Free Unveiled (Undone by Love Book 3) by Kristina Cook

a cold bead of sweat trickled down her back. Why would Aunt Gertrude say it was an accident when everyone knew the woman had taken her own life? She shook her head, perplexed.
    “Aunt Gertrude, I must know . I’ve heard talk that this...this malady increases after childbirth. Do you believe that to be true?”
    “Well, let me think.”  Aunt Gertrude pursed her mouth and pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose . “No,” she said at last, her thin lips drawn into a tight smile. “No, I do not. I recognize no such connection. Come now, this is not a pleasant topic of conversation, not for a young lady. Tell me, have you any new suitors? Surely a gentleman or two must have caught your fancy by now.”
    “No, I’m afraid not.”  Jane smiled indulgently at her aunt . Every conversation she had with well-meaning relations inevitably took this route, as though she wore her spinsterhood like a yoke about her neck.
    “But how can that be ? A girl as lovely and gay as you? Your mother tells me you’ve enjoyed a good deal of popularity over the years.”  She leaned forward and laid a hand on Jane’s wrist, a knowing smile on her lips. “None of the young bucks managed to sweep you off your feet, did they?”
    Jane could only shake her head, biting her lip to suppress an amused smile . Young bucks ? Had her elderly aunt actually spoken those words aloud?
    “A love match is a fine thing, dear,” Aunt Gertrude continued on enthusiastically . “But in the absence of one, perhaps a nice, companionable marriage would satisfy?”
    “I’m afraid not, Auntie . Besides, I’m perfectly content to remain a spinster.”
    “I must confess I’ve not minded terribly my own decision not to wed, but still...”  She trailed off with a sigh . “Do not think I didn’t enjoy a furtive kiss in the garden in my day.”
    Jane’s eyes widened with surprise . “Goodness, Auntie! That’s positively scandalous.”  She couldn’t help but laugh.
    “Oh, times were quite different in my youth, mind you . What you call scandalous today was simply... Well, never mind. Anyway, I haven’t had much time to regret my unmarried state, as busy as I’ve been caring for your grandmama all these years. But how will you occupy your time? Your own sister is well enough, happily married at that.”
    “I haven’t really thought about it,” she confessed . “Besides, I have not said that I’m entirely set on spinsterhood. I thought perhaps to get some answers first, answers about Grandmama and–”    
    “Oh, dear, here I’ve prattled on and on, and look at you, barely able to sit upright, so overcome with fatigue . How very selfish of me.”  She rose and gestured for Jane to follow suit. “Come, let me show you to your room. We’ll have plenty of time to talk in the days to come.”
    Clearly, Jane would get no answers from Aunt Gertrude . Not tonight, at least.
     
    ***
     
    Jane set down her fork and reached for her napkin. “So, Aunt Gertrude, did you check with Grandmama’s nurse today? How is she faring?”
    Her aunt’s forehead furrowed at once . “I did indeed. Bad news, very bad news, I’m afraid. She’s worsened, still not at all fit for company. In fact, it’s possible that she will not have recovered enough for visitors before you must return to Ashbourne. I’m sorry, dear. I hope you’ve not grown tired of my company.”
    “No, of course not,” Jane murmured, her heart sinking . As always, it was impossible to argue with the woman. As one day had passed into the next, Jane had grown more and more frustrated. All her pleas to see her grandmother had been rebuked, brushed off with one excuse after another. She’d found herself banished to the south wing of the house, entreated to leave her grandmother to her rest, to stay away from the locked west wing that housed the purportedly ill woman.
    Aunt Gertrude herself spent a great deal of time resting, and Jane passed much of each day in solitude,