Luke obligingly filled her in on the details, but all the while his mind was on one particular aspect of the journey.
One person he’d seen…
It felt like an age before he was able to bring the conversation around to Jane. “You’ll never guess who I ran into in London,” he started.
His mother’s eyes were wide with surprise when he told her, but he deftly evaded her questions on where they’d met and the specifics of the encounter.
Despite Jane’s muttered excuses for being at that public masquerade, he didn’t believe for a moment that her strict parents would condone such a thing.
“I was curious,” he said slowly. “Why is she in London during the summer?” He tried to hide the full extent of his curiosity by focusing on the tea in his hands.
“Oh, poor girl,” his mother sighed. “Her mother says it’s for her own good. They sent her off to that finishing school that’s received such glowing recommendations, you know.”
“Oh?”
“Surely I mentioned that in my last letter,” she continued.
Luke sipped his tea. He couldn’t recall his mother ever mentioning Jane in her letters. But he was too curious to learn more about his childhood friend to argue the point. “So she’s at a finishing school?”
“Yes. And they left the poor dear there for the summer. Cruel, if you ask me,” his mother said with a shake of her head. “So dreadfully hot. And who is that sweet girl spending time with when all the other young ladies have gone to the country?”
Luke shook his head. He had no answer to that.
“But, then again, perhaps it’s best for Jane that she’s out of that house.” His mother sniffed. Her dislike for Jane’s mother was no secret. “They’re too hard on her if you ask me.”
Luke gripped his teacup so hard for a moment, he was afraid it might shatter.
“Are they…are they cruel to her?” he asked.
His mother looked startled. No doubt because his voice had come out far too low and fierce. She recovered quickly and with a shake of her head.
“I wouldn’t say cruel. They just don’t understand her, that’s all. They want her to be something that she is not.”
He nodded, making a concerted effort to loosen his grip on his cup. He supposed that explained why she was in London. And maybe…
His mind called up the look on her face when she’d recognized him. The way she’d said she was hoping to find him. That combined with what his mother had just said about her being alone in London. Was she…
Was shelonely?
Something in his chest gave an alarming tug.
His mother sighed. “All that girl ever wanted was the freedom to ride her horses and be out in nature.” She shook her head with a wistful smile.
His mother had always liked Jane. Maybe she’d seen something of herself in her. “It’s a shame her parents won’t let her do that.”
He thought of the large stable on their property. Of the one onhis. And suddenly his mind’s eye was filled with the memory of a young Jane riding fast and fierce beside him, her bright red hair gleaming in the sun.
He suspected his own smile was just as wistful as his mother’s, but it fell flat when he recalled the last time he’d seen Jane.
That spitfire who’d confronted him was no little girl, but she’d been no less energetic. No less…passionate. He spoke before he could think. “Jane should be in the country like all of her friends. It’s not right that they’ve left her on her own like that.”
His mother widened her eyes. “Is there a reason you’re so concerned about Jane, dear?”
He opened his mouth to sayno, of course not, but his mother kept going.
“Personally, I’d be happy to hear that you have an interest there. Your grandfather…” She hesitated long enough for his skin to prickle with wariness.
“What about him?” That relief he’d felt in his father’s absence disappeared at the mention of his grandfather.
