Page 75 of Irresistible
“I promise to try.” Jess couldn’t help it if he didn’t do the same. She’d make sure he wanted nothing to do with her by the time the ball was finished.
“Excellent!” Her father stood.
“How long will it take you to pack your things?” her mother asked.
Jess should have immediately realized upon seeing them that they would expect her to return home with them. Why would she stay with Lady Pickering?
Because she was more comfortable here. She’d started an entirely new life here, not that her parents would know that. What would they say if they learned their daughter had worked in service to the Crown? They likely wouldn’t believe it. Indeed, who would?
Lady Pickering strolled into the drawing room. “Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Goodfellow. I was told you’d arrived. I suppose this means I’m to lose my lovely houseguest.” She gave Jess a sympathetic look. “I’ll have Dove pack your things, and I’ll send them to your father’s house. Come, dear, let us fetch your hat and gloves.” She held her arm out to Jess as she looked toward her parents. “I really did love having her here. She has such a brilliant mind and a wonderfully kind demeanor.”
“Don’t forget her independent streak,” Jess’s mother said.
“One of her very best qualities,” Lady Pickering said. “It’s a shame she hasn’t found the right husband, but I’m sure you know how special she is. It will take someone equally exceptional to match her. We’ll meet you downstairs.”
Jess linked her arm with Lady Pickering’s, and they left the drawing room together. “You are my new favorite person.”
Lady Pickering let out a short, rich laugh. “Your parents mean well, but they’d do better to try to understand you. Sometime you’ll have to tell me why you so vociferously avoid marriage.”
Asa came to Jess’s mind. “There was a man once. My parents wouldn’t let us wed.”
“You made a choice, and they didn’t honor that. Pity. Was he inappropriate?” She cast a glance toward Jess as they neared her chamber.
“He was American.”
Lady Pickering twitched. “Good heavens. I might have forbidden it too, dear.”
“I was rather young. Perhaps if they’d managed things differently…” There was no point in reimagining history. Her mother had become apoplectic, and her father had been displeased, which was probably the strongest negative emotion she’d ever seen him display. Jess had naïvely thought they would be happy for her.
Jess shook the thoughts away. The past didn’t matter. She was on the precipice of a new future. “Thank you, Lady Pickering, for inviting me to stay. This time with you has quite changed my life.”
“It has been my pleasure. If there is ever anything you need, anything at all, I hope you’ll come to me.” She met Jess’s gaze intently, her predatory eyes sharper than ever. “You can trust me to take care of you.”
Jess nearly gave her a hug, but wasn’t sure the woman would appreciate that. Instead, she gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I appreciate that more than you can know.”
After saying farewell to Dove, Jess fetched her hat and gloves and made her way downstairs to her parents. She moved slowly, her mind turning over the possibilities before her.
Dispatching Lord Gregory as a potential husband would be easy, but would her parents hold to their end of the bargain? A tiny voice in her head said she wouldn’t be upholding hers, but they hadn’t given her a choice. She was absolutely on the shelf, and pretending she would attract Lord Gregory was absurd. He’d want someone young and probably malleable. Didn’t they all want a wife they could control?
No, actually. She thought of the Chesmores. Their relationship was egalitarian and rooted in mutual adoration and respect. She also couldn’t help thinking of Dougal. He hadn’t sought to manage her, but then their marriage had been fake. Still, she had a hard time imagining him as that sort of husband. And he would besomeone’shusband. That realization made her stomach tighten.
She couldn’t keep thinking of him or their time together. It was a distraction from what she needed to focus on—her future. Whether it included the Foreign Office or not, she was soon to embark on a new life. Alone.
Wasn’t that what she’d always wanted?
Chapter17
Hat and gloves in hand, Dougal hurried down the staircase and into the entry hall where Lucien awaited him. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I lost track of the time.”
Lucien stood in the center of the hall. “Not a problem. I was a trifle early, and we’ve plenty of time to walk to the Wexfords’.”
After setting his hat atop his head, Dougal pulled on his gloves. The footman opened the door, and Lucien preceded Dougal outside into the early evening.
“There’s a touch of autumn in the air, I think,” Lucien said, inhaling.
The day had been cooler than the last several with a gray sky, but it was still pleasant. The sun would be setting soon, and the temperature would dip.
They walked toward Grosvenor Square, which they would cut through on their way to George Street, where the Wexfords’ house was located.
