Page 10 of Sleepless in Saunton
Miss Thompson responded pertly, “Quite certain. She already snuck out for the evening while I was asleep, but a charming young woman returned her to me.”
It sounded like the pair had taken the seats near the entrance of the library. Jane considered rising to inform them of her presence, but she held back. Once again, she found her romantic nature stirred by the presence of the gentleman, and this was her chance to gain insight into him.
“What was so urgent we needed to meet at this late hour?”
“We need to discuss your future, Barclay. This house party represents an opportunity for you to move forward. Natalya has been gone for two years now, and you need to think about the future.”
Barclay was quiet for several seconds before making a sound of dissension. “I do not wish to talk about Natalya. Or the future, for that matter.”
“Barclay, I just want to help. You are not aware that Tatiana approached a stranger this evening and asked the young lady to be her new mother?”
“What?”
“You heard me correctly. She found a young woman in the family wing. Miss Davis is a distant relation to the earl, and Tatiana was quite taken with her because she proposed that Miss Davis marry you.”
The gentleman paused before replying, “Why would she do that?”
“Tatiana is worried about you. Which is why I insist we need to discuss this situation … for Tatiana’s sake. It has been a long time since Natalya left us. It is time for you to pursue a new relationship. To start again.”
The gentleman sighed, while Jane held her breath, awaiting his response. The daughter and the melancholy father captivated her attention. If only she knew how to help them.
“We will be fine.”
Miss Thompson snorted. “Barclay, something must be missing from your lives if your daughter is proposing on your behalf to strangers. We must deal with this, son. Are you sleeping?”
“No, but who can sleep when the most beautiful woman in the world was stolen to the heavens by greedy angels, leaving us mere mortals behind to grieve?”
It was poignant, his love for his lost wife. Jane wished to comfort him in his sadness, and wished … that a man could one day love her in that way.
“Son, your child needs a mother. And you need a wife. It is time to consider the future.”
“How can I consider the future?”
There was silence. Then, “Do you think you could love again?”
Jane rested her chin on her knees, scarcely breathing in her anticipation of what he might say.
“That seems an impossibility.”
“Then what will you do?”
“I will … continue. I will rise in the morning and go about my day. I will spend time with Tatiana and then return to bed in the evening and remember my dear wife until …”
“Until?”
“Until one day I wake up and this terrible sense of loss has faded, and I can forget how wonderful it was when we were a family. When my silver faerie was at my side … and my child had a mother.”
In the silence that followed, Jane could swear she could hear the gentleman’s heart cracking in two. The discussion had become so intimate, she knew there was no possibility of informing the two that she was in the room with them. She had the urge to hold her breath lest they hear her taking air in the deep silence. It would be mortifying to be discovered now.
If she were older, more worldly, had something to offer him … she would … do something about it. Offer him solace?
But what could a young girl such as her, with no life experience, offer a single father in his thirties with a dead wife haunting his steps? Jane had never felt so helpless. She would be an immature flibbertigibbet compared to this weary gentleman.
His mother interrupted the gloom that had descended on the conversation. “I appreciate you loved Natalya with all your heart, but you understand this cannot continue?”
There was a long pause. Finally, he responded, “I … know.”
“So you will make an effort to meet some women at this house party? Ask the earl and his countess to make introductions to eligible women?”
