And then there was Miss Matthews. Jane. He almost hated to admit that he liked having her as his guest. When he had risen the day before to see that the sun shone, he had felt immediately glad that she would see Templeton Hall at its best. That his guests would see it at its best, he had corrected himself. He had seen the carriage approach along the main road before it turned into the driveway. And he had waited outside for it, as excited as any boy in anticipation of his first sight of her.Of all of them.He did not know quite how it had happened that he was the one to help her from the carriage whenSedgeworthwas standing at the foot of the steps.
Claire had liked her. She was a shy child, willing to look at other people and smile at them, even talk to them sometimes. But she liked to cling for safety to him or to her nurse. She had gone to Jane Matthews with very little hesitation and had settled comfortably against her. She had been sleeping before they finished tea. He did not care to explore the feelings he had had the few times he had ventured to look at the two of them. Jane had held her comfortingly but without any affectation. She had contributed as much as anyone else to the general conversation.
Indeed she had not acted toward the children with any of thedemontrativeaffection of the other ladies. She had treated them as if they were quite normal people. One time when he had looked at her she was gently easing Claire's thumb from her mouth. And then she laid her hand briefly and gently against the child's cheek. She had not known that she was observed.
Fairfax bent to pick up a stone. He hurled it as far as he could out into the water. He picked up another, flatter stone and moved it around carefully in his hand before flicking it so that it bounced three times across the lake before disappearing from sight.
He did not wish to put into words in his mind the discovery he had made the day before. There was no point in doing so. He had had his chance to woo her. He had not handled it well. He was beginning to understand why she had refused him. He really had made his offer as if she as a person did not matter. He had given her reasons which were all selfish ones. She could make his own life and his children's lives more comfortable, he had said. It was no wonder she had felt like a commodity. He was appalled now by his own arrogance and by his overconfidence. It had not occurred to him that she might refuse. Of course, in his own defense perhaps he could say that he had not known at the time what he now knew about his feelings for her.
Well, he concluded, bending in search of another flat stone, it was too late to know now. She was betrothed to his best friend, and they were clearly well-matched. He must use this two-week period to adjust his mind to thinking of her as a friend. At least he would not lose her entirely when she married. He would see her as often as he saw Sedge, and he would hear about her from Sedge's letters. She would have an interesting life, more interesting than life with him would have been. He was glad for her. She would want children, though. He was sure she would want children. He was not so sure about Sedge.
But that was their concern, not his, he thought, with a sigh as he turned toward the building a little farther along the bank. It was a marble folly in the shape of a Greek temple. A rather grand structure, he had always thought, to be a boathouse and a bathing hut. He had always loved it, though. His grandfather had certainly had an eye for a perfect setting when he had had it built. He made his way toward it. He should check to see if the boats were in good repair. The girls would surely be pestering him soon to take them out, and his guests too would probably enjoy rowing on the lake.
Jane too was up early. She had asked to have a window left open the night before and had pulled back the curtains in her room after extinguishing the candles. Her room faced east. Dawn brought with it a pink glow into her room, followed by the orange rays of the rising sun. And thousands of birds housed in the woods at the bottom of the lawn that sloped away to the east must all have been singing as loudly as their beaks would stretch.
It was impossible to sleep longer, Jane decided at last, throwing back the covers from her bed and reaching for a wrap as the crisp morning air touched her bare arms. She crossed to the window and looked out. It was a beautiful day, and that was surely a lake of some sort beyond the trees. She had meant to ask Lord Fairfax the day before. She very badly wanted to go outside and walk around, perhaps even go down through the trees to discover what really was beyond them. But it was very early. There was probably no one about yet. Perhaps even the servants were not up. It was not seemly perhaps for a guest to wander house and grounds so early on the morning after her arrival.
Jane washed and dressed slowly and brushed her hair. But the lure of the outdoors was too strong. She decided to go quietly downstairs. If there was no one about and the door was still locked and barred, then she would creep into the library—she knew where it was—and choose a book to bring back upstairs until a more respectable hour. However, luck was with her. The front doors were standing wide open, and a maid was on her knees outside singing as she scrubbed the marble steps.
"Good morning, mum," she said, scrambling to her feet and bobbing a curtsy when Jane appeared in the doorway.
"Good morning," Jane said. "Please do not let me disturb you. Is it not a lovely day?" She breathed deeply of the fresh air.
"Yes, mum," the girl said. "It's going to be a scorcher."
"What is beyond the trees?" Jane asked, pointing to the east. "Is it a lake?"
"Yes, mum," the maid said."A big one.There's a path through the trees."
"Thank you," Jane said. "I think I shall take a walk that way."
"Will you be having your breakfast first, mum?" the girl asked, looking as if she was about to get to her feet again. "Will I be going to Mrs. Pringle to tell her?"
"I shall eat later," Jane said with a smile. "Please carry on. I shall step down carefully this side so that I do not spoil what you have already cleaned."
The maid was singing again before she was quite out of earshot. Jane hoped Lord Fairfax would not mind her exploring on her own. She supposed it was an ungodly hour to be up. But she was always an early riser at home. Most of the year she slept with a window open and curtains pulled back. And how could one sleep when all the creatures of nature were very much awake and letting every sleepyhead know the fact? She loved the early morning. She could feel the dew seeping into her shoes now as she walked across the east lawn. She was glad it was a lake she had seen. There was nothing more calming to the spirit than an expanse of water.
It was far larger than she had expected. It was wide at the point where she emerged from the trees. And it stretched to either side, becoming narrower in the distance. There was a tree-covered island away off to the left. It was all very beautiful, as water always was early in the day. She would sit on the bank very quietly and let her mind soak up the beauty and peace of it all.
It could all have been hers.Part of her own home.Strange thought! She still found it difficult to believe either that Fairfax had made her an offer or that she had had the courage to refuse. She sighed. She must not dwell on the loss. Life was turning out much better for her than she deserved. Soon she would be seeing other countries or at least other parts of this country. There would be other places as beautiful as this on which to feast her eyes and her spirit. And Joseph really was a dear person. She had laughed at him the evening before. He had been on Honor's team for charades and had entered wholeheartedly into the game. Between them, he and Honor had made sure that their opponents had no chance of winning. And Jane had been one of their opponents. Honor had linked her arm through his after the game was over and giggled up at him.
"We make a very good team, sir," she had said. "Are you quite sure that as Jane's bridesmaid I may not accompany you on your travels? No? Well, I shall think of a way. I shall play on your sympathies or on Jane's before you leave. Perhaps I shall even steal you from her. Now, would not that be a coup?"
"Miss Jamieson, most-admired debutante of the year, running off with plain, ordinary Mr.Sedgeworthas he dishonorably abandons his tearful betrothed?" he said. "I fear the image is not nearly glamorous or romantic enough to tempt you, my dear."
Honor had sighed loudly and batted her eyelids before turning to Fairfax and taking his arm on some pretext.
"Little imp,"Sedgeworthhad commented with a grin, seatinghimselfbeside Jane and touching her hand briefly in an affectionate gesture.
Jane smiled into the water. She would be happy with him. And they would grow to love each other. Perhaps they would never beinlove, but they would love nevertheless. She hoped they would have a child. She wanted to ask him how he felt about having children, but was always too shy to broach the subject. Yesterday he had seemed fond enough of Fairfax' girls. He had held the solemn little Amy on his lap during tea and had allowed her to play with his fobs and quizzing glass.
And she had held Claire. She had almost held her breath at first, expecting the child to become restless and move away from her. Instead, she had snuggled close and fallen asleep. Jane doubted if there was any warmer happiness than holding a sleeping child in one's arms. Claire was very tiny and light, really little more than a baby.And so trusting to fall asleep in the arms of a stranger.She could have been the child's stepmother, Jane thought, and shook off the thought before it could develop further in her mind.
A snort behind her startled her and made her turn hurriedly. There was a horse tethered to a tree a little farther along the bank. She was surprised she had not seen or heard it before. It must have been there when she arrived. Where was its rider? She scrambled to her feet and looked around her. On her other side there was a small stone temple built at the lake's edge. She had only half-noticed it when she arrived. Was the horse's owner there? And was he Fairfax? Who else could it be? She turned toward the trees, almost in a panic to move away from there before she was discovered.
But it was too late. Before she had taken a step she was aware of someone coming out of the building, and she turned back to meet the startled eyes of Viscount Fairfax.
"Well, good morning," he called. "You are an early riser." He strode toward her across the grass.
