Poor Maizy had not known about any of this and she sat quietly weeping beside her mistress. Sorry to be the cause of her distress, Julianna handed her a handkerchief and rubbed her back in an effort to soothe her.
“Don’t worry Maizy, his lordship is going to help us.”
Gratified by the faith being placed in him by two Montgomerys today, Luc felt his chest begin to puff with pride. Reining himself in, he realized he needed to be completely honest with his beloved.
Taking her hand and looking her in the eye, Luc began rather haltingly. “Jules, I need to tell you something, and you cannot get upset. Do you promise?”
Julianna looked at him with wide, earnest eyes and nodded her agreement.
“Fletcher came to me earlier today and told me all about it.”
Surprised by this information, Julianna instantly grew angry and leapt to her feet. “And you did not feel it necessary to come to me with this right away?”
“You promised not to get upset,” he reminded. “Let me explain.”
Subsiding a little, Julianna regained her seat and allowed him to maintain his comforting grip on her hand.
“I didn’t tell you because he told me in confidence for one thing. And for another, I believe I can sort this all out without any harm coming to anyone, so I thought it would be better to not have you worry for nothing.”
“But how can you sort it out if he did, in fact, call someone out?” she asked with puzzlement. “Mr. Landon said a gentleman cannot withdraw and keep his honour.”
“It is true that there are certain protocols that need to be met, and it is a tricky thing, especially when hot-headed young men are involved, but those very same protocols allow for a couple of strategies.”
Julianna’s worried eyes searched his to determine the sincerity behind his words. Relieved by what she saw, she felt almost limp after the tension she had been experiencing up until this moment.
“Thank you,” she said simply. “What can I do to help?”
“You must return home and wait. I know it is not in your nature, but it is unfortunately all there is for you to do.”
“What are you going to do?”
“It might be best if you don’t know,” he answered gently.
Realizing she now had two men to worry about she beseeched, “But you will be careful, won’t you?”
Gratified by her concern, he answered with feeling, “I swear it.”
“And will you come tell me when it is all sorted out? I shan’t be able to eat or sleep until I know you are both safe.”
“You must remain calm. All will be well, I promise you. But yes, I will come to you as soon as it is sorted.”
After another searching look deep into his eyes, Julianna realized she would have to be satisfied with that. She was relieved to see that Maizy had been closely following the conversation. The young maid had even more faith in the viscount than Julianna did and was thus fully restored to her usual sunny nature.
Bounding down the stairs, energy restored, she grinned at her mistress. “It’s quite turrible I can’t tell anyone about this adventure, milady.”
Smiling weakly but kindly at her devoted servant, Julianna answered, “I know, my dear, but it really must be our secret.”
“Are you going to tell the earl?” Maizy wanted to know.
“If it all turns out right I will leave it up to Fletcher to decide if he wishes to share this information with his father.”
“Isn’t it funny that both you and the young master went to the viscount instead of the earl?”
Julianna blushed a little, not wanting to admit what she had revealed in her desperation. “Quite a coincidence,” was all she would say.
Upon returning home, they had barely gotten through the door before Odelia bounced into the house.
“Aunty Jules, we had so much fun! Gunther’s was the perfect destination after our long ride home. How was your afternoon?” Without even pausing to wait for her aunt’s answer, she continued, “I’m so excited about going to the theatre with Lady Chorney this evening. Are you quite sure you won’t come, too? I know you said before we went away that you would most likely be too fagged from the journey to go, but surely it wasn’t very bad and you could join us.”
The trip to the theatre had completely left Julianna’s mind, but she was filled with relief that she had not committed herself. It would be the perfect excuse to stay home for the evening and wait for Lucius to come with news.
“No, my dear, while you are correct that the journey was not as bad as I had anticipated, I think it would be best for me to have a quiet night at home. I will be in a better state to carry on in your wake for the rest of the week. You will be in good hands with Lady Chorney and shall have a lovely time.”
Odelia seemed to have forgotten completely about her brother’s possible tragedy and prattled on about her fun with her friends and the anticipated entertainments they were to enjoy now that they had returned to Town.
Julianna stayed with her niece while she prepared for the evening, half her mind listening for a knock on the door as she listened to her niece’s chatter.
As she fastened the last of her jewellery around her throat, Odelia looked shrewdly at her aunt. “You are staying home to wait for news about Fletcher, aren’t you?”
Startled, Julianna showed a guilty face to her niece.
“I know you, silly. Of course, you would need to be here to ring a peal over him. I am sure you have done whatever is possible to ensure he remains safe, which is why I am not going to stay home and fret with you.” Odelia grinned cheekily at her aunt after this statement.
Julianna clasped her beloved niece in a warm hug. “Have fun tonight. I probably need not remind you not to discuss this with anyone.”
“No, you do not. I am not nearly as silly as Mr. Jackes. I must say, when I pressed him for gossip that was the last possibility I thought I would hear.”
Julianna managed to find this amusing and laughed together with Odelia as they walked downstairs. She was relieved to be able to wave her niece off to a safe evening of entertainment while she awaited Fletcher’s fate.
Endeavouring to make herself comfortable in the morning room, Julianna forced herself not to pace and sat with some needlework on her lap. Very little of it got done since she was so distracted, but it gave her hands something to do instead of wringing each other.
Thankfully her nerves were still intact an hour later when there was a commotion at the door. Unable to wait, Julianna dashed from the room to be confronted with the sight of Lord Ackerley ushering in a slightly battered, but decidedly alive, Fletcher.
Exclaiming over his many bruises, Julianna escorted the two gentlemen back into the morning room after asking that the housekeeper be called for.
Grinning at his aunt, Fletcher forgot he had meant to keep it all a secret from her. “It was so fantastic, Aunt Jules. We had a great fight. I allowed him to draw the first blood, of course, considering everything. But it was brilliant. We drew quite a crowd.”
Used to her nephew’s delight over such things, Julianna barely batted an eyelash over his glee, merely asking rather sceptically, “So which of you came out the winner?”
“Oh, I think we could rather say it was a draw. We were quite evenly matched. I say, I would love to match up with him again.”
Unable to suppress a slight shudder, Julianna answered rather weakly, “Perhaps you should wait a bit. You won’t be able to show your face at any of the ton gatherings for at least a week.”
Grinning, Fletcher answered, “I really would not consider that to be a drawback, Aunty. Those affairs are usually terribly insipid.”
Julianna could not resist her laughter at this unanswerable statement. She was relieved to hand her nephew over to the housekeeper who had arrived and was busy clucking over the young master’s wounds. “I have just the thing to fix you up, young man. Come along.”
The two left the room in a clatter of noise as Fletcher continued regali
ng the housekeeper with further details of the cause of his injuries. As the room cleared out, Julianna turned to the viscount who was watching her intently.
“I cannot thank you enough. While I cannot say I am thrilled he was in a fight, it was clearly a far better option than pistols at dawn. However did you manage it?”
“No thanks needed. It actually was even easier than I had expected. The other young man was just as young and inexperienced as Fletcher. While they both were certain it was impossible to withdraw, they were quite easy to convince that a round of fisticuffs could settle the matter just as well as a real duel with blades or pistols.”
Sitting on the settee with Julianna’s hand clasped warmly in his, Luc felt his optimism burgeoning.
“I had been preparing myself for various options. I even thought of approaching Lady Abigail’s brother to help straighten out the matter, since Fletcher had been attempting to defend her honour. But it turned out to be rather simple and straightforward. Young men are not nearly as complicated as young ladies.”
At his pointed look, Julianna’s cheeks warmed and she could not quite meet his eye. She tried to remove her hand from his grasp, but he would not allow it. Still avoiding his glance, she tried again to thank him.
“It was such a relief to be able to impose on you in this way. Thank you for saving him. I do not know how I could possibly repay you.”
“You could start by explaining why you have been doing your best to avoid me for weeks.”
Now her eyes flew to clash with his before she looked away in distress. “I cannot. Please, I cannot explain it. Why do you even care?”
“Well, since you will be marrying me, it would make things go all the smoother if I understood where we stand with each other.”
Going white where she had previously been blushing, Julianna shook her head vehemently. “I cannot marry you, my lord.”
“Why ever not?” he demanded, restrained frustration beginning to show in his tone. “I think you must marry me. You compromised my reputation by coming to my home unannounced this afternoon. The only way to remove the reproach is to make an honest man out of me.”
Since she had begun to weep quietly before this, his statement caused a rather watery chuckle to escape her. “Is that the only reason? I am quite certain your reputation will be able to hold up just fine under the slight strain.”
“No, that is not the only reason, you silly widgeon.” Pulling her more closely toward him he finally declared himself. “I find that I love you quite desperately and will not be truly happy until you agree to marry me.”
“Oh Lucius, you won’t when you find out what I did,” Julianna declared in distress as she began to weep in earnest.
Taking her into his arms in an embrace meant to comfort, Luc prompted in soothing tones, “Tell me. Whatever it is, we can work it out together. There is nothing you can tell me that will stop me from loving you.”
Unconvinced, but believing he deserved the truth, Julianna launched into her tale.
“The night I broke our engagement seven years ago at the Roxboroughs’ ball, I thought I saw you passionately kissing Lady Ormiston. You had never kissed me like that, and I was devastated that you could be so unfaithful even before we were ever married. I knew it was considered acceptable in our world, but it was not acceptable to me. I refused to marry anyone that I thought would so dishonour me.”
Julianna took a shuddering breath as the viscount continued to regard her steadily, his brow knit with concentration and confusion. He did not want her to stop in her explanation, so he did not interrupt nor defend himself although he was certain she was mistaken. Despite their youth at the time, he had already been quite fond of her and he, too, felt strongly about fidelity.
She continued, “You see, no one had ever told me you have a brother. I understand now that it would not have been considered appropriate to tell a debutante about illegitimate relatives, but I would think you should have told me about him yourself. Now that I have met him, I strongly suspect it was him I saw that night. It is inexcusable that I so injured us both by jumping so hastily to the wrong conclusion. We have both been robbed of seven years we cannot ever retrieve. I am unfit to be your wife as I showed so little faith in you.”
Smiling gently at her as she wound down to her conclusion, Luc reminded her, “But you demonstrated great faith in me just today, and even a couple weeks ago when you confided in me your concerns about Fletcher at the time.”
Brightening ever so slightly, Julianna watched him intently as he continued. “I do not feel robbed of the last seven years. We have both grown up in the meantime and will no doubt be better mates for it. You, yourself, said you would not trade the time you had with Odelia and Fletcher for anything. What would be inexcusable is to rob us of our future now that the mess has been cleared up. But if you need further convincing, I will say that you owe me, and so you must marry me – that is the price I am demanding.”
With another watery chuckle, Julianna threw herself into his arms. “If you are sure that is the price you wish to set then I suppose I must pay.”
“My biggest regret now is that you are under the misapprehension that my brother is a better kisser than me. It shall now be my duty to demonstrate my abilities to your satisfaction.”
With a wicked look, he proceeded to do just that.
Moments later he drew back and grinned at the dazed look on his beloved’s face.
“Did I prove my point?” he asked with a wry swagger.
“What point was that, exactly?” Julianna questioned in a bemused fashion.
Luc laughed with delight before his eyes narrowed as they caught sight of her locket that had slipped out of her now slightly disarrayed clothing.
“You kept that little trinket I gave you?” he demanded, surprised delight coloring his tones.
Blushing fiercely, Julianna tried to turn away and tuck it back into its usual hiding place.
“No more secrets, Julianna,” the viscount declared somewhat sternly. “Please, tell me if that is the necklace I gave you. And if it is, why do you still have it?”
With a resigned sigh, Julianna met his piercing gaze bravely. “Yes, it is the trinket you gave me. It was all I had left of you. I gave you back the ring you had given me to seal our betrothal, and this was the only other thing you had given me.”
She looked at him rather helplessly while he gazed at her in wonder. With a self-deprecating shrug and a little laugh, she continued her explanation. “You see, I never stopped loving you, I just was unwilling to share you.”
With a whoop of joy, Luc stood, pulling her with him. Swinging her into his arms, he spun around the room. Placing her gently back on her feet he looked her solemnly in the eye.
“I swear to you, you will never have to share me with another woman for the rest of our lives, except maybe some lovely little women.”
She looked at him questioningly so he elaborated. “Hopefully we will have several daughters who will look just like you.”
“Several?” Julianna laughed. “Only if you promise that you will be overseeing their Seasons.”
Luc laughed with her. “I will love you until we die.” Then, just before reclaiming her lips once more, he made one more vow. “And I promise to shower you with much finer jewels in the future.”
“I don’t need jewels. All I need is you,” was her fervent reply before no more words were necessary.
About the Author
Wendy May Andrews has been in love with the written word since she learned to read at the age of five. She has been writing for almost as long but hasn’t been sharing those stories with anyone but her mother until recently. This is Wendy’s fifth book with Clean Reads.
Wendy can be found with her nose in a book in a cozy corner of downtown Toronto. She is happily married to her own real-life hero, who is also her best friend and favorite travel companion.
Being a firm believer that every life experience contributes to the writing process, Wendy
is off planning her next trip.
She loves to hear from her readers and can be found at her website, on twitter or Facebook.
@WendyMayAndrews
WendyMayAndrews
www.wendymayandrews.com
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