Under The Moonlight

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dinner seemed to have taken forever and when it was finally over, Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief. Lord Torrington just had to be the one to escort her. Lady Cadwell always preferred her guests to mingle and so she had been stuck with the Lord of boredom for the entire five-course meal. And what a meal it was. There had been enough food to feed an army. Needless to say, some people ate like starved animals when the first couse had arrived.

Jasmine had envied Charlotte, who seemed to be enjoying herself with Andrew. Lord Avery even looked more pleased with the woman he was seated next to than he had been when she'd first met him.

Unbelievable.

Everyone had pleasant company except her. Maybe she had been cursed. That was probably it. It had to be a cruel joke if she ended up with Lord Borington. Someone didn't want her to live happily ever after.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, Jasmine made her way towards the other women who had left the dinning area to the parlour. The men had retreated to the drawing room, obviousely to endulge themselves in alcohol.

 She searched the the sea of gossiping ladies for a familiar head of golden hair and was nearly scared out of her wits when the woman she saught appeared right next to her, bombarding her with questions.

"What in heavens name were you doing with Lord Borington?" Charlotte hissed, trying not to gather the attention of the gossipmongers around them. "I practically had to run back to Lord Huntingdon just to make sure no other chit got to him. Do you not want to get married? And what happened with the fan? You weren't supposed to hit people with it."

"Charlotte," Jasmine said, trying to calm her friend. "I did not plan any of that - the fan was an accident that I don't regret however. Lord Avery is not what I expected. But why did you go to Andrew?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I swear the two of you are hopeless. Let me put it simply: Andrew. Fancies. You."

"What?" Did he really?

"And even though you don't know it, you fancy him as well,"

"That's... that's absurd. Ridiculous. I can't..."

"You know, that is exactly what he said when I tried to tell him that at dinner. Nearly choked on the fish."

"But I hardly know him." Jasmine protested.

"Alright," Charlotte led them away from everyone else and the two were standing in the corner. "Tell me what you know about him."

Jasmine thought about it for a moment. "From the short moments we've had together, I know that he loves horseback riding, the theatre, hunting and fencing. I can also tell that he doesn't mind my speaking out of turn when it comes to certain people we know."

"Did he mention his brother?"

"When I brought up his brother the first time, he had this look in his eyes. It was like an odd combination of sadness and determination. And he said he wouldn't rest until the killer was brought to justice. Do you think he's trying to find the madman behind it?"

Charlotte blinked, not expecting that answer. "It's possible, but maybe he might not be. I don't know. But now that you mention it, who could possibly have killed Lord Thomas in such a horrific manner?"

"I haven't a clue. But let's not talk about this. I still want to know what makes you think Andrew fancies me at all."

"Firstly, he calls you by your given name and you do the same with him. Secondly, he kept stealing glances at you the entire dinner. Thirdly, he nearly snapped when I mentioned you considering Lord Borington as that was why you were seated next to him. And finally, he said he'd call on you on Monday. I am quite certain these are the qualities one has when one fancies another."