Page 42 of The Widow's Scandalous Gentleman
He was silent a beat.
Then, softly—though the words cost him—he said, “I suppose I learned that from you.”
Her gaze snapped to his, the truth of it flashing across her expression before she could smooth it away.
He stepped forward, then stopped himself. “You told me once I’d given you more than you dared ask for. Perhaps this—my quiet leaving—is all I have left to offer that you’ll allow yourself to accept.”
Thalia’s lips parted, then pressed closed again. Her shoulders eased—not in surrender, but in some silent recognition.
“Then allow me,” she said quietly, “to offer something in return.”
But before she could speak further, the distant sound of hoofbeats reached them—fast, deliberate. Both turned instinctively toward the drive. Riders approached, their outlines resolving quickly into the crisp silhouettes of liveried messengers.
“I suppose,” Thalia murmured, gaze still fixed on the oncoming figures, “that you’ll have to postpone your noble withdrawal. At least until the next intrusion is dealt with.”
Jasper exhaled slowly. “It would appear so.”
As the riders dismounted and approached with visible urgency, the moment between them—sharp with meaning, heavy with everything deferred—hung suspended in the air like breath before a storm.
Whatever had passed between them in the quiet of night, whatever tenderness had surfaced only to be buried again beneath responsibility and fear, was now overshadowed by what approached: not a reunion, nor reconciliation—but another reckoning.
And Jasper, caught in the space between departure and hesitation, could only wonder whether this unexpected delay would offer one last chance to protect what mattered—or merely prolong the final unravelling of something he had not wanted to end.
Chapter Eighteen
The coach that had startled the stable yard with its early arrival now stood respectfully still upon the gravel. Its livery was plain—intentionally so—and its windows curtained against the dawn. No crest adorned its door, no footmen in ducal colours sprang forward to declare the presence of nobility. And yet Jasper, who stood there with the chill of a half-abandoned departure still clinging to his coat, recognised the occupants before they fully emerged.
Sebastian.
He stepped down first, tall and broad-shouldered in a travelling coat of deep grey, his presence unmistakable even in the muted light. His dark gaze swept the yard once, measured and grave. His expression did not change when it landed on his brother, though something in the line of his shoulders shifted—barely.
Margaret followed, descending the step with quiet efficiency, her dark skirts brushing the hem of her boots. She cast a glance toward the house, then toward Jasper, her brow lifting ever so slightly.
“Brother,” she said. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”
Jasper exhaled slowly. “Two, it seems.”
Sebastian approached without haste. “We received your last letter twelve days ago. Or, rather, we received your last attempt at a letter—three sentences and a vague assurance of continued observations.”
“I was under the impression you preferred brevity,” Jasper replied evenly.
“I do,” Sebastian said. “But I prefer clarity more.”
Margaret’s gaze lingered on her brother’s face. “You did not say you were suspending correspondence. Nor that the situation here had grown so precarious.”
“I wasn’t aware the two of you were prepared to act on rumour,” Jasper returned.
“We are prepared to act when rumour and silence arrive hand in hand,” Sebastian said calmly. “And when that silence is accompanied by reports in the Brighton press of a suspended establishment, moral inquiries, and one Lord Vexley involved in a suspected scandal concerning unchaperoned engagements, and allegedly improper gatherings.”
Margaret added, “We also noted that Aunt Iris has not returned to Vexwood, despite her assurances she would be gone only for a few days. Thissuggested either gross mismanagement… or an unfolding situation she judged unwise to describe in writing.”
Jasper’s jaw tightened. “She chose to stay of her own accord. As did I.”
Sebastian inclined his head. “And that is what we came to confirm.”
For a beat, no one spoke.
Then Margaret looked toward the house. “We did not come to cause further alarm. We arrived early precisely to avoid spectacle.”
