Authors: Kathryn Caskie
She glanced at Lady Viola, dutifully feigning a request for permission. Then when her employer gave a nod of assent, she took the box into her right palm and lifted the lid.
Two diamond-ringed fiery opal earbobs glistened inside. Jenny caught her breath.
Lord Trevor gave an appreciative sigh as well. "They were my mother's."
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"Your mother's?" Jenny turned her eyes up to his. "Oh, my
lo
rd, I could not possibly accept such fin
e
—"
Lord Trevor reached out and folded her fingers down atop of the earbobs. "But I insist. And besides, they complement your pin so well, my lady," he said, gesturing to her opal brooch.
My lady. My lady?
There was something about the way he spoke those two words. Jenny pinned him with her gaze.
This seemed to unnerve the gentleman and he looked to Lady Letitia and her sister. "Well, must be off." He started past Jenny for the door, then turned and kissed her cheek. "Be happy," he said softly, yet earnestly. "
'
'Tis my greatest wish for you and your husband." With great haste, he stepped into the hallway.
Everyone rushed through the doorway and into the passageway. They watched as he lifted his hat from the table, then gave himself a quick appreciative look in the mirror, before turning to face them all. "Good afternoon." Then with a click of his perfectly polished boot heel, he left the house.
Jenny was utterly stunned. She turned to Hercule, who leaned against the doorjamb grinning. "He ... was m
y
—
"
Oui.
Your father."
Jenny's eyes flashed upon the Feathertons. They nodded back at her.
"But, Hercule," Jenny stammered. "How did you ... I mean ... I didn't even know his name."
Hercule straightened and moved before her. " 'Twas the brooch. When I first saw it at Miss Meredith's birthday ball, I knew I'd seen it before. It only took some
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time for me to realize 'twas in a portrait of Lady Trevor at A
m
hurst Hall."
Jenny wrinkled her nose. "Lady Trevor?"
"Your grandmother, dear," Lady Viola explained. "Your mother was engaged as a parlor maid at Amhurst Hall before she came to us. 'Twas there that she met Lord Trevor."
"But why did she never tell me this?" Jenny turned around just as her mother emerged through the door to the servants' stairs.
"Because, my darling girl, I loved him. But he was not the man your Lord Argyll has proven himself to be. And so I left Amhurst Hall in the past, where I hoped the painful memories would remain, and took away the very best part of hi
m
—
y
ou."
Jenny rushed to her mother and embraced her. "Oh, Mama. I am so sorry."
"Bah, girl." Her mother took her by the shoulders and pushed back, smiling through her tears. "Today is a joyous day for me. For my daughter has married the man she loves, and is about to start her life anew." She looked up as something over Jenny's shoulder caught her notice.
Jenny turned to see Mr. Edgar open the door for Callum and usher him inside. The young lord was smiling from ear to ear.
"Are ye ready?" he asked Jenny, very nearly hopping from foot to foot in his excitement.
Jenny was still half mute from the shock of meeting Lord Trevor. "
I
—
I
believe so ..."
"Shall we all head off to Laura Place then? My staff have prepared a feast we shallna ever see equaled in this
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lifetime." He looked from the ladies Letitia and Viola
,
to Me
s
edith, who all rushed Edgar for their wraps.
Jenny slowly approached her husband, then rose up on her toes and brushed her lips across his. "Whatever are you on about, my lord?" she asked suspiciously.
"Who me?" he asked, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her the skin-tingling way Jenny decided a husband ought always kiss his wife.
******************
The caravan of two fine conveyances left Royal Crescent just before four. But rather than thrilling at the prospect of being alone with her handsome new husband, Jenny was distracted by thoughts of the news she swore she would share this eve.
And so, instead of recounting the clothing choices of the wedding breakfast guests, a topic she would otherwise delight in exploring, Jenny gazed pensively out the carriage window as they rounded the Circus and started down Gay Street. But then the carriage turned left on George Street, then abruptly onto Milsom.
Lud, not Milsom Street.
Not when her wound was so fresh. In fact, for the first time since she'd arrived in Bath, Jenny hadn't set foot on Milsom Street for four whole days.
It was simply too painful to see the empty shop that was almost hers, knowing that someone else would soon open the doors ... probably to sell tools or something else completely unnecessary.
The carriage wheeled ever closer unti
l
...
there it was.
Jenny closed her eyes, unable to even look upon it. But then to her immense consternation, she felt the car-
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riage stop. She snapped her eyes open as the footman let down the stairs.
"Why are we stopping here? I thought we were going to Laura Place." She tried very hard to avoid sounding bitter, but it was too difficult. She heard the bile flavoring her every word.
"Just need to stop inside a shop for a moment." Callum playfully pulled her from the carriage. "Come with me, lass. I know shopping is yer passion."
"No,
you
are my passion, Callu
m
. Take me to Laura Place and I'll prove it to you." Jenny smiled wickedly at him, hoping he would take her bait and forget his blasted errand.
But by now, the Feathertons had already disembarked from their carriage and were headed toward them. Lady Letitia looked up at the linen-draped shop sign above
her
shop's door, swaying lightly in the chill breeze. "Looks like a new shop is to open, eh?"
Meredith glanced up too. "I wonder what it will sell?" A broad smile appeared on her face. "Perhaps antiquities; mummies packed in sarcophaguses, and temple jars filled with metaphysical elixirs."
Jenny turned to Callum, to share a roll of eyes, but he had simply vanished.
Then there was a rattling of keys, and the sound of a door opening. She spun around. There stood Callum in the open doorway of the shop wearing the largest, most foolish grin she'd ever seen.
"Callum," she began, creeping forward. "What are you doin
g
... in that empty shop? The new owner won't be amused."
"Ye're not amused? Hm
m
. Somehow I thought owning yer own shop
would
amuse ye."
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A wild jolt raced through Jenny's limbs. "What did you say
?
'
Lady Leti
ti
a laughed. "Oh, don't be such a goose. He bought the shop for you, Jenny."
Meredith grinned. "Well, as Lady Argyll, you can't very well go on selling your creams from the kitchen door."
"Go inside, dear. Have a look around." Lady Viola snickered and covered her mouth with her gloved fingers.
Callu
m
reached out his hand for hers and together they walked into the shop. Once inside, Jenny's mouth fell open. She couldn't speak. Couldn't do anything but turn in a slow circle and stare in complete disbelief.
Somehow her sketches for her dream shop had materialized. There were the silk-wrapped settees where grand ladies would sip tea while being shown the latest designs. A long brass bar, where her ready-made gowns would hang, ran along one wall. Blush sa
t
in swathes lined the walls and crawled all the way up to the wonderfully high ceiling.
Near the windows was a sparkling glass case where jewelry and brilliants would catch the light, and wink at Milsom's passersby.
"B-but how?" Oh, blast, her eyes were getting hot.
Setting her hands on her hips, Meredith proudly lifted her chin and stepped forward. "When I came down to your chamber to fetch you, your scientific journal was lying open on your bed. And you know how I am, Jenny. I had to take a look, and when I did I was amazed. I had no idea you were such the
entreprendre
."
"Oh, dear, you should not have done such a thing." Lady Viola waved a finger at Meredith.
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"Well, I daresay everyone should be quite happy I pried, for when Lord Argyll asked for suggestions for a wedding gift for Jenny, I immediately told him about the shop in every glorious detail." Meredith stepped before Jenny and looked deeply into her eyes. "You do ... like it?"
Jenny nodded mutely as tears breached her lashes and spilled onto her cheeks.
Callu
m
cuddled Jenny to him. "Now dinna ye go and cry. Ye should be happy."
"I am ... I just seem to cry at the slightest shift in wind." But as Jenny looked up, she saw the concern in Callu
m
's eyes. "Lud, you don't need to worry. Nothing is wrong, it's just the bab
e
—"
Oh, no
!
Jenny sucked in her breath and clamped her lips closed.
"Did ye say ...
the babe
?
"
Callum stared at her. "But ye told me . . . Christ, Jenny, ye must tell me true. Are ye carryin' me bairn?"
Meredith and the ladies seemed to be drawn round her by invisible threads. Everyone was staring at her. Her heart played a riotous tattoo in her ears until she could withstand it no longer.
"Yes, Callum. By autumn we'll have a child." She drew in a deep cleansing breath as she fortified herself for the next words she knew she must utter. "And Argyll will have its heir."
She winced, prepared for a harsh retort. Even the Feathertons seemed to hold their collective breaths in anticipation of Callum's reply.
But instead of words, a smile came to Callum's lips, and a look of boundless happiness rode from his mouth to his deep brown eyes.
"Oh, lass," was all he said before he swept her right
325
off the floor and into his arms and he kissed her as never before.
,.
When at last he allowed her to slide down his chest until her slippers touched the floor, Jenny gazed up at him. "I don't understand ... I
th
ought you wanted ... you intended to see the Argyll line extinct."
Callu
m
led Jenny to one of the elegant settees and waited for her to settle into it. "Aye, I was an angry man, filled with pain borne of a lonely, frightened lad. But now I have ye, and love fills those empty hollows. I am whole again, because ye are in my life. Ye, and our babe."
He bent and kissed her softly then and laid his large hand over her belly. Jenny gasped an absurd gurgling sob as more tears streamed down her face.
"Come on, 'tis time, 'tis time," Meredith cried from outside me door. "I'm ready!"
Another surprise?
A little grin pushed through the tears to take hold of Jenny's lips. "She's ready for . .. what exactly?"
"Wee
l
, ye'll just have to come with me outside and see fer yerself." Callum reached out his hand to help Jenny rise.
But Jenny was on her feet already and halfway to the shop door before realizing she really ought to have taken her husband's hand. It would have been the ladylike thing to do after al
l
—
a
nd she was a lady ... at
l
ast.
As she stood in the open doorway, the sunlight streaming into her eyes, Meredith pulled a rope attached to the linen over the shop sign. The linen dropped away and fell in a dusty heap at Jenny's feet. Lifting her slipper over the linen, she moved onto the flag way and squinted her eyes to read the sign.
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M
iss
Penny's Miscellany
All a
Lady Desires
"What do you think, Jenny? Wickedly clever, don't you agree?" Meredith asked excitedly. "I wouldn't be the least surprised if you expanded to London ... or Edinburgh ... o
r
—
e
ven America!"
Jenny's felt her eyes grow round as the idea took. Why not? For surely the shop would be a resounding success. Why, already it promised to be the toast of Bath.
But the nam
e
... it might be a little long for the American market. Well, she'd just shorten it. She could call i
t
... ah, yes. Jenny smiled.