Gabriel gave his glass a swirl and looked down into the amber contents once more.
“Now, there is the matter of introducing Mrs. Munroe to polite Society.” Gabriel tightened his hold upon his glass. The prospect of Jane facing down condescending lords and ladies twisted at his insides. He didn’t give a jot for how the ton treated him, but by God if they hurt her… “There will be gossip.” Alex frowned, likely remembering his wife’s struggle in reentering Society after her own scandal involving her previous, and disloyal, betrothed. “We will of course help you. Once you are wed, I will enlist the aid of Lord Primly and Lord Wessex. They will help smooth her way.”
Lord Primly. An unlikely friend to his brother. With a stammer and a kind disposition, the Earl of Primly would be a perfect ally for Jane. For them. Lord Wessex, however, a notorious rogue was the more expected company for his once roguish brother to keep. “Wessex?” he asked with a scowl. He’d rather the charmer nowhere near Jane.
“Yes, Wessex. A dance, perhaps. Just to throw his support behind the young lady.”
Jealousy rooted around his belly. He nodded slowly.
“I’ll speak to them after you’re married.”
Ah, God, there it was again. That word. Married. Gabriel shoved back his chair and jumped to his feet. He set his glass down. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said priding himself on the steadiness of those words.
“Of course,” Alex said and came to his feet with the same calm he’d always exhibited through life.
Gabriel had his hand upon the door handle when his brother called out.
“I was certain I didn’t want a thing to do with love,” Alex’s quiet pronouncement brought him back around. “I was certain I didn’t need anyone. It was far safer to love none and depend on no one,” or be needed by anyone. “Do you know what I ultimately realized, Gabriel?”
He gave his head a slight shake.
“Saying I didn’t care and believing myself incapable of love, or being loved, well, that did not make it true.” Alex took a slow sip. “Imogen showed me that.”
An uncomfortable silence settled over the room; two brothers who’d been embittered against one another for too long, now talking about personal matters that gentlemen did not discuss. He cleared his throat. “Thank you for—”
“Do not thank me again for looking after your Jane.”
“She is not—”
At his brother’s arched brow, he closed his mouth, and then beat a bow. “I—”
“I know,” Alex consoled.
And as Gabriel took his leave, he had the feeling that his brother did know a good deal more than he’d credited him with all these years which only left him to wonder—how many other things had he been wrong about all these years?
Chapter 23
They were wed the following morning. Lightning slashed across the dark, London sky and a flash of blue light zigzagged outside the windowpane.
It was a sign.
Jane stood, frozen with her gaze trained on the opened curtains as panic built in her chest. It swelled and grew until breathing became impossible.
She could not—
Gabriel leaned down. “Are you all right?” he whispered in her ear.
She jumped and looked unblinkingly up at him. How could he be so calm and unaffected? He asked whether or not she was all right? Was she all right? She was a bloody mess. “Fine?” she said quietly for his ears. After all, what was one more lie in the scheme of their relationship?
“Is that a question?”
Well, yes, she supposed it was. “No. I am fine.” She registered the expectant look on the aging vicar’s face. He wanted something. What did he want? Jane looked hopefully out at the small, collection of guests present—a smiling Imogen and her grinning husband. An equally happy Chloe. Then there was the stranger she’d not met before. The Earl of Waterson, who’d eyed her with a deserved suspicion since he’d claimed his seat as witness. Panic threatened to overtake her. It ripped at her thoughts and robbed her reason. Why would everyone be so happy? And why was she staring back at them? She wrinkled her brow…