Chapter 7
Robert jumped up so fast he knocked his chair over. We hurried to the back of the room, dodging and slipping past the other people, none of whom were in a hurry.
When we made it back to Mr. Wallcroft, I asked, “Where is Juliet?”
“Yes, where has my cousin gone?” Marianne’s eyes narrowed, and there was an edge in her voice.
Mr. Wallcroft gave us a tiny smile, his cheeks turning pink. “Fairweather convinced Miss Beaumont to go riding with him. He said they would be back in an hour or less.”
For a moment, I thought Marianne would throttle him.
Robert said, “Where was he taking her?”
“I do not know. They went for a carriage ride.”
I tried to focus on breathing, but my chest was so tight, the breaths wouldn’t go all the way in. How could Juliet do this?
“They will return before dark,” Mr. Wallcroft said, as he rubbed a drop of sweat from his temple with his finger.
We hurried outside. The sun was already setting. It would be dark in less than half an hour. The lamps were already being lit all over the gardens.
“What if someone sees them?” Marianne whispered to Robert, who put his arm around her. “Her reputation . . .”
“How long have they been gone?” Robert asked Mr. Wallcroft.
“Since a minute after we sat down.”
“Perhaps they’re already on their way back,” Robert said.
Marianne leaned against her husband, who added, “Perhaps Mr. Wallcroft will go and search for them.” He looked very intently at Mr. Wallcroft.
Mr. Wallcroft looked behind him, then at Robert again, then turned his whole body as if about to walk away. “Yes, of course. I will go search for them,” he said haltingly.
He hurried away, and I couldn’t decide if I was thankful he was willing to go look for them, or if I thought he was a milquetoast for not telling us sooner and saving Juliet’s reputation.
While we were talking with Mr. Wallcroft, a woman had been standing nearby. She now approached me and said, “Miss Amelia Moore? You remember me. Your aunt’s friend, Mrs. Lacretia Selkirk?”
Marianne’s eyes were locked on mine in an anxious look. Robert Lynch was gazing past me, as if searching the crowd for Juliet. The last thing I wanted to do was talk to this woman I barely knew.
“Good day, Mrs. Selkirk. How nice to see you.” I tried not to look as distressed as I felt.
“I wanted to tell you and your friends—” Mrs. Selkirk said, bending her head toward me as if she imparted something in confidence, even though there were people all around—“that I saw your friend, Miss Beaumont, leave with a gentleman. Do you know that gentleman? Is he trustworthy?”
“Oh, yes, we know him.” I smiled. “No need to trouble yourself. All is well. It was good to see you again, Mrs. Selkirk. Good evening.” I turned away from her, praying silently that she would leave.
“Well, I just thought you should know, in case you were wondering where she’d gone.” Mrs. Selkirk said.
I was forced to turn back toward her, but Marianne answered her. “Thank you very much, madam, but we were already aware.” She smiled, but I could tell that her teeth were clenched.
We hurried away from the woman, and I breathed a sigh when we were out of her sight and hearing.
Night was creeping in. In spite of the numerous colored lanterns, darkness descended on us, with Juliet out there somewhere with Mr. Fairweather, about whom we knew very little. Oh, Juliet, why did you go with him? Why?
“What should we do?” Marianne’s voice was higher and thinner than I’d ever heard it.
“I’ll take you both home—she may be at home even now—and Jeremy and I shall go search for her if she isn’t there.”
Marianne moaned.
My stomach sank. Would her brother blame me for this? He already disliked me.
Perhaps I should have warned her more seriously not to endanger her reputation by going riding alone with Mr. Fairweather.
“Jeremy will never forgive us,” Marianne whispered.
“Let us not think the worst,” Robert said. “Fairweather may have taken her home. She’s probably there now, waiting for us.”
None of us spoke as he led us toward the entrance so we could find our carriage. And even though the lanterns were beautiful and had changed the whole appearance of Vauxhall Gardens, I no longer cared to look. I focused on not slowing us down as we made our way through the crowd.
The carriage ride home was miserable. Marianne was softly crying, with her husband looking morose and handing her his handkerchief. I was thankful to have brought my own handkerchief. I wiped my tears as discreetly as possible, not wishing to draw attention to myself.
My poor friend. What would this ride cost her? And why had he not brought her back to Vauxhall Gardens before dark?
We reached home and met Mr. Beaumont as he was descending the stairs.
“Back already?” he asked. But then his eyes narrowed. “What has happened? Where is Juliet?”
Marianne burst into tears.
“She went riding with Mr. Fairweather. We were hoping—” Robert stopped speaking.
The sound of carriage wheels stopped outside.
“Who is Mr. Fairweather?” Jeremy demanded. “What do you mean she went riding—”
We heard muffled voices, then someone opening the front door. My heart was in my throat as we all turned to look.
In walked Juliet. Alone.
“For heaven’s sake, why are you all staring at me like that?” But there was a strange, vigilant look on her face, quite unlike her usual expression.
“Where have you been, and with whom?” Jeremy said. He sounded calm, but his face was a thundercloud.
“There is no need for—I went on a carriage ride with Mr. Fairweather. Did Mr. Wallcroft not tell you?”
She was pretending nonchalance, not looking anyone in the eye as she removed her gloves, but I could hear the shakiness in her voice, and even her hands trembled.
Jeremy folded his arms across his chest. “Robert?”
“We went to Vauxhall Gardens, which you already knew,” Robert said.
Juliet started to walk past me toward the stairs.
“Stop.” Jeremy glared at her. “I want to hear you after Robert is finished.”
“We went to the music room in the rotunda to hear a concert. There weren’t enough seats together, so Juliet sat in the back with Mr. Fairweather and Mr. Wallcroft.”
If it were possible, Jeremy’s scowl grew more threatening.
“When the concert was over, Mr. Wallcroft told us that Juliet and Mr. Fairweather went riding in his carriage.”
“Alone.”
“Yes.”
“And you are just now arriving home.” He focused his scowl on Juliet. “After dark.”
“As you see. But nothing happened, and I am home safe and sound. As you see,” she repeated.
“Where did you go? What did you do?” her brother asked. “Your cousins were very worried. You owe them an explanation.”
There was an awkward silence. Then Marianne said, “We’re just grateful she’s well and unharmed.”
Jeremy didn’t take his eyes off Juliet.
Juliet met his gaze, finally. She said, “I realize I shouldn’t have gone with him. It was foolish of me. He said we’d be back before the concert was over, but he took me outside of town and asked me to marry him. I told him no, and he brought me home.”
“I’ll call him out. A gentleman does not treat a lady thusly.” Jeremy’s voice was low and calm.
“No,” Juliet said, rolling her eyes. “That’s not necessary, and you will only draw more attention to us. As it is, no one saw us, I dare say.”
There was another pause, then Robert said, “That’s not entirely true. A lady approached us. She saw Juliet leave with Mr. Fairweather and asked if we knew. Miss Moore made it seem as if nothing was amiss, but I’m not sure the woman will keep silent about it.”
“She is a friend of Mrs. Kendall,” I said quickly. “My aunt can convince her to keep quiet.”
“Let us hope so, for all our sakes.” Jeremy turned and climbed the stairs, and we followed after him.
When we were in our room and readying ourselves for dinner, Juliet was strangely quiet.
“Juliet, are you all right? Did Mr. Fairweather frighten you?”
Juliet sank down on a cushioned armchair and looked up at me. After a few moments’ pause, she said, “Yes.”
I thought I saw tears in her eyes. “What happened?” I said softly.
She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she was cold.
“He threatened to keep me out all night if I didn’t agree to marry him.
The only way I could convince him to take me home was to say that my brother would challenge him to a duel and would surely kill him.
But he argued with me. I have never been so frightened. ”
“Perhaps you should tell your brother.”
“I don’t want to risk him getting killed because of my foolishness.” Not only were there tears in her eyes, but her chin was trembling.
I squeezed her arm. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. It does sound frightening.”
“Forgive me for ruining your visit.”
“You haven’t ruined my visit.” I got on my knees beside her so I could look her in the eye. “All will be well. No one will ever hear of it, and we will never allow that awful little Mr. Fairweather near us again.”
Juliet smiled, ever so slightly. “He is rather short, isn’t he?”
“Yes, and he has black, shallow eyes, and he’ll never make a good match because he doesn’t know how to ask a lady to marry him without threatening her.”
A tear ran down Juliet’s cheek, but she was smiling now, and she wiped it away with a quick swipe of her finger.
“Thank you for being a better friend to me than I deserve.” Her voice was strained.
“I will always be your friend, Juliet. You’re the best friend I could ever ask for.”
“I don’t know about that.” She sighed. “But I’m very grateful for you.”
He shouldn’t have been so hard on Juliet.
Jeremy was in his bedroom untying his cravat, which suddenly seemed to be choking him. He threw it on the chair and leaned his head against the mantelpiece. What would he have done if something truly horrific had happened to Juliet?
He should have spoken to her privately, should have talked with her until she told him everything that happened. What if that scoundrel had frightened her, tried to kiss her, or worse?
She probably would hide it from him. She might be afraid he would blame her, and she wouldn’t want him to endanger himself in a duel. But what else could he do to that despicable Fairweather other than call him out and beat him in a fair fight if that villain had done something to harm his sister?
It was bad enough he’d taken her out riding, alone, after dark.
From now on, he’d find out about every gentleman caller and pay attention to who she danced with and who flirted with her.
She’d already lost her mother and father before she was fully grown.
He couldn’t bear to see anything else happen to her.
Besides, she was his responsibility, and he had no intention of letting any blackguard think he could take advantage of her.
She might be flighty and too unreserved, but she was good at heart.
She needed a brother who would protect her and guard her reputation.
He sank down on his bed and put his arm over his eyes.
It seemed he’d been in a perpetual bad mood since Mother and Father died, and Juliet had received the brunt of it. He realized that, and he felt bad about it, but he had to be strict with her. She never knew when to rein herself in, and this new incident was further proof.
He’d seen how Miss Amelia Moore had ingratiated herself to Juliet.
She had no real fortune at all, and he’d assumed she’d been trying to get to him—and then her aunt confirmed it.
But instead of worrying about “fortune hunters” trying to get at him, he should have paid more attention to the gentlemen who called on his sister.
It would be easy to blame Robert and Marianne, but he knew they had not meant for this to happen, and Juliet always had a will of her own. If only he hadn’t been too tired to accompany them to Vauxhall Gardens.
From now on, he wouldn’t let her out of his sight.
He’d never been close to their older sister, but he and Juliet were nearer in age and had always been friends and playmates.
He couldn’t have her marry some bully who was just after her fortune, then shut him out of his sister’s life while he mistreated her.
Such things happened quite frequently—especially to families who weren’t attentive.
And why hadn’t her friend, Miss Moore, stopped her? She was actually there with her. Had she helped them sneak away?
But it was unfair to blame her. The responsibility was his.
He was three years older and the head of the family, and even though he was tired from riding to Kent to force that profligate Skeffington to own up to his responsibility toward the woman he had got with child, he should have been there. He should have protected his sister.