There were no fans and no whispering, but the conversation in the drawing room lurched to a halt when Julia stepped inside. Nicholas raised his eyebrow at her and Amelia had to struggle to hide her smile, but it wasn’t their reactions Julia was looking for. Lady Ruby’s expression had gone curiously blank, except for a slight widening of her eyes, and Jasper… Jasper looked like he wanted to devour her.
It gave Julia the confidence she needed to smile. “I apologize for my lateness. What did I miss?”
Nicholas crossed the room and handed her a drink. Under his breath, he said, “Are you up to something, Bishop?”
“Perhaps I am.”
The door opened and Winslow saved her from further inquiries. “Dinner is served, my lord.”
Nicholas offered his arm to Lady Ruby, and Amelia winked at Julia as she followed them out. That left Julia and Jasper to go into dinner together. He offered her his arm but, instead of taking it, Julia pushed the door closed.
“About earlier,” he started to say.
Julia pressed a gloved fingertip to his mouth. She traced the edges of his lips, watching them part under her attention. “Now is not the time, but we do have things to talk about.”
“We do.”
“Tonight, after everyone else goes to bed.”
The rise and fall of his chest underneath his jacket picked up pace. “Julia—”
“Tell me I look nice, Jasper.”
He stepped forward, circling his hands around her waist. “You look ravishing.”
They leaned into each other, midnight silk brushing against the black velvet of his dinner jacket. Julia stood up on the tips of her toes, just high enough to reach his bottom lip. She took it between her teeth and tugged, scraping it gently as she pulled away.
“Now take me into dinner,” she ordered.
His hands tightened on her waist, and she thought he might refuse. To be honest, she hoped for it. She hoped he would say “dinner be damned,” push her up against the door, and finish what they’d started in the carriage. But instead he took a deep breath that he let out in a half laugh, half moan and did as she asked.
Just before they reached the dining room, Jasper leaned down and kissed the delicate skin beneath her ear. “Until later,” he whispered
It sent a shiver of anticipation across her skin, but for once she didn’t blush.
“Everything all right?” Nicholas asked when they entered.
Julia smiled. “Just a bit of trouble with the clasp on my necklace.”
Lady Ruby arched an eyebrow. “It’s a Rundell, isn’t it?”
“It is. Thank you for noticing.” I might be your brother’s trollop, but my jewelry has a pedigree at least as good as yours.
“I have a few pieces from Rundell and Bridge, but I’ve never known them to have faulty clasps.”
Julia let the footman pull out her chair while she thought of her response—and realized that she didn’t need one. Let Ruby imply whatever she liked. Hell, let her suspect the truth, if it pleased her. Julia picked up her wineglass, smiling at Jasper’s sister over its edge, and said nothing.
Ruby frowned, but didn’t pursue an answer. She turned and struck up a conversation with Nicholas instead. Julia gave a silent cheer. She could do this. She could play the part of the shameless mistress. If she was honest, it was exhilarating.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans for Julia. As the footman placed a bowl of soup in front of her, a familiar ache started behind Julia’s eyes and up the back of her spine. It was terrible timing for so many reasons. She needed to be bold. She needed to be in control. She needed to not collapse in agony while Jasper’s judgmental sister looked on with interest. Why couldn’t there be just one bloody day where none of her problems revolved around her health?
Julia pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to will away the oncoming migraine. It had never worked before, and it wasn’t working now. She pushed her chair back, mumbling her excuses and stumbling out into the hall before she embarrassed herself twice in one day.
The door opened and closed behind her.
“I’ll be fine, Mia.”
Jasper’s voice sounded behind her. “What’s wrong?”
Of course. It was foolish to think she’d be allowed to maintain an air of sophistication for even an hour. “Go back in to dinner. It’s nothing.”
The pain buckled her knees, and she grabbed the wall for support.
Jasper was there in an instant, wrapping his arms around her. “It doesn’t look like nothing.”
So much for her brief role as a temptress. “It’s a migraine. They’re a side effect of my condition.”
“What can I do?”
The pain brought nausea with it, forcing her to breathe deeply and steadily to keep it under control. “Help me get to my room.”
Together they traversed the stairs and down the halls that led to Julia’s room. After she was ensconced in the shadowy haven of her bed, he leaned close. “Are you comfortable? What do you need?”
Too many things, none of which were in his power to give. “Just Nora, and then you should go back down to dinner before you’re missed.”
“I don’t care about being missed.”
Another wave of stabbing pain, and the accompanying nausea, rolled over her. When she could open her eyes again, Jasper’s face was hovering over hers with concern. She tried to set him at ease, but she could tell it wasn’t successful.
“I think I’m going to need to postpone our talk.” If only she had told him to take her against the door instead of taking her into dinner. It could be days before she had another chance.
He pressed his hand to her cheek. “I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Ten
The following day was unbearable. Jasper had nothing to do but wait, feeling completely helpless, while Julia continued to suffer through whatever had befallen her. Amelia said it was just a headache, albeit a strong one, but Jasper had never seen a headache that could buckle someone’s knees.
To make matters worse, Ruby was still following him like a diligent debt collector.
“Go away, Ruby.”
“Go home, Jasper.”
He sighed, tossing the morning paper onto the cushion. He didn’t care what was going on in London or the world—he cared about what was going on upstairs. About when Julia would be all right again.
“You like her, don’t you?” Ruby was peering at him from the opposite sofa, making no pretense of having anything else to do besides stalk him.
“Of course I like her.” What an asinine thing to say. Julia was very likeable. And delectable, when she wasn’t being brought low by some unseen force. Even when she was, really, but it was hardly the right time to appreciate her finer physical features.
“Bring her with you, then.”
Jasper’s eyebrows rose, and he focused his full attention on Ruby. “Excuse me?”
“If she’s what you need to help you accept grandfather’s passing, bring her with you. She certainly has the spirit to be your mistress.” Ruby leaned forward. “I’ll even smooth the way for her in town, if you’ll come back.”
If it was anyone else, Ruby’s offer would be intriguing. But because it was Julia, Jasper’s hand clenched of its own accord. “You will not speak of Julia with disrespect.”
“On the contrary, the fact that I think she can keep your interest is one of my higher compliments.”
“It’s not like that.”
Ruby laughed. “It’s always like that with you. If they’re attractive and at all clever, you can’t help yourself.”
It wasn’t true. Maybe it had been, but it wasn’t true anymore. Jasper had helped himself, against all odds. There was more to him and Julia than the usual thing. How much more, he still wasn’t entirely certain—but he knew enough to know it was different.
Suddenly, he couldn’t stay in Ruby’s company a moment longer. All his nerves were on edge and his patience was stretched far too thin. If he didn’t get out of th
is room and out of this house, he was going to break something or say something he regretted. He stood up and Ruby stood up to follow him.
“Ruby, I swear to God, if you don’t give me some time to myself, I will not be held responsible for what happens.”
She stopped. “Promise me you’re not going to disappear.”
“As if my promise means anything to anyone.” As if he had any intention of leaving Julia without any explanation.
“Promise it,” she insisted.
“I promise.”
As Jasper passed into the hallway, Nick was coming the other direction. “Jasper. Perfect. Put on riding clothes. We’re going out.”
“We are?”
“We are. Don’t argue, just do it.”
It suited Jasper fine. He let Nick call for the horses to be saddled while he bounded upstairs to change his clothes. As furious as Ruby was, she hadn’t been too furious to bring some of his own belongings with her. Jasper was back down in the foyer in record time, leading Nick out into the drive.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think this ride was your idea,” Nicholas joked as he struggled to keep up.
“I’m tired of being stuck inside.” Jasper hustled them out the door and onto their waiting horses. He couldn’t help the sensation of the walls closing in around him. He needed to be out and moving. He needed to be on an adventure. “Are we going anywhere in particular?”
“I thought we could just ride for a while—and talk.”
Jasper’s hands clenched on the reins. There were only two things Nick could want to talk about. One of them was lying upstairs, possibly in agony. The other, Jasper had no intention of talking about. “Let’s go to Woodley. They have a pub, don’t they?”
“Yes, but—”
With a nudge, Jasper urged his mount into a sprint, but it made no difference. Racing at top speed didn’t soothe him the way it did to Julia.
Hooves thundered and then slowed as Nicholas caught up to him. “I assume you did that because you know we can’t talk at a gallop, and you’re trying to pretend everything is fine.”
Jasper avoided Nicholas’s eyes. “Everything is fine.”
“The hell it is. No one has ever been in this big of a hurry to get to Woodley, least of all you.” Nick stopped his horse in the middle of the road. “What is the matter?”
“Nothing. I just need…I need…” He didn’t know what he needed.
“Your grandfather died.”
It dropped like a cannonball between them. Jasper stared down the road without really seeing anything.
“You’re not handling it well.”
Clearly. “Is there a good way to handle it?”
“Probably.” Nick directed his horse forward, filling Jasper’s view. “If there is, this isn’t it.”
Jasper scrubbed his hand over his face. “I can’t do it, Nick. I’m not ready to be him.”
“No one ever is.”
The pity in his furrowed brow was too much. Jasper nudged his mount around Nick’s and started down the road again.
Nick kept pace with him. “I wasn’t ready when I found out my father was losing his mind.”
“It’s not the same. You have your brother, Phillip.”
“The same way Ruby has you.”
Not the same—at all. Phillip Wakefield was a paragon of lordly virtues. Jasper DeVere was a reprobate, and that was only when the people doing the labeling were feeling kind.
A cricket chirped on the roadside, punctuating Jasper’s refusal to continue that line of conversation. Eventually, Nick asked, “Why Woodley?”
“I feel like getting into a fight.” It was the truth. He couldn’t do anything about his grandfather. He couldn’t get his sister to leave him alone. He couldn’t help Julia. He couldn’t do anything worthwhile, but Jasper could coerce someone twice his size into taking a swing at him so he didn’t have to think about any of it.
“Don’t you normally get yourself out of these moods by—” His horse stopped. Nick turned it again so he could see Jasper’s face. “That’s it, isn’t it? Normally, you’d find someone to disappear with for a few days and get it out of your system…”
“But the person I want to disappear with is Julia. Even if you and Amelia would accept that, Ruby would find a way to follow me.”
Nick closed his eyes, shaking his head. “Again, why Woodley? I’m a respectable landowner in this county now. We can’t just go around causing trouble.”
Jasper clucked both of their horses back into motion toward Woodley. “Did Julia tell you about our visit to the fair?”
The pause before Nick’s answer stretched out. “She didn’t have to.”
Right. Nick had grown up with the Bishop daughters. He’d probably seen plenty of abhorrent townsfolk behavior.
“How did you handle it?” Jasper asked.
“Ignored it, when we could. Tried to use the Wakefield name as a buffer, when I could.” Nick looked at him. “How did you handle it?”
“Well,” Jasper looked down the road where Woodley was just coming into view. “I stewed over it for a day or two, and now I’ve drafted my best friend into heading back with me to pick a fight.”
Nick turned his focus to the end of the road. “After we’ve done that, you’re going to talk to me about your grandfather.”
“All right.” As they drew up in front of Woodley’s premier—and only—drinking establishment, Jasper silently prayed to get knocked unconscious before that happened.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I’m in a cloud.” Julia kept her eyes closed. There was a very real possibility if she opened them, her headache would come back. After many agonizing hours, she’d managed to restrict her world to the fluffy down of the pillow and the soothing coolness of Amelia’s silk sheets. “How do you feel?”
Amelia brushed the hair away from her face. “Soft white sheep cloud or storm cloud?”
She cracked one eye, just barely. “Dense. Gray. But I don’t think it will rain.”
“Do you think there will be clear skies in a few hours?” Amelia gave her an overly wide smile.
Julia was immediately suspicious. “Why?”
“We’ve been invited for dinner.” The mattress bounced as Amelia turned to face her. “By the Hathaways. Please don’t make me go alone.”
“Who are the Hathaways?”
“Apparently, they’re our neighbors.”
“And they invited you for dinner?”
“Us. All of us. But if you’re not feeling well enough, we can stay home.”
Julia opened both of her eyes. The apocalypse didn’t immediately descend upon her bedroom. “We can go. They really invited us? By name? Did they say why?”
“To welcome us to the area.”
“Well, that’s friendly.”
The sheets rustled as Amelia burrowed her way farther into the bed. “It’s odd, is what it is. I thought our bad reputation and my bad behavior while I was engaged to Montrose would save me from this sort of thing.”
“You’re impossible.”
“But you’ll come?”
“Of course I’ll come.” A log on the fire popped, and it miraculously did not send pain shooting through Julia’s temples. She really was feeling better. “I can’t turn down my first-ever invitation to a dinner party. What sort of message would that send?”
“The blissfully antisocial kind? Come on, Jules. Pretend to be sick for me.”
Julia threw back the covers, pulling them away from Amelia in the process. “Go away. I have a dinner party to plan for.”
“Are you certain? You’ve missed a great deal of excitement due to your headache. But if you’d rather not hear about it—”
Julia turned, unable to resist gossip. “What? What is it?”
“For starters, the entire staff knows Lady Ruby DeVere thinks you’re a harlot.”
“What!”
“Hand of God,” Amelia answered, raising her own in an oath. “That nosey upstairs mai
d I hired heard the shouting when you were in his room.”
Bloody typical. “One more reputation I don’t deserve.”
“You deserve it a little.”
“I’d like to deserve it all the way, or not at all.”
Amelia nudged her. “It gets better. This morning, she tried to bargain with Jasper by offering to sponsor you in London as his mistress.”
“That can’t be true.” Julia would bet all her pin money that Ruby DeVere would like nothing more than to never see her again.
“It is. I had that from a very reliable downstairs source.”
In Nora’s absence, Julia got up and went to open the windows herself. A soft breeze blew through the room, sending the curtains swaying and taking the sickbed feeling of the room away with it.
“Of course, hearsay has blown it way out of proportion,” Amelia admitted. “I caught a scullery maid telling the cook you were already Jasper’s mistress, and that’s why he came out here in the first place.”
Julia was only half listening. All this talk of mistresses reminded her she’d been on the verge of something very promising with Jasper before they’d gone in to dinner. If not for her headache, some of those rumors might have come true last night.
“Stop it,” Amelia said.
“Stop what?”
“You’re looking gloomy.”
“Maybe this is just the face all wrongfully accused harlots wear.”
“Speaking of harlots, last night Nicholas asked me to—”
Julia threw her hands up, begging for mercy. Some things, she did not need to know. “How long do I have to get ready for this dinner?”
“Enough time for a bath. Nick and Jasper managed to get themselves into a pub brawl in Woodley.”
“What!”
Amelia nodded emphatically. “They went for a ride, and came back filthy and quite pleased with themselves. Lady Ruby is beside herself. I’ve got Nora seeing what she can do about the bruises.”
“A pub brawl. What on earth. Why?” Julia really had missed a lot while she’d been stuck in bed.
“I tried to get Nick to tell me, but he started talking about ‘a code among men’? I stopped listening when he started going on about Spartan warriors.”
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