Free Almost A Spinster by Jenna Petersen Page A

experienced before blossomed inside of her. Felicity was right. There wasn’t a choice to make. There was only a wonderful life to accept. A life with Wesley.
    “Do you think he is?” she asked, turning to look inside. She searched the buzzing crowd, but didn’t find him in her first sweep of the room.
    “Yes. Go! Go!” Felicity laughed as she gave her a push toward the doors. “And tomorrow I expect you to come to my house and tell me all about your engagement.”
    Jane’s heart leapt as she waved to her friend and made her way into the ballroom. She weaved through the crowd, moving past friends and acquaintances. People said her name, but if it wasn’t Wesley’s voice, she didn’t hear it. This was not the time to be waylaid. Not the time to be distracted by petty-
    “Jane!”
    As she rounded her way toward the opposite side of the stuffy room, she was brought to a sharp halt as David stepped in her path. His face, still handsome, though somehow softer now that she compared it to Welsey’s, lit up.
    “I have been searching for you all evening.”
    She forced a smile. This was the last interruption she needed. Although Wes had encouraged her to speak to David, she didn’t want to. Now she knew what she desired. She could let David go without ever saying a word to him.
    “Good evening.” She hoped the strain in her voice wasn’t too evident. “This is quite a soiree. My best wishes to you.”
    His smile faltered a fraction. “I-er, thank you.”
    “Have you seen Wesley anywhere?” she asked as she craned her neck. “I have been waiting for him to arrive.”
    “He’s here.”
    Her gaze shot back to him as excitement and trepidation hit her with equal measure. “Where?”
    David shrugged. “He’s been lurking about in the billiard room all night. Said he was waiting for something. A moment or some such rot.”
    She dipped her head as a blush crept to her face. Wesley was waiting for her . The feelings she had been denying swelled in her chest.
    “Thank you,” she said as she turned into the crowd again.
    David’s hand on her elbow stopped her. “See here, Jane, I would dearly like to speak to you. Could you spare me a moment?”
    She hesitated, but could find no polite way to refuse his request. With a sigh, she nodded. “Of course. What is it?”
    “The ballroom is far too crowded, let’s go into the library, shall we?”
    Without waiting for her answer, he pressed her hand into his elbow and guided her across the room and down the hallway to the library.
    Masking her impatience, she drew her hand away from David’s arm and said, “What is it that you needed privacy to speak to me?”
    He paced away to lean back against a table near the high bookcases filled with tomes she doubted he had ever cracked.
    “I wished to apologize to you, Jane. If I hurt you with my engagement, I never meant to do so.”
    Her thoughts of Wesley faded for the moment as Jane looked at David. He truly did look troubled and her heart melted a tiny fraction. As Lady Stanton had said, he wasn’t a bad man, he just wasn’t aware of the consequences of his actions. If they didn’t cause him pain, he could not fathom how someone else could be hurt by them.
    She smiled. “Thank you, David. I appreciate that more than you’ll probably ever realize. But I’ve come to understand that whatever… hopes I had for a future that included you were perhaps best left unrealized. I wish you happiness with Madeline.”
    David let out his breath in a sound of relief. “I’m glad of that, Jane. That you appreciate a marriage between us could not have occurred.”
    She wrinkled her brow. That wasn’t exactly what she’d said, but there was no use arguing. Now that he’d said his piece, she could go. Just a few steps down the hallway and she would be with Wesley.
    But instead of saying his farewells, David pushed away from the table and took a step toward her. “But that does not mean that I didn’t care for you. That I