Page 18 of Sleepless in Saunton
“Papa, Jane said she would read me Ladin, and the Lamp. Can she put me to bed tonight?”
“Tatiana, I would not want to impose on the young lady. During your bedtime, she should attend the games in the parlor.”
“I can come up and read to her. No one will miss me if I leave for a short time after dinner.”
“I would not wish to interrupt your entertainment.”
Jane shook her head. “It is no bother. I miss my younger brothers and sister, so this will be fun for me … unless I am imposing?” Her face fell, and she appeared genuinely disappointed. “Would you prefer to do it? I can lend you my book.”
Barclay was thankful for the reminder of their age disparity. He had just caught a whiff of the strawberries, cream, and almonds clinging to her skin and was battling an overwhelming urge to lean over and lick her. Would she taste as sweet as she smelled?
Clearing his throat, he struggled to recall her question as his breathing grew shallow and the heat rose. Tearing his gaze away from those surreal ice-blue eyes that put him in mind of a frozen lake in the winter, he lifted his head to peer at the ceiling for a long moment before replying, “Tatiana does not like my reading. She says I do the voices wrong. If you are sure it is not an imposition …” He looked back at her, and she shook her head once more. “… then we would be honored if you would join her at bedtime … for a short time, mind you. I do not wish to take you away from your leisure.”
Both girls clapped their hands at the news. This woman was so lovely. And sweet.
And far too young, you lech.
Had visiting his father’s home somehow triggered his own roguish impulses? His thoughts had grown decidedly lewd in the past few moments. Fighting down his inexplicable desire, steeling his nerve in the manner he would when entering a tough negotiation, Barclay took Tatiana’s little hand in his. “Come, little one. I wish to play some chess with you in the library.”
Tatiana beamed. “Good. Ethan made me play after cricket yesterday, and he beat me. It was most embarrassing. I should have paid more attention when you were teaching me to play.”
“We will improve your skills.” He gave a brief bow. “We shall see you later, Jane?”
Jane inclined her head in agreement, then gently closed the door as they walked away.
While Tatiana chattered about the beauty treatment that she and Jane had partaken in, Barclay scolded himself mentally. No matter how alluring or kind the young woman was, it bore remembering that she was not for him. She could make a much better match than a man born on the wrong side of the blanket who also happened to be at least fourteen years her senior.
This attraction was … so inconvenient.
He really needed to find someone more suitable if he was to hunt for a new wife. When he was finished with his chess game, he would seek Mrs. Gordon. She was good company and pleasing to the eye, not to mention mature enough to mother a nine-year-old girl.
CHAPTER5
Jane was a keen observer of people, thus she wondered what she had done to anger the widower. One moment, he had been gazing at her with admiration, so that she had swayed toward him. The next, he had been staring at the ceiling, his jaw tight and his husky voice tighter when he next spoke.
Closing the door on the retreating pair, she turned and leaned against it. Brushing her fingertips over her lips, she wondered what it might be like to kiss such a man. He smelled of leather, ink, and some sort of spice she could not quite place, and she wanted—with every ounce of her being—to reach out a hand and feel the shape of his broad chest. To lean in and feel the stubble of his beard against her skin as their lips met in a moment of intense passion.
She had been kissed a couple of times, as a girl back in Derby, when she had been the daughter of a tenant farmer. It had been pleasant, but nothing momentous.
When her sister and Perry had met a few weeks earlier, Jane had seen the sparks flying. Their passion for each other, despite their constant confrontations, had been unmistakable, and Jane had lamented in the recesses of her mind that she had never felt such intensity for a man before.
Gentlemen had pursued her, especially now that she was a member of the gentry. Jane knew well that she was a woman of fine looks. She had excellent prospects. Yet she wanted to find what Emma had—a deep connection with a gentleman that transcended society’s expectations. She wanted to find her Darcy, no matter how much Emma teased her for her whimsy.
Jane had been right in her prediction that Perry would turn out to be Emma’s Darcy, even when her sister had been adamant that the earl’s brother could not possibly want her. Perry had proven himself worthy, giving up his carefree life as an indolent spare to pursue a life in the country with Emma and manage the fine estate of Shepton Abbey, both for Emma’s passion for estate management and for his own sake to pursue a purpose greater than idle pleasure.
Jane perceived that Barclay Thompson was aware of their visceral connection but, inexplicably, it angered him. She supposed that, like her family was inclined to do, he saw her as an immature young girl who could not offer a worldly man much in the way of useful skills.
It was a pity because Jane had never felt such a connection to any gentleman before him.
Did his parentage pose some sort of problem? She was well aware of the challenges he must have faced, what cousin Ethan would face in his future as the son of an unwed mother.
She hoped the gentleman did not think she minded such things. A man’s worth was displayed by his actions, not those of his father. Neither her nor her family would ever turn away from someone for something they had no control over.
Whatever the problem was, whatever was causing Barclay to grow stiff in her presence despite their mutual attraction, she knew when a gentleman was interested in her, and it was clear he was not. It caused such a sense of disappointment to see him harden himself against her.
If only Emma was still in residence, so she could discuss this unexpected attraction, but Jane was alone at Saunton Park and dealing with a decidedly adult situation for the first time.
For a moment, Barclay had appeared to be admiring her, but then the flash in his eyes had disappeared so quickly, she had been left to wonder if she had imagined it because of her own desire to spend more time in his company.
