Chapter 256: As a family [3]
Damien entered the kitchen, forced to wait on the sidelines to taste all that was prepared and decide which was the best.
Eloise left Damien’s side to check her stew.
Damien lingered close, his arms folded as he watched both her and Jane move about the kitchen.
"Damien," Quinn said, cautiously approaching his brother. "Can we speak?"
"Not now. I already said we would speak, but I don’t want to speak now. I’m already angry, so our talk won’t go well, and my focus is on our sister," Damien replied, his gaze fixed on Jane. "We will speak later when I am ready. Do not force it."
"I won’t," Quinn said, deciding to respect Damien’s wishes. "There are letters placed in your study that you should take a look at. One is from the court, so I placed it at the top. I didn’t know if I should open it when it was addressed to you."
"I will take a look when I am down here. Where is Kyle?" Damien inquired.
"He left to plan the business he spoke of. I believe he is searching for a location to put it. He needed the distraction since he was the one to confront Camille. I wasn’t present for what happened with Jane, and I apologise," Quinn said, yet to be free of guilt
"You don’t need to apologise. The estate is quite large, so it is impossible to always be where there is trouble," Damien said, not blaming Quinn for being absent.
"You seem to be always near when there is trouble," Quinn pointed out, half in jest.
"It is because others wait until I am near to bother me. I said we are going to have this talk later, so focus on your bread. I am not going to place any burnt bread or cookies in my mouth," Damien said.
"I believe what you are smelling is Jane’s bread burning," Quinn said, taking the chance to tease Jane.
"It is not. It is your bread. Ha!" Jane pointed at Quinn. "It is your bread."
Quinn left Damien’s side to see if Jane was lying, giving Damien the chance to return to Eloise’s side.
"When are we going to be able to slip away from those two? Are you almost done?" Damien asked, resting his hand around Eloise’s waist.
"I am. It will all need to cool, so we can leave the kitchen to take a moment to rest and then come back in a bit. You’ve just returned, and already you are eager to get away from your siblings. Or is it the tasting of the bread that scares you?" Eloise teased, laughing at his sunken expression.
Damien watched as Quinn removed his bread from the flame, followed by Jane, who rushed to compete with him. "Part of it is the bread," he confessed.
Eloise shook her head, smiling. "I must remove mine as well. I assure you they are going to taste well."
She left Damien’s side once more to help with removing the bread and the cookies.
Though Damien longed for Eloise’s attention for himself, he found something warming in seeing how she moved with his siblings now compared to when she first entered. She had even coaxed them into the kitchen to bake.
Despite what was said and done earlier, the estate felt whole again, proving Camille wrong about Eloise. Eloise knew how to play her role at times, settling tension and distracting others with quiet skill.
Damien waited as the cookies and bread were set to cool, then Eloise instructed the others to retire to their chambers until it was time to eat.
"Go ahead without me. I need to speak to Jane," Damien said, sending Eloise off first.
"Very well," Eloise replied, leaving him behind.
"Jane," Damien said, just before she could walk by him. "I want to speak to you."
"Is it about the bread or Camille? If it is about Camille, I know I shouldn’t have spoken of how her marriage appears," Jane said, rushing into apology.
"I first wanted to ask if you are well," Damien said, his voice gentler now.
"Oh, yes. I was shocked that she slapped me, but the pain went away quite fast. I haven’t thought about it since Eloise returned to the estate," Jane assured him, though her eyes betrayed a flicker of hurt. "I’m disappointed by how it all played out because I needed what I wanted to be understood."
"I have always respected our aunt and hearing about her season. The way her season played out was well, but I have grown to realise that her marriage is not for me. If I had bitten my tongue, I wouldn’t have been struck. Still, I wouldn’t have seen how controlling our aunt is," Jane admitted.
"Regardless of what you said, it wasn’t her place to hit you. I don’t hear about Camille striking her children, and they are wrong most of the time. Your punishments fall into my hands. You shouldn’t go around speaking of anyone’s marriages," Damien agreed, correcting her mistake.
Jane nodded.
"But in this case, it seems Camille opened the door for you to do it by speaking of marriages. Particularly mine. She didn’t like the result and struck you. I am not thrilled about you being brought into conversations about my marriage," Damien said.
His marriage was not a topic for Jane to comment on. No one outside the estate should pull her into a conversation about a union she wasn’t part of. They would twist her words for gossip or try to turn her against Eloise.
"It was a bit odd," Jane confessed. "It came out of nowhere. Especially with asking that I leave the estate to live with her. Why are others so eager to take me?"
"It might not be the case for our aunt, but I would have to send money to take care of you. It is a good bit of wealth, and some of the relatives had plans to marry you off to the son of their peers in hopes of helping them," Damien revealed.
"Oh," Jane said, surprised there were so many plans for her. "I didn’t know all of this had been happening."
"Because I shield you from it. It is my duty as Lord Hawthorne and as your brother. I’m not going to send you where you wouldn’t be cared for well. You’re not going to be a pawn," Damien assured her. "Our parents never raised their hands to us. They punished us in other ways. I will not let you be struck."
Jane, moved by his words, made a daring gesture and held him tightly. "Thank you, brother."
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