Chapter 23

CHAPTER23

All right… so maybe I am not as intrepid as I thought I was…

Julia squinted in the bright morning sunlight as the guests of Colman Park spilled out onto the carefully manicured lawn. Several tents had been erected in the periphery for the older ladies while the younger guests began chatting excitedly amongst themselves.

For that particular morning, the hosts had arranged for a game of Pall Mall, and the vast expanse of their estate permitted for an arcade to be set up.

There were very few games in which the ladies may mingle with the gentlemen, and Pall Mall was one of them which was why the younger, unmarried set was abuzz with delight. To make the game even more appealing to their guests, the hosts had even decided that they should play in pairs, with a gentleman and a lady in each team, which would have been considered quite scandalous in London—but the rules of etiquette were not so stringent in the country, after all.

“Oh, dear.” Julia sighed despondently, turning to her sister. “I had hoped we could team up for this particular game.”

Mary let out a slight laugh. “I have never been too fond of Pall Mall myself. Perhaps I can join Mama and the others.”

The others being the married ladies and the dowagers and—heaven help them—the spinsters of the lot.

“Mama would never allow it,” Julia told her sister. “Besides, I think Lord Wyndham does not have a partner yet…” She nudged her in the direction of a pleasant-looking young man with a smile that was almost as shy as Mary’s.

When Lord Wyndham saw that Mary still had no partner, his eyes lit up, and he walked over to her with two mallets in hand. “Lady Mary, will you be my partner for this game?” he asked softly.

Julia watched as her younger sister blushed and then nodded before she pushed Mary to join young Lord Wyndham.

They would make a lovely pair if they even managed to get over their shared timidity and talk to each other at least.

“Rather proud of your handiwork, aren’t you, Red?”

Julia stiffened and turned around to see Andrew grinning at her.

“I see that you still do not have a partner,” he remarked with an arched eyebrow.

“Neither do you, My Lord,” she replied tartly.

To his credit, he remained undeterred as a slow grin stretched his lips. “Perhaps you have been waiting for me?”

Julia felt warmth blooming in her cheeks and knew it had nothing to do with the sun. “You wish!”

He burst out laughing just as Miss Delaney called out to the both of them. “Lord Trowbridge! Lady Julia! I see you have already paired up together!” She smiled cheerfully as she waved them over to where the rest of the other players had gathered. “Come, we are about to start!”

“Oh, no, we are not—” Julia started when she felt a strong hand on her elbow. She looked up to find Andrew smiling pleasantly at her.

“Come along, Red. The game is about to start.”

She glared up at him, and he looked exceedingly proud of himself as he gently steered her towards the group. She saw Lady Amanda glaring at them.

“Unhand me, My Lord,” Julia hissed imperiously.

“Gladly.”

And with that, Andrew dropped her elbow so suddenly that she teetered on her feet for a moment before she righted herself with an indignant huff. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lord Cosby frowning at their entire exchange although he was too far to do anything about it.

She hoped Andrew’s presence would be enough to keep the Viscount from ingratiating himself to her and her family as he had attempted at breakfast before Lord Colman called to him to discuss business matters with the other gentlemen.

“Stop looking at him.”

She frowned. “What?”

“Cosby. Stop looking at him, Red.”

“I am not looking at him!”

“You are encouraging him,” Andrew said through gritted teeth.

Julia nearly burst out laughing. “Are you insane? Why would I encourage him?” she blurted out. “Or maybe you are jealous?”

She peered up at him and saw that his lips were pressed into a thin line—a sure sign that he was displeased about something.

“If I did not know that you were so intent on getting rid of the man, I might have wondered about your intentions myself,” he bit out. “I mean it, Red. Stop looking at him.”

Julia blinked. “All right.”

Andrew had to be going insane if he was actually jealous of Lord Cosby although that knowledge gave her a pleasurable thrill. Perhaps this “tension” between them, as he called it, was seriously addling his brain as it was addling hers.

In any case, it would be best if I kept my distance from him. Even if we are to pretend we’re courting, it does not mean we have to be joined at the hip!

Julia picked up her mallet and slung it over her shoulder as the first pair struck their ball. They were not very good at it, and it rolled weakly on the ground. Nonetheless, the rest of the party cheered them on as if they were the very best players in the whole of England. Miss Wentworth, it would appear, had the most supportive friends among them all.

The game proceeded, and even Mary and Lord Wyndham did rather well for themselves as they chose to slowly but surely send their ball closer to the iron hoop without disturbing all the others.

Andrew, Julia knew, had a competitive streak a mile wide, and they were quite close to winning when, out of the blue, Lady Amanda struck their ball viciously with her mallet, sending it flying clear off the arcade and into the woods.

Julia let out a cry of dismay, but Andrew held her back.

“Let’s go get our ball,” he told her quietly, but not before he sent Lady Amanda’s ball all the way back to the starting point.

The poor young lady gaped at him, perhaps shocked that he could behave in such an ungentlemanly way, while Lord Cosby simply glared at him helplessly. The Viscount never did like to lose, and Andrew had singlehandedly just caused him a major setback.

“Lord Trowbridge, will you be conceding this game?” Miss Delaney asked.

“Of course not,” Andrew answered confidently before heading off into the woods, in the direction their ball had disappeared.

Julia nearly burst out laughing at the extremely petty move. She was still shaking her head when she followed him into the woods, only to be suddenly yanked off her feet.

“What in the—”

She barely managed to voice out her affront when she felt his hungry lips on hers. Caught in surprise, her eyes widened before she responded in the only way she knew how.

She kissed him back.

* * *

Andrew had tried to keep his hands off her. He honestly did. He should have known right from the start that it was an exercise in futility. He would never be satisfied with just one night, and from the looks of it, neither would she.

We are doomed.

His lips slid against hers, his tongue intertwining with hers desperately.

And yet, he could not have thought of a better way to die than to be wholly wrapped up in all that she was.

Julia let out a soft moan as they parted, a noise that seemed more like a complaint than anything. He closed his eyes as he leaned his forehead against hers.

She was right, they could not carry on like this. It would drive them to the brink of insanity and ruination.

“My Lord, you promised,” she protested weakly as she leaned her cheek against his chest. Her hands curled into little fists. “You promised.”

“I know,” Andrew murmured as he stroked her back. “But I am not sorry. I wish I could tell you I was, but I am not.”

She laughed hoarsely. “You are a rake of the very worst sort.”

“And you are a beguiling temptress.”

She bristled and glowered at him. “I? A temptress?”

“You are.” He chuckled, pressing a kiss to her sweaty forehead. “Go ahead and ask any gentleman out there, and they will tell you the same thing.”

“No gentleman would ever call a lady such a horrid name,” she grumbled. “Only you would.”

“That is because you make me forget I am a gentleman,” he replied.

She sighed. “We really should go back, or…” She swallowed. “Or they will start talking.”

Talking was dangerous to a young lady’s reputation. There were many who had fallen from grace simply due to the wagging of tongues. Half the gossip in the ton had never even been confirmed. Having some sort of basis for rumors was enough to set off a scandal and ruin a family’s good name.

Julia was right to be anxious, for she was still unmarried and had an unmarried sister as well. If she was ruined, so would her sister, and if there was anything Andrew knew about Julia, it was that she would do anything for her younger sister.

The same way he would do anything for Selina.

“Perhaps a little talking can be helpful,” he said slowly.

She glared at him. “How can it help?”

“I have agreed to help you with your plan,” he told her seriously. “In exchange for one night, I will pretend to be your most ardent admirer, and we shall pretend that we are courting, completely besotted with one another.”

She nodded. “And so?”

“So, you have shied away from my touch at every turn. One might even say that you recoil at my presence,” he pointed out. “How can we convince the ton or even just your mother that we are courting if there is a constant distance between us?”

He saw twin red spots appear on her cheeks and found it completely adorable. Heaven help him, he found everything about her adorable, even when she was as prickly as a pineapple.

“You would not flirt with me or even talk to me,” he continued. “How the hell is this supposed to work?”

“Do not curse at me, Andrew Walford!” Julia bristled, her blue eyes shooting cold fire.

Almost immediately, Andrew felt regret, but he knew he needed to stand his ground, or they would be caught feigning the most awkward courtship in all the history of England.

Even more awkward, perhaps, than the attempts that Lord Cosby had been making these past few months.

“All right,” she finally relented. “We may touch.” Andrew felt his spirits soar, but then she added, “But only with a chaperone. Everything must be done properly.”

“I do not see why you insist so much on propriety,” he grumbled. “We are only pretending, after all.”

“Which is exactly my point,” she argued. “We cannot afford a scandal between us, or you will be forced to marry me!”

Now, that does not sound like a bad idea…

“Oh, do wipe that grin off your face, My Lord.” She rolled her eyes. “You have no desire to marry me.”

What grin?

Andrew had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

“So, I am not allowed to touch you,” he said in a low voice. “But you are not allowed to flirt with anyone else.”

She gaped at him. “Why not?”

“Because, my little temptress,” he said in a silky tone, “I find myself to be a most jealous suitor.”

“You-you cannot be serious!” Julia sputtered. “We are just pretending.”

“And I can be very good at pretending as long as you play your part as well.”

She pursed her lips. “I do not make promises I have no intention of keeping.”

“Well then, you may try,” Andrew relented in a grand gesture of magnanimity. “And we will just have to find out the hard way how I react when the lady I am courting bestows her favor upon another.”

“You are absolutely insane.”

“Perhaps.” He grinned at her. “But for now, we have a game to win.”

And with that, he swung his mallet and sent their ball flying out of the woods and back into the open lawn. He turned back and extended his hand to her.

Together, they stepped back onto the lawn and found most of the other players still fiddling around with their balls or knocking each other’s balls out of the way.

It turned out that even after a brief sojourn in the woods, their partnership was not to be underestimated, and to the great dismay of Lady Amanda Thornton, they still managed to win the game.

Also, Andrew decided that he liked the look of stifled rage on Lord Cosby’s face.