Chapter 16
“Stop fussing, Carenza.” Allegra pulled on her gloves and turned to her sister. “The carriage will be here in a moment, and we’ll be on our way.”
Even as she spoke, the front door opened and the coachman, who had known them since they were little girls, came in. “Good morning, ladies. All the luggage is stowed and your maid has gone ahead in the gig, so she’ll be there to greet you when you arrive.”
“Thank you, Owens.” Carenza turned to the butler. “We’ll see you in a week.”
He bowed. “Wishing you both a safe journey, my lady.”
They went out to the carriage. It was a fine, sunny morning, which boded well for their travel plans to Epping Forest, where Julian had his country property.
As he wasn’t the heir, he’d had the luxury of choosing a country house that he liked rather than one he had to put up with.
Carenza hadn’t visited yet and was keen to see what he’d done to the place.
The journey should take around three hours, and they had already decided not to stop on the way, unless Owens needed to change his horses.
Allegra settled herself opposite Carenza.
Allegra had brought her sewing basket, an improving novel of sermons, and her Pomeranian, Jester, who now resided on her lap, panting happily.
Carenza, who could neither read nor sew when the carriage was in motion, resigned herself to being lectured by her sister, who always enjoyed having a captive audience.
“I hope you’ve brought something interesting to read,” Carenza remarked as they pulled away.
“Yes, indeed.” Allegra patted her dog. “Dorian sent it to me. It’s a collection of sermons from a preacher called John Wesley.” She picked up the book. “It’s called Sermons on Several Occasions.”
“It sounds riveting,” Carenza said. “I’ll probably be asleep before we leave London.”
Carenza did fall asleep and only awakened when the carriage took a sharp left turn.
She sat up and looked out the window. They drove through a set of high stone gateposts and continued up an elm tree–lined drive.
She searched for a view of the house between the trees and formal gardens, but caught a glimpse only of a slate roof until they made a final sweeping turn and drew up in front of the house.
“Oh,” Allegra said. “It’s rather like a fairy castle.”
Carenza allowed Owens to assist her from the carriage and stared up at the structure.
The building was clad in honey-colored stone and had huge, mullioned windows.
To the right of the door was a tower that spiraled upward with strategically placed arrow slits rather than windows.
There was ivy growing up the side of the tower and on the main house.
“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair,” Allegra quoted as she looked upward. “Perhaps Julian means to imprison you in this tower, Carenza, and keep you forever.”
“Hardly.” Julian’s voice came from behind them.
“I can barely get her to listen to anything I say. It would be a struggle indeed to shut her up in a tower.” He smiled as he came toward them.
He wore his less formal country wear with the same panache as his city clothes. “Welcome to Dovington House.”
“It’s very nice.” Carenza allowed him to kiss her gloved hand.
“I like it.” He escorted them into the house, and they paused to view the features of the grand hall.
It rose two stories, showcasing the large diamond-paned window at the front of the building.
Julian explained, “It was a hunting lodge that once belonged to the Tylney-Long estate in Wanstead. I heard it was being sold off, made an offer, and here we are.”
“It’s very pleasant,” Allegra acknowledged as she stripped off her gloves. “Now, could you direct me to my room? I am in dire need of a change of clothes.”
“Yes, of course.” Julian turned to a woman who had just entered the hall. “Lady Allegra, may I introduce you to my housekeeper, Mrs. Glebe? She’ll take very good care of you.” He paused. “Tea will be served in the drawing room when you come down.”
“Thank you.” Allegra smiled at Mrs. Glebe and followed her up the stairs.
Julian took Carenza’s hand. “Shall I escort you to your room?”
“Yes, please.” Carenza set her hand on Julian’s arm and let him guide her through the hall to a second staircase concealed within the turret.
“Oh, you are going to lock me up,” Carenza said as they began to climb the stairs. She received a chuckle in return.
“I wouldn’t dare. This floor can also be accessed from the main staircase. I prefer to use this one because it is more direct.” He pointed out two doors on the corridor. “My bedroom is at the end of the hall and yours is … right here.”
He opened the nearest door and stood back to let Carenza enter first. It was rather grand in a faded way, with pink silk wall hangings depicting oriental birds, and had very dainty faux-bamboo furniture. There was a large, gilded, four-poster bed that occupied most of the interior wall.
“I inherited most of this furniture from the previous owners.” Julian remained with his back against the door, watching her circle the room. “I rather liked it.”
“It’s beautiful,” Carenza agreed. “I can’t wait to sleep in that bed.”
“I can’t wait to join you—unless you’d prefer to come to me?” Julian strolled over to take her hand. “Rather conveniently, my room is connected to yours through that dressing room.”
“Mayhap we could try both beds and see which we prefer?” Carenza suggested.
He kissed her forehead. “So practical. We are quite safe here. My servants are very discreet.”
She momentarily thought of all the other women he’d, no doubt, entertained here. “I suppose they’ve had lots of practice.”
He eased back slightly to look down at her. “You’re the first woman I’ve brought to Dovington.”
“I doubt that,” Carenza said tartly. “I’m sure you’ve done plenty of frolicking in these corridors.”
“Frolicking?” His lips twitched. “I rather thought we’d be fu—”
She placed a hand over his mouth, and he smiled with delight. “I’d forgotten what a prude you are.”
“Hardly.” She mock-scowled at him. “Perhaps you might leave me to refresh myself after my journey. I am rather crumpled and slightly cross.”
He nodded. “I’ll ring for your maid. Come down when you are ready to meet the other guests.”
Carenza was finally in his house. As Julian went down the stairs, the impulse to whistle like a schoolboy almost overcame him; fortunately, he remembered his current status as a sophisticated rake.
He went into the drawing room and discovered Aragon and Simon, along with Viscount Chartwell, whom he’d invited mainly for Allegra’s benefit, chatting amicably together by the fire.
“Lady Carenza and Lady Allegra have arrived safely,” Julian said. “I’m sure they’ll be down to greet you all soon.”
“Excellent,” Aragon said. “By the way, Mother will be here around six. She had some commitments to fulfill today that couldn’t be avoided.”
“Mother?” Julian looked at his brother.
“Yes.” Aragon raised his eyebrows. “What of it?”
Julian turned to his secretary.
“I wrote the invitations, but I wasn’t aware that Lady Landon had been invited, sir,” Simon said. “I do apologize if I was in error.”
“Well, of course she was invited.” Aragon looked between Julian and Simon. “She’s family, and for some reason she hasn’t been here before.” He smiled. “I thought it was time to remedy that. We wouldn’t want her to think she wasn’t welcome, now, would we?”
“Of course not,” Julian said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll just go and inform my housekeeper that we have an extra guest.”
“Jolly good,” Aragon said. “Now, I’m off to your stables to see if my horses have settled in half as well as I have.” He laughed heartily and strode away, leaving Julian with nothing useful to say.
He didn’t have far to look for Mrs. Glebe, because she appeared in the drawing room with Lady Allegra.
After Allegra went to greet the others, Julian quietly asked Mrs. Glebe to prepare a bedroom as far away from his suite as possible to receive his mother.
He apologized for the inconvenience. Mrs. Glebe was delighted to oblige him and assured him it was of no consequence.
As Mrs. Glebe left, Carenza came into the drawing room. She’d changed into a dove-gray afternoon dress and had a paisley shawl draped over her elbows.
She walked over to him and paused. “What’s wrong?”
“Aragon invited my mother.”
“Good Lord.”
“Exactly.” He slowly exhaled. “My only hope is that she is too busy preventing Aragon from making a connection with you to notice that you and I have already made one.”
“Mrs. Sheraton and Lady Brenton,” the footman announced.
Julian and Carenza shared a horrified look.
“You invited Olivia?” Carenza whispered.
“Of course I did.”
“But we are at odds,” Carenza whispered. “And why has she turned up with your mistress?”
“You are my mistress,” Julian murmured, his joy in the day diminishing by the second. His plans for a few days of frolicking and fucking were rapidly going up in smoke. “What on earth was Olivia thinking asking Lady Brenton to accompany her?”
“She probably wanted to get back at me,” Carenza said. She turned stiffly toward Mrs. Sheraton as she approached them with a bright smile.
“Olivia,” Carenza said in a cool tone, “how lovely to see you.”
Mrs. Sheraton curtsied and turned her dazzling smile and her considerable charm on Julian. “Thank you for inviting me. I hope you don’t mind that I brought Lady Brenton. She was very keen to see what you’ve done with this place since her last visit.”
Julian tried not to look at Carenza, who had gone very still beside him. Before he could speak, Carenza said, “Olivia, I know you are annoyed with me, but this isn’t helpful. Lady Brenton is not our friend.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard,” Olivia said. “In fact, she had some very interesting stories about Mr. Laurent that I’m sure she’d love to share with you.”