The Wrong Girl

by CJ Archer

  ***

  Jack didn't join us until after luncheon. He'd been gone a long time considering all he had to do was change and speak to his uncle. Perhaps they were arguing again. Sylvia must have had the same thought because she kept glancing at the door then frowning when nobody walked through it. Her concerns didn't stop her tongue, however. She chatted the entire time, gossiping about neighbors I'd not yet met.

  We were both relieved when Jack finally came into the parlor.

  "Well?" Sylvia said before he'd taken two steps inside. "Why did you need to speak to Uncle August?"

  "I see you've been talking about me again."

  Sylvia clicked her tongue. "Honestly, Jack, you're not that interesting."

  He pressed a hand to his heart. "You wound me, dear cousin." He seemed in very good spirits, the best I'd seen him in since my arrival at Frakingham.

  Sylvia must have noticed it too because she eyed him warily. "Surely you've not just come from Uncle's rooms. You're much too cheerful."

  "I was with August for only a few minutes, then I went to see Olson in the stables."

  "You've been in the stables the entire time?" I asked.

  "I like to help out with the horses on occasion."

  Sylvia sniffed. "I think it's cruel not to come here immediately when you've got news you knew we'd be waiting to hear."

  "How do you know it's something for your ears? It could be nothing to do with either of you."

  "Just tell us!"

  He held up his hands. "Very well. We're going to London."

  I don't know who gasped loudest, Sylvia or me. She certainly recovered from the shock first. "London? All three of us?"

  "Yes."

  "And Uncle has agreed?" Her gaze slid to me then away again.

  "Yes."

  "He trusts I won't try to escape?" I asked. It was quite unbelievable. There had to be something else he wasn't telling us.

  "We have an agreement, Violet. I've assured him you'll keep your word and not try to escape. You've proved that already when you came to the lake."

  "Her behavior was perfect," Sylvia agreed. "Unlike yours, Cousin. Did you have to parade about like that? It was terribly vulgar."

  "So why are we three going to London at all?" I asked to diffuse their argument. "Does it have something to do with my training?"

  He nodded. "You're going to see a hypnotist."

  "A hypnotist!" Sylvia cried.

  "Whatever for?" I asked.

  "I think something is blocking your talent. A barrier of some sort, mental not physical. I have a theory that if we remove the barrier, you'll have better access to the fire within you, and better access will mean you can summon it at will. Or dampen it, if need be."

  "Can a hypnotist remove the blockage?"

  "I hope so. We won't know until he looks at you. August knows of a fellow in London and agreed it's a good idea for you to see him. He's given me a letter of introduction, and we'll leave early tomorrow morning. We'll be in London by late afternoon and can see him the following day."

  "Do you think the appointment will take long?" Sylvia asked.

  "Why?"

  "We simply must go shopping. I'm not traveling all that way and not visiting Oxford Street."

  Jack's eyes softened. "We'll certainly have time for shopping. Indeed, I can hardly wait. I live to carry your purchases up and down Oxford Street."

  "Don't be silly. Tommy can carry the boxes to the carriage. You won't need to do a thing except pay. Just think—we're going to London. How thrilling."

  "I've read about it," I said. "It's seems like an exciting place."

  "Exciting is not a word I choose to associate with London," Jack muttered, his good humor having slipped away.

  Sylvia sucked in her top lip. "No, of course you wouldn't."

  I lifted my brow in inquiry, but either she didn't notice or chose to ignore me. "You've been to London before?" I asked Jack.

  He hesitated then said, "Yes."

  "Many times?"

  "Yes. Violet, would you care to go riding with me this afternoon?"

  It took me a moment to follow the abrupt shift in conversation. I wanted to ask him more about London, but he seemed to want to avoid a discussion on the subject. "Riding? On a horse?"

  "That's usually how riding is done."

  "But I've never been on a horse before." To tell the truth, I was a little frightened of the creatures.

  "Then it's about time you learned."

  "Wait a moment," said Sylvia, holding up a hand. "I'll have to come. To chaperone," she added when both Jack and I stared at her. "You shouldn't be alone together."

  "For God's sake, Syl. I've been alone with her all morning in a room with the door closed and then again down at the lake."

  "That was different. The room was work, and I didn't know you were at the lake. If I had, I would've escorted her. You can't go gallivanting around the estate together where anybody could see. I won't allow it, and I doubt Uncle would either."

  "I'm not sure August cares one way or another."

  "He should. If he wants to fit in with Society then he must follow the rules."

  "Just because he has this house doesn't mean he wants to fit into Society. You know how he hates that class of people."

  Sylvia's gaze once more flicked to me and she blushed ever so slightly and looked away. I supposed they considered me part of 'that class of people.' If only they knew—I was far beneath them both on the social ladder.

  "Nevertheless," she said. "I ought to chaperone you."

  Jack sighed. "Very well. I'll wait for you both in the stables."

  Twenty minutes later, I entered the stables without Sylvia. "She's not coming after all," I told Jack when he asked. "She took one step outside and decided it was much too cold. It appears she cares more for her comfort than my reputation."

  This last was said as a joke, but Jack didn't even smile. "I suppose it would be cold for her out here," he said.

  "I admit I thought about staying inside too."

  "You're cold?"

  "Afraid. The closest I've ever been to a horse was the other day in the carriage."

  "You'll be fine. Clover is our oldest nag. She can barely raise a trot." He indicated I should walk into the stables ahead of him. "There have been a lot of firsts for you in the last few days, haven't there?" he said, taking a saddle from one of the grooms.

  "My first time in a carriage," I said. "First time wearing something that isn't woolen, first time sleeping in a room on my own." First time alone with a man.

  I watched as he saddled his horse. He wore no jacket or coat, and I could clearly see the muscles flex beneath his shirt.

  "Then it's my duty to make this inaugural ride a pleasant experience," he said, suddenly turning and catching me staring.

  I mumbled something, I hardly knew what. He turned back to his task, but not before I saw how pink his cheeks had become.

  He and the groom finished saddling the horses and led them outside. Jack paused to remove a black riding jacket hanging from a hook and put it on. He cut quite the gentlemanly figure in it with buff riding breeches and black boots. I had difficulty concentrating as he explained how to mount, and I ended up gratefully accepting the assistance of the groom. I managed it the first time, but only because Clover remained perfectly still. If she'd pranced about like Jack's horse, I would have surely fallen off the other side.

  "She'll just follow along," Jack said, urging his horse forward. "You won't have to do a thing."

  Clover did indeed meekly follow his horse, but that didn't stop me from clutching the reins so tightly that my fingers ached by the time we reached the lake.

  "Relax a little," Jack said, his voice clear in the breathless quiet. "You're doing well."

  "I must look awkward."

  "Not at all. You look elegant."

  I snorted. "Thanks to this riding habit. Sylvia has exquisite taste and seems to have been well versed in my size and coloring be
fore my arrival. I believe I have you to thank for that."

  "I can assure you, it's not just the clothes. You've got a natural gift for riding. It's a shame Lord Wade never allowed you and Miss Smith to learn."

  "I suggested it to her once, but she was much too frightened by the idea so I never pursued the matter."

  "A shame. Could you not have gone without her? Your governess could have accompanied you instead."

  That may have indeed been possible if I were in fact the earl's daughter, but since I wasn't, I was subject to Vi's whims. The lowly companion simply would not be allowed to ride without her ladyship. And Vi was indeed terrified of horses.

  "I doubt Miss Levine would have cared for riding either," I said.

  "She was a stiff-looking woman." He slowed his horse to allow mine to catch up, and we rode side by side. "I'm sorry you had to endure such a grim childhood, Violet. Your life hasn't been fair. I hope...I hope you'll see that it doesn't have to be that way anymore. The thought of being cooped up forever...I don't know how you managed."

  "It wasn't so bad. I had a good friend in...Hannah." I swallowed, but the lie stuck in my throat. Perhaps I ought to tell him the truth. Perhaps his uncle really didn't wish Violet ill, and she would be all right at Frakingham, learning to control her talent.

  But I needed to be sure. By Christmas I would know for certain if they meant to harm her. If they proved to be trustworthy, then I would be honest with Jack and help him fetch the real Violet Jamieson.

  "I admit that I expected to find you a little mad," he said.

  "Oh?"

  "I know I would be if I'd been confined to a few rooms my entire life, unable to come or go as I pleased. Yet you're remarkably normal."

  I didn't want to venture into a conversation about my life at Windamere. It would be too easy to make a mistake and forget my lie. Particularly because Jack was so perceptive.

  "What about you?" I said instead. "What was your childhood like growing up with the ability to start fires?"

  He regarded me closely, as if he knew I was deliberately avoiding discussing myself. "It was...fine."

  "Your parents weren't alarmed when it first happened?"

  "I wouldn't know. I was too young to remember."

  "They never talked about it?"

  "I mean I was too young to remember them." He urged his horse into a trot, and Clover dutifully followed. The change of pace caught me by surprise, and I bounced uncomfortably along, holding onto the reins for dear life, until we finally came to a stop at the ruins I'd seen on my first day.

  All that was left of the abbey were some broken arches, crumbling walls and the lower halves of what must have been sturdy columns at the entrance. Moss had turned many of the stones green, and some structures appeared to only be held together by vines that crawled over everything, claiming the ruins as their own.

  "With whom did you live after your parents' deaths?" I asked. Perhaps I should have let the conversation drop, but curiosity was eating at me. I just had to know more about Jack Langley. "Sylvia said you didn't come to Frakingham until you were fourteen."

  "Don't, Violet." His voice came out choked. "Please." He dismounted and let his horse graze untethered. He patted Clover's nose and looked up at me from beneath hooded eyes. "A man needs to keep some secrets."

  My heart lurched inside my chest, and I suddenly wished to hold him and tell him he could trust me.

  But I hardly knew him, and I doubted he'd want a raggedy, freckly redhead throwing herself at him. Besides, I was lying to him, so it seemed only fair that he keep some things from me too.

  "I thought it was ladies who were supposed to be the secretive ones," I said.

  He looked relieved that the conversation was at an end. "Does this mean that the lovely Lady Violet isn't telling me everything? And here I thought you wore your heart on your sleeve."

  "And how do you know what's in my heart, Jack Langley?" I asked softly. I couldn't look away from his eyes, so filled with longing and—dare I even think it let alone hope—desire.

  He moved close and skimmed his hand over Clover's neck, toward my knee. He didn't look away, and I certainly couldn't. I was caught in his presence as securely as the ruins in the vines.

  His chest rose and fell with his heavy breathing. I waited for him to say something, but he did not. He looked dazed, not quite aware, as he lifted his arms to help me down. He put his hands to my waist, and a shock passed between us, quickly followed by a fierce heat, blasting through me. I felt like I was burning up from the inside.

  "Jack!" I screamed.

  His eyes widened, but he didn't let me go until my feet were firmly on the ground. Then he stalked off and slapped his hands against his thighs as if he were putting out flames.

  I was too busy trying to remove my jacket to check if he'd been burned. I desperately needed to cool down, and the jacket itself smoldered where his hands had been. I was rather glad it was woolen after all.

  "Are you all right?" he asked, returning. Worry scored deep lines into his forehead. He reached for me again, but quickly dropped his hands back to his sides. "Are you hurt?"

  "I don't think so. Still a little hot, but I'm beginning to cool. What about you? Your hands must be painful. You weren't wearing gloves, but I at least have some layers to protect me."

  "They're fine. Don't worry about me." He crossed his arms and tucked his hands away.

  "Let me see." I reached for him.

  He stepped back. "Don't touch me!"

  I blinked. "Right. Of course."

  He strode off and stopped near one of the arches that must have been a doorway once, but now had no walls on either side of it.

  I followed. "Jack, let me see your hands."

  He blew out a breath then turned around, palms out flat for me to inspect. They were unmarked. No burns, not even a slight reddening.

  "They're perfectly fine." I frowned. "But that must have hurt. Your skin was unprotected."

  "My skin doesn't burn. Neither does yours. You weren't aware?"

  I shook my head.

  He fingered the jacket slung over my arm. "It's ruined."

  "I'm sorry."

  "Whatever for? It's not your fault. It's not mine. It's this cursed talent."

  "It doesn't feel like a talent, does it?"

  "Not always," he muttered.

  We stood in silence until I could stand it no longer. I was bursting with questions. "You said you don't burn."

  "We don't burn. Not our skin anyway."

  "That doesn't make sense. Are you saying there's some part of you that does burn?"

  He pressed his lips together and for a moment I thought he'd refuse to answer. "You ought to know," he said. "Since it affects you too."

  "Jack, you're scaring me."

  He went to reach for me again, but stopped himself and let his hand fall. "Have you heard of spontaneous combustion?"

  "That's when someone burns, yet there's no evidence of how they caught alight, isn't it? I always thought it was a hoax or a way of covering up a murder."

  "Perhaps it is. Perhaps not."

  "Oh God." I felt the color drain from my face, and the lingering heat too. "Are you saying that you—we—can spontaneously combust?"

  "I don't know for sure since you and I are the only fire starters in existence and neither of us has suffered that fate, obviously. But when the sparks come I feel like I'm boiling inside. Ever since I heard of spontaneous combustion I've wondered if that's how those people died. If they were like me, burning up inside."

  "Oh," I whispered. "But you can control your fire, can't you?"

  He lifted his gaze to mine. "The sparks and heat come only when I'm very angry. Or so I thought."

  "You're not angry now."

  He turned away. "No."

  "Then...why? I don't understand."

  "It's not important."

  "It is important!"

  "Don't, Violet." He spun back round, and I was shocked by how pink h
is cheeks were. From the fire within him?

  I reeled back. "I'm sorry. Don't be angry with me."

  The color quickly vanished and his face turned ashen. "Violet, I'm not angry with you. I doubt I ever could be." Again he went to reach for me, and again he lowered his arms before we touched. "Bloody hell," he muttered. "I hate this."

  I sat on the base of what must have once been a column. I watched him as he too sat on a large stone and picked at the long grass licking up its sides. He seemed to be avoiding my gaze on purpose.

  "I've seen you hold Sylvia's hand before and that didn't happen," I said. "You patted Clover's nose and nothing. Indeed, when you kidnapped me, you touched me. Admittedly I passed out, but I'm sure I would have felt that heat beforehand if it had been there. So why now, Jack? What was different about this time?"

  "Do you have to ask?" he muttered.

  "Yes, and you must answer. If you're going to let off sparks every time we touch now, I need to know."

  He scrubbed a hand across his chin and lower lip, all the while avoiding my gaze. "August warned me before I went to spy on you that if we developed feelings for one another, we may not be able to control the fire when we...uh...that is, at certain moments."

  Oh. Oh! He had feelings for me? Me? The little freckly redhead from the attic? I tried to think of something to say, but I knew I'd sound like a blathering fool, so I bit my tongue and concentrated on remaining unruffled. Unfortunately he wasn't looking at me and my efforts went unnoticed.

  He grunted a harsh, humorless laugh. "I don't know what bothers me more. That you know I have feelings for you, or that August was right. It didn't matter when he first told me." A beat passed before he added, "It does now."

  I pressed my hand to my chest. My heart felt like it was being squeezed by a fist. "Do you mean that your feelings for me have grown so that now when we touch, we may combust?"

  He jerked a thumb at Clover, nibbling the grass contentedly beside her stable mate. "I only held you at your waist. Imagine if we...kissed."

  I touched my lips. "Yes. Imagine."

  His mouth gave a harsh twist. "Ironic that I finally find a girl I like, but a single kiss could kill her."

  "And you," I whispered. "It could kill you too."

  CHAPTER 7