Free Regency 09 - Redemption by Jaimey Grant Page A

leave? Had he no honor after all? Dear God, she’d given him
her virginity! The least he could do was stay and see how she
fared.
    A shiver traversed her
spine at the memory of what he’d done to her. She wanted a repeat
of the encounter even though she knew it was insane and wrong to
want such a thing outside of marriage. It only led to heartache and
illegitimate offspring.
    “Are you cold, Lady
Genevieve?” Bri asked solicitously.
    Coming swiftly to herself,
Jenny shook her head, denying the truth that she was indeed very
cold—but from inside.
    “Is anything wrong, Lady
Genevieve?”
    Jenny gave a jerky shake of
her head, rising to her feet. She simply had to get away. If she
stayed another moment, she would break down and cry.
    He wasn’t worth her tears,
she told herself sternly. Accepting her outer clothing from the
butler, she hurried out to her carriage.
    She tried to shrug off the
incipient pain, telling herself she had to forget what happened
between them and go on from there.
    It became her
mantra.

    Lady
Genevieve Northwicke was seen at all the ton events a person could possibly
attend in one season. She could be found at four to five events in
each evening, sparkling and shining as never
before.
    Society watched her in open
curiosity, wondering at her odd behavior. She had always been a
pleasant girl, but never had she so openly flirted and charmed her
partners.
    She seemed to show marked
interest in Mr. Miles Prestwich, the significance of which was not
lost on anyone. She had previously enjoyed an oddly close
friendship with that gentleman’s twin brother and it was
universally acknowledged that she was nursing a broken
heart.
    Had Jenny been privy to any
of these rumors, she’d have been horrified. As it was, she was so
miserably lonely that she acted purely on instinct. Everything she
said, everything she did was mechanical. She spent her days and
evenings like an automaton, going through the motions of living
without really experiencing any of it.
    And yet, she would have
been the first to deny a broken heart as her malady. Her pride
would not let her admit that Dare had broken her heart, making her
feel less than worthy.
    A month after he left, with
no word from him, Jenny finally gave up…at least, she told herself
she did. He wasn’t coming back, he’d moved on, forgotten her. She
was nothing more than a convenient, there for his pleasure and cast
aside.
    How lowering.

    Hyde Park was Society’s
showcase. It was there—in sparkling raiment and glittering jewels,
with high-stepping cattle and flashy carriages—that the upper
echelons preened like so many peacocks.
    It was where Lady Genevieve
Northwicke and her sister, Lady Guinevere shined. They usually rode
with their brother and sister-in-law but occasionally they could be
found in the company of whatever gentlemen had managed to catch
their attention.
    And they were inseparable
as never before. Jenny clung to her sister as if afraid to lose
her. And Gwen, puzzled, clung right back, a niggling fear in the
back of her mind telling her that something was very, very
wrong.
    Jenny laughed joyously,
flirted modestly, and behaved properly at all times. But to anyone
who cared enough to look beyond the surface, it was apparent in the
cornflower blue of her eyes that she hid a deep and miserable
fear.
    It was her family who saw
it, wondered at it, and privately attributed it to any number of
female megrims. Lady Verena and Lady Prestwich, however, had a
sinking feeling that they knew its cause and hoped against hope
that they were mistaken.
    It was while riding with
Con and Verena that Jenny came to a startling realization. It had
lingered in the back of her mind, festering for some weeks, but
she’d managed to avoid giving the fear words.
    And now, predictably while
riding in such a public venue, it slammed into her full force,
making her gasp for breath.
    Lord Compton, her sometimes
companion in the park, halted his dun mare, alarmed at the