Jack (The Jaded Gentlemen Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

as only Axel Belmont could glower.
    “What if
you
put a foot wrong, madam?”
    Because Jack had been to war, he’d learned to recognize all forms of bravery, from stoic silence, to a bellowing charge, to an insistence on measured
    order even amid the chaos of military life.
    He’d also learned to recognize fear. The look Miss Hennessey shot him revealed unshakeable determination, but also a hint of uncertainty.
    “You’re the magistrate,” she said. “You excel at catching people in their missteps. Even Mr. Belmont has sung your praises, and
    he’s not a man given to effusions.”
    Mr. Belmont this, and Mr. Belmont that. Jack considered Axel Belmont a friend. Perhaps prior to his recent marriage, Belmont had been more than a friend to
    Miss Hennessey. Belmont was merely gentry, not some prancing lord, and winters in Oxfordshire were long and cold.
    Did Miss Hennessey not grasp that she deserved better?
    “Are you in love with Axel Belmont, Miss Hennessey?” That glimmer of uncertainty had meant something, and Jack’s tour in India had
    disabused him of the need to make moral judgments. “Women likely consider him attractive, and he’s not without admirable qualities.”
    Belmont had many admirable qualities, in fact.  
    “Who I might fancy matters naught,” Miss Hennessey said, rising. “And who fancies me matters even less. I will work hard for my wages,
    Sir Jack, and you will pay them on time and to the penny. That is what matters.”
    She was a tall woman, though Jack was taller. They stood nearly eye to eye, that hint of vulnerability lurking in the upraised angle of her chin and the
    near-glower in her gaze. He could see her great-aunts in her, see the determination and self-reliance, and it… bothered him.
    “I will also pay those wages in advance,” he said. “I can’t expect you to uproot yourself, purchase material, make a new wardrobe,
    and otherwise take on new employment without a show of good faith on my part. If you can begin immediately after Boxing Day, I’ll see that a bank
    draft arrives here tomorrow.”
    “Send cash, please. I’d have to apply to Mr. Belmont to deal with a bank draft, and he’s a busy man.”
    Belmont was a man in love with his wife and devoted to his children.
    “Cash, it shall be,” Jack said, extending his hand.
    Because they’d been at the tea tray, he wore no gloves, and neither did Miss Hennessey. She regarded him quizzically, then offered her hand. He bowed
    over it and kept hold of her fingers.
    “I am in your debt, Miss Hennessey, and I thank you for taking on this situation. I rode up the drive, thinking to ask for a fresh perspective on my
    household situation. I’ll ride home grateful to have recruited an ally under my own roof.” A fine little speech, if he did say so himself.
    “I’ll be an employee, sir, not an ally.”
    She looked so… bewildered and brave and resolute, that Jack let actions speak rather than argue with lady.
    “Apply whatever label suits your fancy,” he said, brushing his lips across her knuckles. “I’m much relieved that you’ll be
    joining the household.” He relinquished her hand and marched away before she could fire off a scold.
    * * *
    Abigail Belmont had been raised more or less in a bookshop, and she didn’t put on airs, though Madeline would rather her employer did go on with a
    little more decorum. Instead, in the week since Sir Jack’s call, Abigail had assisted in the creation of three new dresses, and was intent on passing
    along several more from her own wardrobe.
    “You can carry off the brighter colors,” Abigail said, draping a maroon velvet carriage dress on the bed. “I am a mother now. I need
    fabrics that wash easily, and don’t take stains.”
    “I won’t have any occasion to wear such finery,” Madeline protested, smoothing a hand over the soft material. “And this color looks
    good on most women.”
    “On you, it looks better than good,” Abigail replied, laying a cream-colored