am I?” Jane turned to Emilia who was absently stroking Henry’s dark hair.

“You could never be a terrible person, Janey. A stubborn one, yes, and one who jumps to conclusions, but never terrible.” Emilia took hold of Jane’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

Jane smiled at her sister – in – law. “You are too good a person to be my friend, Em.”

Emilia rolled her eyes. “What utter nonsense. Not one person on this earth is perfect, Janey. Now come along, we shall have some tea and forget this happened for a few hours. Then tomorrow you can find Lord Southerby once he’d cooled down and you can offer him your most sincere apologies. From then on you can avoid each other for the rest of the summer and you won’t ever have to talk to one another again.”

“Yes, mama,” Jane said sarcastically with a smirk as they both exited the drawing room. Jane dreaded eating her words the next day but she knew she had to. She was dreadfully wrong; at least she was if what Emilia said was right. If Ellen or Ella had been his wife one, perhaps she had died. That thought made her feel physically ill. She’d accused him of being an adulterer when he was a widower!

She knew one thing for sure; she needed to get her facts straight before she opened her mouth ever again.

A few hours later Jane decided to clear her head by taking a turn in the gardens. They were kept perfectly, as was the rest of the house. There were not flowers about as it was summer but the plants were still beautifully green and sculpted.

At the very bottom of the garden was a small natural pond. “This must be what the twins were talking about,” Jane realised. Several conversations at dinner that James and Kitty started were about a frog at a pond named ‘Nelson’.

Jane walked up to the edge of the pond and looked at the contents. The water was very murky but the lily pads and moss were above the water and giving off a fresh smell. She heard a small noise and turned to see a little brown frog sitting there.

“I assume you’re Nelson,” Jane said and then thought about what she’d said. “But then again my assumptions have been proven to be wrong many times.” She knelt down on the damp ground beside the pond regardless of the fact that she was dirtying her gown. She never cared for cleanliness in York so she wouldn’t bother in London.

She’d always been too outspoken, perhaps that was why no man really wanted to marry her in York. Maybe it wasn’t just her looks that they found disappointing.

“What’s wrong with me, Nelson, why can I not just keep my mouth shut?” she sighed and laid back on the ground. She was sure dirt was imbedding itself in her hair but she didn’t mind. “I do need to apologise to Daniel, it was wrong of me to say such things. Maybe I could write him a letter ... no, that would be cowardice.” Jane rolled over and looked at the idle frog. “You’re no help.”

What she didn’t like about the fact that she had to apologise to Daniel was that knowing that he was not an adulterous letch made him all the more attractive to her. His dark eyes were mysterious yet mesmerising. He made her nervous. The thought of him made her nervous, and she hated herself for being so open to humiliation like that. Because of her harsh words she was now ridiculous to him.

She’d come to London wanting to be invisible and she’d made herself ridiculous. Perhaps her mother was right; she did need to grow up. She was three and twenty and completely untamed.

She would start growing up by apologising to Daniel, and then she would heed Emilia’s words and never speak to him again. Even if he was unmarried, he still enjoyed fornicating and she was still set against men like that.

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Next chapter will involve Jane's apology to Daniel, and we might just find out who Sabine is ;)

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