“What if she’s indisposed in her rooms? You’ll need to see to her then. I won’t be any help,” he protested.
There was no way he was going to change her mind. She couldn’t show up to see Martha with him. “She was reading in the sitting room when I left,” she reassured him. “I’m sure that’s where you’ll find her.” Julia dismounted when they reached the footpath leading off the lane that wound past the village then looped back again. She intended to walk the full length of it.
Henry’s expression became solemn and he was quiet for a moment before saying, “You really don’t want to spend time with me, do you?”
A polite reply sprang from her lips, “It’s not that … ,” but it was definitely part of it. Julia had engaged her heart too much where Henry was concerned. She needed time away from him to steel her heart to care about him less, and although it hurt her pride to admit that she was avoiding him, Julia decided it would be better than admitting anything else. She patted Pegasus and avoided Henry’s gaze as she said, “If given the choice, I would prefer not to be in your company.”
When he didn’t reply, Julia looked up at him. Henry held her gaze briefly then looked down at the reins in his hand. The deep V between his brows conveyed disappointment, but it seemed to Julia that it was directed at himself, not at her. Julia didn’t try to explain. She couldn’t let Martha see them together, and her feelings needed time to change. She handed Pegasus’s lead rope to him, but before she could bid him farewell he said, “Please let me just explain what happened before.”
Julia shook her head definitively and said, “Goodbye, Mr. Chamberlain.”
Julia walked away quickly and didn’t look back. Hopefully someday she could comfortably be Henry’s friend. She’d need to in order to achieve her goal of living in Barrington. He was a good friend of Martha’s after all.
Martha was an easy person for Julia to get along with. The only thing Martha had ever asked her to do was not to set her sights on Henry. Thinking back on that conversation during her first week in Barrington, Julia remembered her cousin’s words sounding like she was trying to protect Julia, but there was an undertone of wanting to protect Henry. If Martha thought she was like every other girl, pestering Henry endlessly, she would send her back to London with her mother.
As Julia walked along the path she glanced up to see a couple walking toward her. She moved off the center of the path and kept walking, with her head down, thinking. She glanced up again at the couple approaching her and let out an audible gasp. Harriet was coming toward her with her arm linked with Mr. Corey’s.
Her gasp caused the pair to notice her for the first time. Harriet quickly pulled away from Mr. Corey, looking frightened at being caught.
Julia quickly recovered from her shock, folded her arms, and glared, particularly at Mr. Corey. Julia had noticed the adoring look on Harriet’s face before her presence was noticed. It reminded her of how Mr. Corey had acted with her when they first met. This sudden revelation of a romance between her sister and Mr. Corey brought the immediate question to her mind: was Mr. Corey a shameless flirt without honor? As Julia watched, she grew more worried as he placed a hand on her sister’s arm and whispered something in her ear. Harriet nodded and Mr. Corey turned to Julia and with a bow and a brief, “Good day, Miss North,” he departed abruptly back the way they had come.
Julia rushed up to Harriet and pulled her in the opposite direction. “Harriet! What are you doing?” Julia asked, feeling appalled at the implications of what she had just seen. “You’ve known this man a week and you’re … what are you doing?” she asked again, this time waiting for a reply.
Harriet looked for a moment like she would try to convince Julia there was nothing untoward going on, but Julia gave a stern look. In response, Harriet sighed and said, “We were just walking, Julia.”
If Harriet hadn’t been engaged to Lord Blakely, it wouldn’t matter at all. It did matter, though. Julia had expected her sister’s flirtatious behavior to end once she became engaged. “Has anyone else seen you? You realize you could ruin everything.”
“I don’t want to marry Lord Blakely!” she declared. “He doesn’t love me and Mother just pushed me into accepting the first man who offered without even considering love.”
Julia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. While that was all true, Harriet had never seemed opposed to the idea leading up to her engagement. She glanced back over her shoulder to where Mr. Corey had disappeared, making sure he wasn’t listening. Looking back at Harriet, she asked, “Do you think what you have with Mr. Corey is love?” When Harriet just looked sullen and didn’t answer, Julia continued, “You two have only known each other for a week. You aren’t in love. And what about the trouble you were causing in London? Isn’t that the reason Mother brought you here, to get you away from some other rake you were trying to cause a scandal with?”
“He’s not a rake,” Harriet immediately defended. Looking hesitant once again, Harriet bit her lip then reluctantly admitted, “Mr. Corey was the same man I was seen out with in London. But you and Mother are wrong about him. He’s not a rake,” she repeated.
Julia was starting to realize that this was much more serious than she had thought. And it wouldn’t be fixed by a stern lecture to her flighty sister. She didn’t know Mr. Corey well at all, but she hadn’t thought of him as a rake. In fact, she was fairly certain he wasn’t, otherwise he wouldn’t be a good friend of Henry’s. Although, perhaps Henry didn’t know all his friend was up to.
“But Harriet, he is spending time alone with you while you’re engaged to someone else. And if he is the same man you were seeing in London, does that mean he followed you here?”
“Yes, when Mother decided to bring me to Barrington until the wedding, Jonathan left London at the same time to pay a surprise visit to the Chamberlains.” Julia remembered again how Mr. Corey had flirted with her when they first met. Perhaps he wasn’t a shameless flirt, but he had only been trying to disguise his true feelings for her sister. “Luckily Mother hasn’t discovered his identity yet. We’ve managed to meet in private much more successfully here than in London.”
The implication was clear. She was asking Julia to keep their secret, but Harriet didn’t leave it at that. She grabbed Julia’s arm and begged, “Please don’t tell Mother. She won’t let me cancel the wedding and if she knew about Jonathan she wouldn’t let me see him again.”
“Harriet,” Julia replied, exasperated. “She’s right. You can’t let another man court you while you’re engaged!”
Harriet’s voice turned from pleading to frustrated as she said, “I would think that you, of all people, would be on my side with this. You know how Mother is, how she has always been, but especially since Lord Montague proposed to her. All she wants is to marry us off so she can happily live her life without us.”
“Harriet, I don’t agree with Mother trying to get us married as fast as possible,” Julia said with reproach in her voice, “but you have agreed to marry Lord Blakely. Cancelling the engagement would be quite scandalous.” Seeing the dismay on her sister’s face, Julia couldn’t help but add, “But if you were willing to weather the scandal and immediately form an engagement to Mr. Corey instead, perhaps Mother would let you. I don’t think she cares precisely whom we marry as long as we are married.” Julia wasn’t really certain about that. Mother would be upset about Harriet giving up the title. She wondered too, if Lord Montague would be annoyed with the scandal and possibly even cancel his own private engagement to their mother.
“I’m not certain if I would immediately become engaged to Jonathan.” Julia’s heart sank at Harriet’s admission, and her sister added, “He likes me I’m sure. I think he might even love me, but he can’t talk to me about marriage while I’m still engaged to Lord Blakely.”
“And you can’t cancel the engagement because Mother won’t let you,” Julia concluded.
“Precisely!” she exclaimed. “It’s so unfair.”
Julia could
n’t think of a good conclusion to this mess. And despite Harriet’s defense of him, she was seriously doubting Mr. Corey’s good character. Clandestine meetings with an engaged young lady? What gentleman would behave in such a way? “Does Hen— er, Mr. Chamberlain know about your secret?” Julia asked Harriet.
“I’m almost certain he doesn’t. We haven’t told anybody, although in London, we weren’t as cautious as we should have been. I suppose we weren’t being cautious enough today, since you discovered us. At least it was you and not Mother or Martha.”
Julia wished she didn’t know. She couldn’t fail to realize that now that she knew, any resulting scandal would be partly her fault if she didn’t do something to stop the pair of them.
After thinking the matter over for a few moments, Julia suggested, “What if you write a letter to Lord Blakely and ask him to cancel the engagement?”
“I thought of that, but it would be much more scandalous if he cancelled it than if I did, so I don’t think he’ll agree.”
“But it’s still your best option. Besides, maybe you’re wrong. Once he realizes you want out of the engagement he very well might be willing to end it. Perhaps he won’t want to marry an unwilling young lady.”
Harriet’s eyes brightened at the tone in Julia’s voice. “Maybe you’re right. It’s worth a try anyway. The wedding is only a few weeks away now, and every day I’m more worried I won’t be able to stop it.”
“Mother would be furious if she knew any of this,” Julia stated the obvious.
“Mother has her own secrets which would cause just as much scandal if they were known,” Harriet replied with a return of her saucy attitude. “Both Mother and Lord Montague’s despicable characters would be revealed if their secret ever got out.”
Julia felt the truth of it, but Harriet had never been upset about it before. When their mother had told them of her secret engagement almost a year ago, it had meant an early come-out for Harriet, and she had loved flirting and mastering the art of catching a gentleman husband. Harriet’s current sentiments must have been influenced greatly by the predicament with Mr. Corey, and if Julia was honest with herself, she didn’t think that was a bad thing. She hadn’t thought her sister capable of forming a deep enough attachment that would ever be worth sacrificing anything for. She just worried about Mr. Corey staying constant. Would he really offer for her if she was embroiled in the scandal of a cancelled engagement?
All these secrets brought her own recent heartache to mind and she finally replied, “Secrets aren’t anything but trouble.”
“Hopefully mine won’t be a secret much longer,” Harriet said, sounding more cheerful now. “I’ll send Lord Blakely a letter right away, and once my engagement is cancelled, Jonathan can court me openly.”
Julia supposed that was the most reasonable thing to do. She wondered how Lord Blakely would respond. Even if he was amenable, their mother could probably cause the wedding to happen by her will alone. Julia sighed. Her own wedding would follow shortly thereafter to an unwanted husband if she didn’t find a way to stay in Barrington with Martha.
Brushing the self-concerned thought aside, she smiled a little at Harriet and said, “So your solitary walks haven’t actually been solitary.”
Harriet’s answering smile was tinged with relief as she said, “I’ve never enjoyed walking alone, and the countryside is pretty, but boring in about a minute. Barrington’s only saving grace has been Jonathan’s presence.”
Julia heard her sister’s words with unease. She wondered again if Mr. Corey was honorable and what his intentions were. When they had met, he had been overtly flirtatious with her in a way that denoted his experience. Julia observed as much to Harriet. “You know, Mr. Corey was perhaps a little too friendly toward me when we met last week.”
“He didn’t want to mislead you,” Harriet defended, “but we couldn’t let Mother suspect anything.”
“He didn’t mislead me,” she reassured. “I didn’t ever think his interest went beyond the superficial. I do wonder if it will hurt your cause in the end. People might think his feelings for you aren’t sincere.”
“Perhaps you are right, but I don’t doubt him and no one else matters.”
Julia wondered if there was any way—besides asking Henry—that she could find out more about Mr. Corey.
Julia and Harriet returned to the house mostly in silence now, each lost in her own thoughts. Julia felt frustrated that there was nothing she could do. But it was a problem of Harriet’s own making. Harriet had always been impulsive and emotional and it appeared that her come-out hadn’t changed that; her emotions still directed her actions.
Despite having had many suitors, Julia had never been in love with any of them. Harriet was now in love with a second man in as many months. Julia was grateful again that she had escaped Henry’s presence earlier. She couldn’t handle the highs and lows of romance that Harriet seemed to thrive on.
A
Chapter 18
Henry sat astride his horse and checked his pocket watch. Another difficult week had gone by since he had taught Julia to gallop, and he’d hardly seen her since. Well that wasn’t precisely true. He’d seen her at church. He’d seen her at Barrington Court. He’d even stopped by Miss Abbot’s twice and seen her there. But in all those several meetings, he hadn’t had a single moment to speak with her privately.
He had finally admitted to himself that he was ready to court her, and he was growing impatient. Having her within reach, yet being unable to have a relationship with her was frustrating. It was the reason he was out with both horses again today, hoping to intercept Julia on her walk and convince her to ride with him instead. Once she heard him out, she was sure to forgive him for his inconsistent behavior and they could begin their courtship in earnest. His only obstacle was finding Miss Julia North on her own. He didn’t blame her entirely for avoiding him. But if she just knew what he had to say, she wouldn’t be preventing a private meeting; she would be encouraging it.
Glancing at his watch again, Henry knew that if Julia had been out walking this morning, she was most likely home by now. He was near the path where he had watched her walk away last time. He had been a little frustrated, even then, that he hadn’t been easily able to fix his mistake. When he had asked her if he could court her again, he had seen a look of anger in her eyes. But she would forgive him eventually. She would see that he was sorry for hurting her and that he sincerely wanted to be with her forever. In fact, when they finally resolved this, it would be that much sweeter for working for it rather than just having her give in so easily.
Thinking of that moment in the hopefully not-too-distant future, Henry decided not to give up quite so easily today. He rode Felix toward Miss Abbot’s house, leading Pegasus behind him. Henry arrived at Miss Abbot’s home and tied both horses to the front gate before knocking.
He called unexpectedly often enough that it wasn’t unexpected at all and he was shown right into the drawing room, where Miss Abbot was the only occupant.
With all the visitors she had had lately, he was surprised to find her alone. “I thought I’d find you with some of your guests,” he said as he sat down.
“Julia and Harriet are out walking and Marianne hasn’t emerged from her room yet today.”
“Julia is out walking?” he asked. At Miss Abbot’s sharp look, he realized he had used her Christian name. He wasn’t too worried about that. He was more concerned with finding a way to explain his feelings to Julia. It seemed she wasn’t going to give him the chance. He noticed Miss Abbot still watching him closely. “I didn’t see her on my way here and I thought if she was out walking that I would have …” Henry trailed off. “Never mind,” he muttered.
“Henry, what’s going on?” Miss Abbot set her needlework down on a table near her and turned her full attention on him. “This is the third time you’ve called on me in a week. I could flatter myself that it’s my company you enjoy so much, but I’m beginning to think you are seeking out Julia
.”
“I’ve hurt her feelings, I believe, and I need a chance to speak with her,” Henry explained, brushing imaginary lint from his trousers.
“You hurt her feelings?” Henry nodded and waited for her to question him about it. Instead she heaved a big sigh and said, “I see. Julia’s become attached to you, just like all the others.” She rubbed at her temples as if trying to dispel a headache. “I hope you’ll believe me, Henry, that I did warn her right from the beginning not to bother you. I know how you try to avoid these awkward situations with young ladies and I’m sorry that a guest of mine is making things uncomfortable for you.”
“You warned her?” he asked with disbelief. “What do you mean you warned her?”
“When she first arrived, I told her what happened with Miss Corey and how low you have been ever since. I told her how every girl thinks she’ll be the one to ‘fix’ you or some such nonsense. I have caught her staring at you in admiration from time to time, but I truly thought she had been convinced.”
She seemed stern, but Henry couldn’t help but feel relieved enough to see the humorous side to it all. “I’m actually quite surprised to hear all this Miss Abbot. I had no idea you were trying to protect me from ambitious young women.” He was smiling now, but Miss Abbot didn’t look any less annoyed.
“Not all young women, just Julia. I’m sure you don’t need my help, but I thought I could prevent at least one young lady from pestering you.” Shaking her head, Miss Abbot turned to pick her embroidery back up.
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind if Julia pestered me,” he admitted.
Miss Abbot dropped her embroidery and looked up sharply at him. “What are you saying?” she asked.
Henry made his decision then. Miss Abbot might as well know, and then maybe she could help his cause. “I’m saying, I wouldn’t mind if she admired me.”
“Henry!” she said his name in a tone full of reproach. “I never thought you would toy with someone’s feelings. I know you’ve done so before unintentionally, but you can’t go about giving false hope. If you encourage Julia, she’ll fall in love with you in an instant. You’ll break her heart.”
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