Page 5 of A Dangerous Lord (Regency Spies & Secrets 3)

Madalene smirked. “Because you are one of the most stubborn people that I know.”

“You say that as if it is a bad thing,” Jane said, smiling.

With a laugh, Madalene remarked, “We should go inside before the sun gets too high in the sky.”

“Now you sound like my mother,” Jane teased as she extended her empty glass to the footman.

“Your mother is very wise.”

“Only about certain things.”

Madalene shook her head. “I won’t tell her you said that.”

“Thank you.”

“Will it be all right if we depart within the hour for the orphanage?” Madalene asked as they walked the short distance to Hawthorne House.

“I’ll be ready,” Jane said, smoothing out her white cotton gown. “Will Baldwin be joining us today?”

“No, he has a meeting at the House of Lords, but he has insisted that we take along additional footmen to watch over us.”

“That sounds like the brother I know and love.”

Madalene glanced over at her. “You two appear to have gotten closer these last few weeks.”

“It is true,” Jane agreed. “I find Baldwin to be much more tolerable.”

“That is good.”

“I still don’t fully understand his reasons for leaving for three years after my father died, but I am beginning to accept it.”

A footman opened the rear door and they stepped inside the townhouse. Before they could advance any further, Baldwin approached them with a smile on his face.

“Are you finished boxing on the lawn?” he asked as he came to stand next to his wife.

“We are,” Madalene confirmed.

Baldwin leaned forward and kissed his wife on the cheek. “I was hoping to speak to you privately before you leave for the orphanage.”

“Oh,” Madalene murmured. “I hope everything is all right.”

Baldwin leaned closer and whispered something into her ear.

A hint of a smile played on Madalene’s lips. “That does sound most urgent. We should discuss it at once.”

“I agree,” Baldwin remarked as he offered his arm to his wife.

Jane took great delight in the love that was so evidently displayed between Baldwin and Madalene. They were most definitely a love match, and the envy of theton.

As they walked away, Jane hurried towards the entry hall and was surprised to see her other brother, Oliver, speaking to their butler.

He was dressed in wrinkled clothing, his dark hair was tousled about, and he had splotches of dirt on his face. He looked terrible.

Oliver shifted his tired eyes towards her. “Good morning, Jane.”

Her back stiffened as she came to a stop in front of him. “I see that you finally returned home.”

“Yes,” he replied. “I find that I am rather famished.” He smiled, no doubt in a foolish attempt to disarm her.

---