Chapter 12

CHAPTER12

Even the weather seems to dislike cooperating with me.

Julia scowled as she drew the curtains, blotting out the sunlight from streaming into her bedchamber. Fine weather always meant promenades at the park, and while she used to like basking in the warm sunshine with Mary and Selina, it was a different story altogether when she was with her mother.

Not to mention that Lord Cosby had not-so-subtly hinted at enjoying the sunshine last night at the Wilmington Ball.

“Who likes going out to promenade after a ball, anyway?” she grumbled as she threw herself back onto her bed.

Balls tended to last well into the early hours of the morning which gave the young ladies of the house very little time to recuperate before Lady Powell would herd them all to Hyde Park to promenade.

And Julia was right—her mother came sailing into her bedchamber not even ten minutes after she had drawn the curtains.

“Good heavens, why is it still so dark in here?” Lady Powell exclaimed in a voice that was much too cheerful for her eldest daughter’s liking.

Julia cracked open an eye and watched as her mother bustled over to the windows and drew the curtains back with so much enthusiasm that she nearly curled back and shrieked like some affronted creature of darkness.

“How could you still be in bed at this hour?” Lady Powell demanded, her hands on her hips as she glared sternly at her daughter, who had crawled back under the covers.

“Mother, I am ill,” Julia moaned in what she hoped was her most feeble-sounding voice.

“You were hardly ill when you danced well into the morning,” Lady Powell countered.

Julia peered up at her. “Well, I am ill now. I think I am about to come down with the most dreadful headache—”

“Nothing that a good cup of rosemary tea cannot cure.” Lady Powell marched over to her wardrobe, just as Harriet came in, bearing a jug of water and towels. She pulled out a green dress with cap sleeves and smiled triumphantly. “I think you will look absolutely lovely in this, my dear.”

Never mind pretending to be ill. I can be at death’s door, and Mother will still think I look well enough to parade around Hyde Park!

“And, oh, I shall send Mary in here to get dressed as well,” Lady Powell continued. “You know how shy your sister can get—do encourage her a bit more, will you?”

She bustled out of the bedchamber before Julia could eke out another protest. Moments later, Mary poked her head around the door with her own maid behind her.

“Julia?” she called out softly. “Mother tells me I should get dressed with you.”

“Mother insists on going on a promenade in this heat!” Julia complained, throwing her arm dramatically over her eyes.

Mary cracked an amused smile as she walked over to the bed. “Well, the weather is rather warm enough for us to go out, and I think that it would be nice to be out once in a while.”

Julia opened an eye and peered at her sister. Mary was looking at her in such a hopeful way that she could not find it in her heart to refuse her.

“Oh, all right,” she relented, finally allowing Harriet to help her off the bed. “Perhaps I can be persuaded to muster my strength for a turn about Hyde Park.”

“Thank you so very much.” Mary smiled. She turned towards her maid, who was holding up a lovely rose-colored dress. “Mother chose this one for me, but I want to know your thoughts about it.”

Julia could be on her deathbed, but she would never consider letting her younger sister down, so she went over to the dress to inspect it.

“I think you will look lovely in this,” she confirmed with a nod. “Really, Mary, you will look wonderful in almost anything. There are many young ladies who would sacrifice a limb for your coloring, you know.”

“Somehow, I do not think they will appreciate my mousy hair on their heads,” Mary remarked with a wry smile. “But thank you for saying that. As long as I look presentable, and I can enjoy the sun and fresh air for a bit, I shall be happy with my lot.”

Julia shook her head as she prepared to get dressed. While her younger sister might be more timid, she was certainly not less beautiful with her wide brown eyes and a smile that could rival any ballroom chandelier.

All Mary really needed was a bit more confidence in herself, Julia thought as she let her maid help her into the green dress that her mother had chosen for her earlier.

As she sat before the mirror to let Harriet do her hair, Julia caught their maids giggling to themselves. When Harriet saw her looking at them, she attempted to right herself, averting her gaze from her mistress.

“It is nothing, My Lady,” Harriet murmured. “Just some rumors.”

“Oh?” Julia remarked with a perfectly arched eyebrow. “But you do tell me the most delicious rumors, Harriet, dear. So, what is it this time?”

“Well, you know Mrs. Haddock from the Cornell household down the street, right?”

Julia nodded as Mary looked on with more interest.

“Her husband gifted her with a sapphire bracelet a few weeks ago. Said he won it from a gambling house or something.” Harriet paused as she expertly twisted a lock of Julia’s vivid red hair and held it in place with a pin. “Well, she went to pawn it off two days ago for her daughter’s trousseau, but the jeweler would not accept it—said it’s a fake and all.”

“A fake?” Julia frowned. “I have heard of such things but nothing quite as blatant as an actual sapphire bracelet.”

Harriet nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, to be sure, My Lady! And they claim that this one looks just like the real thing—glitters and all. And Mr. Haddock claims he won it off a fine-looking gentleman, he did!”

Mary frowned. “Now, if someone is going around with fake jewels, that is something to be concerned about.”

“Indeed,” Julia affirmed as Harriet put the finishing touches to her hair and handed her her bonnet and gloves. “In any case, it would be best if we are a bit more cautious.”

“Quite right.” Mary nodded as she pulled on her gloves. “Well, we had best be on our way before Mother starts to fuss…”

Julia nodded in agreement as the maids escorted them out the door where Lady Powell was waiting for them with less patience than she usually did. With a few scoldings in between, she managed to herd both of them into the carriage, and they arrived at Hyde Park just as Lord Cosby appeared on his own carriage.

What perfect timing!

Julia wanted to roll her eyes. There could only be so many coincidences on this earth, and she was willing to bet an arm and a leg that this was not one of them.

“Oh, Lord Cosby! What a pleasurable surprise seeing you here today!” Lady Powell preened as she subtly pulled Julia closer to her. “But I do not see Miss Ferguson today…”

“Oh… Theodosia is with our mother at Regent Street today,” Lord Cosby replied, smiling at Julia.

“Indeed, indeed!” Lady Powell nodded her head enthusiastically like a hen pecking on grains. “You know how young ladies are—we cannot have them dressed so shabbily, especially in London.”

“Quite right, My Lady. I have already instructed them to spare no expense on her wardrobe for this Season.”

Julia had to bite her lip to refrain from remarking that he could not stop himself from boasting about just how much money he had and how he was spending it on his sister so generously. When he turned towards her with a hopeful look in his eyes, she was of half the heart to refuse him.

It was not that she hated Lord Cosby, no. They were just so terribly different that she could not understand why he was so enamored with her when she had been so rude to him so many times already.

But when she thought about it, it was neither his ineptitude at witty conversations nor his persistence that truly annoyed her. It was the fact that he represented the prison she was forced to walk into by Society and all its expectations of her as a young, unmarried woman.

She heard her mother clear her throat. There were so many people at Hyde Park that she could not possibly refuse him without causing a scene. Not to mention that Mary was also there, and she knew that if she kicked up a fuss about a short walk around the park, it would cause her sister undue distress.

So, she sighed inwardly and smiled as she accepted his arm.

This is going to be the longest promenade of my life.

And as bad things could only get worse, who else should their little party come across but the Dowager Marchioness of Trowbridge herself with Andrew and Miss Seymour on his arm?

This was a day of far more coincidences than one should be forced to handle!

“Lady Powell!” Lady Trowbridge smiled widely at them. “How nice to see you all here today! Are you here to enjoy the fine weather yourselves? And with Lord Cosby, too!”

Julia tried her best to smile as pleasantly as she could, but her eyes kept straying to where Miss Seymour was hanging on so tightly to Andrew’s arm that she feared the young miss would cut off all circulation from that limb.

Almost immediately, Julia looked up at Andrew knowingly, and sure enough, she saw his suffering through his smiling facade. She would have laughed, too, at finding some sort of shared suffering with the man she disliked so thoroughly if it was not so outrightly rude to do so.

“Lady Powell,” Miss Seymour greeted with a demure smile and a slight bow. “Lord Cosby.”

Julia did not miss the slight flutter in her eyelashes when she looked at the Viscount. “Miss Seymour,” she gushed, “where did you get such a lovely emerald necklace?”

“Oh, this?” Miss Seymour preened, laying a hand on an emerald the size of a walnut on her chest. “A gift from my father, of course. He owns several mines in India, did you not hear?”

Almost immediately, Julia noticed the sudden cooling of the Dowager Marchioness’s smile as she regarded the woman on her son’s arm. A young lady may flaunt her wealth on her body to a certain degree, but it was considered vulgar to speak of it, especially in public.

Miss Seymour had been toeing the line by wearing an outrageous piece for a promenade in the park. Now, she had gone right over it by talking about her father’s business.

“How lovely,” Julia murmured. “I truly envy your good fortune. I would have loved to purchase some earrings for myself, but with the recent talk of—” she dropped her voice to a dramatic whisper “—inauthentic jewels, I was afraid to make some purchases.”

“I would never wear such things!” Miss Seymour looked horribly affronted.

Julia just smiled and nodded. “It is rather fortunate that Lord Tremaine has such successful business ventures.”

“Lady Julia,” Lord Cosby looked at her meaningfully, “would you like a necklace as well? I think a sapphire would suit you best.”

Julia merely smiled and shrugged. However, before she could open her mouth to reply to that, Andrew spoke up.

“Jewels are to be gifted only between lovers and spouses.” He leveled his gaze at Julia, who found her face warming up. “Or am I mistaken?”

“Of course not, My Lord.” She smiled. “I would do well to listen to your advice on this matter.”

She saw the look of supreme satisfaction on his face as he let the matter drop, and she nearly rolled her eyes at the display. Really, if he did not want Lord Cosby to gift her an obscenely large piece, he could not have made it any clearer!

She supposed she had to thank him, though, as she had no such plans to accept any such gift from the Viscount. But, of course, she would not admit it to Andrew outright, or else he would just hold it over her head and add it to her tally of debts…

* * *

Julia Lewis truly was brilliant in a rather frightening manner, and the fact that it made Andrew proud of her, rather than alarmed, was something that had not gone unnoticed by him as he smiled a little in his study, recalling how she had subtly maneuvered Miss Seymour to expose her true colors before his mother.

The Dowager Marchioness might have appeared to be a rather shallow lady in the past, interested only in fashion and gossip, but Andrew guessed that there was more to her than just that. The woman was also a rather astute judge of character.

Or maybe not so much, if she actually considered Miss Seymour a viable candidate for a daughter-in-law.

In any case, he had already caught a glimpse of the dismayed expression on her face when Miss Seymour aired out her father’s business in the park of all places. There would be no going back from that one.

A light knock on the door caused Andrew to look up from a document, to find his mother already walking into the room with a slight smile on her face.

“It appears that we have been mistaken about Miss Seymour,” she announced, grimacing slightly.

Andrew tried to hide his triumphant smirk by subtly raising an eyebrow at her. “Does this mean that you would like me to strike her off your list?”

“I suppose that would be for the best.” She sighed although she hardly looked regretful. “Lady Julia, though, is a rather interesting character. I actually like her. How unfortunate that she and Lord Cosby now appear to be courting. Andrew, you really should move faster, or there will be no eligible ladies left for you to marry!”

“Courting?” He snorted. “Lady Julia Lewis and Lord Cosby are most definitely not courting!”

The Dowager Marchioness looked surprised for a moment before a thoughtful expression crossed her face.

“In that case, my dear, why don’t you consider Lady Julia?” she asked. “She is quite beautiful and spirited, and I daresay that the girl has a good head on her shoulders. She would suit you rather well, I think.”

“Not in a million years,” Andrew retorted icily. “Mother, you seem to have forgotten all the scrapes she has gotten Selina into.”

“So, she is bold and audacious.” The Dowager Marchioness waved her hand dismissively. “But then, perhaps you are not confident enough to handle her fire…”

“Lady Julia Lewis is an ill-tempered shrew,” Andrew scoffed. “And heaven help the man who is forced to spend the rest of his life with her.”

He thought he saw his mother smile as she shrugged. “Well, Lord Cosby does seem up to the task…”

She did not say anything more, perhaps preferring to leave with just that parting line.

Andrew, however, felt incredibly cross and found himself unable to continue his work.

Why the hell do she and Lady Powell think that Lord Cosby is a good match for Julia? Anybody with eyes can see that they are the most ill-suited couple in the entire ton!