Chapter 34

CHAPTER34

I can’t believe this is happening…

A scandal of the magnitude that Julia was now facing devastated their family in one fell swoop. Their once lively parlor was now devoid of the usual callers, and the servants did not even bother dusting everything daily now that the family had no guests to entertain.

In the three days since they fled back to London from Colman Park, Andrew had not even bothered to call on her once, and Julia was afraid that he was furious with her. Although Selina had sent word that she would help sort things out, Julia could only thank her, but she expected nothing would come out of it.

But not all was as hopeless as it seemed, for Lady Amanda had only claimed to have seen her with a gentleman. She did not exactly specify who it was, and that in itself was already quite dubious.

Knowing Andrew, he should have figured things out already, but why had he not come to her yet?

She had been so deep in thought that she did not even hear the soft knock on her door.

“My Lady?” Harriet peered at her from the doorway. Even her own maid looked more wan than usual. “My Lady, Lady Powell has instructed me to help you prepare. Lord Trowbridge is in the parlor right now, and he wishes to speak with you.”

At the mention of Andrew, Julia immediately brightened up, but then she thought of how it had taken him so long to seek her out, and she immediately felt her excitement dissipating.

“All right,” she relented in a defeated voice. “Please assist me in getting ready to meet the Marquess.”

Since Julia was not in the mood to face anyone at all, she let Harriet choose the dress and the style of her hair this time. Although the maid appeared thoroughly disheartened to see her mistress so dispirited, she still did her best to give her the semblance of her usual vivacity.

However, it had never been the clothes that made Julia so vibrant but her very spirit itself, and now, she felt defeated.

She wordlessly made her way down to the parlor. When Andrew saw her, he immediately stood up, but she did not even bother to glance his way.

“You have bothered yourself to come all this way, My Lord,” she told him quietly. “Have you come to break off our arrangement?”

He frowned. “Julia, that is not what I came here to do.”

“Then what did you come here for?” she asked.

What took you so long? Do you know how I have been longing to hear from you since all this chaos broke out?

Before Andrew could say anything, though, the butler announced the arrival of the Viscount of Cosby, and Julia nearly laughed out loud.

Great. Now, at least Lord Cosby will see Andrew ending our courtship. Now, my humiliation will be complete.

“Lord Cosby?” Andrew glowered. “What the hell is he doing here?”

“Why, I came here to explain my involvement in this fiasco, of course.”

Julia turned around to find Lord Cosby striding confidently into the parlor, wearing a smile that seemed more sinister than reassuring.

“Lord Cosby, whatever do you mean?” Lady Powell demanded. “How are you involved in all this?”

The Viscount had the temerity to look sheepish, even as Julia looked at him coldly, and Andrew looked as if he might tear him to shreds if he dared to say something out of turn.

“I meant to clarify that the gentleman that Lady Amanda was referring to that night,” Lord Cosby said slowly, his gaze flicking over to Julia. “The one who was with Lady Julia that night at Colman Park. That man was me.”

“No,” Julia returned coldly. “It was not you.”

“Yes,” he countered firmly. “It was me, and I can prove it.”

“Good heavens, I cannot believe this!” Lady Powell looked to be on the verge of fainting. “How could this be?”

The Viscount affected the demeanor of one who was most regretful. “When I met with Lady Julia that night, I was more than a little devastated. After all, she made no mention of Lord Trowbridge in all the time I had been calling on her. But she told me that she still held me in her heart. That her courtship with Lord Trowbridge was a farce.”

“Liar.” Julia looked at him in cold fury. “You and I both know it was not you.”

Andrew looked at her and wordlessly stood between her and the Viscount, shielding her from him like an implacable, broad-shouldered wall of muscle.

However, that did not stop Lord Cosby at all for he plowed on with a single-mindedness that was almost foolhardy.

“Yes, she did.” Lord Cosby looked at Julia with cold triumph gleaming in his pale eyes. “And I can prove it.”

He drew something from his coat pocket. It was a small thing, really. Barely the length of her middle finger. However, the shy twinkle it gave off was far more blinding than any chandelier could hope to achieve.

It was her missing hairpin.

“Lady Julia gave this to me as a token,” Lord Cosby announced to everyone in the room. “And right now, I swear I will do right by her—I will marry her to put an end to this scandal.”

Julia felt the urge to applaud the man. She had thought him lacking in boldness and creativity, yet his intricate scheme had her tied up so neatly that there was no hope of her ever managing to escape from it.

Not unless she wanted to drag everybody else down with her.

She looked at Andrew and saw his jaw clench as tightly as his fists. She feared then that she had lost him. And that he had lost her when he chose to believe somebody else over her.

“I suppose there is no need for further explanation,” Lady Powell said, her voice soft and cold as she shot her daughter a withering glare. “Lord Cosby shall see my husband as soon as possible. Now, if you please.”

“Of course, Lady Powell.” Lord Cosby bowed respectfully as he shot Julia and Andrew a triumphant smile. “I shall take my leave, then.”

Julia watched as he calmly walked out of the parlor and headed upstairs towards her father’s study. She had never hated a man as much as she hated the Viscount at that moment.

“Lord Trowbridge.” Lady Powell was pale, but she retained a dignified air. “I wish to speak to my daughter alone.”

Andrew cast a worried glance at Julia, but she just nodded at him.

“Will you be all right?” he asked her softly, casting a doubtful glance at the Countess.

She tried to muster a confident smile. “Of course, I will be. You know how I am—I will always find a way.”

Her tone conveyed more optimism than she actually felt.

Andrew just looked at her a little longer, but she just nudged him towards the door. He was still frowning when he left.

When he did, that was when she felt the immensity of her predicament crash upon her.

As Julia stood there, rendered numb and mute by the recent turn of events, she could not help but think that her life had ended just when she thought it had finally begun.

* * *

Andrew barely looked up when William walked in to join him at the newest gentlemen’s club in London which was becoming renowned for its extreme exclusivity. Not just anyone could get within its hallowed halls, and only the most valued patrons could access its individual rooms.

“Are you trying to decipher how to make whiskey now?” William asked as he poured himself a glass.

“No, not really. Not unless Julia wants it, of course.”

William raised an eyebrow at this. “What does Lady Julia have anything to do with this?”

“Nothing. Everything. I don’t really know,” Andrew muttered in frustration, raking his hand through his hair. “All I know is that I want her more than anything in this world, and I would do anything for her.”

“Sounds like you care a great deal for the young lady.”

“Caring for her is too simplistic a term.”

William set his glass down and looked at his friend intently. “You have feelings for the lady.”

“Not just any feelings,” Andrew replied hoarsely. “I love her. More than anything in this world.”

“Ah.” William leaned back with a self-satisfied smile.

“What do you mean by that?” Andrew frowned.

“Well, it took you long enough to realize it.” William chuckled. “And here Selina thought I was incredibly slow in figuring it out. Apparently, you have broken my record.”

“Whatever.”

William finished his glass and poured himself another. “With the scandal at Colman Park, what do you intend to do now?”

“Rumors are one thing, but now, there are even scandal sheets shouting it from the rooftops,” Andrew scoffed in disgust. “Still, I could have easily taken care of it if not for that damned Lord Cosby.”

“Lord Cosby?”

Andrew angrily poured himself another glass. “He showed up at Powell Estate today just a little after I did and told Lady Powell that it was him that Julia was with that night. He even has her bloody hairpin.”

William leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful expression. “Do you believe Lord Cosby, then?”

“Not as far as I can throw him, no.”

“But do you believe Lady Julia?”

Andrew frowned as he thought of his friend’s question. He had always been so sure of himself and his place in the world. However, since Julia crashed into his life, she had managed not only to add color to it but also turn it upside down and inside-out.

Now, nothing was really what it seemed.

“Honestly, I do not know,” Andrew admitted softly.

William smiled and poured him another glass.

“Well then, let us start with Lord Cosby.” He smiled easily. “What do you have on him?”

Andrew clenched his hand into a fist. Lord Cosby’s story was much too straightforward that it was almost difficult to believe. Somehow, there was something missing in his rather expedient confabulation, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

After all, there were not too many coincidences in this world.

And heaven help him when he got his hands on the evidence because he was going to end the Viscount for daring to mess with Julia.