Page 15 of The Lord Next Door I Wished For
But before she could explain about the storm and the necessity of spending the night at an inn, her mother was calling for a servant to aid her.
“Doesn’t matter,” her mother said. “At least you’re here now. And just in time.”
“In time…” Jane repeated in confusion. She looked to her father but he was already heading back to his study and the sound of his door slamming shut behind him echoed in the hallway.
“You’re to dine with the Marquess of Northbridge tonight,” her mother said.
Servants bustled all about, hurrying toward Jane’s room as her mother gave orders about which gown to prepare and how Jane’s hair ought to be styled.
Jane stood there gawking for far too long. Finally, when her mother’s gaze returned to her, Jane found her voice. But just barely. “Pardon?”
For the first time in what felt like ages, Jane’s mother smiled at her. And the smile was…
Well, a little terrifying, honestly.
Jane blinked in surprise at the glee in her mother’s eyes. “They’ve asked us to dinner, and they’ve requested your presence most specifically.”
Her mother terrified her further by reaching out and gripping Jane’s arms.
Jane had acquired most of her looks from her father’s side of the family. It was his family that had the short stature and the red hair. Her mother, by comparison, looked like a goddess from mythology. All willowy and tall, her thick fair hair curled perfectly around her angelic features.
Jane’s cousins, Daffodil and Delilah, looked more like Jane’s mother than Jane did. If one didn’t know better, one might believe Jane to be adopted. And this was never more obvious than now, when Jane felt as though she were a foreigner sent to a strange land where no one spoke her language.
“It’s just wonderful, isn’t it?” her mother gushed.
Gushed. To her.
Jane couldn’t remember the last time her mother had spoken to her in anything but chiding tones, and she hated to ruin the moment by asking the many and myriad questions that rushed through her mind.
“He’s asked for you, Jane,” her mother said, the awe in her voice more than a little alarming. “He specifically requested your presence!”
“He,” Jane repeated carefully. “As in…”
“The marquess himself,” her mother said with a beam. “Oh Jane, just think of it. You as a duchess one day.”
“Me as a…awhat?” Her voice broke sharply on that last word and her mother’s glee began to fade.
Her gaze focused on Jane as if seeing her now for the first time.
Remembering who, in fact, she was talking to.
“I know, Jane, it’s just as unbelievable to me, I assure you.”
Jane’s head jerked back at the sudden change in tone. Her mother’s blue eyes went from sparkly excitement to cold determination before Jane could so much as blink.
“If you ruin this for me, you ungrateful little girl, I vow you will live to regret it.”
“I…I…” Jane swallowed hard. “Ruin what, Mother? I do not understand what’s going on.”
Her mother softened slightly and with a begrudging sigh. “Very well, perhaps I did not explain properly.”
Or at all,Jane thought.
Her mother lowered her voice as she steered Jane toward the curved staircase. “I received a visit from the dowager marchioness last week, and she was particularly interested in you, Jane.” Her mother paused to arch her brows. “And your prospects.”
“My…prospects?” Surprise had turned Jane into a parrot, it seemed, because all she could do was repeat her mother’s words back to her.
Her mother’s expression grew smug, and she seemed to mistake Jane’s horrified shock as pleased shock because she patted her hand. “I know, dear, it’s all very exciting, isn’t it? Why, the marquess could have any young lady he wished.”
