Page 32 of Stolen By the Heartless Duke

June had already softened into July heat, and the air felt thick with perfume and roses.

And whispers.

Jane felt them before she heard them. Eyes flicked toward her too quickly. Conversations dipped the moment she passed, then resumed in lower tones.

Kidnapping.

Scandal.

Wynten House.

Her brother’s name didn’t need to be spoken aloud to be everywhere.

Her mother straightened her spine anyway, chin lifted like she refused to be anything but composed.

Jane mirrored her.

“Stay close,” Jane murmured.

“I always do,” her mother replied.

They moved forward.

And Jane pretended she couldn’t feel the weight of every glance.

“Jane!”

Lavinia appeared like a burst of sunlight cutting through fog. She didn’t hesitate. She crossed the lawn and pulled Jane into a hug that was far too tight to be fitting in polite society.

Jane exhaled into it without realizing she needed to. “Lavinia,” she said, quieter than she meant to.

Her friend pulled back just enough to look at her face. Her expression shifted immediately, concern replacing brightness. “You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

“I haven’t,” Jane admitted.

Lavinia swore under her breath. “If I find out who’s responsible for all of this, I will personally ruin them.”

A faint, almost startled laugh escaped Jane before she could stop it. “That list is getting quite long.”

“Good,” Lavinia said firmly. “It should be.”

She hooked her arm through Jane’s and guided her away from the main crowd with practiced ease, steering her toward a quieter stretch near the hedgerows.

For a moment, it felt almost normal. Then Lavinia’s voice dropped. “How bad is it?”

Jane hesitated. Then she told her. Not everything, but enough. Zachary’s threats. The tightening control over Wynten House. The way suitors were already beginning to vanish before they had even arrived.

And then, there was the one truth she couldn’t escape.

“If I don’t secure something,” Jane said carefully, “there won’t be anything left to secure for my mother when this is over. If it everisover.”

Lavinia went very still. Then, loudly and without any care for propriety, she said, “That man is a festering disgrace.”

Jane blinked.

Lavinia pointed vaguely in the direction of the estate house. “Your uncle. I hope he chokes on his own arrogance.”

“Lavinia.”