The Unlikely Lady (Playful Brides #3)(64)

“Are Sir and Lady Lowndes and Jane still here?” he asked, not pausing for the answer.

“Their coach is pulling away right now,” came Lord Moreland’s reply.

Garrett ripped open the front door and raced out onto the gravel drive. “Miss Lowndes!” he called at the top of his lungs. The coach, which was already moving past the drive onto the lane that led up to the house, came to a stop. Garrett didn’t wait. He sprinted toward the vehicle, completely winded by the time he got to it.

The window opened and Jane’s mother stuck out her head. “Mr. Upton, is that you?”

“Y—yes,” he managed, desperately trying to catch his breath.

“May I ask what you’re doing?”

Garrett bent over and braced his hands on his knees, breathing quickly and struggling to remain calm.

“I—I must speak with Jane.”

There was a bit of discussion inside the coach, which allowed him time to right his breathing. It still wasn’t perfect but was markedly improved by the time Jane stuck out her head. “Go away, Upton.”

“No. I won’t. I must speak with you.”

More discussion in the coach ensued. By the time the door opened, Garrett was able to straighten himself. Jane emerged from the entrance, and Garrett held out his hand and helped her down onto the gravel. She was still favoring her ankle and behind her spectacles her face looked a bit red. Had she been crying? Damn it.

“Very well. What would you like to say to me?” she asked, her voice flat and calm. Too flat and calm.

“Can we go over there?” He gestured to a shady spot several lengths away from the coach next to a hedgerow. He could already imagine her mother listening to this conversation and he wanted to spare Jane that.

Jane nodded jerkily.

There was a distinct harrumph from inside the coach as the two walked away. Jane had to lean on his arm a bit heavily. “Is your ankle worse?” he asked.

“It will be fine,” she replied in the same flat voice.

As soon as they came to a standstill near the hedgerow, Jane released him, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at him. He couldn’t blame her for being angry. He’d left her waiting for him last night. She deserved an explanation.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “About last night, I was—”

“Please, Upton. I don’t want to discuss it. I find the entire thing distasteful in the extreme and I’d prefer to pretend that none of it ever happened.”

He searched her pretty face. The spectacles he knew so well covered eyes that were full of anger and a bit swollen. “You can’t mean that, Jane.”

“I do indeed mean it, Upton.”

She was back to calling him Upton and her face was a mask of ice.

“Jane, I’m sorry. I truly—”

“What are you sorry for? I’m the one who should apologize to you.”

He furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”

“I never came to your room last night. I changed my mind.”

His face fell. “Wh—what?”

“I changed my mind.”

“That’s all right, Jane. I didn’t mean to do this here, but—” He fell to one knee. “Marry me.”

Jane’s mouth fell open. “Upton.” She gasped. “This is really beyond the pale. You think you can fix all of this by proposing to me?”

“I’m not trying to fix it. I’m telling you that I love you and I want to marry you. Please say yes, Jane. Please.”

He could have sworn there were tears in her eyes, but her face quickly reverted to stone.

“No, Upton. Never.”

He searched her face, lowering his voice. “What about what we did the night before the wedding?”

She blushed but anger remained etched in her features. “Yes, as to that, thank you, that was informative, but I don’t want to repeat it and I certainly don’t intend to marry over it. No one needs to marry. I consider it a learning experience only, Upton. Good day.” She turned away from him.

“What the devil are you talking about, Jane? I thought we had something together,” he said as she left him kneeling by the hedgerow.

She whirled around to face him and shrugged even though he could tell she was fighting back tears. She carefully limped back closer to him, no doubt so her mother wouldn’t overhear. “Something? What something? You’re experienced, Upton. Far more experienced than I. Do you propose marriage to every lady whom you kiss in a drawing room?”

His head snapped to the side as if she’d slapped him.

“No.” His voice was harsh, hard.

“We suffered a bout of temporary insanity, you and I.” Jane’s voice crackled with ice. “I promise you it will never happen again.”





CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

London, two days later

Garrett rubbed the top of the dog’s head. He sat in the wide leather chair behind his desk in his study. It was nice to be home, back into the routine of things. He had a stack of correspondence half a foot high. He’d thrown himself into his work like a madman, anything to keep from thinking about Jane.

Jane. What the hell had happened with Jane? Would he ever understand women? That woman in particular? Why had her defenses reappeared so quickly? She hadn’t even allowed him the chance to explain. Not that it mattered. He had asked her to spend the night with him without a promise. That had been poorly done. But he’d done the right thing as soon as he’d been able. He’d fallen to his knee on the bloody front lawn of the Morelands’ estate, and she had thrown it in his face as if it meant nothing.