Taming Jane

Chapter 13

**Please read my comments at the bottom**

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Chapter Thirteen

Jane had been at Southerby for one week when she’d received word that Sebastian, Emilia and the children were on their way. 

It had been a very interesting week. Sabine had been spending every waking minute with Jane, either talking about her progress with her father or her excitement of the children coming to stay. Sabine was still worried that her father didn’t like her very much; she didn’t understand why he’d been away for so long and had mysteriously returned.

Jane constantly assured Sabine that Daniel loved her, but what she’d noticed in the week that she’d been staying with them was that he wasn’t very good at letting somebody know he cared about them.

One thing that seriously bothered Jane was that Daniel slept on the settee in his study every night. She was not sure which bedchamber belonged to him, but she knew whichever one it was he was avoiding it.  

A few days into her trip when Sabine was in her reading lesson with Miss Porter, Jane had told Daniel about how he was with Sabine.

He’d brought her into his private study and offered her the small brown settee that was adjacent to his desk. He sat on the chair opposite her in case anyone entered and thought anything scandalous was going on.

“I’m going to be completely frank with you,” Jane had said seriously. “To be honest, I don’t know exactly why you invited me here, you seem to be alright in the house, but I do know you can do with my help when it comes to Sabine. I’m not an expert but I do know when a child is struggling ... mostly because she told me.”

Daniel frowned sadly as his shoulders slumped in the chair. “I told you I don’t know what I’m doing,” he sighed. “But I did invite you because I wanted you here. You are a dear friend to me, Jane, nobody has shown me as much respect and understanding as you have. Most women, well the ones that I do not ‘ruin’ as you say, think me a rake, and most men are intimidated of me because of my wealth. Truthfully, I don’t have that many friends,” he’d said and looked up at Jane and smiled slightly. “Except you, of course.”

Jane had come to the conclusion that she did indeed fancy Daniel. She found him incredibly handsome, anybody could see that, but she also found his personality utterly endearing. Underneath the sour yet suave exterior beat a heart of a truly honest man who’d been terribly hurt. For that reason she knew she had to suppress any inappropriate feelings. Daniel wouldn’t ever marry again, it was obvious. He loved his wife too much to ever fall for anyone again. Jane was just being silly.

“What has Sabine been saying?” he’d asked her after a minute.

“She thinks you don’t love her,” Jane had replied. “And truthfully you don’t act like you do. You’re far too rigid around her; you talk to her as if she is an adult. She likes horses; her pony is her only friend! Take her out riding and ask her about her interests. Sabine is not going to magically trust you. I really think you need to tell her about her mother’s death. I think you need to explain to her what happened. She may be young but she is no imbecile. She needs to know why you went away and she needs to know that it wasn’t because of her.”