Taming Jane

Chapter 2 - Photo of Daniel

Chapter Two

Jane woke the next morning with Little J lying on top of her, fast asleep. Jane gently shook Little J to wake her up. “Come on, time to wake up, breakfast time,” she smiled.

Little J yawned and nodded. She climbed off Jane and jumped off the bed. She straightened her white nightgown and smiled at Jane. “Thank you for making me feel better last night, Aunt Jane, you’re my favourite aunt,” she said sweetly.

Jane resisted reminding her that she was her only aunt. “Thank you, Little J, you’re one of my favourite nieces,” she said keeping Little J happy and not discriminating against her other two nieces who she loved equally.

“I’m hungry,” she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes free of sleep. “I’m going to dress so I can go down to breakfast. Mrs Norris likes to make scones for Kitty and me because they’re our favourites.” Little J skipped from Jane’s room happily and closed the door behind her.

Jane’s trunks had been brought up to her bedchamber and had been unpacked by maids. She searched through the closet and selected a plain, light blue gown that her mother had made her a few years prior for the summer. It was made of thin material that allowed the cool breeze to get through. Jane was an unorthodox female when it came to dressing. The only underclothes that she wore was a chemise. She hated corsets and completely refused to wear them, much to Catherine’s annoyance.   

She hated the feeling of her stomach being completely flattened by the corset, as well as the fact that she did enjoy breathing once in awhile.

Once she was dressed she combed her hair out and wrapped her curls around her fingers to give them more shape. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. If she could handle wearing a corset then she would. She was a very small woman; she hadn’t grown very tall when the other girls in her town were growing. With the territory of being small it meant she had very narrow hips and virtually no bust. She had almond shaped blue eyes and a small nose. Her lips were quite pink and her cheeks were naturally rosy.

She wished she was as pretty as Emilia but how she looked was how she was always going to be. When she was satisfied with her appearance she decided it was time to go down to breakfast.

When she arrived downstairs the whole family was sitting at the table casually conversing. She remembered Emilia telling her before she and Sebastian got married that married women ate breakfast in bed but she was sure, by the look on her face, that Emilia enjoyed eating with her family.

The footman pulled her chair out for her next to Sebastian at the head of the table. Emilia sat opposite her and Kitty sat beside her. The footman poured her tea and Emilia pulled a fresh scone off the plate in the centre of the table.

“I hear you had a visitor last night,” Emilia winked as she spread jam on her scone.

“What?” Sebastian snapped angrily.

“Not that kind of visitor,” Emilia groaned her eyes. “Little J.”