Chapter 13

CHAPTER13

On regular occasions, Julia would not have found the thought of getting up exceptionally early to go for a ride out at Rotten Row enjoyable, but she found herself in a rather cheerful mood as she led her mare down the well-trodden path with Andrew leading his own steed beside her at a sedate but comfortable pace.

A pity that Mary feels indisposed today. She would have loved to be out this fine morning.

Ahead of them, William was trying to teach Selina how to handle the new barouche he had acquired for their use. Julia smiled as she looked on at the scene, watching the stern Duke instructing his wife in a rather loving manner.

“It never fails to make my heart so glad that my dearest friend has found someone who truly loves and appreciates her,” she mused. She let out a soft laugh and shook her head. “I did not think at first that His Grace could ever be her true match when he is so cold and indifferent most of the time.”

“William has his fine points,” Andrew admitted. “But the best one of them is that he truly loves Selina.”

Julia snickered. “You forgot to mention he is also rather brave—she has nearly overturned that barouche twice!”

They both shared a look before they burst out laughing, shaking their heads as Selina once again managed to urge the horses a bit faster than she probably intended as evidenced by her surprised shriek when they began to pull the carriage along faster. Fortunately, William managed to control them just in time, before the situation could worsen.

It was still considered quite early, and the rest of the ton had not yet made it out of their beds to trod down the popular bridle path—something that Julia did not initially think she would enjoy as much.

But perhaps not as startling as the fact that I am actually enjoying his company.

She blushed as she slid her gaze to her side where Andrew was sitting upright on his majestic steed.

Riding was a necessary skill amongst the gentlemen of the ton, but she could not name anyone who she thought actually looked better on top of a horse than the Marquess of Trowbridge. She did not notice it before, but he had a certain air to him that put most of his contemporaries in the shade.

“Do you like what you see?” his low voice teased her softly.

Surprised, Julia jerked her gaze upwards to find him smirking at her, his dark eyes alight with mischief as his lips curled into a smile. Lips that had felt so good on hers…

She quickly shook her head and grinned back at him instead. “I am just wondering how your dear mother might be able to foist you on some poor, unsuspecting miss.”

“I shall have you know that it was much more difficult to rid myself of the candidates my mother came up with,” he reminded her with a smug smile.

Julia tightened her hands on the reins. Of course, there was that particular situation where he even had to request her help to help him fight off the young women his mother had in mind as suitable brides.

“Well, I do suppose you have an allure,” she relented. “After all, not many of us are keen enough to see through the inauthenticity of your charm.”

She nearly bit her tongue as soon as the words left her mouth, but Andrew only laughed out loud.

“It seems to work on you well enough, though,” he remarked with that same easy smile that made it hard for her to keep her horse walking down the path.

“You have already accused me of being shallow and mean in the past.” She smiled tightly at him. “Perhaps it is the shallowness in my nature that has thus been attractive to you.”

“Then I must be grateful for that side of you. It is so rare that you would acknowledge me thus.” He paused and then added, “Which is far more appreciation than you have shown poor Lord Cosby.”

She shot him a sly glance and raised her eyebrow. “Jealous?”

He let out a harsh laugh. “You wish, Lady Julia!”

And she did. Somewhere deep, dark, and depraved within her, she wished that Andrew Walford was actually jealous of another man courting her.

Because if she was being honest with herself, she might actually be a little jealous of these young misses who somehow made it into the list of possible brides that the Dowager Marchioness of Trowbridge approved for her son.

Just a little.

* * *

Julia would have wanted her morning at Rotten Row to have lasted a bit much longer, but alas, she had to return home and get changed to play polite hostess to callers.

Not that it would matter much, considering Lord Cosby’s ardent efforts have effectively scared off all the other gentlemen.

How was she to find a better alternative—one whom her mother might approve of—if Lord Cosby had deterred all of them?

But it was just as well perhaps, for a man who lacked the prerequisite courage to vie for his lady’s affections against other rivals was not a man Julia would have found herself attracted to.

Thus, it was with a sigh that she surrendered to her fate as she sat in the parlor with Lady Powell, who appeared to be enjoying a bit of embroidery, despite the gleam in her eyes that told Julia she had already received Lord Cosby’s card that morning. She did not even have to wait long before the butler announced the arrival of the Viscount.

“Oh, do send Lord Cosby in.” Lady Powell beamed widely.

Julia fought to hide her scowl as she put away the book she had been pretending to read, wondering what it would take to truly dissuade the Viscount from his suit.

“Good morning, Lady Powell, Lady Julia,” Lord Cosby greeted with a polite smile.

Both ladies curtsied in response. “Good morning, Lord Cosby,” they greeted back with much less enthusiasm on Julia’s part.

“Lady Julia, you look absolutely radiant today.”

Julia was certain she heard the same line countless times, but creativity was never the Viscount’s strongest suit, so she thanked him for the compliment, biting down the first one that came to mind when her mother shot her a warning look.

“Do sit down, Lord Cosby,” Lady Powell said when Julia failed to be more hospitable.

Lord Cosby nodded as he took the seat beside Julia on the couch. “I thought that I would come by to give you a gift,” he told her with a meaningful look. He carefully handed her a flat black box. “I shall not have you refusing it.”

Julia took the box gingerly, casting a doubtful look in her mother’s direction. Slowly, she opened it and gasped when she was nearly blinded by the monstrosity that lay inside. A brilliant necklace with five sapphires as large as her palm lay nestled in a bed of black velvet, each vividly blue stone surrounded by an array of smaller diamonds.

It was so luridly extravagant, so horribly gauche, that she could not help the gasp that escaped her mouth. Unfortunately, Lord Cosby seemed to have taken this as a favorable reaction.

“Oh my, Lord Cosby! That is certainly a most generous gift!” Lady Powell exclaimed when Julia found herself at a loss for words.

The Viscount smiled confidently at her and turned to Julia. “When you become my wife, you will have jewels dripping from your ears,” he vowed solemnly. “Your gowns shall be inlaid with pearls and embroidered with gold thread. You will be the envy of every lady in London.”

Perhaps such a declaration would have made any other young lady swoon in rapturous delight at the prospect of being showered in jewels, but Lord Cosby seemed to have forgotten that Julia was not like most other young ladies of the ton at all.

“While my mother is correct in that this is a very generous gift, is it not… inappropriate to give me this when we are not yet betrothed, My Lord?” Julia asked, still reeling from the shock of that necklace.

She saw her mother shoot her a scathing look, but it truly was too much of a gift when she could hardly even say they were courting.

“Oh, nonsense!” Lady Powell blustered. “It is all the fashion right now for young gentlemen to present a token of their affection!”

Notin the form of a sapphire necklace large and heavy enough to drown me in the Thames!

Even Andrew had remarked that jewels should only be gifted between lovers and spouses…

“Well, it is rather grand,” Julia muttered hesitantly. “But do you not think that this much is too overwhelming?”

“Your beauty would put everything in the shade, My Lady,” the Viscount reassured.

“And speaking of beauty,” Julia continued, despite her mother’s warning glare, “do you think that I am not beautiful enough without jewels?”

At that point, she heard something that sounded like a horrified gasp from Lady Powell and had no doubt that she would give her an earful once Lord Cosby left.

And how dearly Julia wanted him to leave already!

Perhaps if he had not been forced upon her, she might have found him a bit more tolerable. Unfortunately, with her mother breathing down her neck, urging her to accept this suitor of hers, all she could see was just how insufferable he was.

From the very beginning, instead of courting her mind and her heart, the Viscount had set out to dazzle her with his fortune and accomplishments. While that may have amazed his peers and even her parents, it was absolutely galling to Julia that he thought she would be persuaded to think of him more favorably if he displayed such grandiose wealth and generosity.

Instead, she found it insulting.

She would have preferred to spend her time verbally sparring with Andrew. Now that was a fresh and mentally stimulating exercise—nothing at all like the drab, boring courtship that Lord Cosby insisted on pursuing with her.

Unfortunately for her, it was the Viscount of Cosby and not the Marquess of Trowbridge who was sitting in their parlor right now.

Somehow, Julia felt a keen sense of loss when she thought about it.