it seems I’m the last to realise when a man takes a paramour. Besides, he hasn’t been back in London long enough and there’s nothing stopping him from marrying whoever he wants.’
‘He wants to marry you.’
Jane touched her lips with the tips of her fingers. His kiss this morning had surprised her as much as the one in his bedroom. Despite having seen it coming, she hadn’t expected the force of it. She’d leaned in to Jasper, savouring the tender pressure of his mouth against hers. In the salty taste of him there had lingered more than a deal or mere friendship and convenience; there had been the tantalising hint of a deeper connection. When he’d pulled back, she thought she’d seen the same realisation in his eyes but his smile and quick wit had covered it, making her wonder if she’d imagined it. Jane took another deep breath, almost afraid to say the next words aloud but they’d been boiling inside her since he’d left. ‘I’m no longer sure he does.’
‘I assume your brother approved the marriage?’ Mrs Fairley knew Philip well. He’d loaned her the money to establish her shop after her husband had been wounded in France. She’d done a great deal of business with his family and friends ever since.
‘He did.’
‘Then take his consent as proof of your good judgement.’
‘What if he’s wrong this time?’ Buying a building on a whim was one thing, but a marriage was entirely different. Once they were wed, Jasper, as her husband, would control her money, property and everything else. She doubted he’d act like a tyrant, but the darkness in his eyes when he’d first arrived at her house made her uneasy. She didn’t want to marry him only to find out he wasn’t the carefree friend she adored but someone else, a stranger she knew nothing about. ‘What if I’m rushing into something I can’t undo?’
‘You wouldn’t be the first Rathbone to do so, would you?’ Mrs Fairley teased.
Philip and Laura had hurried to the altar and in the end found love. Jane wasn’t convinced her haste would be rewarded nor was she willing to hope for such a happy outcome. Love had not been a part of their negotiations. ‘Maybe Philip approved the match because he thinks it’s his last chance to get rid of me?’ The idea Philip had finally lost faith in her made her tremble.
Mrs Fairley stood. ‘Mr Rathbone would never do anything not in your best interest. He loves you too much.’
Jane tried to believe it, but after having so many people leave her it was difficult to think her brother wouldn’t do it, too, some day.
Mrs Fairley laid her hands on Jane’s shoulders, squeezing them to ease the tension. ‘Maybe it’s not you Mr Charton doubts, but himself. Maybe he doesn’t believe he’s worthy of you.’
If so, he’d certainly be the first. ‘Not Jasper. He’s always been so sure of himself.’
‘You think you know him, but I imagine, given your time apart, there’s still a great deal for you to learn.’ Mrs Fairley said it as though the discovery would be a grand adventure.
Jane wasn’t so sure. Mrs Fairley was right, she didn’t know Jasper as well as she believed, and she was making decisions based on nostalgia and desperation instead of reality. She didn’t want another engagement to end, but marriage was the most binding of contracts. If she got it wrong, it might ruin her life more than it helped it. She twisted her hands in front of her, hating this uncertainty. There was only one way to face it. She must see Jasper again and put her doubts and his to rest.
* * *
‘I hear you had a bit of an odd encounter with Adam’s mother today,’ Mr Bronson observed as he touched a burning reed to the bowl of his pipe and inhaled.
Jasper signed a paper, then set it aside to study his partner. ‘Who told you about it?’
‘He did, apologising the entire time. Thought I’d talk to you about what you want to do about it. Can’t have her getting hysterical in public again.’
‘There’s nothing to be done. Tell him we spoke and make it clear he needs to ensure her silence. Then we forget the matter.’ He wouldn’t see Adam’s siblings suffer from the loss of their brother’s wages because of his mother any more than he could have abandoned Jane this morning. He set his pen in the elaborate holder, still cursing his foolishness. In the future, he’d have to be more careful about keeping his concerns regarding the hell to himself. ‘Is Captain Christiansen here?’
‘He is, but he isn’t playing too deep, at least not yet. He’s only had one or two drinks and the night is still young. However, there’s the son of a cheesemonger in there with a fever to his play I don’t like.’
‘Yes, I saw the man’s debts from last night. Cut him off when you go back inside and tell him he’s banned from the club. Let him ruin himself elsewhere.’ The Captain he would tolerate, but not the cheesemonger’s son. The man didn’t possess enough business knowledge to make his presence here of any value.
‘You really going to give this up?’ Mr Bronson waved at the office.
‘When it’s feasible. I’ll turn ownership over to you and retain a percentage of the profits.’ He picked up the wine order and added a few bottles of Spanish wine to it. Mr Portland, who owned a good many stocks, was more willing to speak to others about them after a few glasses of the tart liquor.
‘Ah, so the answer is yes, and no.’ Mr Bronson circled his pipe stem in the air.
‘I can’t afford to lose the income, not with a wife to support.’ And the money he needed to send to Mrs Robillard and pay for his workers’ wages.
‘Probably children, too, they have a way of coming along.’
‘I won’t see them go without if the club isn’t as lucrative as I hoped.’ Rapacious hunger, and the filth and horror of disease had seized him once. He’d vowed never to become poor and end up in Seven Dials with the twin evils plaguing him or those he cared for again.
‘Does your wife-to-be know this?’ He set the pipe between his teeth.
‘Not yet.’ With her accounting skills, he knew he couldn’t keep this detail from her or hide the transactions regarding Mrs Robillard for ever.
‘Don’t see why you need to tell her at all. A woman shouldn’t be involved in a man’s business.’
‘I don’t agree.’ Except he did. Jane would have as large a hand as she wanted in the club and his life, but he would not allow her to be entangled in the business of the hell, or his past.
* * *
‘For a man with so much to do you certainly sleep late.’ The melodious female voice carried over the quiet of Jasper’s bedroom, drawing him out of a deep sleep.
He opened his eyes, straining to see through the darkness cast by the heavy curtains covering the windows.
A little light sparked and then met the wick of a candle. It illuminated Jane’s round face while she carried it from the hearth and set it on the table beside his bed.
‘What are you doing in here?’ He picked up the ornate dolphin clock next to the candle and peered at the hands. One-thirty. He didn’t usually sleep this late. It explained the fatigue sticking to him like mud.
