Joan Smith by The Kissing Bough

shadowed look again.
    “How is your uncle? Not worse, I hope?” she asked.
    “About the same. I must visit him more often. He is lonesome up there.”
    “Shall I go up now? I could take some cards, or read to him for an hour before dinner.”
    “You don’t mind? He might—
    “Pinch my bottom?” she asked, and laughed. “He has tried that before now. I can keep him in line, never fear.” Then she frowned. “Though I hate doing it, somehow. I remember him as he was in the old days, so powerful. Almost forbidding.”
    Nick gazed at her a moment, with a pained look in his eyes. “Yes, I was just thinking something like that myself.” He took her hands in his and said, “It would be a kindness if you would visit him, Jane.”
    “I shall go at once.”
    When Nick went up to change for dinner an hour later, he heard laughter coming from his uncle’s room, and went to investigate. Jane had pulled a chair up to the bedside and was playing a simple card game of all fours with Goderich.
    “My point!” Goderich exclaimed, and cackled in glee.
    She tapped his hand playfully. “Cheat! You know perfectly well that was my ace!”
    “Heh heh. I win! Game over. You must pay the forfeit!” Goderich looked up when Nick entered. “Ah, here is Nick!” he exclaimed.
    Nick noticed that his uncle was smiling. Even his eyes looked a little brighter—and he had not mistaken him for Ronald.
    “Pay up, miss!” Nick said, stepping in.
    “You don’t deserve it. I know perfectly well you cheated,” Jane scolded, but she placed a quick kiss on the old man’s cheek.
    “It is time to dress for dinner, Jane,” Nick said.
    “You’ve come to steal my girl away, eh?” Goderich said archly. “Can’t say I blame you. She is a prime and plummy chick.” Then he turned to Jane. “If you promise to come back tomorrow, I’ll let you win,” he said.
    “I see what you are up to, sly dog!” Nick chided. “You just want an excuse to kiss Jane.”
    “And who shall blame me?” Goderich responded. “She is a fine-looking woman. Mighty fine.”
    Jane rose and curtsied. “Thank you, kind sir. Now I must eat. And so must you. Your sister tells me you have not been eating properly.”
    “Scold, scold, scold! You ladies are all alike,” Goderich said, but he looked pleased with the attention.
    “This is very kind of you,” Nick said as he accompanied Jane to her room. “Uncle looks better already, after your visit.”
    “We found visits helped with my grandpapa, when he was ill in bed for so long. The doctor said the stimulation of company was good for him. It keeps the mind active, you know. It will be even better, having you home, Nick. What a shame he will not be able to attend your wedding.”
    “I fear the church is beyond him, but I have not given up hope entirely.”
    “You must take Aurelia in to visit him, in her wedding gown, at least.”
    “Yes. A pity she is frightened of Uncle. Or perhaps disgusted with his senility. He does look odd with his hair so long, and that beard.”
    “She is young. She will get used to his ways, in time. She is very sweet, and eager to please you. Could you not convince your uncle to have his hair cut, and a shave?”
    Nick smiled at her in a conning way. “I wonder if a pretty young lady would not have more success in that line? I wager you could tease him into it.”
    They had reached her door. She curtsied and said, “I shall try my poor best.”
    A pretty flush suffused Jane’s cheeks at Nick’s intimation that he found her attractive. In the shadowed hallway, her Titian curls looked nearly black, forming a dramatic contrast to her ivory skin. He realized that, as his uncle had deteriorated, Jane had blossomed from a pretty young hoyden into a beautiful, poised woman. What a wonderful wife she was going to make for some fortunate gentleman.
    He leaned against the doorjamb and said, “Are you seeing anyone, Jane?”
    She looked startled at the question. “A beau, do you