Only a day before the cutting of the yule log, Jasper overheard a conversation between Lady Adele and her mother, Lady Ashbrook. The two women were striding down a lonely path in the gardens when their voices echoed to his ears from beyond a snow-covered hedge. Recognizing them, Jasper immediately froze, putting his finger to his lips to keep Andrew from uttering a word as well.
His friend frowned but remained quiet.
“Your father and Lord Halston have been watching you with care, my dear,” Lady Ashbrook said to her daughter, a cautious but also inquisitive tone in her voice, “and I fear they did not like seeing you with the Scotsman the other night.”
A shuddering breath left Lady Adele’s lips. “What was I supposed to do, Mother? I found the coin. Was I not to comply with Lord Cumberton’s tradition?”
“It is not that you complied,” her mother replied with a heavy sigh, “but rather that it seemed to be your heart’s desire to do so.”
A long silence stretched between mother and daughter as Jasper stared at his friend. Andrew’s forehead was wrinkled, portraying his confusion with what was being said. He looked at Jasper questioningly, but Jasper merely shook his head.
“It was,” Lady Adele finally admitted on a sob.
“Oh, dear,” her mother murmured a moment later, pulling her daughter into her arms—at least that was what it sounded like to Jasper. “What are we to tell your father?”
“Say nothing!” Adele exclaimed, her voice a tad shrill, filled with panic and despair. “Nothing has to change. I will…I will keep my distance from…from…” Another sob slipped from her lips. “What can I do to fix this? Please, Mother, help me!”
Seeing Lady Edith’s efforts come to nothing in the face of her friend’s loyalty to her father, Jasper turned away, signaling for Andrew to follow. “I have to find Lady Edith,” he whispered when they had moved farther down the path. “I have to tell her what happened.”
“What is going on here?” Andrew inquired, a puzzled look upon his face. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
Jasper winked at him. “Neither did I at first. Don’t worry. I’ll tell you later.”
Unfortunately, locating Lady Edith was easier said than done. Jasper felt as though he had walked every corridor at least twice, checked every chamber three times before his feet pulled to a halt and he exhaled an exhausted breath. “Where can she be?”
Andrew chuckled. “There.”
Jasper snapped around, looking through the arched doorway and into the parlor, where several guests were singing along to the pianoforte while others swayed gently to the soft notes. Lady Edith stood with her friend as well as Lady Ashbrook, a bit of a frown upon her face while Lady Adele’s portrayed sheer misery.
Not hesitating, Jasper stepped inside, relieved to catch Lady Edith’s eyes quickly. He gestured for her to come to him and then moved to stand a few paces from the handful of guests near the pianoforte. Their singing would surely drown out his words should anyone be nearby to overhear what was being spoken.
Lady Edith approached him without a moment’s hesitation, and he smiled. “Is something the matter?” she asked before casting another look over her shoulder at her friend, the look in her eyes still betraying her confusion.
“I overheard a conversation,” Jasper murmured, glancing at Andrew, who was listening with rapt attention, “between your friend and her mother.”
Lady Edith’s eyes narrowed, and a hint of alarm came to her features as she cast a questioning look at Andrew. “Something is wrong,” she murmured. “She seems…forlorn, as though she’s given up hope.”
“I believe she has,” Jasper replied, surprised how deeply Lady Adele’s loss affected him. Perhaps he was not the shallow rogue many thought him to be!
Lady Edith was about to speak when she suddenly stilled and watched with drawn brows as Lady Ashbrook led her daughter…to a spot right beneath a sprig of mistletoe!
Jasper could not help but think that Lady Adele looked miserable, like a lamb being led to the slaughter. “Oh, no!” Lady Edith exclaimed, and Jasper’s head whipped around. He took note of Lord Halston all but shoving his son in the direction of the mistletoe while murmuring something to him that made Lord Aberley look about as miserable as Lady Adele.
This was ludicrous! Jasper thought, surprised that he had never before realized how ridiculous the proceedings of the marriage mart were.
“Do something!” Lady Edith hissed to him, her hand upon his arm, as she stared across the room at Lord Aberley, slowly approaching. “You have to interfere!”
“What?” Jasper demanded as his gaze moved from the two miserable people back to Lady Edith, her blue eyes pleading. “What do you suggest I do? Knock the poor chap unconscious?”
Andrew chuckled. “This is fairly entertaining!”
Lady Edith glared at his friend, and Jasper wanted to applaud her. Then, however, she rushed off in a flurry of skirts, reaching her friend’s side a split second before Lord Aberley, and in a surprisingly natural embrace followed by a turn, she maneuvered Lady Adele out of the way, taking her place…
…under the mistletoe.
Something painful slashed through Jasper.
“Perhaps, you ought to have interfered after all,” Andrew chuckled beside him.