Chapter Eight
All of London had likely heard Mary’s tantrum after Julian had announced that Elizabeth would be spending the remainder of the Season with his sister.
While Elizabeth had taken no satisfaction in the display, she’d seen in it an insight into her sister’s character.
Mary had always been given everything she’d ever wanted without question and usually without delay.
Julian had been firmly on her list of intended acquisitions, but he had chosen Elizabeth.
The passage of a month had neither lessened her memory of Mary’s anger nor left her in any less a degree of awe at Julian’s affection for her.
That he loved her, she was absolutely certain.
His devotion could not have been more evident.
He held her hand at every opportunity and never bid her farewell without a kiss, however protracted, given Helene’s vigilant presence.
Elizabeth’s parents had still not given their approval for her to have a true Season, so her days were spent as something of a companion to Helene, accompanying her on shopping expeditions, sitting quietly nearby during her at-homes.
She didn’t accompany the Pinnelles to the theater or musicales or balls.
But Julian came for dinner before the social whirl every evening to spend a precious hour or two with her before propriety required that he leave.
She loved those brief moments with him but longed to have the right to be with him always.
Four weeks to the day after Elizabeth’s departure from her parents’ home, Helene held a dinner party.
The guest list matched precisely that of the previous dinner Elizabeth had been forced to quit early.
As the appointed arrival time came and went, however, she could not help a feeling of disappointment. Julian was not there.
Mary did not wear the smug look Elizabeth might have expected. Indeed, she noted something quieter and more ponderous in her sister’s expression than Elizabeth had seen before. She didn’t know at all what to make of it.
Just as she began to wonder if Julian meant to come at all, she heard the arrival of a carriage. As it always did, her heart lightened simply knowing that he was nearby. A moment later, the butler stepped into the drawing room.
“Mr. Broadwood and Mr. Gregory Gillerford.”
Her brother had come? From Surrey?
Only Helene, Mr. Pinnelle, and Julian did not appear surprised. Elizabeth’s gaze darted from Julian to Gregory and back again. Her brother made a quick succession of good evenings to their parents and Mary before turning with an enormous grin to Elizabeth.
“Haven’t you an embrace for your favorite brother?” he teased.
She adored him; she always had. Eagerly taking his invitation, she embraced him for a long, drawn-out moment. “I do wish you had come to London with us. I’ve missed you ever so much.”
“And I wish you’d stayed in Surrey. The old pile of rocks isn’t the same without you.” He released her, still smiling all the while. “Julian here insisted I make the journey to Town. It seems he has some scheme up his sleeve.”
She turned her attention to her dearest love once more. “A scheme? Dare I ask what it is?”
“I had meant to wait until after dinner, but seeing as everyone is here, and staring at me, I suppose I would do well to jump straight to the heart of the matter.”
What was he hinting at?
He took her hand, holding it both gently and earnestly, and led her to where her father stood watching in confusion.
“Mr. Gillerford,” Julian began. “It will come as no surprise to you, seeing as I told you as much only a few short weeks ago that I love your daughter. I have loved her for a very long time, and my feelings have only grown. She is the dearest person to me in all the world.”
She’d once worried that he merely endured her. But he’d declared her the dearest person in the world to him, and he’d said it without hesitation or qualification. The dearest. His dearest.
“As she was not permitted a proper Season, I have not been able to court her in the manner she deserves. The chaperonage of my sister and brother-in-law has allowed me to call on her, and I have done what I could with these limitations to press my suit. I have cherished every moment of her company this past month. But I find I can no longer be content with mere snatches of her time.”
Elizabeth had to remind herself to breathe. She knew what he was saying, the declaration he was building toward. She had imagined this moment so many times; she wondered if, perhaps, she was dreaming yet.
“Our families are well enough known to one another that I need not make you acquainted with my social standing or financial situation,” Julian continued, still addressing Father.
“Further, you have known that I was courting your daughter these past weeks yet made no objection, so I do not believe you are opposed to the idea.”
Father shook his head firmly. “I long ago decided you’d be a good match for my daughter, though I’d assumed you would court a different one. Everyone assumed that.”
For a moment she allowed her father’s words and her family’s lack of enthusiasm to dampen her happiness. But for only a moment. They might not be happy for her, but how could she be anything but overjoyed for herself?
“I, for one, think this match is brilliant,” Gregory tossed in. Little wonder he was her favorite, if her only, brother.
Julian turned and faced Elizabeth, taking her hands in his and holding her gaze.
“Dearest, dearest Beth. I have cherished these past weeks with you, but I can no longer bear seeing you so infrequently. I do not wish to take dinner with you and then say goodbye. I do not want to spend week after week counting the hours until I may see you again. I want to be able to simply turn around, and there you are. I want to be able to call you my Beth, and to be your Jules.”
How was it possible that a person could smile and tear up at the same time? She didn’t know whether to throw her arms around his neck or keep still and quiet so he would continue declaring his love for her. She’d waited eleven years to hear these words.
“Please, Beth, do me the honor of becoming my wife so we need never be apart again, my dearest, most darling friend. I cannot promise to never be as thickheaded as I have hitherto been, but I solemnly vow to love you with every breath and every thought and every beat of my heart for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”
She couldn’t speak. She didn’t have the breath left in her to do so.
Gregory moved ever so slightly closer and loudly whispered, “The word you are searching for, Elizabeth, is ‘yes.’”
She laughed through her amazement and bubbling emotions. “Yes. Of course I will, Jules. My Jules. My darling friend. Of course I will.”
Despite the audience and her mother’s gasp of surprise, Julian kissed her quite thoroughly, holding her to him as if he meant never to let her go. He held her even after ending their kiss, smiling at her, his eyes filled with unmistakable love.
“I’ve been waiting for this since I was eight years old,” she said. “I’ve known since then that this was what I wanted.”
“I hope, my love, that you will tell me everything else you’ve ever wanted.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead then rested his head against hers. “I mean to make all of your dreams come true. Every last one.”
In that moment, she believed that even the most impossible of dreams could, indeed, come true.