Taming Jane

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty – Three

Daniel awoke the next morning to a ferocious knocking on his study door. He sat up and stretched his stiff back before walking over to open the door. Sleeping on the settee every night was not doing his body wonders but his bedchamber was currently occupied.

When he opened the door a frantic Catherine stood behind it. She was still in her night time attire and her hair was still in rags. “Jane’s gone again!” she panted, as if she’d run around the halls of Southerby looking for her daughter.

His stomach sunk with the feeling that she was lost. Southerby wasn’t exactly a small house and there were a thousand places that one could get lost in. “Alright, I’ll look for her, you needn’t worry. Ring the bell for breakfast and get the maids to wake the house,” he instructed.

When Catherine disappeared, Daniel realised he was wearing less than descent clothing. All he was wearing was a long nightshirt. He shook off the embarrassment and pulled on his slacks as well as a jacket without bothering to tuck it in or fully button it. He stepped into his boots and then set off looking for Jane.

Truth be told, the feelings he was experiencing when it came to Jane were those of protectiveness. He finally felt as though he had something to offer her instead of the other way around. He didn’t think that if she had never had the accident that he would ever have been ready to accept her into his heart as he would have always felt as if she was settling for some pathetic man, but now he felt as though they could be equal. He cursed himself for thinking that thought. He would rather had have never had the accident and for them to be parted then for her to have had the accident. He didn’t wish her any harm at all.

Daniel checked the drawing room and the library as well as the dining room but she was nowhere to be seen. He assumed that Catherine would have checked all the upstairs rooms so he decided to head outside.

There had been a storm the night before so the ground was quite soft and the grass was slick with moisture. He had to be careful as he walked in case he toppled over.

The only place he could really think of aside from all the other rooms in the house was that Jane had gone for a walk down to the stables in the early morning.

He could hear voices as he came up to the stables and he realised that Sabine was there as well. If she wasn’t with Jane then he would have been angry that she had gone off on her own. It was dangerous for children, especially a little girl to be wandering about the grounds without a chaperone.

“I wish you could be my mama so you would never leave me,” Daniel heard Sabine sigh from outside Freckles’ stall.

He heard Jane laugh lightly. “I think you would get tired of me,” she replied, though Daniel could detect true appreciation in her voice.

“I wouldn’t, I promise!” she exclaimed. “I know you don’t remember me, Jane, but I remember you and I love you. You’re the only mama I want.”