CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
It was dark by the time she got home. The house was eerily quiet.. She was ready to be assaulted by Louisa and Margaret. But nothing like that came. It also seemed like the servants had called it a night.
She beelined to the girls’ room and saw the light on in the library.
Colin.
Her heart danced with mirth. He was home and awake.
As she got closer to the library, she peeped through the slightly opened door. Colin’s head was bowed, and his dark hair, now in need of a trim, covered his face. Jane watched as he flipped through some papers, muttering words she couldn't decipher as he went on.
Silently, she blessed the heaven for that day in the garden. It would have been Graham, not him. She shuddered at the thought and pushed it to the far reach of her mind.
Colin was busy and needed to be alone. But, she couldn’t move from where she stood.
A brief greeting cannot be considered a disturbance, right?
As she pondered on this, the door gave a creak as a result of her weight on it. Colin's head snapped up. His beautiful green eyes went wide, startled. Then he smiled sweetly when he saw her.
Jane could give all her possessions away for that smile “Greetings,” she greeted with a sweet smile of hers.
Colin placed a finger on his mouth, shushing her.
Jane’s smile fell. She was a disturbance after all. She was about to leave when he beckoned her in with a wave of his hand.
“Come in,” he mouthed
Her smile returned. He wasn’t pursuing her away. She walked into the library beelining for the table Colin stood at. She blushed as Colin watched her with a coy smile.
She was almost close to his table when he pointed to his corner. Without hesitation, she turned to see the girls sleeping peacefully on the settee. Her heart warmed.
So that why was he had hushed me.
She turned to look at Colin. He shrugged when she gave him a questioning look.
This was the first time the girls and Colin were together without her. He was one of the first person to warn her of their peculiarities. It was not from a good standpoint when he did. And it was for this reason he had taken to marrying her. So, she had not expected him to be here with them without her.
“How long have they been sleeping here?” she quietly asked him. She considered their small bodies on the settee. It wasn’t a comfortable place to sleep on for a long time.
“Give or take one hour,” he promptly replied.
Their necks will hurt them by morning. She squatted down and caressed their faces.
“Hope they were not a handful.” She hoped they had behaved themselves like they did in the morning. But one doesn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
“When have they not been?” he smirked at her “We had no problems if that’s what you are concerned about.” He stood up from his chair and walked to her
“Where have you been all day?” he asked, avoiding her gaze.
Jane couldn’t figure out the emotion she heard in his voice.
“Prudence and I went shopping. It took the whole day.” She offered a brief explanation.
“What did you get?” he asked, eyes lit up.
“Just a couple of things,” she replied.
By this time, a couple of servants walked past them with some boxes from the store.
