Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“Where have you been?” Amanda demanded the moment Julia entered the cavernous entrance hall at Roxburgh Manor. “You will never guess who visited us while you were gone!” She paused for effect, her green eyes glowing with anticipation.
“Lord Nicholas Harding, the Earl of Wolfingham,” Julia stated flatly, having deliberately delayed returning to the house until she had seen Wolfingham ride away.
Nor was she a bit sorry for bursting her cousin’s bubble of excitement. Wolfingham was truly obnoxious, and he did not deserve for Amanda to show any interest in him either.
Her cousin did seem to deflate somewhat. “How could you possibly know that?” She frowned. “You were already out when he arrived and cannot—” Her eyes widened. “You have either seen him before he came here or since,” she surmised shrewdly.
“Before,” Julia admitted. “Which was when he informed me he was on his way here to pay his respects to our parents. Why else do you think I stayed out so long?” Julia grimaced as she bent down to remove her boots rather than be accused of walking the moss and dirt through the entrance hall and up the stairs to her bedchamber.
“Am I too late for afternoon tea?” she prompted Hutchings, her grandmother’s butler, as he held out his hand to take the dirty footwear from her.
“Your parents have gone upstairs to rest before dinner, but I will bring fresh tea and cakes for the two of you to the family salon,” he assured smoothly.
Julia gave him a beaming smile. “You are such a darling!”
Hutchings gave her a knowing glance, used to her effusive praise, but extra color had appeared in his cheeks in any case.
“And while we are waiting”—Amanda linked her arm with Julia’s as they walked down the hallway to the family room—“you shall tell me all about your encounter with the exquisitely handsome Earl of Wolfingham.”
Julia winced. “I trust you are not serious in this gushing admiration?”
“But of course I am,” Amanda scoffed. “I do believe he is the handsomest man I have ever seen, and his manners are very pleasing.”
Julia frowned. “He is also a known rake and a womanizer.”
Amanda shrugged. “I believe that just makes him more interesting, not less. Now, do tell me all about your encounter with him,” she encouraged eagerly.
“There is nothing to tell,” Julia avoided, unwilling to reveal all the details of that encounter to her cousin. Because it would show her in a bad light? Possibly. “I saw him on his horse when he was riding over here, we exchanged greetings, and then I continued on my way and he continued on his.”
“That is all?” Amanda looked very disappointed.
“Of course.” Julia stepped away from her cousin as they entered the small salon.
“I do not know why you are making such a fuss about him,” she dismissed.
“The Dukes of St. Albans and Hellsmere, recently engaged to and then married to our good friends Lily and Chloe, are both far superior male specimens than Wolfingham, in title and also looks and manners.”
“I believe the Earl of Wolfingham to be in the same league, if not to surpass, those two gentlemen in all those things.” Amanda giggled.
“Is it not amusing that two, possibly three members, out of the six founder members of the Spinsters Alliance have all met, fallen in love, and are betrothed or have married in the months since we formed the alliance at the start of the Season?”
“Three?”
Amanda gave her a knowing look. “If I have read Georgiana’s praise for the Duke of Moreland in her letters correctly, and I am sure that I have, then I do believe she will shortly be married to him.”
“What of his missing wife?”
“Pfft,” Amanda dismissed. “Of what importance is the matter of a missing wife when Georgiana is in love with him?”
Julia gave a shake of her head. “You are such a romantic.”
“You will see,” Amanda stated with certainty.
“I have to admit I find the situation ridiculous rather than amusing,” Julia snapped. “If you really are correct about Georgiana, then there is only you, Rose, and I left of the Spinsters Alliance to uphold our decision never to marry unless it is for love.”
“Which Lily and Chloe, Georgiana too, I do not doubt, have all found with the men they are now betrothed to, have married, or are in love with,” her cousin reminded.
“Yes,” she accepted heavily, knowing that claim could not be denied.
Two of their close friends, possibly three, were ridiculously happy with their fiancé or husband. St. Albans and Hellsmere certainly doted upon the woman they loved and did everything within their power to ensure their happiness.
Julia drew her legs up beneath her as she sat in one of the armchairs in such a way that her stockinged feet were not on display. Her mother would not approve if she knew Julia was walking about the house with no shoes or boots on her feet.
“It seemed as if the moment we decided to form the alliance, eligible gentlemen started to fall madly in love with us, one after another.” She shook her head.
“I sincerely hope you are not going to do that with Wolfingham.” Julia frowned at the thought of it.
“You are my best friend, as well as my cousin, and it would break my heart to have to cut you from my life. But I am afraid that is exactly what I would be forced to do if you were ever to align yourself with the Earl of Wolfingham.”
The two cousins were similar in coloring, both having fair hair and pale skin, but Amanda’s eyes were a sparkling green, while Julia’s were indigo.
Only a month apart in age, the two of them had been best friends since they were in the cradle.
As their families spent so much time together, and they were both only children, it was as good as having a sister.
Amanda eyed her sympathetically. “I know that you blame him for Freddie’s death—”
“Because he is to blame!” she cut in mutinously. “Freddie admired him so much. He would never have joined the army if he had not been trying to impress Nicholas. Freddie only ever wished to be like him and to earn his brother’s respect.”
“That does not make it Wolfingham’s fault that Freddie ran off and joined the army,” Amanda said softly.
“Of course it is his fault,” she snapped, rising agitatedly to walk over and stare sightlessly out the window looking over the back lawns and to the field, where she could see deer grazing.
“Freddie was delicate from the day he was born. Indeed, he almost died alongside his mother. He was totally unsuited to becoming a soldier.”
“He did not wish to join the church either,” Amanda reminded, having known and been friends with Freddie for as long as Julia had.
Julia turned, her cheeks feeling heated with temper. “It is so unfair that sons of the peerage have only the three avenues open to them, becoming the heir, the soldier, or the vicar.”
“There are four, if you count wastrel,” Amanda said dryly.
Julia stared at her for several long seconds before she began to laugh.
She was still smiling when she spoke again.
“What would I do without you to remind me not to take life too seriously?” She sobered completely as she dropped onto the sofa beside her cousin.
“But you really must promise me that you will not fall in love with the Earl of Wolfingham.”
“Our parents have invited him for dinner this evening,” Amanda revealed with a wince.
Julia gasped. “You should have told me that as soon as I returned.”
“What difference would it have made when the outcome is the same?”
Julia shook her head. “We should not be entertaining when we are in mourning.”
“It is not a dinner party, only a hot supper that will be eaten by a group of people who wish to quietly share a meal together after losing a family member and close friend. You know how much Grandmama loved all the Harding boys, as she so often called them. We know that is because she had no sons of her own,” Amanda added affectionately.
Julia was well aware of her grandmother’s warm feelings for the Harding brothers.
But that knowledge did nothing to prevent the scowl on her brow at the very idea of sitting down at the dinner table with that man.
“I believe I feel a headache coming on.” She raised a dramatic hand to the coolness of her brow.
Amanda eyed her derisively. “One that will become bad enough as the day goes on, I expect, that it will prevent you from coming down to dinner this evening?”
“Exactly,” she acknowledged happily.
Amanda studied her for several seconds before speaking again. “If you dislike Wolfingham so much, I am surprised you would create a situation where he might have the satisfaction of speculating as to your absence being an attempt to avoid his company.”
Julia scowled. “There is no way for anyone to prove I do not have a headache.”
“Only that it will appear suspicious when it conveniently prevents you from coming down to dinner on the very evening Wolfingham is to join us.”
Julia’s eyes narrowed. “Are you deliberately goading me into joining you all this evening? You know there is a chance I will not be able to sit down with that man for a whole evening without speaking my mind sometime during it.”
Amanda raised innocent brows. “Whatever makes you think I would do such a thing?”
The two girls looked at each other for several seconds before both burst out laughing.
* * *
Nicholas was surprised, after Julia had made her aversion toward him clear during their encounter earlier today, that she had not made her excuses to her family so she did not have to make small talk with him before dinner that evening or dine with him shortly afterward.
Well…making small talk was perhaps an exaggeration for what had taken place in the blue salon before they came through to the dining room.
Nicholas had bowed and made his formal greeting to her.
Julia had merely looked at him down her pert little nose and given a regal nod in acknowledgment of his presence.
There was an odd number of females to males at the oval dinner table, so that Nicholas found himself seated between the countess and marchioness, their husbands seated on the other side of these two ladies, with Julia and her cousin, Amanda Styles, sitting opposite him.
Julia’s gown this evening was a deep blue, with cream lace on capped sleeves and about the low neckline, the latter revealing the long arch of her silky-smooth throat and the creamy tops of her breasts.
Amanda wore a gown of pale lilac, which perfectly suited her fair skin and coloring.
Both young ladies were beautiful, but Nicholas could see none of the same hostility in Amanda’s open green gaze that shone so brightly in the indigo of Julia’s as she seemed unable to stop herself from glaring across the table at him at every opportunity.
Unfortunately, Nicholas had only ever been attracted to Julia.
But despite her obvious hostility toward him everything went smoothly, the conversation remained general rather than specific, until they reached the part of the evening where they were being served dessert.
“Is it your intention to remain long in the country following Mama’s funeral?” the marchioness asked him.
“That…depends,” Nicholas answered guardedly, wishing she had not asked him that question at this moment.
“Depends upon what?” Julia prompted sharply, the challenge in her tone so obvious that her father, the earl, turned to give her a surprised glance.
“On several…different factors that I, unfortunately, have no control over,” Nicholas dismissed.
“What could possibly have occurred that you do not have complete control over—”
“I believe your pudding is growing cool, Julia,” her mother cut in sharply.
“But—”
“How is your headache now?” Lady Amanda inquired pointedly.
“I did not know you had a headache, darling.” The countess was instantly concerned as she studied the pallor of her daughter’s face. “You should not have come down to dinner if you are feeling unwell. I am sure Wolfingham would have understood the reason for your absence.”
A blush brightened Julia’s cheeks. “I am sure I do not give two hoots what—”
“She has taken one of the powders my doctor in London gave me for my own occasional headaches,” Amanda assured the countess. “I am sure it will begin to work very soon.” She gave her cousin another pointed glance.
Nicholas had to admire the way in which Lady Amanda continued to try to help her cousin out of the holes of indiscrete behavior and conversation she kept digging for herself.
Julia’s mutinous expression said Amanda was wasting her time and she did not intend to take advantage of her cousin’s help.
Julian’s next comment confirmed it. “I believe I will, after all, excuse myself from the rest of the evening.” She pushed her chair back noisily before standing up and throwing her snowy white napkin on the table.
“If you will all excuse me, I think I will take a turn about the garden and breathe in some fresh air before retiring to my bedchamber for the night. I wish you all a good night.” She didn’t wait for a reply, but instead turned on her satin heel and hurried from the room.
“Go after her, Letitia,” Julia’s father instructed his wife.
“If you will allow me?” Nicholas stood. “I will collect one of Lady Julia’s cloaks from Hutchings and follow her into the garden with it so that she does not add a cold to her headache.”
“How very kind of you.” Lady Amanda accepted the offer when her mother and aunt looked set on refusing it, no doubt because it was not exactly proper for Nicholas to be alone in the garden with a single young lady.
“Julia likes to walk to the center of the maze,” Amanda confided.
“There is a fountain there and a wooden bench where she often likes to sit in quiet contemplation.”
Nicholas found it difficult to think of that young lady sitting quietly for any reason.
“I thank you for that information.” He gave Amanda a nod of gratitude for answering him before the two older ladies at the table could think of a suitable way of refusing his offer.
“Of course, she does not always react…appreciatively,” Amanda added dryly, causing Nicholas to turn when he reached the door, “when her solitude is interrupted.”
Nicholas’s lips twitched, knowing this sounded far more like Julia than that “quiet solitude,” but he managed to stop himself from smiling. “I will bear your advice in mind.”
Amanda gave him a saucy grin.
Yes, Lady Amanda Styles was far less complicated than her rebellious cousin. A pity, then, that it was Julia who had long haunted Nicholas’s dreams and aroused his desire.
Dreams and a desire she obviously did not reciprocate.