by Abby Ayles
Once again, she wished that she could break free of these bonds of society – to reassure him that there was no hope of affection between them, and that she waited only for his word.
“I am on leave at present,” Christopher said, an almost abrupt non-sequitur. It was clear that he wished to convey something to her. “I am visiting with my family. My brother recently saw the birth of his first child.”
“Congratulations are in order,” Juliana smiled. She saw the opportunity to tease him a little and did not waste it. “That puts you another notch down in the inheritance, no?”
“The babe is a girl,” Christopher said, flashing her a grin.
“Then I stand corrected,” Juliana laughed.
Dancing with him, being this close, smiling and laughing together – it was all she had wanted for such a long time.
And yet, as always, it proved to be nowhere near enough.
The strains of the music were reaching their end, and Juliana realized with a sinking feeling that this meant their time together was almost over.
If they were to attract attention by dancing together all night, word would surely get back to her mother and step-father. She had to yield to politeness and spare time for the other young men of the ball.
Besides which, Mary no doubt needed rescuing from the tiresome John Woode, who might keep her all to himself if he was allowed; the man knew not the limits of when people were no longer interested in hearing him talk.
“Perhaps you might enjoy the fresh air of the gardens,” Christopher said desperately, glancing around as the dance came to an end and no doubt realizing the same thing.
“I think I will perhaps require a breath of air quite soon,” Juliana confirmed.
They could not go together – they would be alone out there, unchaperoned, a man and a woman of marrying age. But if they were chaperoned, they would still not be able to talk.
“I think I will go myself,” Christopher told her, giving her a significant look as he held her eyes.
She nodded mutely, and watched him make his way through the crowd towards the open terrace doors.
She took a breath, then slowly made her way in a similar direction.
Juliana deliberately took a round-about route, going first to the drinks table at the side of the room. She took a glass of refreshment, and then slowly circulated along with the movement on the edge of the dancefloor until she came to the open doors.
There she hesitated, turned as if simply watching the dancers. A glance found Mary and John, lined up to dance together once more. Lady Easterby, at the other side of the room, was conversing animatedly with a friend.
All to the good; Juliana turned and slipped outside, and within just a few moments she was hidden by rose hedges that had been planted to give the illusion of a maze.
Beyond the tall hedges, an inner courtyard was set around a fountain, with benches for the guests to sit and admire the leaping water. These were all occupied, and Juliana walked onwards along the path.
She moved in an unhurried fashion, as if she were simply enjoying the gardens, and passed through the hedges on the other side to enter a new area.
Here was all marble columns and statues, mostly of Greek goddesses and muses. Juliana recognized the symbolism of a few of them; she had completed her education, after all.
There were more benches, and sheltered walks beside flowering beds which displayed all the glory of spring.
Still, Juliana continued: she believed she had seen a flash of red up ahead, and followed with the same unhurried pace.
She found him at last, sitting in a shaded bower created by the woven branches of two hazel trees. They had grown intertwined, providing the perfect shelter for a white-painted bench which was all but invisible to those in other parts of the garden. A true lovers’ bench.
“Christopher!” Juliana exclaimed, rushing to sit beside him.
“Oh, Juliana,” Christopher beamed, taking her gloved hand. “I am so glad you were able to get away. And what fortune! I did not even think to find you here. I believed you still in Bath, or else gone home.”
“The Baroness insisted,” Juliana said with a shudder. “My family seem quite intent on my marrying her son. He is such a bore, Christopher. You would not believe it.”
“Now, Juliana,” he admonished, though he did it with a pleased smile. “I’m sure the man must have some redeeming features.”
“Absolutely none,” Juliana declared. “I won’t even invite him to our wedding.”
“It should be a kick in the teeth, anyway, if he thinks you are set to be betrothed,” Christopher remarked.
He reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair back behind Juliana’s ear.
She had arranged for it to artfully hang there, but she said nothing. The touch of his fingertips was worth ruining any hairstyle for.
“We should form a plan, Juliana,” he said. “There is something I must tell you. I have been betrayed.”
Juliana gasped at his dramatic words. “By whom?”
“Jasper, that scoundrel,” Christopher sighed. “So many people had told me that he was bad news, but I would not believe a word of it.
“Now I have had my comeuppance. Not only has he ruined my reputation by proxy, but he has taken what should have been my commission, too.”
Juliana covered her mouth with her hand. “You had a captaincy?”
“It was almost in my grasp,” Christopher said, then shook his head.
“But by means I am not proud of. I should never have allowed any of it to happen. And before I could make my move, Jasper swooped in and purchased the Captaincy for himself.”
“I thought he had no money to speak of?” Juliana asked.
Christopher only shook his head sadly. He did not wish to go into the details of the whole sordid tale – that much was clear.
“But this does not mean you will be a Lieutenant forever.”
“It may mean I will remain one for a good while,” Christopher admitted.
“There is no promise of another commission becoming available soon, and now that Jasper is my superior officer – well, I do not think there will be much chance of receiving a promotion for my hard work and good conduct.”
“Then you will not be able to attain rank…”
Juliana looked away for a moment, out over the flowers. Her mind was racing, thinking ahead.
If Christopher could not gain the Captaincy he had promised, he would be breaking his word. Not only that, but her mother had made it clear that his current rank was not high enough.
If he dared to propose to her, would she even be allowed to accept?
“Listen, Juliana, this is why we need a plan,” Christopher said, with a sharp look in his eyes.
“I need you to consider whether you would marry – without your family. Without their blessing, perhaps cut off from your birthright.”
Juliana looked at him, trying to imagine if she were ready for such a thing…
But she never got the chance to respond.
Chapter 24
“She will do no such thing.”
Christopher looked up at those unexpected words, to see the face he would least have liked to see at that moment: the Duke of Prighton, Juliana’s step-father.
Instinctively, Christopher pushed himself backward along the bench, away from her.
He did not wish for any suggestion of impropriety. It was bad enough that they had been caught talking privately. It would be worse if others were drawn to believe that something else had happened.
He could hardly believe his luck. Juliana had managed to slip out into the garden to meet him, and everything had been planned in his mind.
If she would just give him some indication that she would take his offer – value his love above her family’s money – then he would have knelt on the ground before her and risked it all.
He had a ring in his pocket, a cheap trinket that he would have promised to exchange for something more fitting later down the l
ine. He had a speech prepared in his head – a lead-up to the question itself.
And he would have proposed marriage, even an elopement if it seemed necessary.
All was prepared. He could have spirited her out of the ball and to his own carriage, and from there several days’ ride to Scotland if they needed to.
But those plans crumbled to dust now, faced with the man who could stop it all by dragging her home.
“It is sheer luck that I found the time to come down and attend this ball,” the man sneered now.
“I assured your mother that it was unnecessary, but that I would do it just to ensure that a firm eye was being kept on you. We trusted the Baroness. How wrong we were.”
“We are just talking,” Juliana said reflexively, lowering her eyes to the ground.
“You think you can fool me, vixen?” The Duke gave a short, sharp laugh. “I see well what is going on here. You would do well to remember that we have forbidden you even from talking to this… officer.”
From the way he pronounced the word, it was clear to Christopher that the man looked down heavily upon his rank.
“Forgive me, Father,” Juliana said, giving him that title in the hope it would appease him somewhat. “It was an innocent talk, nothing more. I swear it.”
“Your word, then, means nothing,” the Duke said. “I heard everything. I have been following you since you arrived. I saw you dancing close together, I saw you sneak out here, and I heard your words.
“If they were innocent enough, you should have seen no harm in speaking them in front of others. Instead, I hear of this – this – inducement to abandon your family!”
Christopher lowered his own eyes. There was nothing he could say; he had been caught, and the man had heard with his own ears. What possible kind of protest could claim his innocence now?
“Today will be an end to this matter,” the Duke went on. “I mean it.
“Juliana, you will not see this man ever again. And if you do see him – if you do – I swear to you that you will be removed from our family. Not only that, but this so-called gentleman may be in danger of losing his life.”
Juliana’s head snapped up. “You cannot mean that, Father,” she said plaintively.
“I mean every word, and more,” the man promised. “A duel the likes of which has never been seen! Your sister’s husband – the General – he will have something to say about all of this.
“He will stand in my place if I call upon him, too. Have no doubt about it. You will see him bloodied and beaten if you see him at all!”
Christopher wanted to protest, to proclaim that nothing could possibly tear them apart. But he had no other plans than a career in the military – and to hear now that there was a General involved!
Such a man could crush him like an insect and end his prospects immediately. How would he support Juliana then? How would he have any hope of raising himself up to be worthy of her, if he were reduced to merely a worker in his family’s business?
“That is spiteful,” Juliana said, her voice catching.
Christopher looked over to see with horror that tears were making their way down her cheeks in fresh tracks. She was quite lovely still, and he wanted to reach over to wipe those tears from her face – but he did not dare make the matter worse.
“You see?” the Duke sneered. “He is not even man enough to lend you comfort when you need him.”
Christopher took affront at that. Enough, at last, to make him raise defiant eyes and protest.
“I know I am not permitted to offer such sentiments,” he said. “I would stay on your good side, Your Grace, as much as it is possible for me to do so.”
“You have never been on my good side, boy!”
“Nonetheless, I would not make the situation worse,” Christopher said, glancing at Juliana as he did so.
He hoped that she would see the raw need there, the way he wanted nothing more than to sweep her into his arms and hold her tightly.
“There is no situation – not for you,” the Duke snapped. “How could you ever have thought yourself suitable?
“Once, you might have been the son of an Earl, but always a second son – and now you are not even that. What kind of standing could you possibly think that you have that would make you a good match for her?”
Christopher opened his mouth, but no words would come. As little as he liked to admit it, the Duke was right.
He had always been a poor match for her. He had wanted to improve his status through the military – but with nothing to show for it yet, that was not something he could bring to the Duke’s attention.
“No answer,” the Duke scoffed. “No answer, Juliana! Your man cannot answer me! Does that not tell you enough?”
“He is worthy of me because of who he is,” Juliana said bravely, her voice thick with tears. “It has nothing to do with rank, and all to do with character.”
“Ah, yes, character,” the Duke said, rounding on Christopher once more.
“Shall we discuss that? For I have heard rumor enough of your character, Hardwicke. I have heard of your little gang, roving around the country in your red uniforms and seducing every woman you come across.
“There is yet another scandal, is there not? Your close personal friend, Rivers, has defiled and disgraced a noble daughter – and now he refuses to marry her!”
Christopher lifted his head. He could not say that he was shocked or surprised at Jasper’s decision to leave the poor girl without a husband. It was the fact that he was still being so closely linked to the man – after his own betrayal – that he found hard to bear.
“Rivers is no friend of mine,” he said shortly.
“That is not what the world says,” the Duke snapped back. “You are linked as closely as brothers. There are mentions of you throughout all of his tales of debauchery.
“I’m sure you have deflowered many a young maid alongside him – girls who ought to have married well. A trail of ruined reputations goes in your wake, and neither of you has a thought to spare for those left behind.”
It was untrue. All of it was untrue. But Christopher could not argue or fight against the fact that his good name was in tatters. That much had been made clear to him over and over again.
As far as society was concerned, it mattered little whether he really had done the things he was accused of. The rumor was enough.
Christopher felt it all crumbling around him. What was he to do?
All he could manage to stir was the inclination to put his tail between his legs and run, far away from this confrontation. Juliana still sat by his side, but she may as well have been a thousand miles away.
“You won’t even fight for her, will you?” the Duke said.
Christopher felt his cheeks redden. He wanted to fight, he did, but what could he say? There was nothing to respond – the Duke had him to rights.
“Christopher is a good man,” Juliana sobbed. Even her tone was starting to shift.
Christopher looked at her with alarm and realized that the Duke’s words were getting through even to her. She was looking at him differently, as if she wanted to believe her defense of him but no longer could.
Something inside of him seemed to be breaking, and melting away. How could he allow himself to be lowered into such a position that she looked at him that way?
“And then there is the matter of your family,” the Duke went on. “Parents gone. Your little brother is a weakling, they say, and so far behind the others in his class, he may never catch up.
“Defective genes, coupled with some kind of punishment from God – what else could explain it? Then to top it all off, your brother goes and marries a governess. A governess! The wife of an Earl! No wonder you have a skewed perception of what your place really is!”
Something inside Christopher stirred. There was a lion in his heart, a lion that would fiercely protect his family against any and all comers. And as he felt it stir, felt it come to life in defense of his loved ones, someth
ing else awoke as well.
He was not a bad person. He had been a rogue, yes, but a harmless one. He had flirted and gallivanted about the country, even taken advantage of the hospitality of his friends, but never of a woman.
He was not the man that he was accused of being.
And if he did not rise up and defend himself now, then he would never be worthy of Juliana’s affections.
“You have me wrong, sir,” Christopher said, finally finding his voice. He rose to his feet, slowly, the action not a threat but a decisive moment.
