A Blast from the Past
Chapter one
Six Years Later
“Where could she be?” Juliet mumbled to herself as she hastened down one corridor after another, eyes wide and searching. “It’s her wedding day. She can’t simply…” Juliet swallowed as she peeked into yet another chamber, only to find it empty.
“Juliet!”
Turning upon her heel, Juliet found her cousin Anne hastening toward her, her cheeks slightly flushed and her eyes wide with joy. “You made it!” Juliet exclaimed with relief and rushed to embrace her beloved cousin.
Giving Juliet a tight hug, Anne nodded, then heaved a deep sigh. “Oh, I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” Wide, wondrous eyes looked into Juliet’s. “Our little Harry getting married? I never thought I’d see the day.”
Juliet chuckled, but the sound was strained. “Neither did I; however…” Again, she let her eyes sweep up and down the corridor of Laurelwood Manor—her little sister’s future husband’s favorite estate—as though hoping Harriet might come climbing out of a painting or reappear out of thin air.
“What is it?” Anne asked, a slight crease coming to her forehead. “What’s wrong? You look worried.”
Briefly closing her eyes, Juliet heaved a deep sigh. “I don’t know where she is.”
Anne stilled. “You…?”
“She’s not in her chamber,” Juliet clarified as she began to pace once more, her skin crawling with unease. “She’s gone!” Staring at her cousin, Juliet shook her head. “Do you think she…?”
“No!” Anne exclaimed, a horrified expression coming to her eyes as she stepped forward and grasped Juliet’s hands. “You don’t think she…she left, do you? That she changed her mind?”
Juliet shrugged. “I don’t know. She never wanted to marry. She’s always made that unmistakably clear. She—”
“But she fell in love,” Anne interrupted, reluctant to believe Harriet would do something so heinous as leave the man who loved her at the altar, “didn’t she?”
Juliet nodded, thinking of the many moments she had observed between Harriet and her fiancé.
They were opposites in every way. Where Harry was impulsive, Jack was cautious.
They were like night and day, complementing one another in an endearingly perfect way.
Never had Juliet seen her sister so happy, so at peace.
“I’m certain this is nothing but a misunderstanding,” Anne counseled, her face suddenly pale, and her hands tightened upon Juliet’s as she began to sway on her feet.
Juliet’s eyes widened. “Are you all right?” Supporting her cousin, she guided her to an upholstered chair by the window overlooking the drive. “Here. Sit. I’ll fetch you a glass of water.”
“No,” Anne replied with a hand on Juliet’s arm, stopping her in her tracks. “It is nothing. I’m fine. I’m…” She inhaled a deep breath before a radiant smile slowly spread over her face. “I’m with child.”
Staring at her beloved cousin, Juliet felt something in her stomach flit…and her heart ache with longing. “Oh, I’m so happy for you!” she exclaimed, blinking back the tears that shot into her eyes. She embraced Anne, reminding herself that she ought to be happy for her cousin.
And she was.
Truly.
If only…
The sound of hooves on gravel drew her attention to the window.
The autumn sun shone brightly, and Juliet had to squint her eyes, momentarily blinded.
Then she could make out the outlines of a rider charging up the drive before pulling to a halt just outside the front stoop.
The moment he swept his hat off his head, Juliet froze.
She could not say what it was about him that stilled her heart and stole the air from her lungs. She could barely make out his form, let alone his face. Yet…
Deep down, Juliet knew it was him.
Him and no other.
She would know him anywhere.
But why was he here today? Why had he come? Long years had passed since they had last spoken, and yet it seemed her heart still longed for him with the same intensity it had the day after his brother’s passing.
Everything had changed after that. He had changed, and to this day, Juliet did not even know why.
“Are you all right?” Anne inquired, a bit more color back in her cheeks. “You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.” She rose from the chair and came to stand beside Juliet. “Who is he? I can’t see his face.”
Juliet swallowed. “A…An old acquaintance.” Gritting her teeth, she turned from the window. “No one important.” Reminding herself of their current predicament, she met Anne’s eyes. “Do you feel well enough to help me look for Harry? I do not wish to alert her fiancé. This might all just be a—”
“Yes, of course I am,” Anne assured her with a smile. “Do not worry. Between the two of us, we shall find her.”
Juliet breathed a sigh of relief, and the two cousins headed back down the corridor they had come. “I’ll search downstairs while you—” Anne broke off as Juliet lifted a hand.
“Do you hear that?” she asked, straining her ears to listen.
“What?”
“Voices.”
“Voices?” echoed Anne as they slowly moved past the stairs leading to the ground floor.
Juliet nodded, her gaze moving down the corridor and darting from door to door. “I thought I heard—”
In that moment, a door at the opposite end of the corridor opened and Grandma Edie stepped out into the hallway. She spoke to someone over her shoulder before Juliet spotted not only Harriet but also their three other sisters, Louisa, Leonora and Christina, exit the chamber as well.
Beside Juliet, Anne chuckled. “It looks like a war council, don’t you think? I wonder why we were not invited.”
Indeed, Juliet could not deny that the expressions upon her sisters’ faces held something secretive, their eyes widening in a semblance of alarm the moment they spotted Juliet and Anne standing there.
Only Grandma Edie seemed to possess the ability to hide her thoughts, the look upon her face almost innocent as she smiled at Juliet and Anne.
“Oh, how wonderful that you could make it, Annie dear.” She embraced her granddaughter warmly.
“I’m happy to be here,” Anne replied, beaming at her cousins and hugging them each. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.” She grinned at Harry.
“How was…well, England?” Louisa asked with a bit of a frown. “Where did you travel again? I’m sorry.” Shrugging her shoulders, she sighed a bit exasperatedly. “I’ve found myself to be a bit scatter-brained ever since…” She patted the bulge under her gown gently.
Harriet laughed. “Are you certain you’ve not always been like this?”
Louisa feigned an outraged glare in her sister’s direction. “And here I thought brides were sweet and polite.” Her brows rose meaningfully.
This time, Christina broke out laughing. “Oh, bride or not, Harriet has never been sweet or polite.”
Before Harriet could retaliate, Grandma Edie rapped the end of her walking cane on the floor twice to catch their attention.
“As much as I’d love catching up with you,” she grinned at Anne, then patted her hand, “there is a wedding to take place within the hour.” She looked from one granddaughter to the next.
“Leo and Chris, would you help Harry get ready? Jules, I could use a bit of help getting down the stairs.” She chuckled, as though there had been something humorous to her words.
“Lou and Annie, find somewhere comfortable to sit and have your husbands fetch you something to drink. In your condition, you should not be on your feet too long.”
Juliet smiled as her sisters’ eyes moved to Anne, their jaws dropping. “You’re with child?” Louisa was the first to exclaim, one hand still resting upon her own bulging belly while the other reached for Anne as though she feared her cousin might be a mirage.
Blushing most becomingly, Anne smiled. “I am.” After a myriad of hugs and well-wishes, she turned to their grandmother. “How did you know?”
Grandma Edie merely chuckled in that mysterious way of hers before slipping her hand through the crook of Juliet’s arm. “Help an old woman downstairs, dear, will you?”
“Of course, Grandmother.” As they descended the stairs, Juliet glimpsed Harry, Chris and Leo disappear into Harriet’s chamber while Lou and Anne followed them to the ground floor.
“What were you all doing?” Juliet inquired, exchanging a look with Anne over her shoulder.
“I was worried because I couldn’t find Harry. I half-expected her to have—”
“Run off?” her grandmother supplied with another chuckle.
Then she patted Juliet’s hand reassuringly.
“Don’t worry, dear. All is well.” Juliet was glad to hear it; however, that did not answer her question.
She could not help but think that something was going on…
and that everyone was determined to keep it from her.
Had it simply been some kind of pre-marital talk for Harriet?
Although Juliet was the eldest Whickerton sister, she was the only one yet unwed—not counting Harriet, of course—which would explain why she had not been invited.
Still, if it had been about her youngest sister joining the ranks of married ladies, why had their mother not been there?
“Ah,” her grandmother suddenly exclaimed with a wicked-sounding chortle, “the Earl of Lockhart returns to these shores!”
At her grandmother’s words, Juliet almost tripped, her heart clenching at the thought of pulling her grandmother down the stairs along with her. In the last moment, however, she managed to catch herself before her head swiveled around and her eyes fell on a familiar face.
The Earl of Lockhart.
Christopher.
Kit.
His brown curls were windswept, and his eyes shone with something akin to excitement.
Still, he moved with grace and decorum, unlike the eager and impulsive young man Juliet had once known.
He truly had become the new earl, the expression upon his face reflecting his parents’ expectations rather than his own heart.
But what did Juliet know of his heart?
Nothing.
Bowing to her grandmother, Kit greeted her sister and cousin before his gaze finally found hers.
“Lady Juliet.” His eyes seemed darker than she remembered as they looked into hers, and yet they were undoubtedly his.
An odd ache came to her chest, and for a shocking moment, she feared she might throw herself into his arms.
The truth was, though, that the man standing only a few steps in front of her was a stranger.
“Lord Lockhart.” Juliet politely inclined her head before turning away and urging her grandmother along. “Grandmother, perhaps you should sit.”
Fortunately, her grandmother did not argue, and so Juliet exhaled the breath she had been holding the moment she could no longer sense those dark brown eyes upon her. Oh, why had he come? Never would she have expected to see him today!
Yet, try as she might, she could not ignore the little dance of joy her heart had performed at the mere sight of him. Stranger or not, he was Kit…
…and he would always be Kit.
No matter what.