Chapter 17
H
aving eaten a full breakfast, Matthew left the hotel's dining room and strode into the lobby. His cases were packed for his return to Biddestone. The only task he had left to do was deliver his signed sponsorship to the Board. Mixed feelings of pride and concern for Jane had kept Matthew awake half the night, but there was no chance of him standing in the way of her wishes.
He was about to approach the elevator when Jane and her maid coming through the hotel's doors halted him.
Jane stepped into the lobby ahead of Jeannie, her face alight with happiness. The tinkle of her laughter caused a tug at Matthew's chest. It had been so very long since he'd heard that sweet, carefree sound.
She turned from Jeannie, her smile wide. When her gaze met his, Matthew drank in the wholly beautiful sight of her. She was The One. He feared she always had been and the promises he'd made to his father would forever haunt him.
Clearing his mind of futile regret, he smiled and walked toward the women. “Jane, good morning.” He nodded at Jeannie. “Miss Ashby.”
Jeannie beamed. “Good morning, sir.”
He faced Jane. “Is everything all right? I thought I would not see you again before I left for the village.”
A faint blush colored her cheeks. “I am so relieved to have caught you. I . . .” She glanced at Jeannie. “
We
went to the Board yesterday after you left the par . . . the Abbey.”
Matthew bit back his smile as her blush darkened. Memories of the softness of her lips were branded on his senses, and from Jane's stuttering and need to make out they were somewhere else entirely, provided proof her recollection was equally as fresh. “I see, and you spoke to Mr. Howard?”
“We did. I have the most wonderful news.” Jane pushed her arm through Jeannie's and lifted her chin. “Mr. Howard has agreed, upon receipt of your signed sponsorship, that both Jeannie and I can work with Mrs. Cage.”
Matthew raised his eyebrows. “Both of you? Surely Mrs. Cage will have something to say about that?”
Jane's smile faltered. “I'm sure she will, but with Mr. Howard's authority for us to work there and Mrs. Cage being under his employment, I cannot see how she can refuse.”
Matthew frowned. “Enforcement is hardly the best condition to begin work alongside someone.”
Irritation flashed in her eyes and her smile vanished. “Well, as it will be Jeannie and I undertaking the position, Mrs. Cage's reaction to us is not your concern. You will be in Biddestone after all, will you not?”
Their gazes locked and Matthew fought the intensely annoying blend of pride and frustration as it rose. He cleared his throat and glanced around the busy lobby. “And so you are here to ensure I have signed the authority before I leave?” He met her eyes and pretended he hadn't felt a whisper of hope that when she'd walked through the door, she had come for a final good-bye kiss. “Does Howard want my authority for Jeannie also?”
She nodded and her eyes softened. “Yes. I know it's a lot to ask of you, but I didn't come to Bath for myself alone. I brought Jeannie with me, not as my maid, but my companion.” She squeezed Jeannie's hand. “I want to help her life too. Who is to say working at the house will suit either one of us until we try, but at least it will be a start of something different. Who knows where it might lead?”
Matthew looked at Jeannie. “Is Miss Danes fooling you any more than she is me when she says working at the house might not suit?”
Jeannie grinned. “Indeed not, sir. She will excel at the house, I'm certain. As for me, I do not know, but I would love the opportunity to find out.”
Matthew sighed. “Well, what am I to do, ladies? Your carefully executed ambush has succeeded.” He waved his hand toward a plush seating area in a corner of the lobby. “Why don't you take a seat and order some tea, and I will rewrite my letter to the Board. Once I am done, maybe we can deliver the letter to Mr. Howard together?”
“Matthew, thank you.” Jane released Jeannie and stepped forward, pressing her tempting lips to his cheek. She looked deep into his eyes, tears making them shine. “Thank you so much.”
The urge to pull her to him and ravish her mouth as he had in the park tore through him, but instead, Matthew winked. “You're welcome.”
Her answering blush and Jeannie's giggle were all the thanks he needed. “I will leave you ladies to tea then. I won't be long.”
Matthew turned to walk to the elevator when Jeannie's gasp halted him. He faced her.
Jeannie pressed her hand to her chest. “But I have just remembered I need to be somewhere quite urgently.”
Matthew glanced at Jane and her annoyed expression was enough to cause a dangerous laugh to bubble in his throat. He clenched his jaw against its release.
Jeannie's green eyes were wide with innocence, her face almost angelic.
Jane frowned. “You do not have anywhere you need to be.”
Ignoring Jane, Jeannie stared at Matthew. “I'm so sorry, sir, but would you mind if just you and Jane go to the Board?”
Matthew dipped his head. “But of course.”
“That's wonderful. Thank you. I will bid you farewell then. Have a safe journey home, won't you?” She turned to Jane and smiled widely. “I will see you back at the house later.”
Jane's cheeks turned crimson. “Indeed you will.”
Jeannie's smile vanished and she headed for the hotel's doors as quickly as her clearly cumbersome skirt would allow.
Matthew glanced at Jane. “Well, then, it's just the two of us. Alone again.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You can take that self-satisfied look off of your face, sir. Jeannie has no such errand to run. I will be having harsh words with her when I return home.”
Matthew lifted his eyebrows. “But she's no longer your maid. She is purely a woman in an exciting city and making the most of it . . . as you wanted.”
She glared. “Just go and write the approval. I will wait here.”
Matthew grinned as she whirled away from him, her soft feminine scent wafting under his nostrils. He inhaled deeply, his heart beating with blessed anticipation of the fire and passion their relationship promised to deliver.
No matter that Jane wanted him to return to Biddestone to finalize things with Elizabeth, no matter that her concern would always remain with the villagers, Jane Charlotte Danes was, and always had been, destined to be his wife.
And as God was his witness, he would do whatever it took to ensure their lives intertwined forever, that their mutual and individual goals were attained, and that their future happiness would never be less than exciting.
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Walking beside Matthew along the street, Jane contemplated his vision that they might one day be free to walk this way as lovers without the fear of public condemnation. She didn't have the advantage of enjoying this particular moment as one might if the man she loved wasn't well-known and didn't hold a position of importance. The furtive or curious looks Matthew drew weren't just because he was known as Biddestone's squire, but also because he was nothing short of magnificent to look at.
There could be no charadeâhe wasn't hersâhe was Elizabeth's.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Matthew's voice cut through her musings, and Jane tipped her chin to meet his eyes.
She smiled softly. “I was just considering what an imposing figure you are.”
He arched his eyebrow. “You think me imposing? Well, I am flattered. Thank you.”
She tugged on his arm and forced a scowl, but the pleasurable knotting in her stomach most likely showed in her eyes anyway. “Imposing doesn't necessarily mean attractive. It can be intimidating, threatening . . . even dangerous.”
The smile she loved so much appeared. “I would love to be dangerous as far as you're concerned.”
Heat struck her face and Jane quickly averted her gaze. “Stop it.” Once again, her naïveté, her virginity, prevented her from retorting with any semblance of wit or verve. “Let us focus on this meeting with Mr. Howard.”
She sensed his gaze on her but did not look at him. Danger was all around himâinside him. From his dark brown, almost black hair, to his bright, intensely blue eyes. To his passion and reverence about the village, its people . . . and her. Matthew Cleaves was a man determined in his choices. And she was his most recent.
Only the good Lord knew what lay ahead for them. She could no longer pretend that living her life without Matthew would result in her contentment. As much as she would not forgo her mission to work with Mrs. Cage, she hoped, one day, she and Matthew would be together as so much more than the supposed friends they were now.
Matthew coughed. “Well, we are mere steps away from Howard's office. Any last-minute plans need to be aired now.”
“I have no further plans than us walking in there and him accepting your signed sponsorship. He more or less gave me his approval before. I just hope he hasn't reconsidered.”
Matthew stopped and gently grasped her elbows. His gaze flitted over her face and lingered a second on her mouth as though he might kiss her. “I promise you, he will not go back on his approval. Whatever it takes, you and Jeannie will work with Mrs. Cage. Do you trust me to ensure it?”
She nodded. “I trust you. I've always trusted you.”
She had. With all her heart. Suddenly, the independence she harbored so avidly only days before took on new meaning. Although it had taken Matthew's signature to ensure her steps forward, this sponsorship would take her and Jeannie to their success. Anticipation for what lay ahead swelled inside her.
Matthew's eyes darkened with unmistakable desire, and he slid his hands from her elbows to take her hands. “Our future, the villagers' future, will absorb my every moment from this day forward. I will ensure both your and their happiness . . .” His jaw tightened. “And my happiness too. If you say you want me as I want you, I promise we will soon be together and happy.”
Jane's body tingled with a strange sensation of fear and hope. She looked into his eyes and the last shred of her stubbornness to do everything alone slipped away. “I do want you, but you need to understand I won't go home. I won't go back to Marksville and return to the person I was when I was there. Not ever. When I visit, I want to be a woman in my own right.”
Comprehension showed in his clear blue eyes. “I understand and want nothing different for you.”
She clasped his hands tighter. “I want to work hard at my own desires and wishes, not at the needs and requests of the home where I was raised and brought down. Marksville is Monica and Thomas's now. It is up to them to do as they will with it. I am free of its commitments and want my life to stay that way.”
“And it will be so.” He lifted his hand to her jaw. “I promise.”
She gently removed his hand, aware of the people around them and the intimacy of the contact. She looked deep into his eyes, wanting to be certain he fully understood the depth of her determination. “My true life will be in Bath from now on. I want to be with you, but I have no idea how that will be possible while the village remains your responsibility. I am not asking you to leave the place you love, but I am asking you to understand what is in my heart.” She smiled. “Besides you.”
Hunger filled his gaze. Jane's heart beat fast as fear he would kiss her right there, on the street, rippled through her. “Matthewâ”
“We will be together.”
He abruptly dropped her hands, and they walked the few steps to Mr. Howard's office. Jane clasped her reticule as Matthew pressed the bell.
Moments later, the door swung open and the young clerk, who hadn't spoken a word the two times Jane had been to the office, greeted them with a sullen expression. “Good morning, may I help you?”
Matthew cleared his throat. “We are here to see Mr. Howard.”
The clerk flicked his gaze between them. “Is he expecting you?”
Impatient, Jane stepped forward and forced a smile she hoped would buoy some enthusiasm in the young man. “He isn't, but we have a letter he is waiting for. We would like just two minutes of his time.”
He glanced between them again, before emitting a heavy sigh and pulling the door farther open. “Come in. I'll check that Mr. Howard is available.”
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Jane stepped over the threshold and Matthew followed. They were left in the hallway while the clerk climbed the dark stairs to the upper floor office. Jane shook her head. “That boy needs a candle lit inside him.”
Matthew smiled. “Either that, or a fire up his backside.”
Jane sniggered just as the stairs creaked with the clerk's footsteps.
The young man sighed. “If you'd like to follow me.”
Exchanging a smile, she and Matthew climbed the stairs and were shown, albeit reluctantly, into Mr. Howard's office.
The Guardian immediately came around his desk, his hand outstretched toward Matthew, his smile wide. “Squire Cleaves, a pleasure to see you again.” He nodded at Jane. “Miss Danes.”
Jane nodded and sat in one of the two chairs in front of the man's desk. Barely able to stop her feet from tapping against the wooden floor, she waited as Matthew and Mr. Howard exchanged words and eventually sat.
Mr. Howard leaned his elbows on his desk. “Will Miss Ashby not be joining us?”
Jane shook her head. “I'm afraid not. She has been otherwise detained, but I assure you she is as keen to get to work as I am.”
“I see.” He turned to Matthew. “And you are happy to sponsor both Miss Ashby and Miss Danes, sir?”