A Lily Among Thorns(113)
Jonas laughed incredulously. “Innocent? You clearly haven’t known her long. That girl is the most hoydenish, knowing, impossible—”
Serena’s heart sank. “I told Solomon he ought not to bring me here. I told him he couldn’t bring a woman with my reputation into a house with his sister. He wouldn’t listen to me.”
“Hathaways never do when they’ve got a notion in their heads,” Jonas said ruefully. He paused. “I—I hope you couldn’t hear our argument.”
She coughed. “Very little of it.”
“I owe you a double apology then. The Hathaways might be unconventional, but even Solomon wouldn’t really bring his mistress home to meet his family. I should be aiding you in putting your past behind you, not judging you on the strength of it.”
Serena gulped. What would he do if he knew it was true? “Don’t be angry with Susannah. If you’d rather I left, I—”
He looked at her incredulously. “If I’d rather? I assure you, Susannah would never forgive me.”
“Of course she would. I meant to say—she’s your betrothed—there might be gossip—”
Jonas drew himself up. “A true Christian does not act in deference to vulgar tongues.”
“Then there are very few true Christians in England.”
“Alas, that is true,” Jonas said, with almost a smile. “But fortunately, you are among them now.”
“The last thing I ever wanted was to cause trouble between you and Susannah.”
Jonas snorted. “We don’t need you to do that. Tonight was nothing. At any rate, I have no desire for a wife who would allow me to persist in folly without making me aware of it. Woman is man’s helpmeet, not his slave,” he concluded a trifle pompously.
Tonight was—nothing? She hadn’t ruined Susannah’s marriage? “A very enlightened view.”
His face softened. “Honestly, I couldn’t live without her, even if she can be absolutely daft. So I owe you not only an apology, but my eternal gratitude for finding those cursed earrings, because without them I would have been a bachelor until Kingdom come.”
“It was nothing,” Serena said, embarrassed.
“I wish she would agree to become a Methodist, though.”
Serena blinked.
“You wouldn’t be interested in Methodism, would you?” he asked eagerly. “We have among our number sisters from your former profession. You could serve our Lord like Mary Magdalene.”
“Er, no, thank you. I don’t think I have much in common with Mary Magdalene, my former profession notwithstanding.”
He sighed. “I suppose not. Thank you. You’ve been very gracious about my atrocious behavior. Surely everything they say about you cannot be true.”
“Well,” Serena conceded for very likely the first time in her life, “perhaps not.”
Mrs. Hathaway poked her head into the parlor almost the moment they were back inside. “Supper! I hope you like roast beef. I’m afraid I couldn’t get a fatted calf on such short notice.”
Dessert was almond-pear tartlets. “These are lovely, Mrs. Hathaway,” Serena told her. “And I’m not the only one who thinks so. The Prince Regent ate six when Solomon made them.”
Mrs. Hathaway waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, the Prince Regent.”
“He said he’d been trying to buy the recipe from Mrs. Jones for years,” Serena said. Happening to glance at Solomon, she surprised an expression of sudden enlightenment on his face. What had she said?
“Well, I hope you didn’t sell it to him,” Mrs. Hathaway said with a sniff.
“I did not.” When she looked back, the expression was gone from Solomon’s face, and she was left wondering if she had imagined it.
“You know who else liked your tartlets, Mama?” Solomon asked.
“Who, dear?”
“Sir Percy Blakeney.”
The effect was electric. Susannah groaned, Elijah laughed, Mr. Hathaway threw his napkin on the table in disgust, and Mrs. Hathaway sat straighter in her seat and said, “Really? You aren’t bamming me, are you, Sol?”
“Would I lie about something like that?”
“The Scarlet Pimpernel,” Susannah explained to Jonas. “You know, he saved all those French aristocrats. Mama used to have the most enormous tendre for him.”
“Oh, I did not. I was a married woman with more important things to think about, like keeping track of a naughty set of twins.”