Julius was intrigued. What had prompted Frank to leave? His stomach burned with worry. For Frank and Francis to leave so suddenly after giving such strange instructions meant that Maura had revealed something profound to him during their session.
He remembered the faraway look in her eyes when he found her. But quickly that look had transformed into something stunning and beautiful. Then, like the wild mystical creature she was, she’d fled. He’d gone after her, unable to do anything else.
He’d grown dizzy and enchanted just watching her spin in circles. Her elation seemed high and with a kiss, it was transferred to Julius, heating his blood and making him forget himself.
He wished she trusted him with the truth and didn’t know if she ever would. Still, she was closer to him than any other woman. The kiss would change that, put a strain between them. Once again, he regretted it.
Why her? Why did it have to be Maura who tempted him so greatly? He’d flirted with many others in the past, many who were now the wives to the various friends in the room.
“Before we go any further, this matter seems like one that should only be discussed in private.” Julius didn’t need his eyes to move to the men who didn’t belong in the room. He kept them on Morris. Julius knew that Maura took no pains to keep secret her time in Bedlam, but Julius didn’t enjoy it being discussed in front of men who were not members of the Brotherhood.
The only exceptions Julius saw were his cousin Lorenzo, who would die before he allowed any of the sisters to come to harm. He’d proven so already and Raymond Vance, Hugh’s youngest brother, who would find out what happened at this meeting, whether he was inside the room or not. He’d become a part of the group in his own way over the last few years.
Morris crossed his arms. “Since I know Lorenzo and Ray’s presence doesn’t offend you, I can only guess you mean Garrett, Anthony, and Allen. These three additional men know so much about what takes place in this club that they might as well be brothers.”
“But they’re not,” Calvin said, shooting daggers at Prince Garrett. “He didn’t even attend Oxford.”
Prince Garrett, the Duke of Levenberg, sat lounging in a wingback chair sporting a wide grin. His hair was black as midnight and his eyes a jubilant blue. “Just because I attended Cambridge does not make us enemies.”
Calvin’s responsive look said he didn’t agree.
“Besides,” Morris went on. “All the men here have helped us on one occasion or another. Prince Garrett helped Francis discover the truth about his finances, which cleared his debt so that he could marry Genie. Anthony and Allen—”
Anthony shot up from his chair and straightened his coat. “Every Brother here knows Allen and I should have been members of the Men of Nashwood.”
“Why weren’t you and Allen let into their group?” the prince asked.
Julius waited to hear the reply as well.
* * *
chapter 20
* * *
Anthony turned to Prince Garrett. “There weren’t enough chairs in the back of the tavern where they gained their name.”
The words triggered memories of those years at Oxford. In a small tavern called Nashwood, the ten friends had met in the back corner. Ten chairs circled a table and the other students had grown to know that the table was reserved for Julius and his friends.
Ten chairs.
The rest of the seating at the tavern had been benches that never would have fit in their corner of the room. Could Julius’s friendships all have been based on proximity? On the lack of two more chairs?
Calvin grunted, but his gaze was no longer narrowed. The men had always thought themselves friends of Anthony and Allen. A lack of chairs in a place where the Men of Nashwood had done a great portion of their bonding seemed accurate.
“I went to Oxford only three years after you all had started,” Ray said from the sideboard. He picked up a box of cheroots and began to pass them around the room. “And I’ve known most of you my entire life and currently run your club in London.” When he offered to light Julius’s cigar, he added, “Also, I care about Maura, so I think of myself as one of you anyway.”
Raymond had matured in a way that Julius hadn’t realized until that very moment. He was the youngest man in the room, if only by a few years, yet while Julius had always thought him as living in Hugh’s shadow, the boy was becoming his own man and what the men had also discovered was that behind his coy smile hid a mind so deft it couldn’t be compared to others. Like Hugh, his hair was black and his eyes a blue so dark that they appeared black at times.
Ray moved on to the other men and soon the entire room was filled with the scent of rich tobacco.
Julius pulled in air through the heavy scented Indian leaves and let out a breath as he thought silently.
“No one is joining the Men of Nashwood,” Calvin said. “It’s a closed group.”
“That’s not what is being discussed,” Morris said. “Allen is a solicitor. Anthony controls public opinion. Garrett has a far better reputation amongst the Beau Monde than most of us here, and Ray holds the ears and pockets of the wealthy in London. Each had helped in one way or another. Therefore, I vote they remain for our discussion.” He turned to Emmett, who stood by him.
Emmett nodded. “They can stay.”
The motion was seconded.
One by one, the others agreed, even Calvin begrudgingly. Julius was the last man to hold out and before he gave his reply, he turned to the four men who he would likely count friend but never his brother. His brothers would always be the ones who’d shed blood for him, protected him from the onslaught of soldiers who had tried to kill him the night his mother had revealed her true feelings for him.
“You can remain,” Julius said to them. “But if I hear one ugly word about Maura leave any of your mouths—”
“Never,” Anthony said.
“There we have it,” Lorenzo finally cut in, leaning by the fireplace. “Now, I’d like to know why Maura is in trouble.” He’d once been an amber blond and when standing together, he and Julius looked so much alike that people had mistaken them for brothers.
Morris returned the men to the matter at hand. “Frank and Francis have gone to Bedlam to find out about Maura’s time there. Frank believes as a doctor himself they’ll welcome him easily, but Francis has gone with the authority of a duke to make sure he meets no trouble.”
Julius froze and frowned in confusion. What had Maura and Frank discussed in the library?
“Let me know if they need any more aid. I know the man over city authorities and the hospital.” Garrett was already proving his usefulness. As the grandson of George II, he was treated like the king himself at times.
“Excellent,” Morris said. “Have a letter drafted. I’ll have a messenger sent to meet Frank and Francis.”
Julius’s heart race as he tapped his fingers against the armchair. “Why would they do this? What are they looking for at Bedlam?”
Emmett answered after emptying his ashes. “Evidence that someone who shouldn’t have been there.”
“Who?” Anthony asked.
“Maura’s ghost.” Emmett said. “Frank is inclined to think him an actual man after all these years.”
“Impossible,” Julius whispered, so low that no one else heard his shocked outcry. Then loudly he said, “One doesn’t think someone is a ghost when they’re really not.”
Morris shrugged. “Frank thinks otherwise and since Frank’s a doctor and Maura has always seemed as sound of mind as any of the other women, the thought has piqued my interest.” Though it was clear he doubted it as well.
“I should have gone with him,” Hugh said, leaning forward in his chair. “If someone needs to be found, I can more than manage to do so.” He was the bloodhound of the group and very good at it as well.
But Julius was sure there was no one to be found. This ghost was entirely Maura’s creation. He was sure of it. He’d know better than them. He spoke with her often and usually, when sh
e spoke, it was always in a riddle that left him mentally exhausted by the time he realized there was no solving the mystery in her words.
She was mad. She’d told him so herself.
Pity stirred within him. These people adored her, which was an easy thing to do, and yet they’d never understand her as he did. Still, he’d take all their help if it meant keeping Maura out of Bedlam.
He thought to tell them of their engagement, but the moment didn’t seem right for it. His last meeting with Maura had left them both shaken. They both needed time to calm, for he knew once the news was out, his friends would immediately think it a love match and Julius would need to have himself under control in order to convince them otherwise. He needed to get past his obsession with her and the quickest way to do so would be to bed another woman. Lucky for him, there were five courtesans at his disposal.
He tried to recall the one that Anthony had tried to give him the previous night. Lady Oak? Lady Maple? It didn’t matter. She would do, and she was blonde. He could easily take her from behind and pretend…
He stilled and closed his eyes. Pretending the courtesan was Maura was the very worst idea. He’d stay away from the blonde. Three of them were blonde and two had red hair. He’d pursue one of the redheaded women.
With the meeting through, Julius set out to complete his goal.
* * *
chapter 21
* * *
Maura was not surprised when Lorena came into her room. Neither was she surprised when the eight other members of the Spinsters peeked their heads into the door. They were smiling when they did, but at one look at her face, their expressions changed.
“Maura, we came to…” Lorena gasped and touched her cheeks. “Maura, have you been crying?” She started forward, but then stopped. “Are you ill, dear?”
The word ‘ill’ almost triggered another downpour of tears, but she knew her cousin wasn’t speaking about her head. She should have known Lorena and the others would come see her. She’d tried to sleep after her long spell of weeping but had been so determined to put anything else into her mind that she’d picked up a book and began to read, begging the characters in the pages to take her troubles away. But alas, her thoughts about the aftermath of her kiss with Julius rose like a large wave and crashed into her, beating at her broken resolve and forcing salty tears from her eyes.
That was how she was found by her friends.
“What has happened?” Lorena asked as she sat on the edge of the bed. The others took their own seats, getting as close to Maura as possible. The action moved her, but not in the way it should have. More tears fell, and she covered her face so as not to be seen.
She was a Spinster. The only member of the group unwed and for years, she’d known that would always be true. She’d quickly set aside the need for someone to love her and wish for her to bear their children. She’d never cared for titles or status. Yet when the very last and most wanted marriage proposal came, it couldn’t have come worse than it had.
Maura would rather Bedlam. She knew it even as she knew how awful that place could be. She could never tie herself to someone who didn’t trust her and someone she would never trust to be true to her, someone who didn’t love her.
She’d never felt as though she didn’t belong amongst these beautiful and courage women more than that moment. She was a fraud. She didn’t deserve the title Spinster. She was just a… spinster.
Quickly, she wiped her eyes and tried for a smile. “I’m all right. I just need to rest. I’m quite exhausted.”
Sophia, Morris’s wife, frowned with unwavering green eyes. “Oh, no. You’ll not get rid of us that easily, Maura. You’ve likely helped many of us more than most. Tell us what is the matter, so we can make it right.”
If only there were a way to make it right. Maura’s situation was so different from any of the trials the other women had gone through. She’d been offered a marriage of convenience that would only be convenient for her, not Julius. He’d get nothing out of being her husband. He didn’t even want to bed her after they wed.
It’s a party. His words echoed through her mind. She’d been nothing more than an available body to him. She felt like a fool, but what could she have expected with a man like Julius? He was far too dashing for any one woman. No, the woman who married him would likely have to share, and Maura could never do that.
“Maura,” Taygete called in the gentle voice she’d likely used during her years as a nurse in Southampton. “Tell us what happened from the beginning.”
The beginning. Where did she start when she wished to share the tragedy that was her life? Shakespeare would have loved to turn her story into a play that would surely have amused the people in his time.
She knew where it began, with Albion’s death. It was a story the Spinsters all knew, so she started with her latest session with Frank and stopped just before any mention of Julius.
The women seemed surprised and elated.
“So, that’s where my husband has run off to,” Genie, the Duchess of Valdeston, said. She was a dainty beauty with green eyes and red hair and she’d been in love with Francis since childhood. “I’m so very glad for you, Maura. I always knew there to be more to the story.”
“But what if there is nothing to find?” Maura asked. “What if I’m mad?” Julius’s criticisms came back.
“If you’re mad then most of London is mad.” This came from Natalia, Julius’s cousin. She was a pretty woman with beautiful red-tinted golden hair with wisps of paler strands in the front that made her appear fox-like. Her eyes were gold and at the moment wide. “Why, anyone who attends Sunday service claims they worship the Holy Ghost. Is it then fair to say that anyone who sees a ghost is mad?”
Maura smiled and then laughed at Natalia’s question before wrapping her arms around her. Maura had known Natalia for over a year. She’d come much like her brother, under a disguise so she could watch over her cousin Julius without him ever knowing. She’d come when rumors about the Brothers and how they’d killed Julius’s mother, the old Marchioness of Darvess, began to rise. She’d found the blackmailer and made sure the woman never whispered a word about Julius again.
Maura loved her for that but had also admired the way Natalia had handled the women they’d both assisted at the Spinster’s Home.
Feeling better, Maura sighed and said, “I kissed Julius.”
She glanced around at the women in the room and noticed that no one seemed surprised. Not even Lorena.
“A… kiss?” Genie asked, anxiously.
Maura nodded, her cheeks stinging with embarrassment even as everyone’s expression in the room remained the same. Kindly, but unmoved.
Lorena blinked and tapped her lips. “Oh, well… That’s… lovely, dear. Was it pleasant?”
Maura frowned. “Well… yes.”
Lorena smiled brightly. “I’m glad to hear it, but honestly, we were all wondering when you’d tell us about the affair you and Julius have been carrying on for some time now. We didn’t wish to rush you.” She patted Maura’s hand. “Maura, we were hoping that when you did speak up, you were more… forthcoming with details.”
“Not too many details.” Natalia raised her hands. “I, for one, would not like to hear any stories about my cousin in the bedchamber.”
Maura stared at her cousin and Natalia. “But, I only kissed him and only today.”
Lorena tilted her head. “For the first time?”
“Ever?” Sophia asked, the question coming with what Maura had hoped to gain minutes before. Utter astonishment. Sophia looked her over. “You mean, you and Julius haven’t…”
Maura cupped her cheeks and pulled her knees up to her chest. “Never.” She hadn’t known her friends had assumed her and Julius together. Did the Brothers as well?
* * *
chapter 22
* * *
Maura was reminded yet again just how strange her group of friends were. The mention of a kiss would have had other ladies close to
apoplexy. Not the Spinsters.
“Oh.” Lorena deflated. “I beg your pardon. I just assumed with all that time you spent alone with him…”
“We only spoke,” Maura said defensively. “We were friends.”
Sophia looked at Lorena. “I didn’t know Julius was capable of forming a friendship with a woman and not bedding her.”
“Well, apparently, he can.” Lorena smiled at Maura. “He only kissed you? Today?”
“Yes,” she said exhaustedly. “And then he called me mad and said that he could never love me.”
The revelation sent shock through the entire room. Maura felt the pressure of tears returning and she wondered if she’d ever stop crying.
“Oh, Maura.” Lorena wrapped her in her arms. She was warm and soft. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe he’d say such a thing. We all thought he’d marry you.”
Maura looked at her. “He did offer marriage, but only to keep my father from sending me back to Bedlam.” Then she told her cousin about the letter and how it had led to Frank’s beliefs of foul play on her part. “I feel marriage would ruin our friendship. It would make us enemies. I can’t marry him.”
Sophia, Natalia, and then the other women in the room placed a hand on her but had no words to give. The situation was so horrible that there was little to be said about it.
“Well, I’m very glad for Uncle Adrian having received a title,” Lorena began. “But we’ll not let him take you away. You don’t have to marry Julius.”
“Yes,” Genie said. “We’ll protect you. Your sisters.”
Maura smiled sadly at her. “I don’t deserve to be in this group. I’m unwed.”
“It matters not,” Sophia told her. “You’re one of us. Forever.”
“Because,” Natalia said. “My cousin is obviously the one who needs to be in Bedlam if he’s not already fallen for you. You’re a wonderful woman, Maura. Any gentleman would have you.”
Maura’s Special Spinster’s Society (The Spinster’s Society) (A Regency Romance Book) Page 8
