Joan Smith by The Kissing Bough Read Free Book Online

sharing these little outings, which have always been a part of my life. I shall have to find new traditions.
    When they returned, there was no one in the saloon. The butler told them Miss Aurelia had gone abovestairs to write letters, and the other ladies had retired to Lady Elizabeth’s parlor. As Jane’s feet were cold and wet, she went abovestairs to change her stockings.
    Miss Townsend’s head peeped out the door of her  room. “Oh, you are back,” she said. “Is Nick downstairs?”
    “Yes, he and Pelham are going to hang the mistletoe.”
    “Was Nick angry that I didn’t go with him?”
    “Not at all.”
    “It is so cold out,” she said, shivering. “I noticed at breakfast that Lady—Aunt Lizzie gave me ‘some strange looks when I mentioned giving money to the tenant farmers. And at lunch, too, I fear I made a fool of myself. I have always lived in the city, Miss Ramsey. I don’t understand country ways yet, but I want to learn. I hope you will tell me if I am doing something wrong. I feel so ... strange here, amongst all these people who have known each other forever. I hope you will be my friend.”
    Jane was touched at this artless speech. Since her best friend’s marriage and remove to Kent, she had no really close lady friend her own age. It seemed natural and right that Nick’s bride should become her new friend. She might prove useful to Aurelia in small ways, as she was a little older, and familiar with life at Clareview.
    “I should like it of all things,” she said.
    “May I call you Jane, then? And you must call me Aurelia.”
    “I have been finding ‘Miss Aurelia’ quite a mouthful,” Jane said, smiling.
    She followed Jane into her room and sat on the bed while Jane changed her stockings. “Nick is very handsome, is he not?” she said, peeking into the mirror and patting her curls. “Even if he weren’t going to be a lord, I would still have accepted him. Marie says it is vulgar to be chasing after a title, but I think she is just jealous because Mr. Huddleston has none.”
    “Actually, Nick doesn’t have a title yet, so no one can accuse you of that.”
    “But he will have, as soon as his uncle dies.”
    “Yes, it is pretty sure Nick will be Lord Goderich one day.”
    “It is very exciting about the party, is it not?”
    “Indeed it is. We don’t have many parties hereabouts.”
    “When I am Lady Goderich, I shall have a grand ball every season. And I shall find a parti for you, too, Jane. And now I must go to Nick.”
    She bounced off the bed and darted from the room, leaving Jane behind to finish her toilette. Jane was happy that Aurelia wanted to be her friend. She had some vague image of herself as Aunt Jane, dandling the future heir to Clareview on her knee.
    As she returned below, she saw from midway down the great circular staircase that the mistletoe had been hung in the archway into the Gold Saloon. Beneath it, Nick and Aurelia stood, embracing. His black head was suspended over her glinting blond curls. What a pretty, romantic picture they made! Jane was ambushed by a jolt of anger that made her forget all her good intentions of becoming Aurelia’s mentor. She had to clench her lips to fight down the wild surge of jealousy.
    No, surely not jealousy! Envy—that diffused emotion, not centering on personalities but on the fact that Aurelia was engaged and she was not— was more acceptable to her. She was just a little envious. What lady would not be? She hesitated a moment, not wanting to interrupt them. Then Nick’s head rose, he said something to Aurelia, they walked back into the saloon, arm in arm, and Jane arranged her face into a smile to join them.
     

Chapter Five
     
    “You tell him, Jane,” Aurelia said when Jane joined Nick and his fiancée in front of the grate.
    Pelham was there as well, reading, which was an unusual occupation for him. Jane chose the chair beside Pelham.
    “Tell him what?” Jane asked.
    “Tell Nick he must wear his scarlet