Free Debutantes Don’t Date by Kristina O’Grady

how are we responsible for this, may I ask? You
     and I were not there, pushing their lips together so Mrs Barrett could see!” Calmly,
     Victoria, calmly. She forced herself to sit back down, fold her hands gently in her
     lap (no don’t clench them) and continued softly. “How is it a bad thing that because
     she is now engaged to my brother, she will meet a grandfather she doesn’t seem to
     even know about?”
    As Neal walked back to her chair, her heart quickened.
    “I’ll leave it all up to you then,” he said.
    She watched in amazement as he abruptly turned from her with clenched fists and walked
     from his study, leaving her to stare at the slammed door still quivering in its frame.
    Two days later Grace found herself travelling to see her ‘grandfather’. Victoria and
     Jasper accompanied her, along with Victoria’s maid, Isabel, in the carriage for the
     two-day trip. Victoria claimed they only required one maid for the duration of their
     trip which was fortunate as there wasn’t enough room in the carriage for another person.
     Grace vowed she would never complain about the temperamental heater in her car again
     when she managed to return home. The carriage was freezing! Even covered with two
     fur blankets and the warm winter clothing Victoria had bought her, her toes and fingers
     were numb and her nose was dripping. Jasper was sitting next to her but he was trying
     to keep a respectable distance, so she couldn’t feel much heat coming from him. They’d
     stopped for lunch at noon, and the hot food had warmed her from the inside out, but
     that was hours ago now. She stubbornly tried to control her shivers. No one else in
     the carriage seemed to notice the frigid temperatures even though the fog from their
     breath filled the small space.
    The carriage slowed and it was with great relief Grace saw a small inn appear on the
     right. However once they came to a stop, getting her muscles to work proved difficult
     and she was glad to have the assistance of Jasper’s hand as she forced her knees to
     bend in order to step down from the carriage.
    “Go and stand by the fire, Grace,” Jasper said as he led her inside the Fox Gloves
     Inn. They were staying here the night and would travel the rest of the way tomorrow
     morning. They could make it all the way to the Lancasters’ Estate tonight, but then
     Lord Lancaster would be obligated to put them up and if things didn’t go well…
    “Thanks.” Grace’s teeth rattled together as she neared the fire’s warmth, and the
     heat of it burned her frozen face. Jasper left her there at the hearth while he went
     to talk to the innkeeper. Grace marvelled at his butt in his tight trousers as he
     walked away from her.
    “I didn’t expect the cold to be quite so bitter,” Victoria said as she joined Grace
     in front of the fire. “Maybe we should have waited another day or two.”
    Grace tore her gaze from the much too tempting vision and took a closer look at Victoria’s
     face; her nose was red and dripping and her eyelashes glittered with moisture. So,
     she wasn’t the only one feeling the cold after all. “At least it isn’t snowing. It
     could be worse; we could have been lost in a blizzard.”
    By the time Jasper returned, Grace was able to feel her toes again and the numbness
     was gone from her cheeks.
    “I managed to get us a couple of rooms for the night,” he said as soon as he rejoined
     them. “We’re in luck, it appears they’re not too busy, even on a night like this,
     although you two will have to share a room, I hope that is to your satisfaction? I’ve
     also taken the liberty of ordering you ladies a hot bath each. You go up and we’ll
     meet in the private dining room for dinner in an hour.”
    A bath sounded heavenly. Grace’s mind turned to steamy water and luxurious bubbles.
     A moan escaped her lips before she could stop herself. “A bath sounds divine,” she
     said a bit breathlessly and saw Jasper’s eyes