Chapter 1 - Photo of Jane

I got it up pretty quickly :)

This is the first chapter of the sequel to 'Rescuing Emilia'. You don't have to read the first book to understand this one but it helps :)

I hope you enjoy this story! Vote and comment to let me know what you think :)

Picture on the side is Jane :)

----

Chapter One

“I cannot believe mama talked me into this,” Jane hissed under her breath as the carriage pulled up outside her brother’s grand estate.

One season had definitely been enough for Jane. She’d loved the dancing and the attention at first, what young nineteen year old wouldn’t? But it was through her lack of grace that she’d trodden on the hem of her ball gown and shown off her underclothes to the world in one quick tear. She was humiliated and almost immediately retreated back to her family’s farm and kept her head down for four long years. She only ever visited London when she was sure that there were no grand parties going on, other than that Sebastian, Emilia and their children travelled to York.

But she was now three and twenty and Catherine thought her hiding out in the stables was ridiculous. Her mother wanted a son – in – law before Jane was considered too old to marry. Her mother had even attached the two thousand pounds that she’d saved during her marriage to Jane’s father as a dowry to entice men in, as if that wasn’t humiliating enough. Jane had agreed to one last season in London to get her mother off her back. Once she’d rejected any advances, not that she was going to get any, Jane would return to the farm and be a spinster in peace.

The carriage door opened for her and the footman helped her down from the carriage. She was wearing her finest blue gown and matching travelling coat that her mother had insisted upon her wearing. Her hair was in a neat bun underneath her blue bonnet which was irritating Jane as it itched.

The footmen began unloading her trunks before she could even start doing it herself. It was still awfully strange having someone wait on her.

“Aunt Jane!” A loud scream came from the door. Her little nieces and nephews were not proper when it came to their favourite aunt ... or their only aunt. Jane brought out a wild side in them; she liked to have fun as much as they did.

She looked up to see little Kitty bounding toward her, her brown braids flailing about. It was scary how much she looked like Sebastian. Jane was astonished at how big she’d gotten! She hadn’t seen them since Christmas; she hadn’t even met their new arrival, Henry yet. Jane beamed and scooped Kitty up into her arms. She kissed her repeatedly on the forehead and hugged her tight. “How is my little Kitty Cat?”

“Meow,” Kitty played along and giggled.

“You’re so big, Kitty, I almost can’t lift you!” Jane exclaimed and put Kitty down on the ground and took her hand. The footmen followed them into the house carrying her trunks.

“I’m bigger than Little J and Annie but mama says that James is still a quarter of an inch taller than me – not for long. Mama says if I eat my green vegetables I’ll be taller than James, I can’t wait!” Kitty said giddily and dragged Jane into the house.

Jane smirked at her niece’s gullibility. It was clever on Emilia’s part though, it got her children eating their green vegetables.

“Mama! Papa!” Kitty shouted into the house. “Aunt Jane is here!”

She heard a rumbled from upstairs as suddenly one by one her two little nieces and her nephew bounded down the stairs.

“Aunt Jane!” James grinned and wrapped his arms around Jane’s waist. He was the image of Sebastian, if her were two and thirty like Sebastian was then they would be identical twins.

“James, look how big you are!” Jane exclaimed, taking in her nephew’s height. “Why, you’re almost a man!”

James smiled proudly. “I know! I’m going to be five soon!” he informed her.

Jane knelt down before Little J and Annie. Annie wasn’t walking the last time Jane had seen her and now she was waddling like and adorable toddler. She wished she saw them more, it pained her to miss so much, she felt like they were her own children. Then there was Little J, the baby that Sebastian and Emilia had named after her. She couldn’t have felt more honoured. At first she was called ‘Little Jane’ and Jane was called ‘Big Jane’ but it didn’t work. Jane was back to being ‘Aunt Jane’ and Little J was ‘Little J’, it worked for both of them.

“Aunt Jane! Mama says you can have the room next to mine if you want!” Little J smiled at her with her big brown eyes wide with wonder.

“I can’t wait,” she smiled at Little J. “Where are your mama and papa anyway?”

“Right here,” she heard Emilia’s voice coming out of the drawing room with an infant on her hip.

Emilia looked stunning; one could not tell she’d had five children. Her hair was impeccable and her face was immaculate. Her gown was a cream colour that had a white ribbon tied under the bust and some simple white lace as sleeves.

“It’s good to see you, Em,” Jane smiled.

Emilia gave Jane a one armed hug and a kiss on the cheek. “This is Henry, Henry this is your Aunt Jane,” Emilia cooed and bounced the baby boy on her hip.

Henry stared at Jane with his chocolate eyes. He looked like he was concentrating hard on taking her in. “Hi, Henry,” Jane said softly and stroked his cheek. “Aren’t you a handsome boy?”

Emilia smiled and kissed Henry’s forehead. “Kitty, go and fetch papa, he’s in his study, tell him Aunt Jane’s here,” she instructed her daughter and the brunette girl in braids bounded up the stairs to fetch Sebastian. Emilia looked back to Jane. “It has been far too long, Janey!” she scolded comically. “The children have been so excited all week since we received your letter. Getting them to listen to Miss Church is practically impossible.”

“Miss Church?”

“Their governess,” Emilia explained. “I tried teaching them but I’m not very good at being strict. Which now that I think about it is probably why they don’t like her very much, well all except Little J, she loves learning.”

Jane giggled. She knew Emilia would give into to anything that her children wanted, and she knew Little J was very bright.

“Jane!” Sebastian’s voice boomed as he jogged down the stairs, an act very uncouth for an Earl.

Jane beamed and jumped into her brother’s arms as they reunited. Sebastian kissed his sister’s cheek and spun her around. “I’ve missed you all!” she exclaimed once Sebastian had put her down.

“Papa, can Aunt Jane live here with us all the time?” James asked, tugging on his father’s navy coat.

“I can’t, I’m afraid, for grandmamma needs me in Yorkshire,” Jane told James. The little boy pouted and folded his arms across his chest.

There was a sounds of someone clearing their throat and the family turned to see an older woman standing in the doorway of the library.

“Begging your pardon, Lord Ethridge, Lady Ethridge,” she smiled at both Sebastian and Emilia. “But it’s time for lessons.”

“Of course,” Emilia smiled at the woman. Jane deduced her to be Miss Church, the governess. “Off you go,” she nodded towards James, Kitty and Little J. Little J went willingly and James trudged along beside her.

“Lady Catherine, come along,” Miss Church beckoned and Kitty groaned audibly and went after her brother and sister. Jane found it amusing how each of the children was addressed by their titles yet they didn’t act any different than regular children. She wondered if it was only immediately family that knew them by their preferred names.

“We’re not wasting our money on etiquette lessons until she can sit still in a chair for more than three minutes,” Sebastian shook his head, looking after his three elder children.

“I don’t blame her, I can’t sit in a chair for more than three minutes,” Jane shrugged.

“That must be where she gets it from then,” Emilia grinned and adjusted Henry on her hip. “Come on, let’s go have some tea and catch up. I need to tell you all about the balls this week to start off your season. I have seen some very eligible men about.”

“Eligible men?” Sebastian asked in a warning tone. Jane found it utterly amusing how jealous her brother could be when it came to his wife. He needn’t worry, aside from her mother; Emilia was the most loyal person she’d ever met.

“Oh, hush, darling, we all know why Janey’s here, we need to find her a husband,” Emilia rolled her eyes.

Jane felt like a complete charity case. She didn’t want a husband, she didn’t need to be married to feel complete, and she was perfectly happy fawning over her nieces and nephews instead of having her own children. She knew of women that were five and forty that were still having children so in her eyes she had plenty of time.

Emilia led them into the lavish drawing room that was decorated in pristine decor down to the last candlestick. On the mahogany coffee table was a silver tray accompanied by a fancy china tea set. Emilia sat down on one of the white settees and sat Henry on her lap. Sebastian sat next to her and pulled Annie on his lap which left Jane to sit opposite them on her lonesome. It almost made her feel as though she was to be interrogated.

Jane poured the tea and handed them out to Sebastian and Emilia. “You know what’s bothering me,” she said suddenly.

“What?” Emilia asked as she took a sip from her tea, careful to balance Henry on her lap.

“You two seem perfect, is it possible to be so faultless?” she shook her head.

Sebastian and Emilia shared an astonished look and then both cracked up laughing. Annie looked at both her parents with a bewildered expression on her face.

“You have got to be joking, Janey, we are far from perfect!” Sebastian wheezed, recovering from laughing.

“Sebastian and I bicker over silly things all the time, just last week I made him sleep in the other room as I was still angry with him,” Emilia smirked at the idiocy of Jane’s claim.

“It’s true,” Sebastian rolled his eyes. “I had to grovel. I’m an Earl and I was on my knees before her.”

“I would have liked to have seen that,” Jane giggled. “But what about now, you two seem like you don’t have a care in the world.”

Emilia shook her head. “I worry all the time. I worry that James will grow up to be a heart breaker and never settle, I worry that Kitty will never learn how to act appropriately as she spends more time covered in mud then she does clean, I worry that Little J is setting herself up for a fall when it comes to her education as nowhere decent is going to accept a woman to further educate herself,” Emilia looked down to Annie sadly. “I worry that Annie will never have any confidence,” she then looked down to Henry on her lap. “Henry hasn’t given me anything to worry about yet but I don’t doubt he will.” She smiled at Jane and squeezed her son to her chest. “Today is a good day, Jane, you’re here and we’re all healthy and happy, today I don’t worry.”

Sebastian leaned over and kissed Emilia’s temple. “But I worry that Em will go grey before she is thirty because of all the worrying she does. I also worry that she grows more beautiful as she ages as whenever we are at assemblies eyes seem to follow her wherever she goes.”

“But I do not notice, do I?” Emilia rolled her eyes.

“No, you don’t,” Sebastian agreed.

Jane felt foolish to think that her brother and sister – in – law had no worried. They were parents; of course they were always worrying. She knew what Emilia was talking about when discussing James. From what she’d seen the boy liked teasing and tricking, especially when it came to young girls, his sisters and others alike. But he was only four; he had a few years before courting would become a problem. Jane was just like Kitty at her age, spending more time outside and in the dirt than reading school books. She did empathise with Little J though; it was a gift to be so intelligent at such a young age. If she was born a boy she could go on from Eton to Oxford or Cambridge and become a doctor or a solicitor but as she was born a girl any such dreams would be ridiculed. And then there was little Annie. Confidence couldn’t be instilled in a person, they had to get it themselves, and she prayed that she got it before her first season, because making a fool of herself, like her Aunt Jane did at her first season, does not do anything for one’s confidence.

“So,” Emilia grinned, changing the subject. “The first invitation we have accepted with you as our guest is the start of summer spectacle at Lord Latham’s residence tomorrow night. He and his wife are launching their daughter, Charlotte, on society so there will be an abundance of young men, officers and noblemen alike.”

Jane slumped on the settee at the thought of attending a ball. Of course she expected to be invited to them but not so soon. “I hope you two realise that by being here I am getting mama off my back. I do not actually want to receive any attention.”

“I think that will be a very hard thing to escape, Jane,” Emilia said knowingly. “Even with your ... wardrobe mishap ...” she said awkwardly. “Your beauty was renowned at your last season.”

Jane broke into a fit of giggles as she lay down horizontally on the settee. “Beauty?” she scoffed. “If you consider boring brown hair and a plain face beautiful then you must have sight impairments, dear sister – in – law. I could not stand next to you in a room and be considered ‘beautiful’.” The thought to Jane was completely ridiculous. She’d been told many times as a young girl in York that she was not a beauty. She remembered clearly overhearing conversations at her local assembly hall ‘it is as shame that Jane is so plain, she’s a nice enough girl, I doubt she will find a husband who would take a woman with such an appearance’.

“Hold your tongue!” Emilia gasped.

Jane righted herself to see Emilia’s alarmed expression.

Annie giggled quietly. “You’re in trouble, mama used her angry voice.”

“It is the truth, Emilia,” Jane shrugged.

“Janey, where would you get such a silly idea?” Sebastian asked sadly.

“From people’s mouths,” Jane informed them slowly. “I have been told it many times before, Emilia; I’m not ashamed of it.” Jane was used to it, she didn’t mind so much anymore.

Emilia’s eyes narrowed. “Well I think that is completely untrue, Jane. You are very beautiful and I am going to help you get ready tomorrow instead of a maid and I shall make you see it too.”

Jane doubted it but she would entertain her sister – in – law’s wishes. “Very well, if you insist.”

There was a knock on the drawing room door and Mr Carter, their butler, was standing in the entrance. “Pardon me, Lord and Lady Ethridge, but Miss Church has just called the tea break in the schoolroom, would you like Lady Anne to join the others?”

Sebastian nodded. “Yes, thank you, Mr Carter, go on Annie,” he lifted Annie down onto the floor and watched as she waddled over to Mr Carter and took his hand.

“Tea break means that Kitty has stopped concentrating and James has started making catapults out of his schooling supplies,” Emilia rolled her eyes. “I feel as though we should get another governess for Little J but I don’t want her to miss out on socialising.”

“Why are they in the schoolroom so young? I was out in the garden twenty four hours a day at their age,” Jane asked.

“It’s only an hour every weekday. They aren’t learning anything like history or economics; it’s just things like the alphabet, spelling and basic reading and mathematics. Really Little J shouldn’t be in there yet but she loves it so.” Emilia explained. “But we shouldn’t be boring you with tales from the schoolroom. I’m sure you’re exhausted from your trip. I’ll show you to your bedchamber and then we’ll have a bath brought up. Do you want a maid to help you dress?” Emilia asked, standing up and handing Henry to Sebastian.

“No, no, I’ll be fine on my own,” Jane smiled and followed Emilia to her bedchamber.

Jane was awoken that night by the sound of her bedchamber door opening. She heard the scampering of little feet across the floor and a slight dip when they climbed into bed with her.

“Aunt Jane,” she heard Little J whisper. “Are you sleeping?”

“No, Little J, I’m currently flying about the house,” Jane joked, her voice thick with sleep.

Little J giggled and climbed under the covers next to Jane. Jane rolled over and looked down at the little girl who was beaming at her. “You’re funny, Aunt Jane.” Little J’s blonde hair was in tight braids ready to have neat curls in the morning.

“I know,” Jane smiled at her little niece. “Can’t you sleep?”

Little J shook her head. “No, I had a nightmare,” she whispered. “I didn’t want to wake up mama and papa because Henry’s in their room and if went in there he would wake up and cry.”

Jane slipped her arm underneath Little J’s body and cuddled her close to her chest. “What was your nightmare about?” she asked tenderly.

“I was in papa’s library and I wanted a book on the top shelf. So I climbed up to get it and suddenly the whole book shelf fell on top of me and I was crushed,” Little J whimpered.

“Aw,” Jane pouted and rubbed Little J’s back soothingly. “I know nightmares are scary Little J, but you know why that won’t happen?”

“Why?”

“Because the bookshelves in your papa’s library are bolted to the wall, they aren’t going to fall on you, but you shouldn’t climb on the shelves regardless. Not because they might fall on you but because you could fall off and hurt yourself. If you ever need a book from the top shelf you ask me, or mama and papa or one of the footmen, alright?”

“Okay,” Little J chirper, a lot happier. “Can I sleep in here with you, Aunt Jane? Once all the parties start I’m sure you’ll be too busy to play with me.”

Jane frowned. “I’ll never be too busy to play with you, Little J, why would you think that?”

“I don’t know, whenever mama and papa go to parties or have them here I always have to stay upstairs. I’m not allowed in the parties because I’m too little.”

Jane pinched Little J’s nose affectionately. “I’ll always make time to play with you, Little J,” Jane promised. “Besides, I think I’ll be here awhile, I have to have a season which is all summer. Three months, that is a lot of time to play with you. And after I go home you’ll come to York to visit grandmamma and me at Christmas.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Little J whispered.

Jane nodded.

“I heard mama tell papa that if you marry you will move to London, which means that I get to play with you all the time. So can you please get married? Please! I’ll be on my best behaviour forever if you do,” Little J pleaded.

“Shh,” Jane hushed her. “We’ll see. Now go to sleep. Aunt Jane needs her rest as she’s got a ball to go to tomorrow night and she’s got to fend off all the men who ask her to dance, which will be nil.”

“What?” Little J furrowed her eyebrows.

“I’ll explain when you’re older.” Jane kissed Little J’s forehead and closed her eyes.

Jane truly hoped she wouldn’t receive any attention at the ball the following evening. The sooner her season was over the sooner she could return to normality. No affluent aristocrat was going to tempt her into matrimony.

---

How was it? I hope you liked it!

The next chapter will include the ball at Lord Latham's as well as Jane's introduction to a certain brooding gentleman :)