The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

Jane watched as Camille stormed off to find her children and to scold the maids who were struggling to watch them.

While Jane enjoyed spending time with Camille, the mansion was too noisy with her cousins seeking mischief at every corner. There was no order in the mansion, and at times, it seemed that Camille didn’t know how to parent her children.

Mr Bennett was out of the mansion to visit a relative, so Camille was left alone with the help of the servants.

For a moment, Jane wondered if it was worth it to have so many children and a husband who was away from home so often.

’I want to go home,’ Jane thought, missing the estate.

Jane missed the comfort of her bedchamber, the servants she was used to, and, surprisingly, her brothers. Though there was freedom with Camille to write to her friends, Jane didn’t like being away from home for so long.

’If I write to him, will Damien come for me?’ Jane wondered.

Jane was only meant to be with Camille for three days, so tomorrow, she would return to the estate, but Jane wanted to leave now.

Jane shook her head. "You mustn’t let him know you are like this," she whispered, not wanting to show defeat. "You can last another day."

Jane stood up from her chair to follow Camille.

What she needed was a distraction.

Jane walked out of the room and down to the fountain, where she last saw her cousins. There, she witnessed Camille scolding the maids whose uniforms were now soaking wet.

Jane stood out of sight, watching as her cousins tugged on the arms of the very maids they had placed in trouble with Camille.

It was not the maid’s fault that the children snuck away and went into the fountain to play.

’Damien would have punished me,’ Jane thought

It was evident why the cousins were afraid of Damien. The mischief they got up to while in their mother’s care would not be allowed in the estate.

"She won’t be in the mood to speak," Jane whispered, watching as Camille lost her temper.

Before she could be noticed, Jane left so she wouldn’t have to play with her cousins. It was odd that despite Camille having two girls, neither was concerned about watching their behaviour so they wouldn’t embarrass their mother.

Jane’s mood was spoiled once more, and again, she yearned to go home. She had no other choice but to push her pride to the side and find a servant to send a letter to Damien.

Upon return, Jane knew she would have to offer Eloise an apology, but she could manage to do so if it meant getting away from her cousins.

Two hours later, Jane had a visitor at the Bennett mansion.

Damien entered the home and found Jane sitting by the stairs with her bags already packed. "Learned your lesson?" He asked, placing his hand behind his back.

"You had your fun in tormenting me. I would like to be home by dinner," Jane said as she stood up.

Despite being angry that Damien sent her away, Jane was happy to see him now. She had never been away from Damien for so many days to realise how much she would miss his presence.

"Did the cousins bother you?" Damien asked, knowing the hell Jane went through.

"No, they are lovely," Jane replied.

"Then why are you speaking so softly? It also looks like you are hiding from someone. I must go greet Camille and the children-"

"No!" Jane exclaimed, grabbing Damien’s arm to stop him. "I already told Aunt Camille in secret that I will be leaving. If you go to find the children, they will not make it easy for us to leave. We must go before they see the carriage."

"If they are lovely-"

"They are not lovely," Jane spoke over Damien. "And you know it. We must leave now so I can keep my peace."

Damien leaned forward to grab both of Jane’s bags and turned. He then led the way back to the carriage.

Jane followed closely behind Damien, keeping an eye back to ensure no one was following them.

Outside, Damien handed the bags off to Silas and held the carriage door open for Jane.

Jane entered the carriage without help and sat down. She wanted everyone to move faster, but Damien was moving quite slowly.

Damien entered the carriage and closed the door. "You didn’t tell Camille you were leaving, did you?"

"No, I didn’t," Jane confessed. "But it is only because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I love our aunt, but there is no order in her home. She scolds the servants when her children are the ones doing wrong. It is best that we only see our dear cousins at family reunions." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Damien knocked on the side of the carriage for it to start moving.

"You are not angry with me for writing to you in secret?"

"Jane, I sent you there so you would be punished, and you lasted longer than I expected," Damien replied, surprised it took two days.

Jane sighed in relief that she was not in trouble. "I did not think you would come after all I did to upset you. You always come for me. All three of you," she noticed.

Jane leaned back on the seat and pondered her days with her brothers. They were better than what she gave them credit for. "I apologise for the way I have acted. I have only been thinking of myself, and in the end, I spoiled your moment," she said.

"You make a fool of yourself, apologise, and do it all over again. Why should I accept your apology now?" Damien asked, certain that Jane would revert to her old ways.

"I won’t trouble your wife since nothing good comes out of it. You are on her side, and I don’t want to be sent back to Aunt Camille’s home. I might not be the best of friends with your wife so soon, but I will accept that she is family," Jane promised.

Jane continued to say, "She is Lady Hawthorne, so she is to be respected. I would not like for the town to think there is trouble within our family. I will stop making your new marriage about myself."

"Good. It seems you managed to find your sense in Camille’s home. I might need to send Kyle there in the morning," Damien considered.

"Oh, please. Kyle wouldn’t last a day with our cousins. I advise you not to let your wife go there since our cousins are awful. They are little monsters. See, I cared to warn you," Jane said, hoping Damien acknowledged her slow change.

"How kind of you," Damien replied, yet to fully trust Jane with Eloise.