by Joyce Alec
“No, they are not,” Duncan replied, feeling himself rather unsettled by such a suggestion and how quickly Mrs. Grey was agreeing to it. “But to push Lady Juliet forward in such a manner—”
“All you would have to do,” Lady Richmond interrupted as though she knew what Duncan would say to protest, “is to acquaint yourself with each gentleman in turn. No doubt, they will mention your acquaintance with Lord Strickland and, should they do so, you must shake your head and sigh, stating that you found him to be most disagreeable, although you were flattered by his attention—or some such thing.”
Lady Juliet blinked rapidly, the color gone from her cheeks. “And you hope that this will encourage them to speak openly about Lord Strickland?”
“Enough to give us an idea as to whether or not they think well of him, yes,” Lord Richmond said as his wife beamed at him, clearly delighted with his quick agreement. “It may mean that you will have to entertain their acquaintance a little longer than perhaps you might wish to, but I am sure that, in time, you will be able to garner an opinion about their thoughts toward Lord Strickland.”
Duncan shook his head. “I do not think that such a burden is particularly fair to Lady Juliet,” he said firmly. “Yes, she may have alerted me to this particular danger, and she has already saved me from a great deal of pain, but to ask her to do more seems entirely unfair.”
Lady Juliet did not appear to hear him. “And it might very well be that I recognize the voice of either the Earl of Redford or Viscount Haverstock from the bookshop,” she said, looking up at Lady Richmond with a hint of excitement in her voice.
“Lady Juliet.” Duncan rose from his chair, commanding the room with his presence. Lady Juliet’s smile faded as she turned to look at him, the light fading from her eyes. “Lady Juliet, whilst I have agreed for your input in this matter, surely you cannot be asked to do this.” He looked around the room, half expecting Mrs. Grey and Lord Richmond to agree with him, but neither of them did so. “You have your own Season, do you not? You are meant to be enjoying all that London has to offer you and instead, you are sitting here, trying to come up with a solution that will be of aid to me rather than to you.” He found himself frowning hard, trying to express to her exactly how he felt. “I am more than grateful for all that you have done thus far, but pray do not turn away from your own responsibilities for my sake.”
The room grew silent as everyone turned toward Lady Juliet. She was looking at him with a glimmer of something yet unexpressed in her eyes.
“I will not have you pushed into this for my sake alone,” he finished, sitting back down and feeling a little embarrassed that he had spoken so decisively in front of the others. “Pray understand, Lady Juliet, I seek what is best for you.”
“As I do for you,” came the quiet reply. “As much as I appreciate your concern for me, you must know that I put such a threat toward you far above my own need to find a suitor and enjoy the Season.” A tiny smile tugged at her mouth and Duncan found himself suddenly transfixed, unable to look away from her. “Mrs. Grey is in agreement with my desire to be of aid to you, Lord Strickland, and given that I am the only one who could possibly identify the gentleman based on his voice alone, it is not as though I could simply turn around and refuse to be of help to you.”
Lady Richmond let out a small, contented sigh and looked at Duncan with a softly lifted eyebrow. He knew very well what she was trying to say, telling him that he would not find another creature like Lady Juliet, no matter how hard he searched, and yet Duncan did not even permit his thoughts to turn in that particular direction.
“Then I am greatly in your debt,” he said quietly. “Are you quite sure I cannot convince you?”
Lady Juliet laughed softly, tilting her head in an almost bird-like fashion. “I am quite certain you could not,” she replied as the tension in the room suddenly dissipated. “Your life is of much greater importance than a few weeks of the Season.” One shoulder lifted. “Besides which, I am sure that I will have plenty of time left to enjoy dancing and courting and the like, once you have made certain of your safety.”
Duncan swallowed hard, nodding toward her but finding his heart suddenly pained at the thought of Lady Juliet being courted by another gentleman. Quite why he should have such a thought, he did not know, nor could he understand why it would bring him such displeasure. Quickly, he thrust it away from him entirely, leaving him to turn his mind back to the situation at hand.
“Very well,” he replied, a trifle gruffly. “Then I suppose there is nothing for it but to wish you well, Lady Juliet.”
“I shall be sure to inform you the moment I hear anything of interest from either gentleman,” she promised, reaching for her teacup and giving so sign of intending to leave. “And you will linger here, I presume? Giving the impression that you are very ill indeed?” Seeing him nod, she gave a small shake of her head. “That is three times now that you have been in danger, Lord Strickland. Mayhap you ought to remain in your townhouse more often.”
This made Duncan laugh, although he did not miss the frown that appeared on Lord Richmond’s face.
“Three times?” Lord Richmond repeated, frowning. “I thought there was only the night after the soiree and then last evening.”
Lady Juliet waved a hand. “Forgive me,” she said with a rueful smile. “I forgot that the highwaymen were not something to consider.”
“Highwaymen?” Lady Richmond repeated, and Duncan was forced to explain all that had occurred.
“My father and I came across a most dreadful scene the day we made our way to London,” Lady Juliet added quickly, her color draining away just a little. “We have no knowledge of those who were left for dead, save for an empty letter that my father insisted we take with us in the hope that it might contain something that would be of assistance. It was not until we returned home that we discovered it empty. Two of the men attacked have been buried, and one, from what we have heard, still lingers between life and death. But,” she continued with a small shrug, “it is not a particular consequence for Lord Strickland, given that it has happened to others.”
“Besides which, I was lucky enough to avoid it,” Duncan added hastily. “I rode rather than taking my carriage. Had I been in my carriage, then I might well have been stopped.”
“But you were not,” Lord Richmond replied, a frown still lingering on his brow. “Because you were riding rather than being in your carriage.”
Duncan let out a snort. “Because of the skill of my driver,” he answered honestly. “Even if I had been within the carriage, I believe from what was told to me thereafter that my driver managed to evade the highwaymen, although he may not have driven so wildly had I been inside.”
“And what day was this?” Lady Richmond asked, looking from one to the next, her brows lifting in surprise as both Duncan and Lady Juliet spoke of the same day.
Silence ran across the room as Duncan’s gaze slowly returned to Lady Juliet. He had never expected that they would have made their way to London on the very same day.
Lady Juliet frowned, biting her lip for a moment. “Did your driver mention whether or not he passed anyone else on the road?” she asked slowly, looking at him with a small frown flickering across her brow.
“He did not mention it,” Duncan answered honestly. “Might I ask why?”
Shaking her head, Lady Juliet did not immediately answer but then, glancing at Mrs. Grey, expressed her thoughts. “It is only that I have always wondered about that strange letter,” she said quietly. “I do not know if I have mentioned it to you before, Lord Strickland, but my father recovered a letter from one of the… unfortunate souls that had been struck down by the highwaymen.” Her brow furrowed all the more. “I have it back at my father’s townhouse for he requested I take it back with us—but to my surprise, when it was opened, there was nothing written inside.”
Duncan did not quite understand what she meant. “The letter was without any words written inside it? And no name on the
front?”
“None,” Lady Juliet replied. “I have kept it, of course, for it is a question that does not yet have an answer. The reason I ask about your driver is to know whether or not he passed any other carriage on the road. Or if he, too, saw the same scene as my father.”
“I did not ask him,” Duncan repeated, spreading his hands. “I certainly can do. In fact...” Rising, he made his way to ring the bell. “I will send for him at once and see what he says.”
It took only a few minutes for the driver to arrive, looking rather anxious as he stepped in through the door.
“You are not to be corrected or berated, George,” Duncan said hastily, not wanting to upset his driver. “It is only that I must ask you something about the day we arrived in London.”
The driver nodded, his hands tight together in front of him as he cleared his throat. “Yes, my lord?” He glanced nervously about the room before looking back at Duncan.
“There were highwaymen set waiting for you, were there not?” Duncan asked, and the driver nodded. “And you managed to avoid them. Tell me,” he continued as the driver shuffled his feet, “was there anything else—anyone else—that you noticed?”
The driver frowned. “What do you mean, my lord?”
“Lady Juliet,” Duncan explained, gesturing to the lady, “came to London on the very same day. Her father and driver stopped to help some who had, it appeared, been attacked by highwaymen but who had not managed to escape as you did. She wishes to know whether or not you saw them also.”
A dark frown crossed the driver’s face. “My lord, there was another carriage by the side of the road,” he said slowly. “The horses were gone. I didn’t see if there was anyone inside and, given the threat, I had no other choice but to keep going. I could not stop.”
Lady Juliet sucked in a breath and Duncan frowned heavily, looking toward her. It meant that the highwaymen had, most likely, attacked the carriage before Duncan’s had arrived, and then, for whatever reason, had disappeared before Lady Juliet’s had driven by.
“I do not blame you, of course,” Lady Juliet said quickly, speaking to the driver. “You had to make sure of your own safety. Of course you could not stop.”
“Thank you, my lady,” the driver replied, keeping his eyes low as he looked at Duncan, as though expecting him to say something entirely different. “I did what I thought was right.”
“It was the correct course of action,” Duncan replied honestly. “Thank you, George. You can return to your duties now.”
The man looked thoroughly relieved and made his way from the room without hesitation. Lady Juliet sat back in her chair as the others simply looked at each other, perhaps all wondering as to what this might mean.
“Is there a possibility,” Mrs. Grey said slowly, “that the highwaymen were waiting for you, Lord Strickland?”
“No,” Duncan said quickly, “that cannot be. They attacked a carriage before attempting to do so to my own. That is precisely what I would expect.”
“But they did not succeed,” Lady Juliet said softly. “Why, then, should they disperse? Surely they would linger to take on the next carriage? The one that I was in?”
Duncan shook his head. “I do not think it means anything,” he said firmly. “It is an unfortunate event, certainly, but perhaps not one that is in any way related to the ongoing situation as regards my safety.”
“I would not be so quick to ignore it,” Lord Richmond replied solemnly, surprising Duncan. “Let us not throw it from our minds entirely. We must consider all possibilities and, in fact, Lady Juliet, I should very much like to see this letter of yours. The letter that bears no mark.” His lips quirked. “It is interesting, certainly.”
Lady Juliet smiled at him and Duncan felt his heart twist in his chest, dropping his gaze to the floor so that he might hide whatever emotion threw itself into his expression.
“I should be very glad to,” he heard Lady Juliet say. “Thank you for your willingness, Lord Richmond.”
Duncan cleared his throat, finding himself speaking before he even had any reasonable thought. “I should like to see it also.” A little embarrassed, he shrugged. “That is, if you do not mind.”
Ignoring the broad grin that spread across Lord Richmond’s face, Duncan waited for Lady Juliet to speak, more than relieved when she accepted his offer without hesitation.
“I would be more than glad to show you,” she said, looking reassured. “Thank you, Lord Strickland. Would tomorrow be suitable?”
“More than suitable,” he agreed, surprised at the fervor in his voice. “I look forward to seeing it, Lady Juliet.”
Mrs. Grey rose to her feet. “And now we should take our leave,” she said briskly, although Duncan did not miss the knowing gleam in her eye. “You will be present this evening, I presume?”
“At Lord Whittaker’s ball?” Duncan asked, and Lady Juliet nodded, her eyes suddenly darting away from his, pink in her cheeks. “Yes, I shall be in attendance.”
Lady Juliet threw him a quick smile. “Until this evening then, Lord Strickland. And I shall make certain to speak to both Lord Redford and Lord Haverstock.”
Recollecting what she was to do that evening, Duncan felt the smile fade from his face, the warmth in his heart fading slightly. “Yes, of course,” he said, bowing as the ladies bobbed a quick curtsy. “Until then, Lady Juliet.”
9
Juliet took a breath as she stepped into Lord Whittaker’s ballroom. It was a large, spacious room that was already filled with guests. The hubbub of conversation and laughter rang all round her and yet she felt nothing but anxiety. She had a duty to perform this evening rather than simply enjoying herself.
This afternoon’s meeting had gone quite well, all things considered. What had been most disturbing to her, however, was the fact that she had felt strange stirrings within her heart toward Lord Strickland. He had been behaving more warmly toward her than ever before and the resistance she had felt to being often in his company—for fear of what the ton would say—was no longer a concern. It was as though she simply did not care, wanting now to discover who was behind this disgusting desire to attack him in such a way and why. She recalled just how ill he had appeared when he had drunk some of the poisoned brandy, how her heart had slammed furiously into her chest with fright as she realized what had taken place. It had been in that moment that she had cared nothing for what the beau monde would say. Her only concern had been for Lord Strickland. In fact, the more time she spent in his company, the more her concern for him grew.
“Recall that your father is present this evening, Juliet,” Mrs. Grey murmured, and Juliet nodded. “He will expect to see you dancing.”
“I will,” Juliet promised. “Although I am sure he is only here for the game of cards that will take place later this evening.” She glanced toward her companion, who could not hide her smile. “He has asked me about whether or not I have had any particular interest from any gentlemen of the ton although he did not appear to be all too eager to hear the answer.” She smiled fondly at the thought of her father. “He does try to be interested, Mrs. Grey, but I believe he is quite certain that I shall make a decent match entirely without his help.”
“For which we should be very grateful,” Mrs. Grey replied firmly. “Else I do not think you would be at all able to help Lord Strickland as you are doing at present.” Her eyes narrowed just a little as she studied Juliet. “Although it may yet turn out just as your father hopes.”
Heat rose in Juliet’s cheeks, but she did not answer her companion. It was clear that Mrs. Grey had hope, if not expectation, that Juliet might yet make a match with Lord Strickland and, try as she might, Juliet could not push such a thought away. They had only been acquainted for a short time, but in these last few days, there had grown the beginnings of an intimacy between them which Juliet could not deny.
“Now,” Mrs. Grey continued briskly. “Let us consider how we are to introduce you to these two gentlemen. I, unfortunately, am not y
et acquainted with either and thus—”
“Perhaps I could be of aid, then.”
Juliet’s blush deepened all the more as she turned to see Lord Strickland bowing toward them both. She dropped into a curtsy, lingering for a moment longer in the hope that her face would not be so red by the time she rose.
“Good evening, Lord Strickland,” she murmured as he smiled at her. “You think to introduce me to Lord Redford and Lord Haverstock?”
“Indeed,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye. “I cannot introduce both at once, of course, but perhaps one at this present moment and one later this evening? That would mean that there should be no difficulty in continuing an acquaintance with either.”
Juliet nodded. “That would be most helpful, Lord Strickland,” she answered as Mrs. Grey watched with a small smile spreading across her face. “We were only just wondering what we were to do in order to ensure an introduction.”
Lord Strickland inclined his head. “Might I be so bold as to be the first to write my name upon your dance card, Lady Juliet?” he asked, surprising her. “I should not like to introduce you to Lord Redford without having taken at least one of your dances, else he will think it very strange indeed.”
Quickly handing it to him, Juliet watched Lord Strickland closely as he wrote his name in two separate spaces. “You think the earl will wish to dance with me?” she asked as Lord Strickland handed it back to her. “Upon only our first introduction?”
“I fully expect him to ask you to dance within the first few moments,” Lord Strickland laughed as he offered her his arm. “He is the most incorrigible flirt, I am afraid, although he means nothing by it. He is not a rogue or a scoundrel, but rather one who simply enjoys behaving in such a fashion with the young ladies of the ton. Thus, it was important for me to make certain that I stole the very best of dances from him, so that he could not take them from me.”