Julia and the Rake (Regency Spinsters Alliance #4)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Roxburgh Manor, Surrey

“Good, grief, Julia, are you not a little old to have climbed up a wall as if you are some village hoyden set upon breaking a bone when you inevitably lose your balance and fall?”

As the young lady walking nimbly in her leather boots along the top of the four-foot-high wall, she did not consider there was anything in the least inevitable about her falling off it!

The wall in question separated her grandmother’s estate from the adjoining one belonging to the Earl of Wolfingham. Julia found herself briefly unbalanced by the unexpected sound of the male voice she had not heard for some time.

And had hoped never to hear again?

Perhaps.

She certainly had not expected to find herself being remonstrated with for what this man seemed to consider her childish and reckless behavior.

An opinion she had not asked for, nor did she appreciate being given.

Having once again found her balance, she turned to look at the man who had interrupted the enjoyment of her lighthearted escapade. Slightly elevated above his position on horseback, she found herself looking at the mockingly handsome face of the Earl of Wolfingham himself, Lord Nicholas Harding.

At thirty years old, the earl was several inches over six feet tall.

The beaver hat he wore, as he sat upon the back of his black stallion, made him appear even taller.

Julia knew his hair was dark and rakishly styled beneath the hat.

His face appeared as if carved out of hard granite, all high cheekbones and sharp angles and edges, only the fullness of his lips hinting at the sensuality of nature that Society so liked to gossip and speculate about.

The fact that the dark brown of his eyes appeared to hold a thousand secrets seemed to confirm, rather than deny, that assumption.

Having ridden since he was a boy, the earl had a magnificent seat, of course.

His shoulders were wide and his back straight in a dark green superfine.

Beige moleskin breeches covered muscular thighs which confidently encircled his mount, with brown-topped black Hessians resting assuredly in the stirrups.

His riding gloves covered hands Julia knew to be large, strong, and yet surprisingly deft and elegant if needed.

The scathing curl of Julia’s top lip was purely instinctive. “My name is Lady Juliet Chalmers. You may call me Lady Juliet or Lady Chalmers. I am Julia only to my family and close friends, and I can firmly attest to you never having been, nor ever likely to be, either of those things.”

His mouth twisted at the deliberate set-down. “You are as outspoken as ever, I see. Although I should tell you, the attempt at haughty disdain is ruined somewhat in this case. Mainly because the comment was made from the top of a wall by a young woman with moss stains upon her gown.”

Her chin rose. “And why should you think your opinion, on any subject, is of importance to me?”

He released what sounded like an impatient breath, nostrils flaring.

“Can you not, for once, cease treating me as if I am your nemesis and allow us to converse like two civilized human beings?” The snap of his voice revealed his irritation with her attitude.

“I would have said two adults, but I already know, from this brief conversation, that you are as petty and foolish as you ever were.”

“And you are not my nemesis,” she scorned, annoyed by this description of him. “As if I would ever allow you, of all people, to be anything as important as that in my life!”

His jaw tightened. “I see your dislike of me has not diminished in the slightest since we last met.”

Considering that meeting had been at the funeral of his younger brother, Freddie, two years ago, no, it had not.

Until then, Freddie had also accompanied Julia on most of those childhood escapades Wolfingham accused her of being involved in.

“Did you think that it would have?” she came back tartly.

“It was to be hoped so, yes.”

“Then you are disappointed.”

He smiled. “Disappointment is not something I have ever felt in regard to you.”

Julia gave him another dismissive and scornful glance. “Considering the two of us barely know each other, nor do I believe either of us wishes to rectify that omission, I reiterate that neither you nor your opinion of me or any subject related to me holds a single moment of importance in my life.”

“You have always behaved like a brat,” Wolfingham bit out.

Julia gave him a bright, unconcerned smile. “Might I inquire as to what the citizens of the county of Surrey have done to be graced with the displeasure of your company?”

Eyes of dark brown narrowed beneath the lowering of equally dark brows. “I am here to attend your grandmother’s funeral in two days’ time.”

Ah. Yes. She should have thought of that, Julia realized with an inner wince.

Her grandmother, Lady Roxburgh, having had only two daughters of her own, and then two granddaughters, had always been fond of the three Harding brothers, born and brought up on the estate neighboring her own.

Nicholas’s presence would seem to indicate that affection was wholly returned by the only Harding brother who remained alive.

Their grandmother’s recent death was the reason Julia and her cousin Amanda had cut short this year’s London Season and instead traveled to Surrey with their parents.

Both families had come here to attend the funeral of their beloved mother and grandmother, followed by the burial of Lady Roxburgh in the family crypt beside her late husband.

Her grandmother’s lawyer was also due to arrive tomorrow and planned to read Lady Roxburgh’s will to the beneficiaries after the funeral the following day.

“I am sure my grandmother would have appreciated the courtesy if she were still alive,” Julia finally answered.

“If she were still alive, there would have been no reason for me to have attended her funeral.”

Julia’s eyes narrowed as she studied Wolfingham’s handsome face. She could see no trace of mockery in his expression or in that steady brown gaze, but that did not mean that emotion had not been in his statement.

Although she had perhaps deserved it, Julia allowed grudgingly.

Possibly.

In truth, the man who had become the Earl of Wolfingham following his father’s death was the only gentleman to whom Julia could never bring herself to be polite. She doubted that would change, even if her life had depended upon it.

Unlike his elder brother, Arthur, and his younger brother, Freddie, both of whom were now deceased, Nicholas was too arrogant.

Too mocking.

Too haughty.

Too self-assured.

Too handsome.

Too much alive when her darling Freddie was dead!

The latter feeling she knew to be the opposite of all the teachings given to her by the church, her loving parents, and her grandmother. Some by example, others in words of gentle advice.

Unfortunately, Julia’s resentment toward Nicholas Harding had grown, rather than diminished, since Freddie’s death.

“I am sure there are some people who enjoy your sarcastic sense of humor,” she bit out. “But I am not one of them.”

“I apologize if I gave you the impression I was being facetious.” His jaw tightened.

“Lady Roxburgh was a woman of warmth, charm, and good manners.” Unlike her granddaughter, the challenge in his gaze seemed to imply.

“A woman whom it was impossible not to like, which is why I now wish to show my respects on the sad occasion of her death.”

Julia had a feeling she had probably deserved some of that rebuke. “She was indeed all of those things. I assure you, her family knows that only too well, and we are all devastated by her loss.” She was not averse to also issuing backhanded rebukes.

No matter what Nicholas Harding chose to think of her, Julia had always loved spending time with her grandmother, both here and in London, as had Amanda.

They were both heartbroken at the older woman’s death.

The whole family felt the same, their dear mothers both inconsolable at the loss of their beloved mother.

Truth was, Julia had been feeling the heaviness of the family heartache just a little too much today. So much so, she had been desperate to escape the weight of that grief, if only for a short time, and instead indulge in something frivolous and lighthearted.

Which was why she had been found walking along a wall she had recently climbed, by the one man guaranteed to upset her day even further!

She lifted her chin again. “I am surprised you could spare the time away from your widely known and often…scandalous London pursuits. The ladies of the ton will surely be devastated at your absence.”

“Feral little cat,” he murmured softly.

She huffed. “Not in the least. Everyone in Society has heard of or knows of the hedonistic pursuits of the Earl of Wolfingham.”

“Indeed?”

“Indeed,” she echoed scathingly. “It was because you preferred to continue those pursuits, rather than join the army before or after Arthur died, that it was left to poor Freddie to uphold the family honor. He should have joined the church, not the army. Instead, he died at Waterloo.

* * *

And that, Nicholas knew, was the crux of the animosity which emanated from Lady Juliet Chalmers toward him.

Firstly, because of who and what he must appear to be whenever he was in Society. Not because he really was that rakish rogue, but because it was necessary that other people believed he was.

The truth of the matter was, he should currently be in London dealing with a matter important to the Crown.

So serious was the endeavor that he had been set upon twice before leaving London.

Once, as he left his club late one evening a week ago, and again, two days later, as he alighted from his carriage outside Wolfingham House after visiting with the Prince Regent.

Attacks that had proven unsuccessful but needed looking into.