Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
“Where have you been?” Amanda demanded, having risen to her feet the moment Julia entered the sitting room she and her cousin shared whenever they stayed here.
It was conveniently situated between their two bedchambers.
“I have been worried sick that Wolfingham had carried you off to Gretna Green against your will!”
Julia gave a derisive snort as she stepped forward to warm herself by the fire. “Does he appear to be the sort of man who has any interest in romantic actions?”
“I do not believe he does, no,” Amanda acknowledged wryly.
“That is because he isn’t,” Julia derided. “I assure you, I have not seen Wolfingham since I left here earlier.”
It had been some hours since Julia had walked away from Roxburgh Manor. But, as she was aware Wolfingham knew of her partiality for sitting near the fountain in the middle of the maze, she had instead walked toward the village.
She had found a place there to rest and think on a bench beside the pond, the ducks providing ample entertainment when her thoughts were in such turmoil.
Much as she had tried, and she really had tried very hard, she had not been able to think of a single way in which she might excuse herself from the agreement made, in good faith, between her grandparents and the present Earl of Wolfingham’s father.
Not without causing severe damage to the honor and reputation of both families.
Along with what could become her own exclusion from Society if she was the one to break such a long-standing agreement between those families.
Julia not wishing to marry at all was one thing, but refusing to marry a man as wealthy and handsome as the Earl of Wolfingham, a man she was already promised to, would result in her being ostracized from all decent company.
The dismissal of the betrothal might have been arranged without anyone outside the family being aware of it, and if Nicholas were of a similar mindset to end it. But even the thought of asking for his help in anything was repugnant to Julia.
Besides, if he had intended to bring an end to the betrothal himself, he would already have done so.
Unless it was because, once he had a wife, he would be able to hide behind the respectability of that marriage to flirt and indulge in his numerous affairs without impunity?
Julia’s heart felt heavy just thinking of becoming the wife of a man whom everyone in Society would know was making a fool of her with other women. She could not bear even the thought of being the focus of the pity of so many others in their social set.
But despite her hours of contemplation beside the pond, she had been unable to think of a single way in which she might extricate herself without also losing her family when she was unable to spare them from the shame of her actions.
In the end, she had been compelled to come back to Foxburgh Manor. Not because she had found an answer to her dilemma, but because the biting cold wind made it necessary to warm herself.
“I am surprised at that.” Amanda frowned as she spoke again. “Wolfingham left here minutes after you did, saying that he was going to look for you.”
“Well, obviously, he gave up and went home to Wolfingham Park instead when he failed to find me,” Julia dismissed as she continued to warm her chilled hands in front of the flames.
“He no more strikes me as the type of man who would ‘give up’ on anything than he is prone to making romantic gestures,” Amanda drawled.
Not to Julia either. But then, she did not know him that well. She knew of him, of course, and how his attention was much sought after by many ladies in Society, some young, some older, some married, some unmarried.
Perhaps because of the eagerness of those other ladies, Wolfingham felt no need to pursue or make himself agreeable to the woman who was contracted to become his future wife.
Especially when it must be obvious there was no manner in which either of them might extricate themselves from that betrothal without causing a scandal.
Whatever the reason for his disappearance, Julia had not seen Wolfingham since leaving the house so abruptly after the reading of her grandmother’s will.
Her grandmother had always promised that Julia would be a wealthy heiress after her death, and she had kept that promise.
What her grandmother had failed to tell Julia was that she would be a wealthy heiress already promised in marriage to a man she heartily despised.
Julia released a heavy sigh. “How shall I bear having such a man as my husband?”
“He is very handsome,” Amanda pointed out.
“As many other women in Society have had reason to appreciate,” Julia snapped.
“There is that, yes.” Amanda also sighed.
Julia, feeling warmer now, wandered over to look out the window. “The fact I was already betrothed and knew nothing about it makes a complete mockery of my decision to be a member of the Spinsters Alliance.”
Amanda came to stand beside her. “The two of us could run away. We have the funds now to be able to disappear if we so choose.”
Julia turned to smile at her. “I could not possibly ask you to do something so reckless. Besides, we will not have control of the majority of that money until we marry or reach the age of one and twenty.”
“I am sure our papas will not be difficult about allowing us to have access to reasonable amounts of our own fortune.”
“But not without explanations and delays, giving our mamas time to voice their objections to such a plan. No.” Julia breathed deeply. “I am afraid that my own future, at least, has already been decided.”
“The parents have invited Wolfingham to dine with us again this evening. Mr. Masterson made his own excuses soon after Wolfingham left. His groom and driver are even now preparing his carriage for departure.”
Julia frowned. “I thought he was to stay until tomorrow?”
Amanda chuckled. “I believe stuffy Mr. Masterson may have been a little overwhelmed by the array of emotions he was forced to witness earlier today. He is leaving early so as to avoid being subjected to any more of our turmoil.” She spluttered with laughter.
“You should have seen his face when I told him that no one had asked for his opinion. I thought he was about to have a seizure at my temerity.”
Julia’s eyes went wide at the admission. “Poor Mr. Masterson.”
“Pfft.” Amanda dismissed. “For such a young man, he takes himself far too seriously.”
Julia eyed her cousin questioningly. “Do I detect a glimmer of interest in your demeanor? We both can appreciate that beneath all that austerity, he is a very handsome man.”
“Absolutely not.” Amanda’s tone seemed a little too vehement. “A man such as he, so serious all the time, could never be interested in someone as frivolous as me.”
Julia gave her a teasing smile. “I did not question his interest in you, but rather your own in him.”
“And I have said there is none. Oh look,” Amanda exclaimed before Julia could question her any further, her attention now focused beyond the window.
“Even his carriage is old and very proper.” She indicated the heavy post-chaise, which Mr. Masterson could now be seen climbing into.
The groom closed the door behind him before jumping on the back of the vehicle as the driver, sitting on one of the two leading horses, urged them to move on.
“Strange that he should have a driver and a groom but no valet,” Amanda mused.
“I do not believe lawyers to be at all wealthy,” Julia excused. “It is a respectable profession, but not a profitable one.”
Amanda grimaced. “All the more reason not to show more than a passing interest in him, then.”
“We have not come into our own fortunes yet.” Julia touched her cousin reprovingly on the nose with a fingertip. “But it was rather rude of him not to seek us out so that he might say goodbye to us before he left.”
Amanda turned her back on the departing carriage. “Let us not think about him ever again.” Her eyes glowed with mischief as she gazed at Julia. “The far more interesting subject is what you are going to do with the Earl of Wolfingham?”
“I am not going to do anything with him,” Julia assured, ignoring the memory of that kiss they had shared. “Including marrying him. Indeed, I do not care if I ever see that gentleman’s face again!” she added with vehemence.
* * *
When Nicholas regained consciousness, he had no idea how he had come to have a gag tied about his mouth, his wrists tied behind his back, and his ankles tied together. Or how he came to be shut in a dark and confined space. He also felt severe pain from a throbbing at the back of his head.
Within seconds, he had deduced, from the rolling motion of his surroundings that were adding to his feelings of nausea, that the confined space was the baggage compartment at the back of a carriage.
A moving carriage. Not a modern or fast carriage, but one built for journeying that lumbered side to side with the rhythm of the four horses pulling the heavy weight of it.
Guessing it to be a post-chaise, he realized he must have been tied up and secreted away in an outside baggage box on the old-fashioned conveyance.
The throbbing of his head indicated he had been knocked unconscious before either of those things had been attempted.
Otherwise, he did not believe he would be in his current position.
Now all he needed to deduce was when and how these things had occurred.
And for what purpose.
He recalled leaving Foxburgh Manor in search of Julia. Then entering the maze, and making his way to the fountain, where she had been the last time he looked for her.
This time, there was no one there but the huge statues of four male gods of Olympus. All of them had seemed to give him pitying looks for having so soon lost the woman he was newly betrothed to.
Knowing the folklore attached to these gods, he had no doubt that all those bastards would have tricked Julia into marrying them without a care for whether it was what she wanted.