Free Joan Wolf by A London Season Page A

gentleman. He looks like a gentleman, too."
    The Marquis frowned. “He is a gentleman,” he said somewhat shortly. “His parents were respectable French people who had the misfortune to fall foul of the revolution. His aunt got him out of the country, but they lost most of their money. He was educated with Jane. He works for me because he needs to earn a living and because he is a genius with horses."
    "I don't mean to anger you, my lord,” Anne said gently. “I'm sure he is a fine boy. I just wonder if it is wise to allow Jane to spend so much time with him."
    Lord Rayleigh shrugged slightly. “My dear Anne, Jane and David have been inseparable since they were children. They are extremely attached to one another. I can hardly tell her that it is not proper for her to spend time with her best friend."
    "I might perhaps hint,” she began diffidently, but the Marquis cut her off with a shout of laughter.
    "I beg your pardon, Anne,” he said when he had recovered himself. “But the thought of hinting to Jane.... “Amusement trembled in his voice again. “Tact and indirection will never work with Jane,” he said finally, and his eyes now were sober. “Your comments would either pass completely over her head or she would catch you up and demand to know what you were talking about. She has many faults, but there are two things about her you can always count on: her honesty and her loyalty."
    Anne felt snubbed. “I'm sorry if I have offended you, my lord,” she said stiffly.
    "You haven't offended me,” he answered, “but you would offend Jane it you tried to tell her that it was not socially acceptable for her to see David."
    "I wasn't worried about the social acceptability,” she said defensively, conscious of the need to justify herself.
    He stopped dead and looked at her impatiently. “Then what are you worried about, Anne?"
    She looked at him straightly. If he admired honesty, he should have it. “You want me to find Jane a husband, my lord, or so you have said."
    "Yes?"
    "Well, that might prove rather difficult when her dearest friend just happens to be the most beautiful man I have ever seen in my life. If Jane starts to compare her prospective suitors to David, we might find ourselves in the middle of a very unpleasant situation."
    He continued to stare at her, but now there was a definite frown between his black brows. “Nonsense, Anne,” he said finally. “He's been a big brother to her, that's all."
    She drew her shawl more closely around her shoulders. “Perhaps you are right, my lord. After all, you know her much better than I do. It is getting a trifle chilly; shall we go in and join the others?"
    He agreed with instant solicitude and escorted her back through the open French windows. She had done her duty, Anne thought to herself. She personally thought the Jane-David relationship was extremely dangerous, but she was not going to raise the subject anymore. She would not again make the mistake of seeming to criticize Jane.
    Anne had been more effective than she realized. Lord Rayleigh was so much in the habit of regarding Jane and David as children that he had tended to ignore all evidence to the contrary. And there was a great deal of evidence to the contrary, he realized as he began to think about it. The Marquis had heard rumors about Laura Rivingdale.
    He began to watch Jane and David with a careful eye, and the day before the Bellermans were due to leave for Bedfordshire he organized an expedition into Bury St. Edmunds to see the famous abbey where the English barons had gathered to swear they would force King John to give his assent to the Magna Carta. As the weather was warm and sunny, they decided to forego lunch at an inn and to take a picnic with them. The party was to consist of Anne and John Bellerman, Lord Rayleigh, and Jane, all of whom were riding. At the last minute the Marquis decided he wanted the picnic lunch to be brought in the phaeton. He asked David to drive.
    The day