Page 52 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
“He was,” Jenny nodded. “He became a father to us, and when he passed it was the most painful thing I have ever experienced.”
“So what happened then? I know you went to work for the Salsburys yourself, but—”
“Yes, I was a maid,” she said, looking him full in the face, and he suspected she was searching for some sort of disapproval. There was none. “I enjoyed my work, believe it or not. I think sometimes the nobility struggle to understand the simple joy that can come from hard work, but it’s true. I was happy with my position.”
“And Luke wasn’t?” Sebastian asked. Jenny chuckled.
“I wouldn’t say that at all. In time, he took over from Jack as head groom, and a damn fine job he did too. But then he fell in love with Lady Alison, and everything changed.”
“All right, I’ll ask the question I’ve been curious about for so long. How? How did it change so dramatically?”
“When Jack died, Luke went in search of our mother.”
“Let me guess,” he said with a grin and a teasing smile. “Secret Duchess?”
Jenny snorted, unable to stop the loud guffaw.
“Quite as far from it as you could imagine,” she said, but then her smile faded and she looked down at her lap. “I’m afraid the rumors about her are true enough. She was a… lady of the night. Although,” she quickly added, “I am not nor have I ever been.”
“I did not need the clarification,” he said with a chuckle. “I had no doubt. So how did that help Mr. Jones?”
“He came across a brother. He was taken in as a child by a Duke, but he had the same mother. I shouldn’t really be telling you this,” she said, shaking her head. She knew that if this secret was revealed, it would be scandalous.
“Tell me,” he said, taking her hand in his. “You can trust me.”
“All right,” she said, but she wouldn’t look at him as she spoke. “Lord Denninson—the heir to the Duke of Carrington—is my brother.”
Sebastian fell back, dropping her hand and laughing loudly. She looked at him in surprise, and he wiped his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But that really is both funny and wonderful and so unexpected all at the same time. You weren’t lying when you told me he was your benefactor.”
“Not lying, no,” she said, shaking her head again, but this time with a bright smile.
“Thank you,” he said when his laughter had calmed. “For sharing that with me.”
Jenny shrugged. “It feels good to share the truth with someone, and you are so easy to talk to.”
“I’m glad.”
Sebastian hadn’t eaten anything yet; he wasn’t sure he could. His stomach roiled with emotion, his heart flipped in his chest, and all thanks to the presence of this woman who he was rapidly falling in love with.
He watched her in silence as she enjoyed the food laid out in front of her. He saw her quiet comfort and easy delight. He noticed her gentle smile, and the way in which she gazed happily at passersby—never envious, never cruel nor full of gossip. Jenny had no interest in talking about others, she simply wanted tobe, and that he found to be truly endearing.
“You’re watching me again,” she said, licking errant crumbs from the corner of her mouth. “And you haven’t eaten a single thing.”
“I am sorry,” he said. “But I can’t take my eyes off you. You are… magnificent. Like an angel. I never want to stop looking at you.”
Jenny snorted with laughter, then scrunched up her napkin and threw it at him.
“You don’t have to woo me with such nonsense,” she said with a laugh. “You have already won me over.”
He let out a short bark of laughter, nothing more than a single note of sound, and he looked down at his hands, still smiling. It was not an attempt to woo her, but the truth. It was what came to his mind whenever he looked at her.
What’s got into me?
The Sebastian of just a week ago would have mocked the current Sebastian mercilessly. He had turned from general scoundrel—and liking it—to a man full of romance and love, and only thoughts of a beautiful woman. He laughed at himself, then looked directly at her again.
“I have said this before,” he said, “but I want to reiterate it, so you know how much I truly mean it.”
