With Love (Blackwood & Friends #1)

Chapter 16: The Wrath of Lady Blackwood

Blanche snorted now, the same wide-eyed desperate amusement on her face. "You both think this is funny?" Kathleen whispered in quiet outrage. "The scandal that would be attached to your names would not only ruin yourselves, but the entire family. Your sisters wouldn't be able to enter polite society without talk, possibly even shunned from events. Is that what you would find funny?"

And that was the truth of it and it was sobering enough to let Nicola sit up straighter and feel utterly wretched. Grace and Diana loved attending the balls and the events of the seasons, as did Blanche. It was unthinkable to imagine they'd all be barred from them as a consequence of her outrageous actions this evening.

If she regretted any of it, however, Nicola did not feel that she did. Perhaps she regretted that they were caught, for she was certain that if the opportunity approached again and again, she would lean in favour of a swim in the lake at the early hours of the morning, or a sprint through a field or the forest with Jason Blackwood, every time.

But these sentiments would not rectify the damage of the situation and before Lady Blackwood could impose some dire punishment on her and Blanche, Nicola said earnestly, "You're entirely correct. Our actions were in poor form and Blanche and I simply did not think accordingly of the repercussions."

Kathleen pursed her lips as she studied her. Blanche, for her part, was wriggling again, but thankfully the laughter had died for the most part. There wasn't a trace of repentance on Jason's, Oliver's, or Nathaniel's faces. "At least one person in this room has the sense to know better next time," Kathleen muttered, seemingly satisfied with Nicola at least, "but I am afraid I will have to implement stricter routines with you two. For the next week, you shan't attend any events-"

"Mama, no!" Blanche pleaded. "That is not fair! We had planned-"

"I'll not hear of it, Blanche."

"But-"

Jason stood suddenly and went over to his irate mother. "Dismiss the ladies and have at it with me," he said. "It is late, we are all exhausted. If you wish to lambast somebody, it should be me for allowing it, for suggesting it in the first place, but allow the others to go to bed."

Kathleen considered him for a long moment, those grey eyes shrewdly discerning, before glancing at each of them in turn, and finally she appeared to come to a decision and nodded. "Very well. To bed, the lot of you, and pray I do not find you lingering around near my presence until well after noon!"

Dismissed, Nathaniel and Oliver practically bolted for the door, and Blanche and Nicola followed more sedately. Before she exited, she cast the scene behind her one last glance. Jason was watching her as she left, one arm leaning against the mantel above the hearth as he waited to talk with his mother, and her eyes lingered on the play of muscles rippling against the skin of his flank. He noticed it and smiled, but the movement was subdued, and subtly he tilted his head in a direction, communicating something silently to her, and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew just what.

As they left the parlour room, Nicola noticed the grandfather clock. It was where he had jerked his head, was where he wanted to draw her attention to, but she did not dare approach it now with Blanche, twitching furiously, at her side. Just where Oliver and Nathaniel had moved off to so fast was unclear, but for the moment they were alone.

Blanche was scratching and squirming furiously.

"What is the matter with you?" Nicola demanded, regarding her friend with a concerned frown. "You have been squirming since your mother dragged us by the ear inside that room."

Blanche glanced about nervously and then threw the shawl off her shoulders, scratching her shoulders, her arms and neck, with abandon. "It's the grass," she explained, sighing with pleasure as she could claw at her reddening skin at leisure. "The shawl you gave me was on the grass and my skin... reacts."