by Abby Ayles
“I am not,” Juliana retorted, and urged her horse forward with a flick of the reins before he could produce an angry reply.
“I should like to see that,” Mary was saying as Juliana caught pace with them.
“See what?” she asked.
“I have just been describing our home to Lady Mary,” John said affably. “It is quite grand, indeed. Though I expect I shall not often see it again once I am settled in my rectory.”
“You don’t plan to return home?” Juliana asked.
“Why should I?” John smiled. “I shall be perfectly happy in my parish. I will have all I need there. Enough room to live, a purpose in caring for the poor people who cannot fend for themselves in the light of the Lord, and a pretty wife beside me.”
Juliana resisted the urge to shudder.
“What about polite company?” she asked. “Will you not want for that?”
“I will have the people of the parish,” John said, looking ahead as if he could see the future. There was an annoyingly pleasant look on his face, as if what he saw made him very happy indeed. “I am sure that senior members of the church will call from time to time. And, of course, children will fill the home in due course.”
“That sounds lovely,” Mary said.
Juliana shot her a sharp glare, which earned her only a guilty expression in response.
“I do rather think so,” John said, with a look on his round face so foolish that Juliana could not help but hate him all the more for it.
From then she fell silent, as silent as she could be. Politeness required a murmur here and there, but Mary and John managed to get along well without her input for the most part.
What a dreadful picture of married life they would make, Juliana thought. A husband and wife only able to tolerate one another’s presence when her best friend intervenes to carry the conversation! Yet another reason why cousin John would not do – not at all.
She just had to find a way to make it so that she could marry Christopher instead. She was beginning to wonder if she wouldn’t have to run off with him in some scandal in order to make it happen before John Woode was forced to offer her his hand.
Chapter 14
“We must find an existing captain, convince them to leave, dishonor them, or somehow otherwise undermine them so that a position becomes available.”
Jasper had announced his scheme a few days before, leaving Christopher speechless.
He hadn’t liked the idea then, and he still didn’t like it now, but he couldn’t see another way to achieve his goal. So, reluctantly, he had started to entertain the prospect of this scheme and its merits. He had started squelching his guilt under the boot of necessity.
Not very effectively, however.
“So, what’s your plan?” Christopher asked now, looking dubiously at his friend.
Jasper wore an excited expression on his face, which was never a good sign. In fact, the last time he had seen it, they had been chased out of Hampshire by what could only be described as an angry mob. To make matters worse, Christopher had been asleep during whatever it was Jasper had done to raise their ire, and had only had enough time to dress in a sloppy manner before they had to be on a coach and away.
“We’re going to plant some evidence in his quarters,” Jasper said, with the fierce kind of enthusiasm that indicated he was very much invested in his plan - and also that he thought it to be an excellent one.
“Slow down,” Christopher said, shaking his head. “In whose quarters, to begin with?”
“Captain Brazen,” Jasper said.
That was enough to start a sinking feeling in the pit of Christopher’s stomach already.
Captain Brazen was a man of their company who had an excellent reputation. He was known far and wide for the integrity and honor with which he comported himself. In fact, it was easy to see for anyone who had spent any time with the man at all that honor was the defining principle by which he had lived his life.
He was, in that sense, the direct opposite of Jasper - though Christopher did not say as much out loud.
Even to begin with, the idea of Captain Brazen leaving his commission was as alien as the idea of the sun quitting its role in the sky. He was an army man, through and through. The general expectation was that he would proceed through the ranks due to his good conduct, rather than being the type of man that might have to buy his way up.
He was from a very good family, but he had not bought his way into the captaincy either. He had earned it, fair and square. He had served his time as a lieutenant, just as they were doing now.
“Why Captain Brazen?” Christopher asked, his mouth feeling strangely dry. “Isn’t there a better candidate? Perhaps a man who might be more easily trapped?”
“Captain Brazen is the best possible candidate,” Jasper explained, slowly as if he were talking to a child. He used exaggerated hand gestures to illustrate his point. “He is such an honorable man that, even though he won’t have done anything wrong, he will accept being dismissed from his position with grace. He might even decide that it’s a fair decision. You know these righteous types, there’s always some kind of wickedness hidden down deep.”
Christopher thought about Captain Brazen. The man was married, with two young children, and Christopher had personally witnessed him donating his son’s old toys to the poor folk who lived close by the barracks. It certainly didn’t seem as though there was any wickedness hidden in him, however deeply.
“But what kind of… evidence are you suggesting?” he asked, feeling as though he was about to like the plan even less.
“First, we steal something from another captain’s quarters,” Jasper said, holding up a finger and then adding another beside it. “Then, we sneak into Captain Brazen’s quarters while he’s out and put it in there. I’m thinking medals, maybe. Something easy to trace.”
Christopher balked a little. “Stealing the medals is risky. What if we get caught doing it?”
“No risk, no reward,” Jasper winked. “Besides, it’s an easy solution. We simply have to avoid getting caught.”
Christopher sighed. “Even assuming we get all of this done, what if the Captain just laughs it off? They might assume it was a prank and simply put the medals back where they came from.”
“You’re right, it might not be quite far enough to get him out of the army,” Jasper nodded. “Which is why I will also plant something else at the same time as the medals.”
“And what would that be?”
Jasper winked again. He looked incredibly pleased with himself. “This past week I made some visits to the less decent women of Bath,” he said. “I have some choice items I will scatter around the room – behind the bed, inside a trunk, and so forth. Some mementoes that the ladies provided me with. Of course, they were far from being ladies!”
Christopher stared at him with his mouth agape for a moment. “The Captain is married,” he finally managed, shocked.
“Precisely,” Jasper said. “And that is why his shame will be so great upon having these things discovered in his quarters. In fact, I believe he will most likely resign his position in order to stop the word spreading. He’ll cut some kind of deal with the Major and that’s that.”
“But Captain Brazen is a good man,” Christopher said, after a long pause.
He was convinced utterly that Jasper’s plan would work. That was the problem – it was complete genius. But if it did work, then an innocent and decent man was going to be ruined.
“Like I said, that’s how we know it would work,” Jasper said. “There are plenty of other captains who would take it on the chin, perhaps even bring on a duel to settle matters. That won’t work for our purposes. We need a commission available, and we need to do it in such a way that it won’t be traced back to us. A man who will quietly resign is best.”
“He doesn’t deserve to lose his commission,” Christopher said quietly.
“And do you deserve to be a lieutenant forever?” Jasper asked pointed
ly. “The world isn’t about deserving - it’s about going out and getting something. If you get this done, you’ll have Juliana. Don’t you think that you deserve her?”
“I will, when I’m a captain,” Christopher said, trying to swallow. His mouth was so interminably dry!
“So, for the love of a woman, let’s get this done. I need you to work with me, Christopher. It can’t be done by one man alone. There must be one of us to take the medals and plant everything, and one of us to serve as a lookout. We may even have to distract the man if he comes back unexpectedly.”
That was a terrible thought. Getting caught in the act!
“You would risk this for me?” Christopher asked, surprised and a little touched at how far Jasper was willing to go.
“Of course,” he replied. “And when the time is right, my friend the new Captain will be sure to help me find my commission too.”
Christopher nodded. “You know I would help you, even if you were not the one to get me there.”
“But I will be,” Jasper said, grinning. “All you have to do is agree, and then stand out in a corridor every now and then while I do the rest of the work.”
Christopher considered things for a moment.
He wanted Juliana desperately, he really did. This would put her within his reach at last. Not to mention the fact that Jasper would be taking an equal risk – so it was not as though he would be on his own. And what Jasper said was true: if you wanted something, you had to take it.
“How soon do we start?” he asked slowly.
Jasper laughed and clapped him soundly on the back. “That’s the spirit! As soon as we can. Now that we’re back in the barracks, I’m sure the opportunity will present itself post-haste.”
“I’m sure it will,” Christopher agreed, but in the back of his mind, a little voice was still challenging him about if this really was the right way to go about things. A voice that was in truth an assembly of voices.
The voice of his father, and that of his mother.
The voice of Edmund, his older brother.
And finally, a male voice he didn’t quite recognize.
For Juliana, he silenced them all.
Chapter 15
“I am not looking forward to this,” Juliana said, tugging anxiously at the collar of her dress.
“Stop fiddling,” Mary told her. “And do calm down. I’m sure it will be fine. It is just a dinner like any other.”
“It is not a dinner like any other, I assure you,” Juliana said, studying her reflection in a small glass on the mantlepiece. “Mama insisted I wear my best dress tonight. That is an ominous sign if ever I saw one.”
“If you are right, then surely it can only mean some intention to impress the Baroness,” Mary said, biting her lip. “Though they must know that you have seen her often enough already.”
“Such is the ritual of courtship,” Juliana sighed. “I believe they mean to display my finery so that I might demonstrate my suitability as a wife.”
Mary finished making last-minute adjustments to the ribbons in Juliana’s hair – the pink ribbons that Christopher had given her.
“How awful,” she said. “What do you propose to do?”
“Well, I can hardly tell them in defiance that I have chosen my husband already,” Juliana sighed, smoothing down the front of her skirt with a distracted hand. “There has been no betrothal made, and besides which, Christopher wants to wait until he is a captain. He feels, and rightly so, that they will never accept him in his current position.”
“And will they accept him as a captain?” Mary asked softly.
Juliana glanced at her with some alarm. “I can only hope as much,” she said. “You do not think they will agree?”
“Even above that,” Mary murmured, ducking her head so that she did not meet Juliana’s eyes. “Do you really believe he will manage it?”
Juliana stopped moving for a moment. She felt as if all the air had been taken out of her lungs.
But then she was able to breathe again, because she knew what she believed.
“I do,” she affirmed. “I know that Christopher will do it. Because he loves me enough that he will make it happen at any cost.”
“It may be out of his control,” Mary said. “The army is not known for offering a wealth of commissions at present. I have heard the officers complaining about the lack of opportunity when they visited my father. Will you really wait for him to achieve it, regardless of the time it takes?”
Juliana paused long enough to think about her answer. She felt that she had to be sure and firm about this.
Searching within herself, it was with some surprise that she realized she was. “I will,” she said.
Mary nodded as if everything was settled. “Then you will have to do your best to dissuade John Woode from offering his hand, and I will do what I can also.”
“Thank you, dear Mary,” Juliana said, pausing to squeeze her friend’s hand. “I do not know where I would be without you, verily. Come, then. Let us enter the lion’s pit.”
Mary giggled at her choice of words, and they descended the stairs together.
The scene at dinner was much as Juliana had predicted – perhaps even worse.
It seemed clear that the Baroness had no intention of hiding her meaning. This was no subtle dance. She wanted information, and she made it clear that she would have it.
“Have you learned embroidery to a high degree?” the Baroness asked. “We might wish to see some samples of your work.”
“I have, my lady,” Juliana said, proffering her cuffs. “I added this floral beading to my cuffs, here. The dress was quite plain before I worked upon it.”
The Baroness examined the work with her head tilted back and her eyes narrowed, then harrumphed and went back to her food. “And you have learned languages?”
“I speak French, thanks to the work of my governess,” Juliana said.
“Est-ce que c’est vrai?” the Baroness barked quickly.
“Oui, Madame, depuis j’avais dix ans.”
The Baroness pushed food into her mouth, clearly satisfied with the proof she had seen so far.
“Juliana is a very accomplished dancer,” the Duchess put in. “She has not missed a step in any of her public dances.”
Except for one, Juliana thought, exchanging a guilty look with Mary.
“As to her being a third daughter,” the Baroness said, chewing on a piece of meat as she spoke. “Will there be any kind of dowry?”
There was a shocked silence for a moment, the whole of the rest of the table quite unsettled by the idea that she should ask such a thing so openly.
“She will be provided for,” the Duke grunted at last. “I may perhaps discuss the specifics in private conversation when I am approached by a family who intends to wed her.”
His words were chosen carefully: both a subtle sidestep and a clear hint that he expected things to be firmed up in the very near future.
“We shall converse after dinner,” the Baroness announced.
Juliana looked up in alarm, her eyes darting between Mary, her mother and stepfather, and – John Woode.
Out of all of them, John was the only one who looked as panicked as she herself felt.
“You are not quite correct, Mama,” Juliana spoke up, feeling that she had best do something – whatever it took.
“I beg your pardon, Juliana?”
“I have, in fact, missed a step at a public dance. During our stay here, in fact. I was forced to retire from the event as a whole.”
Aunt Bertha shifted uncomfortably in her seat and cleared her throat. “Well, but we were set to depart anyway, as the Lady Mary was feeling somewhat unwell.”
She had obviously not told the story to the Duke and Duchess, who now regarded both daughter and sister with raised brows.
“I was distracted,” Juliana put in. “A gentleman had asked for the dance, but we ended up rowing.”
“A public dispute,” the Baroness said. She was
shaking her head minutely, a gesture that caused her to appear as though she were trembling with apoplexy. “How uncouth.”
“I am sure that it was not all that it sounds,” the Duchess said hastily. “You were not overheard, Juliana, nor was your departure noted. That must be the right of it.”
“I should think the young men of the night noticed quite soon that one of the prettiest of their number was departed,” John Woode put in. His compliment was lost in the quivering of his voice, which sounded strongly on the verge of nervousness.