Captain Jones's Temptation - Audrey Harrison Page 0,66
own life – keeping everything and everyone at a distance. It had served him well, until now, when he longed to cross a chasm but had no idea how to do it.
“Thank you for all you have done, but I do not think there is anything here to delay you, is there?” Esther’s mind was screaming at her to think up a reason with which she could delay him, but she remained tight-lipped and silent.
“No. I don’t suppose there is.” Samuel felt a lump of lead in the pit of his stomach at her words. He had the feeling it was not going to go away anytime soon.
Chapter 21
Matthew walked into the morning room of his house on Half Moon Street. They were staying with his family until he was well enough to take up his position abroad.
Lydia was seated, reading a letter, which she put to one side at Matthew’s entrance. Her new husband immediately approached her and kissed her gently. “Interesting news?” he asked.
“From Esther. She has had a rough time of it but is back at home and settling in to having a few weeks without children around. It must be the first time since she opened the school that there hasn’t been any child staying during the holidays. I imagine it feels very strange.”
“Talking of strange, I just saw Jones in Hyde Park.”
“You are a very poor friend. Captain Jones might take a little getting used to, but I would hardly call him strange.”
“On this account, I assure you it is an appropriate label. He was even more gruff and scathing than usual. I am convinced something has upset him greatly.”
“I would imagine being away from Esther is the cause of it,” Lydia said.
“What? No! He would never be foolish enough to let himself fall in love.”
“You did.”
Matthew laughed. “My words were badly put. I meant with regard to Jones. Not me. I am more than happy with my lot.”
“Hmm. You expect me to believe your flowery words, I suppose, after your previous scandalous uttering?”
“I hope so. If not, we could go and discuss it somewhere more private.”
“You are incorrigible.”
“I am in love.”
“As am I, but we were talking about Captain Jones.”
“Were we? I can’t honestly remember. I have far more pleasing thoughts in my mind at the moment.”
Lydia shook her head at her husband. “You are a poor friend. Let us invite him around for an evening. We can both try to find out what’s going on.”
“Good idea.” Matthew stood and held out his hand to his wife. “I shall send a missive around to him for tomorrow, but in the meantime I think we should retire.”
Lydia put her hand in his and, laughing, followed her husband upstairs.
*
Samuel joined the newlyweds the following evening. He had been in London for a week, and he inwardly refused to acknowledge that he was out of sorts. That he had got into more arguments than usual since his return was something he ignored, as was the fact that he was keen to visit a pair of lovebirds in the hope he might hear something about Esther.
There were only the three of them dining; Matthew’s family had gone out to the theatre.
“I am surprised you were persuaded to stay in, Mrs. Dunn. Are the sights of London becoming wearisome so soon?” Samuel asked, as they gathered in the drawing room before the meal.
“Not at all, but I am aware that Matthew is still prone to tiredness, so we tend to alternate going out with an evening of rest,” Lydia answered pleasantly. She was surprised to see that Samuel looked haggard and as if he had lost weight. It seemed that Matthew’s concerns might have some foundation in them after all.
“The wound still troubling you?” Samuel asked.
“Not so much – getting over the effects of the fever seems to be harder. I am constantly tired. Honestly, I feel like some invalidish old man sometimes.”
“When do you travel?”
“Next month, no matter how I am feeling by then. Any longer and I think they would have considered offering someone else my position.”
“Not after the service you have given to the Crown,” Samuel said.
“I heard from Esther the other day,” Lydia said. She blushed when she received a laughing look from Matthew for her unsubtlety.
“Oh?”
“Yes, she seems out of sorts.”
Samuel had an idea that Lydia was meddling, but he cursed the fact that he longed to know, to even read the letter. “She had some shocks after your wedding took place.”
“Yes. She explained