Page 43 of His Wife, the Spy
Jasper tightened his fingers into a fist. Annabel’s wardrobe bills had been meager in comparison with Mother’s and the girls’—and they already had updated closets. Her frugality spoke of some sort of loyalty.
Didn’t it?
She snapped her closed fan against her skirts. “How dare you ask that when you are well aware of why and how I came to be in this position.” Even from his hiding place, Jasper could see her knuckles whiten. “If I am a poor and useless wife, he will not trust me. If Jas—Lord Ramsbury has no faith in me, I will not find the answers you seek.”
Spencer pulled his tailcoat straight. “So long as you remember the stakes should you fail.”
“As though I could forget them.”
He walked around her but stopped at her shoulder. “Find me my answers,LadyRamsbury.”
“I will find the truth.” Annabel’s spine was straight, and the tilt of her head reminded Jasper of the night she’d scolded him at his own dance.
Her bravery lasted until Spencer left the hallway, then she sagged against the wall and put her head in her hand.
Were Kit here, he would insist on storming from the shadows and demanding answers. It likely wouldn’t take much to make Annabel confess. Jasper would know what Spencer wanted. From there, it would be easy to guess the man’s scheme. The marriage could be quietly annulled with the flourish of a pen.
He stepped from the shadows. “There you are.”
She turned on him, her deep brown eyes wide and sparkling too brightly. “I’m sorry.”
It would be so easy…
“Chippenham is a sheep’s arse. Always has been. I’m certain you’re not the first lady to leave him stranded at a ball.” The quirk of her lips gave him permission to smile as he offered his arm. “Shall we go home?”
*
For the secondtime in a few short hours, the Ramsbury carriage loomed before Annabel like a prison cart.
Foolish girl. You dreaded a dance and gossip. And now fate has dropped you in a much worse dilemma.
How long had Jasper been in the hallway? How much had he overheard? And why, oh why, hadn’t she told Reginald Spencer to go jump in the narrowest part of the Thames?
The footman held the door. At least the ride home would be short.
“Take us through the park please, Larrabee,” Jasper called to their coachman as he followed her inside.
A detour through Hyde Park would add at least half an hour to their evening. Dread and fear mixed in Annabel’s stomach, sending a chill through her limbs.
It didn’t matter that the carriage was lit by small oil lamps and a hot brick lay wrapped near her feet. Jasper sat on the opposite bench, on the other end, so he could peer out through the curtain at the passing houses. He put his free arm around his waist and shifted in his place. Annabel thought she saw a shiver.
“There is enough heat from this brick for the both of us,” she whispered, fearful of his reaction. It was one thing to leave all the heat for her. It was another, dreadful, thing if he didn’t want to be close to her.
He regarded her for a long moment before moving to face her. He stretched his long legs forward and crossed his feet at the ankles with a sigh. “Thank you, Annabel.”
The lamplight gilded his hair and the planes of his face. The shadows and sharpness should have been frightening, especially with his uncharacteristic silence. Perhaps it was the exhaustion from the dance, or maybe the heat from the brick, but Annabel wasn’t afraid of him.
What bothered her most was not having the answers he’d want. She didn’t know what Spencer had found, or his aims.Her husband would be another in the line of people she was disappointing.
“You don’t have to wait for an invitation to be warm, Jasper.”
His stare was a tangible thing, and his smile flashed in the dark. “My mother taught me it was a gentleman’s duty to be uncomfortable.”
She disagreed with Lady Lambourn on that point. “I see. What did she say about remembering staff names?” His comical glance made her chuckle. “Your driver’s name is Lawrence, not Larrabee.”
“Ah.” He unpinned his cravat and slid his finger into the knot. “Kit hired him, so I…didn’t pay much attention.”
“Did he also hire Stapleton?” If she remembered correctly, Jasper had gotten the butler’s name wrong several times during the house party.
