Page 77 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sebastian had remained as quiet as he could during their talk with Tina. He knew how important it was to Jenny, and so he took a step back as she took the lead. But anger had thrummed in his veins as Tina had spoken, and seeing the sympathy in Jenny’s eyes had only made it worse.
“Beware of her,” Sebastian warned once they were back in the carriage. “She is a criminal, remember.”
“I remember,” Jenny said. “But that does not mean we cannot be humane and kind. She is receiving her punishment, and that should be the end of it.”
Sebastian smiled broadly and reached over to take her hand.
“You really are an incredible woman, Jenny,” he said. “I am lucky to know someone as good and true as you.”
She smiled weakly at him and he wanted more than anything to take her in his arms and soothe all her fears and worries.
“Thank you,” she said. “What did you think?”
“About what?” Sebastian asked, but he immediately scoffed at his foolishness. She was asking about Tina Reynolds, of course. “Honestly? I think she is telling the truth. As much as I dislike the woman, she seemed genuine enough.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” she said, chewing her bottom lip as she watched the world go by from the window.
“And that bothers you?” he asked, seeing her pensiveness.
“Of course I’m pleased that my sister is not behind this. Perhaps I will have a chance to get to know her now. But that leaves us with a much worse problem. Who wrote the letter?”
“Can you think of anyone else who could possibly have that sort of vendetta against your family?”
“No,” Jenny said quietly, still looking out the window. “I have no idea.”
“For the time being, then, let’s hope that this was a single threat that will not be repeated.”
“Do you really think that might be the case?” Jenny asked, turning to look at him with such hope in her eyes that he would have done anything to not let her down.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly, the truth hurting him as he could see it hurting her. “If it is, we can forget this whole sorry nonsense and resign it to history. If not—”
“If not?”
“Then we’ll work it out. I promise.”
The carriage took Jenny and Fanny back to the Jones’ townhouse, and then Sebastian continued home, a knot of worry in his chest. He had tried to make it sound like nothing, like it was something easy to fix, but he wasn’t sure he had succeeded, and he couldn’t be certain that this would go away by itself.
“Good afternoon, My Lord,” the butler said as Sebastian lumbered through the front door.
Sebastian shrugged off his coat and hat, not saying a word to Smith. He kept his eyes as downcast as his heart felt, and he trudged off to the parlor where he hoped to take a drink and smoke a cigar in peace.
He was not in luck. He hadn’t even fully opened the door before Diana started to harangue him.
“You cannot marry her,” she said.
She was pacing in front of the unlit fireplace, worrying the Turkish carpet that lay beneath her and pulling at the fraying edges of her shawl. Sebastian closed his eyes and sighed.
“Not now, Diana, please.”
“Yes,” she urged, pausing in her pacing to turn to him. “We must talk about it now, before this charade continues.”
She had, he could see, been working herself up into quite a fit of anger and frustration. In her hand, she clutched a lace handkerchief that was no doubt damp with her childish tears, for the rims of her eyes were as red as her furious cheeks.
Sebastian ignored her, instead walking to the drinks cabinet and pulling the stopper out of the decanter of brandy with a pleasingpop. The crystal clinked against the glass as he poured himself a large measure.
“Why won’t you listen to me? You are nothing more than a selfish idiot. You have ruined my life so far, and you are looking to ruin the rest of it, as well. How can you do this to me, Sebastian? I’m talking to you! Turn around and face me, you coward.”
