Follow My Lead by Kate Noble

Normally, Jason would have felt agitated, confined. Felt like he should run away from the scrutiny of these men for his recklessness in supporting Miss Crane. The establishment never takes well to being rocked. But, running, that was the old Jason.
    This Jason was just annoyed.
    “I fear reflection would require a mirror, gentlemen. And I’m not surprised this room is without one.” He leaned in conspiratorially. Sir Gordon and his companion (and the rest of the room) did the same. “I doubt you’d like what you see.”
    Sir Gordon sucked in his breath, his face turning redder than the carpeting beneath their feet.
    Luckily, before Sir Gordon could become so ruffled as to locate a glove and slap him with it, the butler came over and whispered in Jason’s ear.
    “Well, gentlemen,” Jason said, rising, “I’ll leave you to your reflecting.”
    Jason would have heaved a great sigh of relief upon leaving them. Once away, he would have loosened his cravat, leaned against the door, and sent a thankful word up to the Saint of Sticky Situations.
    He would have.
    But he could not.
    Because he was promptly escorted into Lord Forrester’s offices, greeted, and seated across from the father of the young lady he intended to marry.
    “Your Grace,” Lord Forrester said companionably. “Thank you for coming to see me so quickly.”
    “My pleasure, sir,” Jason replied, equally companionably. Trying to keep himself level. “I am at your service.”
    “Excellent,” Lord Forrester smiled. “Because it is a service I require of you.”
    Jason’s eyebrow went up. Maybe this was not about Sarah after all. “Sir?” he asked, his voice pitched a mite too high for a man of thirty years.
    “You have not been to visit us for quite some time,” Lord Forrester began, standing and opening the heavy shades on the window. The window faced east, and it was far enough into the day now that no direct sunlight would come streaming in, causing harm to the multitude of paintings situated on the walls.
    “I’m afraid I don’t understand, Lord Forrester. I have never been to visit you. Although that is a situation I mean to rectify posthaste,” Jason rambled. “After all, your daughter and I have been spending a great deal of time in each other’s company, it is only right that I call upon . . .”
    But at Lord Forrester’s look of quizzical amusement, Jason’s rambling died.
    “Yes, my little Sarah,” Lord Forrester said, the smallest of smiles lifting his lips. “Your attention to her has not gone unnoted by her mother, her sisters, or myself. And while I commend your taste, we must save that subject—and your lack in properly calling upon my household—for another time.”
    Jason’s other eyebrow joined his first. At this rate, he was going to go through his entire life looking terribly surprised.
    “You meant that I have not been to visit the Society in recent weeks,” Jason surmised, and was rewarded with a nod. “I fear that true as well. I confess I did not feel wholly comfortable with my peers after . . . my last visit.”
    “You mean after you played the logistician and argued on behalf of Miss Crane’s suit.” Lord Forrester grinned, his oversized belly shaking with mirth at the memory. “My God, that woman walking into this office is the most refreshing bit of air we’ve had in years. Alexander would be proud. I cannot think of the faces of the fellows without laughing.”
    “Yes, well, you should see their faces now,” Jason muttered, causing Lord Forrester to laugh again. “Is that why you did it?” Jason asked.
    Now it was Lord Forrester’s turn to look surprised.
    “You were under no obligation to accept her bargain. You could have patted her on the head and sent her away without a by-your-leave.” Jason regarded the older gentleman. “Did you indulge her to shock the system, and for that look on the old men’s faces?”
    “Careful, Your Grace, I happen to be a contemporary of most of the