Chapter 4

CHAPTER4

Men are such idiots!

Julia could barely contain the surprised gasp that escaped her. She watched in horrified amusement as Andrew Walford punched Lord Caraway right before her eyes.

Lord Caraway looked just as shocked as she was before he teetered most comically on his feet and then toppled over into a heap. For a moment, she feared that the Marquess had actually managed to kill him before he let out a soft groan.

All right… so he is quite alive.

“What did you do that for?” she hissed at Andrew as she pushed towards Lord Caraway. She turned him over to check if he had been… irreversibly damaged.

“There is nothing wrong with him except for his brain.” Andrew sounded as if he had just been thoroughly inconvenienced at having to incapacitate a man with a single punch. “I hope I might have fixed it for him.”

“Fixed it for him? Are you a physician?”

“No.”

“Are you trained in medicine?”

“Never in my life.”

“Then what makes you think you can fix him!?” Julia all but screamed at him.

“Why are you so concerned about him?” he flung back.

Julia glared at the man standing stubbornly before her. She had never met a more exasperating man in her entire life!

Andrew simply stared at her as if she was overreacting—which she probably was considering that Lord Caraway had made untoward advances that could have ruined her reputation. Still, Andrew had just rendered a man unconscious with a single blow in the middle of a ball.

If she had wished to avoid a scandal, there was an even greater risk of one now.

Andrew frowned at her. “I would have thought that you would be more grateful after I helped you out.”

“I am grateful,” she muttered, a little too petulantly. “But I could have taken better care of it myself, thank you very much.”

“How? Would you have thrown him over the balustrade?”

She shot him an incensed glare. “I am not a barbarian like you, My Lord!”

“Really?” Andrew drawled. “I would never have noticed.”

Julia wanted to scream. Instead, she crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him. She knew how to pick her battles, and this was one she could not win. She was already indebted to Andrew Walford, of all people, for coming to her rescue. She could, however, settle for a stalemate.

“All brawn and no brains.” She sighed dramatically. “I suppose one cannot have it all in life. Now, if you will excuse me.” She smiled up at him. “I believe I must go back in before my absence is noticed by the gossips.”

She daintily picked up her skirts and moved around Lord Caraway, who groaned in pain at her feet. Julia paused and then, with a wicked smile, delivered a swift kick to his shin.

“Oh, apologies, My Lord, but maybe next time you should pay more attention to what your company is saying.”

She feigned innocence as Lord Caraway glared at her. Then, she turned to the other person on the terrace.

“Thank you, Lord Trowbridge.” She smiled at Andrew from over her shoulder. “But I would appreciate it much more if no word of this ever gets out.”

She did not wait for his reply as she turned back to the ballroom when she felt strong fingers wrap around her upper arm. For a moment, she stiffened, recalling how Lord Caraway had gripped her harshly just a few moments ago.

But it was not Lord Caraway. It was Andrew.

Goosebumps erupted on the area where he touched her. Her heart started beating crazily in her chest when she realized their proximity.

“Are you sure you are all right?” he asked, looking down at her, his brow furrowed. “He did not hurt you, did he?”

She plastered a smile on her face. “It would take more than that to hurt me, My Lord. Now, if you will excuse me…”

She tried to pry his fingers off her arm but found them holding onto her fast. His grip was not hard enough to hurt, but she could hardly get away from him either.

And really, she should not be enjoying their closeness. This was Andrew Walford, for goodness’s sake!

I need to get away, or I fear he will drive me to madness.

He was so close to doing it, too. That slow, sensual smile that tilted his lips was doing unholy things to her sanity, and she briefly wondered how it would feel if she were to step just a little bit closer…

“Excuse you?” he drawled softly. “Not a chance in hell, Red. You owe me now, sweetheart.”

“No, I do not. I do not recall asking for your help!” Julia gritted her teeth and twisted away from his grip, drawing a surprised grunt from him.

The moment she was free, she hurtled towards the ballroom, slightly out of breath. If she dared to look back, heaven only knew what she would be possessed to do.

She craned her neck and found Mary and Selina by the refreshments table with Lord Cosby’s sister, Miss Theodosia Ferguson.

“Heavens, dear, are you all right?” Selina looked at Julia in concern. “You look like you have seen a ghost or something just as frightful.”

Oh, believe me, there is nothing more frightening than the living…

Julia plastered a smile on her face and shook her head. “I just came back from the dance floor with Sir Warren. The ballroom is rather hot, don’t you think?” She even fanned herself as if to prove her point.

Selina did not look too convinced but chose to say nothing about it. Mary, though, only looked at her with suspicion.

Julia met her sister’s gaze, silently pleading with her not to say a single word.

“Well, Miss Ferguson was just telling us how she finds Andrew absolutely charming.” Selina smiled.

Miss Ferguson blushed prettily. “He is a rather nice gentleman…”

“He is when he cares to be.” The Duchess laughed. “As his sister, I’m afraid my experience with him is quite different.”

“Oh.” Miss Ferguson smiled shyly. “If… you do not mind my asking, Your Grace, do you think there is something I can do for Lord Trowbridge? Something that he likes?”

Julia looked at the poor young lady willing to make a fool out of herself for Andrew Walford and tamped down the irrational anger that rose up in her belly.

“Why, you can get him a kitten, of course!” She beamed at Miss Ferguson.

“Pardon me? A kitten?” Theodosia asked as if to confirm she had heard correctly.

Selina opened her mouth to reply, but Julia turned the full force of her charm on poor Miss Ferguson. “The Marquess adores living creatures, great and small. A kitten would do just the trick. And then, it would remind him of you at every turn, would it not?”

“Truly?” Miss Ferguson breathed. “I did not know that he was such a compassionate person. I shall take your words into account, Lady Julia.”

Julia winked at her. “Trust me, he will love it.”

Selina looked as if she was going to say something when Lord Merrick appeared at Julia’s side.

“Lady Julia, I believe you owe me the next dance,” he reminded in that suave manner that most gentlemen liked to adopt before the ladies.

Julia made a show of perusing her dance card, watching him squirm a little, before smiling widely at him. “Why, thank you for reminding me, Lord Merrick. I do believe that the next dance is yours.”

Lord Merrick seemed to smile in relief as he held his arm out for her to take. Before she could slide her gloved hand into the crook of his arm, however, Selina pulled her aside.

“Julia, what did you do that for?” Selina hissed. “You know cats make Andrew sneeze like crazy!”

Julia just grinned at her best friend. “Oh, I am well aware of that particular fact.”

Selina could only shake her head as Julia blithely sashayed onto the dance floor on Lord Merrick’s arm.

The next dance was a quadrille and just lively enough to take Julia’s mind off Andrew and the events that transpired on the terrace. She bowed to her partner and cast him a flirtatious smile, enjoying how it seemed to fluster him as the music began to play.

Dancing was something that Julia enjoyed immensely. From the moment her mama had hired a dance tutor for her, she had taken to her lessons like a fish to water, and Lady Powell was well-pleased that her eldest daughter would prove to be so proficient at it.

Julia also had to admit that she was quite adept at flirting while she was at it, and she took immense pleasure in the exchange, particularly if her partner was just as skilled.

Lord Merrick was doing rather well for himself.

“You are such a talented dancer, Lady Julia.” He smiled at her. “It is always an honor to be able to dance with you.”

She laughed a little. “You are not half-bad yourself, Lord Merrick.”

“Only because a beauty like you makes me look better,” he returned with sham humility.

The gentlemen were always like this—they liked to flatter the ladies and humble themselves although Julia was well aware that it was nothing more than just a farce, just mere steps in the same dance over and over again…

She smiled and turned away from her dance partner, only to whirl into Andrew’s arms.

“Trowbridge!” Lord Merrick cried out indignantly.

Andrew barely batted an eyelash as he expertly twirled Julia in place. “Pardon me, but I believe the lady owes me this dance.”

“Well, I would hate to—” Lord Merrick huffed, trying to be polite, before he strode out of the dance floor.

“What did you do that for?” Julia hissed. “Could you not have waited for your turn like any sane person would do?”

Andrew’s lips were curled into a smile as if nothing was wrong. “You still owe me, Red.”

“So you keep reminding me, and not even an hour has passed!” Julia glowered at him. “And stop calling me Red. It is most undignified!”

“I would stop if you were not wont to forget.”

He held her close as they twirled around the dance floor. Julia had never before danced with Andrew—he had never asked, and she simply saw no reason to.

To her surprise, she found that he was probably one of the best dance partners she had ever had, and she danced quite a lot since her coming out. Her dance card was always full, after all.

“And while we are on the subject of etiquette, it was rude of you to walk out on me like that, Red,” he told her softly. “And after I helped you, at that.”

She gawked at him. “You cannot possibly be hurt by that.”

“We did not even get to finish our conversation.”

“What do we even have to talk about?”

He sighed. “How quickly one does forget.”

Julia was on the verge of stomping her foot in frustration if she was not enjoying their dance so much. With her previous partners, it felt like they were simply going through the motions but not Andrew.

He was actually dancing with her, leading her around the dance floor in intricate steps no one else had ever attempted with her. When he twirled and caught her, she did not even have to look over her shoulder to make sure that he was not going to miss and embarrass them both.

For the first time in a long while, she was actually enjoying dancing and not just flirting.

“Well, what do you want?” she finally asked him in exasperation. “You keep telling me I owe you something. Do you need me to punch a suitor for you as well?”

“Perhaps.” He smiled secretively at her. “Meet me in the study in fifteen minutes,” he whispered in her ear as the music drew to a close.

They bowed to each other, and without another word, Andrew strode off the dance floor amidst a round of applause, leaving her standing alone and looking rather foolish.

He did not even see fit to escort me back to my friends!

Andrew Walford, the Marquess of Trowbridge, truly was a menace, and now, she was indebted to him.