Chapter 25
Perhaps being a wife wasn’t so bad after all.
At least, based on Verity’s experience of one day—one day, and one night, to be accurate.
She was currently eyeing the drawing room, deciding just how to add the color and decoration Julian had not only given her permission to do but had actually requested of her—when the door burst open and Julian rushed in.
Even just seeing him caused heat to fill her—in amazement, shyness, and desire anew.
“Julian!” she said in surprise, shaking it all off. “I thought you were meeting with your brother.”
They had planned to review the business of their marriage and her dowry.
Julian hadn’t wanted to use it, but she had insisted that he pay off his debts now so that they could move on to enjoying their lives together without it hanging over their heads—along with the promise that he would no longer find himself at the gambling tables.
“I was,” he said. “But then I found out that Eastclere is leaving London.”
“Leaving London?” Her mouth fell open. “To where?”
“That, I don’t know. Nor do I know when he plans to go, but I heard rumor that he is beginning to sell off most of his possessions and arranging transport.”
“What of Lady Seraphina?”
Julian lifted his hands with no answers. “I think we need to confront him before it’s too late.”
“With what evidence?” she asked, coming to stand before him. When she looked up into his handsome face, it was still hard to believe that he was her husband now. Hers. No matter what came at them.
“James discovered from a business contact that Eastclere is claiming the diamond is lost.”
“Which it is.”
“Yes, but how can he claim that while at the same time trying to sell pieces to jewelers?”
“Do we know for certain that he is doing so?”
“I can say with a fair amount of certainty from our investigations that is the case,” he said firmly.
“What I do know is that this isn’t going anywhere, and I would very much like to put it behind us and start our life together.
” He stepped closer toward her, his index finger coming under her chin.
With a wink he added, “You still don’t think I stole the diamond, do you, luv? ”
“No,” she said with a small smile of her own, remembering how suspicious she had been of him not long ago. “For then your debts would be paid, and you wouldn’t have needed to marry me.”
He raised his brow, his smile dropping. “That’s where you’re wrong, Verity. For I most certainly would have still married you. Even sooner, perhaps.”
Then his lips descended on hers in a searing, possessive kiss, and when he finally leaned back, the hunger in his eyes made her wonder if he was about to take her back upstairs.
He shook his head, clearing it instead.
“Later,” he said, likely more to himself than to her. “I should go speak to Eastclere first.”
“I will come with you.”
“I’m not sure if you should. I do not want to cause further rift between you, especially after you denied him marriage again. Your families are still close, and I would not want to be the cause of a divide.”
“If he stole the diamond from my closest friend and her husband, then I do not overly care if there is a divide,” she said. “You can do the speaking. You know how to handle these types of situations.”
“I try,” he agreed.
Verity tucked her hand into Julian’s when they arrived at the impressive Eastclere Manor a short time later.
It was still admirable, even if some of the grounds had fallen into more disarray than they had been in even a few months ago when Lord Eastclere had held the large, impressive gala he had used to show off all of his jewels.
“He’s not going to like this,” Verity said, her heart beating harder and faster as they climbed the stairs and the butler led them through the gilded entryway.
“Would you like to wait in the carriage?” Julian asked, but she shook her head and straightened her shoulders.
“No. I need to speak with him myself,” she said in a low voice as they took a seat next to one another on a sofa.
“Ah, if it isn’t the happy couple,” Lord Eastclere said when he entered the room a few minutes later. He was looking rather unkempt, a smirk covering his face.
“Lord Eastclere, it is good to see you,” Julian said, but the marquess waved him off.
“No need for pleasantries. Just cut right to it. Are you here to gloat that you were the victor?”
Verity might have told Julian he should do the talking, but she needed to address this.
“Lord Eastclere, I apologize if you feel that you lost a competition, but the truth is, Julian and I have deep feelings for one another. You would have made a good husband, I am sure, but the arrangement would have been a more… practical one, and I had to follow my heart. It was only recently that Julian proposed marriage.”
“Your father was not pleased with you.”
“For a moment, no, but he understood and allowed me to marry whom I wished.”
Thankfully. That had been a concern of hers, but her father, fortunately, relented, likely with a little help from her mother, who had just been happy she was marrying at all. Besides, one of Lord Archer’s sons had been her original choice.
“I do wish you all of the happiness, Lord Eastclere. We wouldn’t have suited, which I’m sure you understand.”
He shrugged. “You left me with a problem, Lady Verity.”
Julian leaned forward, his voice low, unthreatening, as he said, “I don’t suppose you are solving that problem with the Paragon Diamond?”
Eastclere raised a brow. “Careful what you are accusing me of, Lord Julian.”
“I’ll rephrase. I am asking whether or not you are trying to recoup the diamond’s value.”
“How could I do so when Ravenscar has lost the diamond?”
“Has he, truly?” Verity asked. “If that is the case, it must have been stolen.”
No one was trying to hide secrets anymore.
“Oh, and you think I stole my own diamond?”
“I have heard that you are seeking the guarantee money for it,” Julian said, retaining his calm.
“Since it is lost.”
“Why do you think that?”
Eastclere scoffed. “Ravenscar has been putting me off from seeing it for weeks now, and there is only one good explanation as to why. It is gone. I am within my rights to be compensated for that loss.”
“Does the diamond belong to you, truly, or to the Crown?” Julian pressed, causing Eastclere to stand up, fury covering his face.
Verity sensed motion in the doorway and glanced over to find Lady Seraphina standing beside it, although she didn’t make her presence known, and Verity did not call attention to it.
“None of this concerns you, Lord Julian,” Eastclere said.
“If there is anyone whom I should be speaking to, it is your brother, the true marquess. That is what I will never understand, Lady Verity. Why would you choose a man with no title, no fortune, no drive to do anything but gamble, over a man who could give you everything?”
“Those are not the only things that matter,” Verity said evenly, although she heard the iciness in her tone. Lord Eastclere might have been considered family, but he was walking a fine line.
“Besides,” Julian added with levity, “are you not also struggling to contain your fortune? I heard you are selling some of your most prized pieces.”
“None of which concerns you,” Lord Eastclere bit out.
“The Duke of Ravenscar is my friend,” Julian said, “and anything concerning the Paragon Diamond concerns him. I am looking out for him.”
“Are you sure about that?” Lord Eastclere said, narrowing his eyes and studying Julian, “or are you looking out for yourself? Your family? Keeping secrets?”
When Julian was silent, Verity glanced at him, seeing the anger in his expression—anger and… was that uncertainty?
Verity’s mind began turning as she thought back to the scene in the sitting room when they had overheard his uncle Charles and her aunt Mabel. They had discussed secrets of the past—was that what it was regarding?
She had so many questions for Julian, but she wouldn’t challenge him here, in front of Lord Eastclere. She would present a united front in the moment and save those questions for home.
“Like I said,” Julian finally returned, “I am simply trying to locate the diamond. We could work together on this, Eastclere.”
“I’ve had that offer before,” Lord Eastclere snorted. “Didn’t get me far. I still don’t have my diamond.”
“Well, you know where to find me,” Julian said, before holding his hand out to Verity. “We will go. I do not want to cause further hostility between us, Eastclere. We can find a solution to this.”
“So you think,” Lord Eastclere said, watching them go. “You either have no idea what you’re dealing with, or you’re a fool.”
“Maybe both,” Julian said, and Verity heard whispered footsteps tracking away from the foyer as they showed themselves out of the house.
“Well,” Julian said once they were firmly ensconced in their carriage. “That didn’t go as planned.”
“Just how did you plan it?” Verity asked, turning to face him. “Lord Eastclere wasn’t going to give us anything.”
“If you knew that, why did you agree this was a good idea?” Julian asked. He hadn’t sat across from her in the carriage, but rather tucked her up against his side. He was so warm, hard, and strong that Verity had to focus to remember what they were talking about.
She smiled in satisfaction. “I had no intention of getting anything from Lord Eastclere. But there is someone else in the house who just might be able to help us.”
He scrunched his nose at her in confusion before recognition dawned. “Lady Seraphina.”
“Did you see her in the doorway?”
“No.”
“She heard everything. I can only hope that she’ll help us, although I would also understand if she feels compelled to protect Lord Eastclere after he took her in.”
“Hopefully, there is a way she can help us without harming Eastclere.”
“Hopefully,” Verity said, before taking a breath. “Julian, what did he mean in there about looking after yourself? Does it… does it have anything to do with Charles and Mabel and the secret that tore them apart? The treason?”
Julian completely tensed before running a hand through his hair.
“Yes,” was all he said, and she leaned in, looking him in the eye. He clearly knew much more than he was letting on, more than he had shared with her, even though she felt she had an equal right to know.
“Are you going to tell me what this is all about? Were you ever planning on doing so?”
Julian didn’t back down, but looked her in the eye, biting his lip. “I’m not entirely sure.”
Verity didn’t like that answer. Not at all.
“Out with it,” was all she said, knowing she was being stern, but she was sick of secrets. Especially now that they were married.
“It is not that I wanted to keep anything from you,” he said instead, defending himself. “I just… well, I didn’t want you to think poorly or differently of me. Or my family.”
“Unless you have another wife hidden away somewhere, I think I can be fairly understanding,” she said instead.
“That I most certainly do not,” he said, attempting a smile. “We best start from the beginning. My father had a brother.”
“Charles.”
“Yes, but they had another brother.”
“Had?”
“Yes.”
“Did he pass?”
“Not until recently. But he stopped being their brother long ago.”
“Then…?”
Julian winced, and Verity knew that they just might be in trouble.