“All right,” Jasper said. “I’ve got a gorgeous sapphire necklace linked together with a gold chain.”
“Mine!” Hattie squealed, raising up her hand.
“Well, all right,” Jasper said, taken aback by the enthusiasm. “What should we make her do to get it back?”
“Sing a song!” Lillian cried out.
Hattie giggled. “If you insist,” she said, putting a hand to her chest. She began to sing in a high, clear voice. It was just a little ditty, but served to make me insecure.
“All right,” Jasper said, reaching onto the tray without really looking. He pulled out a strand of pink pearls.
Lillian jumped up before Jasper could even get words out. “Mine!” she claimed.
“What shall we make her do?” he asked.
“Sing a song!” Hattie shouted.
“Well, all right,” Lillian said.
Her voice wasn’t nearly as clear or pretty as Hattie’s. Instead of a soft melody, her song was screeching and off–key, and we all breathed a sigh of relief when Jasper cut her off.
He went through the rest of the trinkets, like Stephen’s wedding ring and Annabelle’s engagement ring and Mabel’s broach. After some terrible jokes and awkward dancing, he held up Adam’s cufflinks.
“Oh, we know who those belong to!” Hattie giggled.
“Unfortunately,” Lillian scoffed. “They’re so boring.”
My face flushed, but Adam spoke up. “Those are mine.”
Jasper’s grin stretched across his face. “What should we make Adam do?”
“He could tell a joke,” Lillian said.
Hazttie got a look, a disconcerting look in her eye and whispered something to Lillian. Lillian’s eyes got wide. “No! Terrible idea.”
“I know,” I said. “Why don’t you walk on your hands?”
“What?” Stella asked, as Adam rolled his eyes.
“I’ve seen you do it a hundred times before. It’s actually quite impressive,” I said, nudging him.
He gave me a lopsided smile. “Oh, all right,” he said. Adam stood off up from the couch and shrugged off his jacket, tossing it where he had been sitting just moments before. He stepped to the center of the room with his hands above his head, before bending over. Carefully, he stretched his body up onto his hands, and began to walk.
Applause and laughter filled the room, followed by giggles as Adam’s shirt fell over his head, exposing his tight, toned chest. My breath hitched as I remembered the last time I had seen his bare chest, the last time when it had been pressed against my skin, bathed in moonlight.
I swallowed.
The game continued until there was one trinket left in the tray, one final one, one last one. Last, always last. No surprises there.
Jasper held up the thin chain holding the peridot heart, and the snickers from the trio were unmistakable. My body tensed as Adam gave me a little nudge. “That’s yours isn’t it?” he asked.
I exhaled. “Yep.”
“So, what shall we make Hazel do to get it back?” Jasper asked as the girls burst into laughter.
“You know, I don’t really need it back,” I said.
“Oh, come on,” Adam said.
“I know!” Hattie cried out. “I think to get it back, Hazel should kiss Adam.”
I thought I might vomit.
“That’s not really proper,” Lester said, looking at me, concerned.
I glanced at Adam. His face was red and he was staring down at his hands. Everyone else was watching me.
“You know what?” I asked. “Fine.” Adam looked at me in surprise as I leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
Hazel scoffed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“You weren’t specific,” I told her.
“She’s right,” Jasper said. “It think we should call it a night now.”
“Fine,” Hattie sighed as Lillian elbowed her in annoyance.
We all broke apart then. I was following behind the other girls, headed up the stairs, when Adam touched my arm. The brush of skin against skin was a spark lighting a fire that roared through my body.
“Hazel, wait,” he said, and I turned on the stairs, looking at him below me. “May I walk you to your room?”
I shrugged, trying to stay casual, but my stomach had tied itself into knots and I was struggling to find words.
“I don’t see why not,” I said.
The other girls had gotten so far ahead that they hadn’t heard our conversation or noticed Adam and me walking up the steps together. By the time we reached the hallway, they had escaped to their rooms and Adam and I were left alone.
“You all right?” he asked me as we paused outside my door.
“Fine. You?”
“No, no, I’m good,” he said, thrusting his hands into his pockets and looking down at the ground. “Hazel, are you upset with me?”
I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. “Why would you think that?”
“You haven’t spoken to me much.”
“I think I’ve spoken to you more than I have in the past eight months.”
His face paled. “Yes, about that—”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, reaching for my door handle.
“It’s all I can think about.”
“Perhaps we should both fill our minds with something else, then,” I told him.
“Hazel—”
I flipped a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “How do you think I’m doing, by the way? With the duke?”
“You’re as amazing as ever,” he said.
I shook my head. I wasn’t going to let him draw me back in again.
“Goodnight, Adam,” I said, turning the knob.
“Hazel—”
“I’ll see you later.” I pushed the door open and slipped into my room, shutting the door firmly behind me. I rested my back against the door, and didn’t breathe again until I heard him leave.
Chapter Eight
I sat on the edge of the bed, not sure what to do. My fingers twisted and pulled at my skin as I worked to take deep breaths and relax. What a night. What a horrible, horrible night.
I’d grown up with Hattie and Lillian and Stella. No matter how hard I worked to stay out of their vision, to make myself invisible, they’d always had it out for me. Hattie especially, it seemed, though Lillian had gotten worse as time wore on. They’d tossed my coursework into the mud, they’d called me names, they’d done anything they could to make my life miserable, and I’d done anything I could to ignore them. It hadn’t been a perfect system, but I’d made it work until now.
Despite their attempts to humiliate me, I’d handled things well, I thought. I hadn’t let them fluster me too badly. I’d even kissed Adam, even if it wasn’t the sort of kiss Hattie had been implying.
That didn’t mean I’d won. Far from it. I was an even greater target.
Why oh why had these horrible women been chosen to marry the duke? He’d seemed nice enough. Why would his men want to make one of these witches his bride?
I knew why. These women had power. They had prestige. They had pedigree and class. These were women the duke could show off and parade around. Their fathers had money to give the duke. They’d have extravagant weddings with everything swathed in white and the bride pretending to be a virgin, even though the guests would all eye each other, implying otherwise.
So why was I here?
It had been over a week since Adam had offered up this proposition, and I had no more answers. I’d asked, and he’d given me nothing. His only answers had been stuttering messes, leaving me even more confused. He’d talked of my character, he’d called me amazing, but what did that mean? If he really thought so, I’d be marrying him instead. I was a decent enough looking girl, but nowhere near as pretty as the others. My family was wealthy, sure, but not nearly as much as Hattie’s or Lillian’s or Stella’s. They were true regency, true aristocracy, and I was just the daughter of a salesman. I was nothing.
&n
bsp; The duke didn’t seem to mind, though, and didn’t seem to treat me any differently. He gave me the same warm smiles, and I hadn’t even gotten one of his tense ones. If anything, he seemed just as annoyed by the three women as I did. As much as I hadn’t wanted to play a parlor game, I was glad we had. It gave Jasper a chance to see just how evil these women really were.
Did that mean I had a shot with him? I didn’t know. My interview had gone well, had lasted just as long as Hattie’s. Neither of ours had been as long as Christine’s.
Christine. In all the embarrassment and chaos, I’d nearly forgotten about her. We hadn’t heard a thing out of her since she’d been sent upstairs. I hoped she was okay.
I stood up from the bed, debating. The duke had sent her away, and it was rather unfair, I thought. Annabelle promised me he’d had a plan, but I couldn’t imagine what that might be. I didn’t know if I wanted to marry the duke or not, but I did know that I felt uncomfortable that he’d sent her away without so much as a second thought after she’d stitched up his cook and saved the poor woman’s life.
I hoped she was all right. I wouldn’t be. I was already a bit of a mess from the way the others had treated me. I couldn’t imagine what she was going through.
After a brief moment of hesitation, I crossed the room and opened my bedroom door. The hallway was dark and silent, a crypt on the second floor of this winding mansion. Christine’s door was just a few steps down from mine. I listened at the doorway, but the silence was unbroken and no light came from underneath her door. Perhaps she was already asleep.
I paused. I didn’t want to wake her, but I wanted to be sure she was all right. I raised my hand to knock when I heard a soft sound from down the hallway. I jumped as Jasper’s face appeared in the moonbeam streaming through the stained glass window above the stairs.
“Hazel? Everything all right?”
I stepped away from the door, not wanting Christine to wake to conversation. “Yes, I just thought I’d check on Christine.”
He paused. “That’s very kind of you, but I believe she’s sleeping.”
“Oh, all right,” I said, trying not to seem deflated. “I’ll check in with her tomorrow, then.”
I turned around to start down the hallway when Jasper called out to me.
“Hazel?”
I turned again, looking at his face. It held a small half–smile. “Would you like to take a walk with me?” he asked.
“A walk, your grace?”
“Please, call me Jasper,” he said. “And yes, a walk.”
“It’s dark out,” I reminded him, though the moon was bright outside the window. “My eyesight isn’t like yours.”
He chuckled. “Mine’s not always that great either,” he said. “I wasn’t thinking a walk outside. Just a walk downstairs.”
“Oh.” I paused. “I suppose that wouldn’t hurt.”
“I should think not,” he said, holding out his arm. I took it, but unlike Adam, there was no spark, no fire. I felt...fine. A bit nervous, I suppose, because he was the duke and I was here to try to win his hand in marriage, but I didn’t feel that excitement that I felt when touching Adam.
We stepped down the stairs, the moonlight reflecting off of Jasper’s high cheekbones and my freckled skin. When we reached the main floor, he directed us toward the hallway under the stairs.
We hadn’t spoken in several minutes when Jasper broke the silence. “Do you want to marry me, Hazel?”
I hadn’t expected the question. Earlier I’d been asked why I wanted to marry the duke, and I’d been able to give a good enough answer. But this, this yes or no question, so simple and yet so complex? I didn’t have an answer for this.
“I don’t know,” I finally said.
He was quiet for another few moments as we proceeded down the hallway. “Is there someone else you would rather marry?”
This silence filled the air, threatening to engulf me, and perhaps it would be better if it did. “I don’t know,” I finally answered again.
“I realize these aren’t the easiest questions,” he said as he directed us through a set of double doors. He took a sconce from the wall and brought it inside with us. Moonlight streamed through the floor–to–ceiling windows on the right side of the room, catching flecks of gold in the marble floor and refracting off the crystal chandeliers. Standing tall and proud in the center of the moonbeam was a beautiful grand piano, the wood gleaming in the light.
Jasper pulled me across the ballroom, and we sat together at the piano. He slid the top off of the ivory keys and began to play softly.
“Chopin is one of my favorites,” I told him.
“Mine as well,” he said. He played the beautiful melody for a few seconds before saying, “it seems that’s not all we have in common.”
“Oh?’
“We both think very highly of Adam.”
“Oh,” I said again, my face flushing in the silver light.
“Please don’t be embarrassed,” Jasper said.
“How can I not be?” I asked, keeping my gaze directed on his fingers gliding across the keys instead of his face.
“I think it’s sweet.”
“You’re the only one then, I’d wager.”
He stopped playing and turned to me. “Why do you say that?’
“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” I asked him.
“So?”
“So, it’s embarrassing. The man I’ve cared for is trying to arrange a marriage for me with his boss.”
“It is peculiar,” he laughed.
“I’ve accepted that he doesn’t feel the same way about me that I feel about him. I’m trying to move on,” I said.
“Don’t do that,” Jasper said, alarmed.
“I’ve got to, haven’t I? I can’t pine after him forever. If I’ve any hope of being married before I’m an old maid, I’ve got to find someone else.”
“What if you didn’t have to?”
“You’re being awfully cryptic,” I told him. “I don’t understand.”
Jasper sighed. “My apologies. I thought it was a bit more obvious.”
“It’s not. Can you please tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m not going to marry you, Hazel.”
I thought my heart would sink, but it didn’t. Instead, I simply nodded. “I see.”
“Don’t get me wrong, please, you’re a lovely young woman. But not only have I already fallen in love with someone else, but I’m afraid of what will happen to Adam.”
“What will happen to Adam? Adam doesn’t care.”
“Oh, he does. Very much.”
“I think we’re talking about different people,” I said. “The Adam I’m talking about brought me here to marry you.”
“Yes, he did, and I’m going to have to speak to him about that. I think he’s got his priorities a bit misplaced.”
“Misplaced? How do you mean?”
“I can’t speak for Adam,” he said carefully. “I have my suspicions, but I don’t want to mention them yet.”
“That’s unhelpful and still incredibly vague,” I said.
“I’m sorry, that’s the most I can tell you right now,” he said.
“No further explanation?”
“Not until I speak with Adam. But I promise, I’ll make him tell you everything.”
“That would be much appreciated,” I said. “I have many questions.”
“I’m sure,” he said.
We were quiet a moment. “You never wanted to marry me, did you, Hazel?”
“It’s not that I didn’t want to marry you,” I told him. “I’d been in love once, and it ended in heartbreak. I was nervous about making that jump again.”
“So why did you come?”
I shrugged. “It would make Adam happy.”
“He’s a masochist, that one.”
“It would make my parents happy.”
“Ah, yes,” he said. “The reason we do so many things.”
“My mum will be upset.”<
br />
“Not for long, if I have anything to say about it.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you can be quite maddening?” I asked.
“I’ve heard it before,” he laughed.
We fell quiet again. “May I ask who have you chosen?”
“Oh, I can’t tell you that.”
I sighed.
“Only because I want to be sure she says yes first.”
“We’re all here to marry you,” I said. “Do you really think any of us would say no?”
“She might.”
“Just please, tell me it’s not Hattie or Lillian or Stella.”
He smiled. “I’ll tell you if you’ll do me a favor.”
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. “What’s that?”
He motioned to the piano. “Play me a song.”
“I can do that,” I said with a laugh. He scooted toward the edge of the bench to give me more room. I set my fingertips on the cool ivory, finding the right key in the moonlight before launching into a soft rendition of my favorite Nocturne.
“Beautiful,” he said when I’d finished.
“Will you tell me now?”
“It’s not Hattie or Lillian or Stella. But that’s all I’ll tell you.”
“That’s enough for now, I suppose,” I sighed.
Jasper put a friendly hand on my arm. “You’d best be getting to bed,” he said.
“I guess I should.”
“Potter will show you out in the morning after your breakfast,” he said. “But you won’t be alone long, if I have anything to say about it.”
“Thank you,” I said. It seemed an odd thing to say, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
I stood up from the piano, and Jasper began playing again as I started toward the door.
Back in my room, I changed into my nightclothes and began to pack up the rest of my wardrobe. If I’d be leaving in the morning, I wanted to be as ready as possible. I didn’t want to linger longer than necessary.
My mind was still racing as I climbed into bed. Jasper had been so maddeningly vague. I had so many questions for him that he refused to answer, unlike Adam, who seemed simply unable to answer. Jasper seemed to know something I didn’t, and was going to do something with this information that would change my life, yet he wouldn’t tell me.
The Wolf's Choice (The Wolf's Peak Saga Book 4) Page 7
