Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

J ulianna floated through her morning routine as she readied for church the Sunday after the ball.

She’d spent a good part of the previous day in bed due to the late night, but they had enjoyed the evening sitting by the fire roasting nuts and listening to the eldest Mr. Waverly read. She’d forgotten how expressively Adam could recite. It seemed some things did not change from childhood.

However, she’d struggled to pay attention to his words as her gaze had strayed multiple times to Mr. Kaye. She’d heard of love at first sight, but now she believed it, for she could not picture herself with anyone else.

He’d been so attentive to her that she was certain he must feel the same, especially since his eyes had met hers so often last evening, his lips dancing in that mischievous way that was half conspiratorial and half interest. It was a look only they shared and it made her insides pop and sizzle almost as much as the roasting nuts on the fire.

Even hours later she still relished the warmth of his gaze. Glancing in the entry mirror, she set to tying her bonnet strings.

“Good morning, Miss Julianna.”

Her heart slammed into her throat and she spun to find Caleb dressed in his Sunday blacks.

“Oh, good morning.” Ice slithered down her back at his intent stare and she wished she’d not taken so much care with her appearance. She’d hoped to attract Mr. Kaye’s attention, not Caleb’s. What was he doing here anyway? Last she’d heard he’d decided to visit a friend for the holiday.

“I trust you are in good health?” His stare began to travel downward and she spun to peer in the mirror.

“Yes, excellent health. Thank you.”

Heavy boots clicked on the stairs and Julianna gave a little sigh of relief. The last thing she wanted was an extended tête-à-tête with Mr. Caleb Waverly.

“Caleb, my boy. I see you have returned.”

Uncle Waverly’s voice held a bit of strain as he tried to exude welcome and excitement. She could understand why. It must be difficult to have two family members who he loved dearly but who did not love each other—she certainly did not love Caleb.

“I have,” Caleb said by way of greeting.

“And did you enjoy your time in the south?”

“I did.”

A note of something sinister hung in those two words. Julianna turned and Caleb smirked at her.

“And I will have you know that I have received Mr. Haynes’s blessing to marry Julianna.”

Her jaw dropped. Father would not possibly?—

“I am afraid that will not do,” Mr. Kaye said as he exited the front parlor, “for she has already consented to marry me.”

Julianna’s eyes widened, but she quickly covered her surprise before Caleb turned to glare at her.

“I have been gone only a sennight and you have gotten yourself engaged?” The pitch of his voice rose with each word he spit out.

She shrunk back, the ice from before now creeping around her heart. Mr. Kaye quickly came to her aid, placing a protective arm about her shoulders.

“You will not speak to my intended in such tones.”

“She is not your intended. You have not asked her father, I have!”

Julianna swallowed hard and gathered her courage. “My father would never have given consent if he knew I did not wish it.”

“A woman’s feelings have little to do in matters of matrimony. It is a business transaction.”

A sardonic laugh escaped Mr. Kaye. “With views like that it is no wonder Julianna rejected you.”

Caleb clenched his fist. “Do not use her name so informally, sir.”

Uncle Waverly stepped between them. “Gentlemen, please.”

“Step out of the way, Uncle. This is not your fight,” Caleb growled.

“Neither is it yours.” The steel in Uncle Waverly’s voice brooked no argument and for the first time all morning Caleb retreated a step. Even though Uncle Waverly was several decades older, Julianna had no doubt his size alone would carry him easily through any altercation.

Uncle Waverly crossed his arms. “She told you no, Caleb, and you must take that as your answer, whether her father gave permission or not. She is of age and can make her own decisions.”

Caleb’s jaw clenched, then he glared past their uncle at Julianna. “This is not the end of it.”

Slapping his hat on his head, he stormed out.

A sigh shuddered out of Julianna and she deflated in Mr. Kaye’s arms. He wrapped them about her and pulled her to his chest. She trembled and a tear escaped before she could stop it. Her loud sniffle filled the room.

“You are all right.” He rubbed her back.

“My apologies,” Uncle Waverly said from behind her. “If I had known he would be so aggressive I would have told the servants not to let him back in until after you returned to Hayworth Hall.”

She shook her head against Mr. Kaye’s coat, too embarrassed to let her uncle see her cry. “No, that would not be fair. He has just as much right to be here with family for the holidays as I do.”

“Yes, but he cannot conduct himself as poorly as he did this morning. Family or not, I will not stand for incivility.”

A handkerchief appeared out of the corner of her eye and she gratefully took it from her uncle. Mr. Kaye released her to repair the damage her tears had done. Feet shuffled, the clock ticked, and her uncle cleared his throat as she tried to put herself to rights.

“I suppose congratulations are in order,” Uncle Waverly finally said.

Julianna froze. Mr. Kaye’s declaration. What would he tell her uncle?

“Thank you, General.”

She peeked at Mr. Kaye and he cast her that lopsided smile that told her to play along. Pasting a bright smile on her face, she reached out and clasped his hand.

Her uncle’s eyes twinkled. “I suppose when two people know they are meant to be together, they need not wait. You know your aunt and I only courted a fortnight before we became engaged, and since I was to ship out ten days later we skipped off to Scotland, which of course is not a far journey from here.”

Julianna’s eyes widened.

“Sorry, that was probably more information than you were expecting.” Uncle Waverly ducked his head.

Was that why her father and uncle disliked one another? “Did my—” she began to say, but Uncle Waverly cut her off.

“When do you plan on having the banns read?”

“Who is having banns read?” Beth asked from the top of the stairs.

Could this situation get any more complicated? Now she would have to lie to her own sister. But was it a lie? Maybe Mr. Kaye was in earnest.

“Your sister is to be congratulated,” Uncle Waverly said. “Mr. Kaye has asked her to marry him and she has accepted.”

Beth’s severe gaze brought a blush to Julianna’s cheeks. With the current situation, Beth would believe she’d completely disregarded her warnings. How could she tell her it was all a ruse?

She could not. First she needed to have a discussion with Mr. Kaye to ascertain his sincerity, but this was neither the time nor the place. So she peered up at a flustered Beth.

“I meant to tell you first, but Mr. Caleb Waverly was here and he had apparently gone to Papa for permission to marry me. Caleb insisted he’d received Papa’s blessing, so we had to tell him.”

Beth’s frown deepened. “Papa would never give his permission without your consent.”

“That is what I told him.”

“He must have lied.”

Julianna had thought as much, but she would never have accused Caleb to his face. It would only have infuriated him further.

Slowly, Beth descended, her olive-colored dress sweeping each stair, her head bowed as she deliberately took each step. When she came to stand in front of them, her gaze lifted and tears shimmered in her sapphire blue eyes.

“I hope you will be very happy, Jule.” Beth enveloped her in a hug so fierce Julianna was sure her bones would break either from the pressure or the guilt. Pulling back, Beth turned to Mr. Kaye. “You are getting one of the best women in all of England, I hope you know.”

He nodded, and for the first time his smile slipped. His throat bobbed and a bead of sweat broke out on his forehead.

“You will take care of her, won’t you?”

Beth’s sincere question brought a mist to Julianna’s eyes even as a weight settled in her stomach.

“I… ah… I…” Mr. Kaye wrung his hands together.

The front door opened and Lord Bingham entered, riding crop in hand. Removing his hat, he took in the gathered group. “I saw Mr. Caleb Waverly riding out like the devil was on his heels. Is anything amiss?”

A hand flew to Beth’s mouth as she shook her head, then one of the gathered tears trickled down her cheek. Julianna reached out, her own tears far too near the surface, but Beth turned and fled up the stairs.

Lord Bingham stared after Beth, his eyes tight and his mouth turned down. “I am unsure how to take that answer.”

A glance passed between Uncle Waverly and Mr. Kaye before her uncle again announced their supposed engagement.

The crop in Lord Bingham's hand tapped against his leg, one, two, three times before he finally answered. “Is this true, Kaye?”

Mr. Kaye mumbled something.

“What was that?”

Running a hand through his dark brown hair, Mr. Kaye cleared his throat and pulled himself up straight. “Yes, Captain.”

Lord Bingham's eyebrows inched up his forehead.

“I mean”—he adjusted his cravat—“Yes, Bingham, I have, er, declared myself.”

It was not a complete lie. He had declared… something. Julianna needed to salvage the situation. She motioned for the butler.

“Please bring me my pelisse.”

The man nodded and did as instructed.

Turning to the others she said, “If you do not mind, Mr. Kaye and I will walk this morning. We have much to discuss.”

“But it is three miles, and so cold,” her uncle protested. “You will not make it half that far before services begin.”

“Then you may pick us up along the way.”

The butler took his cue, retrieved Mr. Kaye’s coat, and helped the stunned man into it. Julianna did not even wait for Mr. Kaye to button it up before grabbing his arm and pulling him past the others. Outside the cold nipped at her nose, but she kept walking, dragging her apparent fiancé down the steps and onto the road that led to Kendal.

Birds chirped and for once the sun was shining, but even with the chipper atmosphere all she could think about was how in the world they were going to get themselves out of this mess.

“What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t.”

Mr. Kaye’s admission brought her to a halt.

“Listen,” he said with a sigh. “When I entered, all I knew was that I could not allow Mr. Waverly to bully you. I said the first thing that came to my mind to stall him.”

She stared at him in disbelief. “But my reputation. If we do not go through with a marriage, I will be ruined.”

“Not if we go back and stop the others from telling anyone.”

“There were servants who heard us, Mr. Kaye. Not to mention the man you declared it to.” Exasperation filled her as she clenched her hands.

“Daniel.”

“What?”

“You might as well use my given name. We are engaged after all, even if it is only for the moment.”

She placed her hands on her hips, breathing slowly through her nose. Was this all a game to him?

“Fine, Daniel. But you do understand how much servants gossip, do you not? We could return and say it was all an act, but they have probably passed it about the whole house by now. Then there is my sister. I could not possibly tell her now. You saw the way she became so distressed.”

Daniel cringed. “And I would hate to tell Bingham or your uncle. They might order twenty lashings and I prefer my hide right where it is.”

She smirked at the notion and relaxed. “They would not. You are not in the Royal Army anymore. Besides, I doubt you received a single lashing as an officer.”

He quirked a smile. “You are correct, but that does not mean I am not deathly afraid of receiving one.”

Julianna chuckled, the tension between them disseminating. “What now?”

“I am not sure. We have a few weeks to figure this out. Besides, what better way to bring your sister and my friend together?”

“How so?”

“Well, one connection is sure to encourage another, especially if we can show them how happy we are.”

She lifted a blonde brow.

“Oh, come now, it cannot be too terrible being engaged to me.”

He tipped his head and batted his eyelashes over beautiful green eyes. She laughed, relishing the way he could lighten her mood. “That is yet to be determined. So how do we go about this?”

“To start, may I call you Julianna?”

“I suppose it is only right if I am to call you Daniel.”

His gaze softened and a little tickle of pleasure ran through her. She liked it when he looked at her like that. He offered his arm and they began to walk.

“We should probably come up with a story of how all of this began.” He gestured between them.

“That is easy. It started at the inn when I fell into your arms and it was love at first sight.” Julianna clamped her mouth shut. Had she just said that out loud?

He grinned. “I like the way you think. Now how did I propose?”

“You did not.” She raised her eyebrows at him, hoping he would understand.

“But we must have something to tell everyone.”

She slowly turned to him, her hands clasped in front of her. Time passed as he searched her face, his brow knitted. Then slowly light filled his face.

“I see.” He glanced around, first up the lane, then down before his gaze landed on the tops of the trees.

Julianna imagined pictures forming above his head as he gathered ideas. Without warning he reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the nearby grove of trees. She protested, but he did not stop until they were hidden behind the trunk of a rather large oak.

He spun to face her. “There, now we shall have no audience to ruin my moment.”

“Your moment?”

“ Our moment,” he amended.

She smiled. For all of his charm, Daniel could be a bit odd at times. Daniel . She let the name roll about in her mind, bouncing off the fluffy clouds of her imaginary castle in the sky, and for one small moment she could see herself married to the man in front of her.

“Julianna, I— wait. You do understand that this is only for the time at hand. We will need to figure things out eventually or we will have to go through with this.”

The pretty picture blew away with the wind. She pulled her hand out of his and turned to walk back to the house.

“Wait!” he called. “Where are you going?”

“If I am going to be ruined I might as well get it over with before it goes much further,” she called over her shoulder.

Daniel darted in front, bringing her up short. She stumbled on a root and his arms came up to catch her.

With hands on her shoulders, he said, “I cannot allow you to take the fall for my ridiculous knight in shining armor notion.”

Against her will, moisture gathered in her eyes. “It served its purpose. You got rid of Mr. Waverly.”

“But he could return.”

Daniel was right. And while she did not believe her father would ever force her to go through with a marriage she’d never agreed to, she also knew he’d be furious to know she’d brought another scandal down upon their heads.

Peering into Daniel’s intent gaze, Julianna relaxed. There was compassion and a flicker of that certain something she witnessed each time they shared a conspiratorial glance, only this time the mischief was missing.

He stepped closer, allowing his hands to drop from her shoulders and trail down her arms until his fingers curled around hers. The light touch warmed her insides. It was so pleasant she closed her eyes to relish it. He squeezed her fingertips and then his left hand let go.

When she felt a touch on her chin she opened her eyes. He peered intently into hers. “I know we do not know each other well, and you may find someone far more to your liking in the next few weeks, but if that does not happen…” He swallowed.

At first she wondered if he was nervous or regretful, but when his eyes darkened with intent and his gaze flit to her lips, she realized he was in earnest.

“If you still will have me, I’d be honored to be your husband.”

She opened her lips to speak, but the words were completely gone. Her mouth went dry and all she could think about was how much she wanted him to kiss her again. As if he could read her mind, he dipped his head and captured her lips.

The tension that had rooted her to the ground suddenly lifted and pulled her into him by some imaginary string. She wrapped her arms about his neck and delightedly returned his kiss.

With their first kiss, she’d been too embarrassed to let it last longer than a moment, but this time she allowed herself to explore how two people’s lips might fit so perfectly together.

Daniel’s hands tightened about her waist and she nearly sighed with the perfection of the moment, but a steady thumping followed by the creak of a carriage wheel had them skittering apart.

“The others,” Julianna breathed out. “We best hurry or we will have to walk the whole three miles.”

“But—”

She did not allow Daniel to finish his sentence as she grabbed his hand along with a fist full of skirts and rushed toward the road. No one could see them in the woods. They needed to appear as if they had been strolling toward town.

When they reached the path, she quickly let go of his hand and clasped her hands behind her back. “Act normal.”

He looked at her as if she had two heads but took up the place beside her, gulping in several deep breaths to calm his breathing.

Julianna smiled down at the frozen dirt road, unsure if he was winded from their mad dash or their delicious kiss, but she liked to think it was more the latter… at least it was that way for her.

The carriage stopped in front of them, and before she had time to gather her thoughts, the door burst open and Mrs. Barker ordered her in, all the while glaring holes into Daniel. She wanted to protest the older woman’s treatment, but decided right now was not the best time. Considering what she and Daniel had been doing moments before, the old dragon might actually have cause to breathe fire this go-round.