Taming Jane

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The rest of Lord and Lady Latham’s ball went smoothly. Emilia carefully avoided conversations with the hosts and Jane kept to herself, carefully avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Jane was very wrong when she’d decided not to ever think about Daniel Winchester ever again. Even though she didn’t want him to, that dark eyes mystery entered her dreams that night. It wasn’t a sinful dream; on the contrary it just explored Jane’s curiosity regarding Lord Southerby. There had to be more than what met the eye regarding him. Men didn’t become rakes for no reason ... but perhaps that was just Jane’s naivety talking.

The next morning Jane was instructed by Genevieve to dress nicely as the family was going on an outing. Jane looked out the window at the dreary sky. It did not look like ‘outing’ weather but no weather in England was ‘outing’ weather.

She chose a light blue gown that had tiny white checks on it. It was a fresh, summery fabric that her mother had selected just for her. She tied a white ribbon under her bust and tied it into a bow behind her back. She stood in front of the mirror and ran her fingers through her long brown curls. Jane decided to braid it and then twist it into a bun. Once she’d pinned it in place she retrieved her matching bonnet and carried it down the stairs with her.

Once down there Jane saw how Emilia was ordering the three girls with their bonnets, helping them tie the bows under their chin.

“Good morning, Jane,” Emilia smiled as she tied the ribbon on Annie’s bonnet. Emilia too had donned a pretty yellow bonnet with white trim which matched her soft yellow dress.

“Morning,” Jane replied. “Where’s Sebastian and the boys?” she asked. She thought they were going out as a family.

“Papa has taken James and Henry for the day. Mama is taking us to High Tea!” Little J said excitedly.

“High Tea?” Jane furrowed her eyebrows as she knelt down to fix Little J’s bonnet. She straightened it on her head and tucked her loose curls into it.

“I take the girls to this lovely hotel called ‘The Palace’ for High Tea every so often. It’s a special treat for the ladies of London and we thought you might like to come with us. They serve tea of course as well as lovely sandwiches and cakes – those of which the girls especially love,” Emilia rolled her eyes as she lifted Annie into her arms.

Both Little J and Kitty took one of Jane’s hands as they all exited the house and walked down to the waiting carriage. They climbed in one by one and set off for The Palace.

As they pulled up outside the lovely white building, Emilia clicked her fingers to get the girls’ attention. “Now, if you don’t like something that you eat, you do not spit it onto your plate. You will swallow it and then not eat any more of it – do I make myself clear?” she warned the three of them.

“Yes, mama,” Kitty replied as Little J and Annie nodded.