Page 99 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
Jenny wasn’t sure. She dreaded the thought of going to dinner, the letter hanging over her head and thoughts of Sebastian roiling around in the background. But she knew, too, that this couldn’t go on. She had to tell Luke and Alison.
“No, it’s all right. I’ll come to dinner, but I can get myself ready. Thank you, Fanny.”
Jenny was shaking as she prepared herself, changing into a fresh gown and re-pinning her hair. She stared at herself, unseeing, in the looking glass, panicked and numb all at the same time.
By the time she went down to dinner, she had gathered her wits. She held herself tall but stiff, she breathed deeply, and she descended the stairs with all three letters clutched in her hands.
“Good evening, Jenny,” Luke said as soon as she entered the dining room. His tone was bright and welcoming, and she felt a stab of discomfort, knowing she was about to ruin his jovial mood.
“How are you feeling?” Alison asked as Jenny took to her seat.
Jenny took in another deep breath, breathing out unsteadily through her mouth.
“Jenny?” Luke asked. His face crawled with concern, and Jenny could feel the panic spike at her again.
“Whatever is the matter?” Alison asked.
There was a long pause as Jenny looked between them, knowing how much pain she was about to cause and feeling sorry for it. But when she finally spoke, it was with a voice so soft they had to strain to hear her.
“I have something to tell you.”
“What is it, Jenny?” Luke said, his voice stern but worried, too, as though he was trying to get a child to admit to their wrongdoings.
Jenny leaned forward and placed the three letters on the table in front of her.
“I—we—have been receiving threatening letters.”
“What?” Luke cried, but Alison remained silent, her face paled and her shoulders beginning to shake.
“The first one was addressed to no one, but it was clearly aimed at all of us. The next two were explicitly addressed to me, but they are equally threatening.”
Luke leaped from his seat and he snatched the letters from the table, looking uncertainly at Jenny as he fell back into his seat. And then his eyes fell on the words, and the more he read, the further his eyes widened.
“What is this about?” Alison asked.
“I… I don’t know. I’m not entirely sure, but—”
“Why have you not told us about this before now?” Luke demanded. The letters, still crumpled in his hand, laying spent across the table.
“I didn’t want to worry you,” she said, words running out of her mouth faster than she could think them. “I thought, perhaps, I could figure it out on my own.”
“Let me read them,” Alison said, holding her hand out in Luke’s direction.
“I’m not sure that’s a—”
“Let me read them,” she said, punctuating each word with a new hardness.
Luke nodded his agreement and silently handed the letters over to his wife. The room fell into silence as she read, and when she was finished, she raised her head and looked at them both with horror.
“What have you done about them?” Alison asked, her tone unintentionally harsh. “If you say you wanted tofigure it outyourself?” Jenny knew she did not mean her insensitivity, and so she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Now is the time for honesty.
“I… I went to see Tina Reynolds in prison.”
“How?” Luke cried, aghast at the idea of his sister in a gaol.
“I pretended I was going for tea with Lord Hartwood, and—”
