Spinster's Gambit by Gwendolynn Thomas

his home,” Jac admitted as casually as she could, hoping Daniel would miss the answer. He didn’t. He stopped suddenly and turned, lit by the windows’ faint light, and scowled at her. 
    “At his home? Alone? At night?” he repeated, crossing his arms. Jac drew herself up straight. She was not a debutante sneaking into her beloved’s bedchamber. Daniel sighed and started to tug at the fingers of his gloves, beginning to draw them off, apparently giving up on the scheme. 
    “Need I tell you how unfair that is? If you’re discovered you’ll have trapped Aspen into a hasty marriage against his will. I cannot let you do that to him,” he ordered, shaking his head as he pulled off his gloves. 
    “And I wouldn’t accept it!” Jac exclaimed, before her resolution wavered. Would she really be able to reject him? The life, the marriage, the children? He was a good man. She could have children. Jac clamped down hard on her runaway thoughts. Marriage to an unwilling man? To injure Aspen in that way? Jac met Daniel’s eyes. 
    “If I am caught there, I would reject his suit,” she promised. Daniel smiled grimly and nodded, starting forward again, though he only shoved his gloves into his pocket, apparently still not planning to go out. Jac felt her spirits fall and wanted to snarl. Daniel sighed, sounding frustrated. 
    “Well, that’s a noble sentiment, but unfortunately irrelevant, as clearly you will knock and return to your carriage, implying that he should walk out and join you,” Daniel stated, raising his eyebrows meaningfully. Jac felt her heart rise at the words. She’d be meeting Aspen that night.
    “That would be rude,” Jac argued, whispering. Daniel opened the door for her and gestured her out. Jac obeyed, checking to make sure Daniel’s pocket watch and snuffbox were in place, glad at least that she was going. Daniel closed the front door behind her and Jac started alone toward the neighbor’s stoop. She saw Daniel and Harold sneak out of the house not minutes later, heading toward the mews. She stood by the neighbor’s wall to wait, cursing the February cold. A phaeton started down the street and Jac started walking again, hoping to blend into the normal city street as it passed. The next coach was clearly Daniel’s and she started toward it, doing her best to look as if she’d just walked out of the building behind her.
    She’d barely waited for Harold to jump down from the coachman’s seat before she started talking.
    “Harold, do you know the way to Smyrna’s coffeehouse?” she asked, trying to keep her voice low. She was confident he wouldn’t know the direction of the place and Daniel would be forced to accept her travelling in Aspen’s carriage, though she did not know why she cared so much. To her disappointment, the coachman nodded immediately and set down the step.
    “Certainly, sir,” he answered easily.
    Drat it, Jac thought, hauling herself up into the carriage. Daniel wasn’t inside, she realized belatedly, hesitating before she sat down. Of course not, she remembered. He’d have to be absent if Jack Holcombe and the Duke of Aspen would be taking the coach to Smyrna together. 
    Drat it more, Jac cursed. Daniel was trusting her. 
    “To Smyrna’s, then, sir?” Harold asked, his blank face not revealing any curiosity about picking ‘him’ up so very secretly. 
    “No, to the Duke of Aspen’s, please, and only knock on the door to let the butler know I am waiting,” she ordered and Harold closed the carriage door behind her.
    She could barely stand the rudeness when she felt the carriage stop and tilt to the side as Harold jumped off to knock. She tugged at her cuffs uncomfortably, unsure what she would say about the odd behavior. The coach door opened finally and the Duke of Aspen appeared beside her, looking rather askance. 
    “It’s dreadfully cold,” Jac said, hoping that explained why she’d waited in the carriage. Aspen blinked, his scars tightening as