Jennette removed her gloves and caressed the soft fabric. “This is beautiful.”
“It will make a lovely gown for you.”
“I will take it all.”
Mrs. Greenwood’s mouth dropped. “All of it, my lady?”
“Yes.” She would need all that fabric for what she had in mind.
While Mrs. Greenwood wrapped the cloth in paper to keep it clean, Jennette wandered the room looking at all the fabrics. She would miss Mrs. Greenwood’s shop. The woman could find any fabric Jennette ever wanted. Mrs. Greenwood handed the bolt to the footman, who hefted the cloth over his shoulder.
“Good day, Mrs. Greenwood,” Jennette called as they departed for the next shop.
After a trip to the cobbler’s and then a stop for gloves, hats, and stockings, Jennette had finished. With the footman and Molly weighed down, she carried four of the boxes herself. Just able to peer over the top of the teetering boxes, she walked down the street toward the carriage. Several people smiled or laughed as the group ambled forward.
Approaching the carriage, she noticed a man standing nearby. As she tried to get a better look, her hat blew in the wind, half-covering her eyes.
“Allow me,” the deep voice said.
One by one, the man lifted the boxes out of her arms until she could finally move the offending hat out of her eyes. And then she saw him.
“Busy day, Lady Jennette?” Matthew inquired with one brown eyebrow raised.
“Yes.”
He watched with disdain in his gray eyes as the footman placed all the boxes into the carriage. “I’d always heard the rumors of your shopping but thought they were largely overstated. I can see I was wrong.”
“I think you are vastly mistaken, my lord.”
He turned toward her and bowed. “I can see that I am not. Good day, Lady Jennette.” And then he was gone, striding down the street as if she’d done something wrong.
“Mat—” Jennette quickly covered her mouth realizing how that might sound if she were overheard using his Christian name. “Lord Blackburn!”
But he never turned back. Bloody stupid man, she thought. She’d been known to shop in excess for herself but what harm did that cause? Banning had been more than generous with her allowance and now with her grandmother’s inheritance, she need not worry about money. She could never spend it all if she tried.
Besides, she only used shopping as a method of calming herself at times. Of course, her bad habit had started almost exactly five years ago. After what she’d done to John and then hearing the rumors about Matthew, she’d needed something to do. Painting and shopping were her only options.
As she sat in the carriage, she realized just how much she missed painting. When she and her mother moved into Avis’s former house after Banning’s wedding, Jennette had never unpacked her canvases and paint pots. She’d told her mother there wasn’t enough light in any of the rooms. When in truth, there seemed no point as she would be leaving for Florence in three months. And now her departure was only weeks away. Once she arrived and settled in, she would take up painting again.
This restless energy was driving her mad. The image of Matthew’s scornful face as he helped her with her packages just wouldn’t go away. She needed to talk to someone.
After getting the attention of her d
river, she said, “Please take me to Miss Reynard’s home.”
Sophie would understand Jennette’s need to have a friend listen without solving her problems, as Avis and Elizabeth would attempt.
Sophie’s lips twitched but she quickly gained control over her desire to smile. Things were progressing nicely so far. Jennette’s reaction to Blackburn was exactly as Sophie had hoped when she’d seen the vision of him.
“He wouldn’t even let me explain,” Jennette complained for the second time. “He just stormed off.”
“Well, the man is having financial difficulties, Jennette. Surely you can understand that he might be envious watching you spend money without a care.”
Jennette slammed her teacup down. “It most certainly wasn’t without a care.”
“I realize that but he only knows what he hears about you from others. And you do have a reputation for fashion.”
“Of course I do. But I am not much different from most of the other ladies of the ton. And at least I am now spending my personal money, not that of my father, or brother or husband.”