Chapter 5 #2
“I see.” Poppy seemed to accept that. “Well, perhaps Lord Blackwell has a friend he could introduce you to tonight. I know you think it’s silly to hope to court anyone this Season, but I agree with Aunt Violet. You’re still young, and you have plenty of attractive qualities.”
“A shame one of those qualities isn’t a dowry,” Julia said wryly. “Don’t worry about me. You focus on Lord Blackwell if you feel like he’s a good match. You’ll need to really impress him if he’s to accept our situation.”
Poppy nodded. “I do so hope to speak with him again tonight. Do you think I should…”
Her sister’s voice faded away into the background as Julia saw the Duke enter the room.
Even with his wild hair tucked away under a top hat, his tall frame was impossible to mistake.
He walked into the dining room in a splendidly tailored jacket with the Pridewell crest embossed on the lapel, his hazel eyes scanning the room until they landed on her.
For a moment, it was as though all the other people in the room were frozen in time, like the two of them had their own personal universe.
Julia found it hard to breathe. She forced herself to break eye contact, and the world resumed its discourse around her.
Poppy continued chatting merrily away about her chosen outfit for the evening, but Julia did not hear a word of the description.
The burning feeling was still ever-present, though.
Even as various guests rose to greet their host and he exchanged pleasantries with the new arrivals, she could feel his eyes trained on her at all times.
She couldn’t focus or relax. It was like a constant nagging presence at the edge of her brain.
She knew what he wanted, but she wasn’t yet ready to give him her answer.
Julia didn’t want to be involved in his scheme if Poppy was about to get an offer from Lord Blackwell.
“Miss Norish,” came a sudden deep voice from beside her, and she jumped to see that the Duke somehow made his way across the room to their table without her even having noticed. She saw Miss Burbank enter the room out of the corner of her eye and cast a scandalized look at them.
“Your Grace.” She scrambled to stand and curtsey. “My apologies, I didn’t see you approaching.”
“That’s quite all right. How are you both enjoying your breakfast?”
“It’s wonderful, Your Grace,” Poppy answered enthusiastically. “Thank you ever so much for your kindness and hospitality.”
“Excellent.” He nodded, then addressed his next words to Julia specifically. “Miss Norish, I wonder if you might do me the honor of reserving the first dance for me this evening.”
Of all the things Julia had expected he would come up with, that had to be at the bottom of the list.
A dance?
He’d made it quite clear the previous evening that he had no interest in any kind of romantic attachment, so perhaps this was simply a ruse to give credence to the fake courtship.
He was already putting elements of his plan in place without her even having agreed to the deal.
What, though, could she do? It wasn’t as though she could very well refuse him in front of all these people. He’d played his cards well.
“Of course, Your Grace. I would be delighted,” she forced out.
“Marvelous. Well, I’ll leave you ladies to finish dining.
I shall see you this evening, Miss Norish.
” With a bow of the head, he departed swiftly from the dining hall, leaving a trail of whispers and stares behind him.
Julia was pleased to see that Miss Burbank’s expression had evolved into one of full-on horror.
If nothing else, at least Julia being approached by the Duke in public made Miss Burbank’s accusations the previous evening seem absurd.
“So you didn’t meet anyone interesting? Just spoke with Aunt Violet?” Poppy’s eyebrows might very well have reached the stratosphere if they climbed any higher.
“Just Aunt Violet,” Julia confirmed with a wry smile.
Thankfully, her sister didn’t press the issue, although she knew that there would be a conversation coming later if the Duke kept this up.
Hopefully, if tonight went the way Poppy hoped it would, she would just have the one dance with him, politely decline his offer to proceed with a faux engagement, and then he would leave them alone for the rest of the week.
“Good morning, girls.” Lady Bendon appeared at the table, her signature flowery perfume billowing around her.
“I’ve just taken a walk through the gardens.
They’re absolutely exquisite, you know. Some of the flowers they’ve managed to grow here are incredibly rare.
I shall have to ask the Duke where he found his gardener. ”
“Have Julia ask him for you, Aunt Violet,” Poppy piped up cheerfully. “They appear to be the best of friends.”
“Oh? What did I miss?” the older woman asked, seating herself between them.
“Nothing, Aunt Violet. Only that the Duke seemed to be interested in having a dance with me this evening. I’ve not the slightest clue why he had to come over and ask at breakfast. It was really rather embarrassing.”
“Did you accept?” she asked with a knowing smile.
“Well, I could hardly refuse in front of all these people.” Julia rolled her eyes. “They’d definitely think me disagreeable, and that might reflect poorly on Poppy. Plus, of course, he’s the host. It would have been rather ill-mannered of me to decline his invitation.”
“Indeed.” Her aunt’s smile didn’t falter.
“There’s nothing to it!” Julia protested, looking between her aunt and sister. “Oh, the two of you are incorrigible. Why aren’t you teasing Poppy?”
“Because it’s nowhere near as much fun, darling,” Lady Bendon replied, pouring herself some tea. “I suppose we’d better go and select your dress for this evening, then, hadn’t we? Do you know what color cravat the Duke will be wearing? You’ll want to match, of course.”
“Oh, I’ve had enough of this,” Julia huffed, putting down her napkin and standing as Poppy giggled. “I’m going to read my book in the garden.”
“Try not to run into any more eligible gentlemen on the way,” Poppy advised. “We wouldn’t want our host getting jealous!”
“You’d better hope I don’t run into Lord Blackwell. I might accidentally tell him that you’ve already planned the wedding and picked out the baby names.” Julia stuck out her tongue and departed before Poppy could offer a retort. Lady Bendon hid her laughter behind her teacup.
This, Julia thought as she ascended the staircase, was going to be an extraordinarily long week indeed, and by the end of it, where would she and Poppy go?