Chapter 22

CHAPTER22

Andrew had known that Julia was going to be difficult to pursue. He had even prepared himself for it. However, nothing prepared him for the seething rage he felt when she smiled brightly at Lord Montgomery while she pointedly ignored him from across the table.

It had to be one of her schemes. She had to know how she was twisting him up in knots even as he tried to deny it vehemently to himself as he stabbed at the roast beef on his plate.

“Andrew,” Selina hissed through a brilliant smile, “what is wrong with you tonight?”

His sister and her husband had arrived at Colman Park late that afternoon, so Selina was not privy to the frustration that had been brewing inside him for the better part of the day.

“I think your brother means to eviscerate the plate as well as the beef, my love,” William replied with a knowing grin.

Andrew cursed his best friend under his breath as he stuck the beef into his mouth. The flavors hardly registered on his tongue. He supposed it should taste fine as Lord and Lady Colman had spared no expense on this lavish house party for their distinguished guests.

But for Andrew, all he could taste was Julia’s lips on his, and it was driving him mad to see her deliberately disregard him in favor of a bumbling dandy like Lord Montgomery. It was a novel experience and one he found extremely galling, to say the very least.

At dinner, he had intended to have a word with her, but she had purposefully surrounded herself with a gaggle of unmarried young ladies, knowing how averse he was to approaching any young lady who was currently unspoken for.

Well, Julia was going to find out just how difficult it was going to be to avoid him. His devious little redhead might think she could run from him, but she could not run forever.

And it was precisely the case when he finally cornered her in one of the empty hallways after dinner, when the ladies had moved into the drawing room and the gentlemen were discussing business and politics over cigars and brandy.

He had been watching her from the corner of his eye nearly the whole night, and when she slipped out of the drawing room, he was more than ready to give chase.

“Going somewhere, Red?”

He watched in satisfaction as she stiffened upon hearing his voice before slowly turning to meet him, her blue eyes spitting cold fire.

“Have you been following me, My Lord?” Julia asked with an elegantly arched brow.

Andrew fought to keep himself from noticing how her arms, which she had crossed over her chest, pushed her breasts up all the more. He found that he had a distinct liking for those soft mounds of flesh, but he knew that Julia would not be pleased to hear that particular thought at the moment.

“I thought we had an agreement, Red,” he told her softly as he stepped towards her.

She took a step back, her gaze wary, and he grinned as he approached her further.

“I told you not to call me that,” she shot back.

He nearly groaned as he watched her little pink tongue dart out to briefly lick her bottom lip.

“We were supposed to be courting, remember?” he reminded with an expression of mock disappointment. “And yet, you have been avoiding your most ardent suitor for the better part of the day.”

“You are not my most ardent suitor,” Julia pointed out. “Lord Cosby is far more persistent to my eternal dismay.”

“Don’t,” Andrew warned, bracing his arm against the wall behind her. “Don’t you dare mention another man’s name.”

This close, he could smell the faint fragrance she wore on her hair and her skin, and it was sending him into a precarious spiral. He watched as her nostrils flared slightly, the black in her eyes nearly swallowing the blue.

So, he was not the only one so affected. He could not help but smile even more.

“I could help you get rid of Lord Cosby,” he murmured, tilting her chin up so that she would not be able to avoid his gaze. “I promised you, did I not?”

“You also said just one night.”

Andrew sighed. “That is impossible, Red, and you know it.”

She lifted her chin defiantly. “Then all bets are off, My Lord. If you cannot keep your word, then how am I supposed to trust you at all?”

“Explain to me,” Andrew said harshly, “how are we supposed to display to the whole world that we are courting when you insist on my not being able to touch you?”

Her cheeks colored, and she looked down. “We must adhere to etiquette, of course.”

The rules of Society had been set, but they were also disregarded with equal ease by members of the ton. It was ridiculous that Julia, who was notorious for bending the rules herself, was insisting that they strictly adhered to protocol.

“You do realize how absurd that is, do you not?” he scoffed. “You expect the entire party to believe that we are courting when you look as if you could hardly stand my touch?” He heard her mutter something under her breath and frowned. “What did you say?”

She looked up at him with an incensed glare. “I said,” she hissed, “that it is not that I can hardly stand your touch but that it distracts us both far too much!”

Andrew stilled and gaped at her. For a moment, he considered kissing her, but they were out in the hallway where anyone could chance upon them. Their very posture was already quite scandalous. If anyone saw them in such a compromising position, the whole of Colman Park would be in an uproar that very night.

“You do not wish to marry.” She sighed. “Whereas I simply do not wish to marry Lord Cosby. I cannot risk ruination and scandal… I just cannot.”

She is right.

Their every encounter heightened the tension between them, threatening to ignite them both with every look, with the slightest touch.

If Julia was to continue as an eligible young lady even after their courtship, then everything they did must be above reproach. Otherwise, she would become a veritable pariah once their farce was over.

Still, the thought of another man marrying Julia Lewis after all this rankled Andrew’s very soul.

He closed his eyes and drew his hands back to his side. “I do not wish to cause your ruination,” he told her softly. “I only wish that you would not recoil from me.”

With great effort, he turned and walked away from her, leaving her standing there alone in the empty hallway.

Did I just beg Julia Lewis?

Andrew shook his head with a rueful smile as he raked his hand through his thick, dark hair. He had never been so vulnerable in expressing his feelings to a woman before, and to think he had done so with Julia, the woman who sought to disagree with him at every turn.

She was driving him mad, yes, but he found that he enjoyed it exceedingly well.

* * *

Julia fought to keep her composure as she walked back to the drawing room to join the other young ladies. In her absence, the gentlemen seemed to have finished their discussion and had joined them. The furniture had even been moved aside to make some space for dancing.

“Julia, is something amiss? You seem to have been gone quite a while,” Mary remarked quietly upon her return.

Julia shook her head. “Was my absence quite noticeable?”

“Only to those who were looking out for you,” Mary replied.

Julia inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when her sister added, “Lord Trowbridge seems to be missing as well.”

Recalling their conversation in that empty hallway, she felt the warmth rising up in her cheeks. He had been so close that if she so much as put her hands up, she would have touched his chest, feeling his heartbeat beneath her palms like she did that night at his townhouse. If she stood on tiptoe, she could have kissed him…

She shook her head as Mary laughed softly at her almost dazed expression.

“I suppose I do not need to ask anymore,” her sister teased. “All the answers are already written on your face.”

“You seem to be enjoying my predicament,” Julia groused.

“Not at all in the way you are thinking, no.” Mary grinned at her. “But… you have always been so sure of yourself, always in control. Perhaps it is nice to let go of things sometimes.”

Julia had never thought she would hear such words from her cautious, timid sister. It was always Mary who advised her to be more careful, especially in her dealings with gentlemen. It was highly unlikely for her to encourage such wanton behavior.

“Who are you, really, and what have you done with my sister?” Julia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Mary simply laughed and looped her arm through Julia’s. “I am your sister, and I would like to think I know you best. I know that despite the cheerful front you have been putting on, laughing and teasing us all as if you had not a care in the world… in spite of all that, you are just a little bit scared, like I am.”

“Scared of what?”

“Of what the future holds for us,” Mary replied softly. “You dare not gamble with your marriage prospects because you realize that even if you marry a gentleman with both a fortune and a title, it does not signify that you would actually be happy.”

Her sister was right. Marriage and misery were not mutually exclusive. There were those who were of the opinion that if one married into poverty, then it could only end in much hardship, but Julia had observed much of what the ton believed to be good matches, and very rarely did these couples ever find true happiness. One might even speculate that some were quite miserable, choosing to wipe their tears with diamonds and silks while putting on a brave face for the rest of the world.

“If Selina can find happiness, then there is still hope for us,” Julia murmured.

“Yes, she did pave the way for us, in a way.” Mary nodded. “But you have to understand, also, that our dear friend did not attain all that without a little risk and heartbreak.”

“I know.” Julia sighed. “I simply wish to place my bets somewhere… safer, I suppose.”

“Perhaps.” Mary smiled mysteriously. “Perhaps this person of yours also feels like you are too much of a gamble, but still chooses to take that risk.”

“Mary!”

“Fortune favors the bold, Sister.” Mary winked at her. “How will you know if you never take the chance?” She nodded subtly, and Julia followed her gaze to where Andrew had just entered with a charming grin, looking like the perfect gentleman.

Julia noted how most of the female gazes swiveled in his direction, and she felt a growing indignation in her chest. She wanted to go straight up to him and demand… things she knew she had no right demanding.

But then, he caught her gaze from across the room, and the slow smile that lit up his handsome features left her reeling on the spot. Suddenly, it felt as if the whole world simply fell away, and all that was left was the both of them.

Julia shook her head as she self-consciously cupped her flaming cheeks while her sister looked at her with that same knowing smile.

Perhaps she already had her answer. Perhaps she already knew it all along in her heart.

Julia Lewis had fallen in love with Andrew Walford, the Marquess of Trowbridge, and heaven help her, for she had never been more scared in her entire life.