Then, Benjamin did the most unkind thing he could think of, the one thing guaranteed to show his utter distain for Henrietta and her ravings. He turned his back on her, giving her a direct cut.
To his surprise, both Lady Amy and her mother did the same, leaving the other woman fuming, but unable to respond. After all, the Countess of Evanston was the hostess for the evening's gathering and a cut from her spoke more than any words every could.
Henrietta stalked off in a swirl of skirts and perfume, but Benjamin found that he could not rest easy until he was certain that she was gone. When he was certain that she had departed, he turned back to find Julia gaping at him.
"You cut her. For me." There was disbelief in her voice.
"For us," he corrected gently. "I did it for us. I do not want anyone to think that I am anything other than completely devoted to you. For I am. I ended that silly bet for you, so that no one could use it to hurt you again. You deserve all that and more, Julia. So much more."
"I love you, Benjamin." It was the only thing she could think of to say.
"And I love you." At the moment, Benjamin wanted to show her just how much, and he was tired of waiting.
He bowed to both the countess and Lady Amy. "If you will excuse us, I believe that my intended has an ague about her that needs to be taken care of promptly."
Benjamin thought the countess might protest, but instead, she simply gave him a knowing smile. "Normally, I would not approve, but in this case, I believe I can make an exception." She gestured towards the steps leading to the back gardens where they could slip away unnoticed. "Go. I have a feeling I shall see both of you again soon. At your wedding, most likely." Then she swept off, taking Amy with her.
"We don't have to leave if you don't want to," Benjamin said to Julia once the other women were gone. "Only if you feel like it." He paused and then added. "Not to mention that people will talk."
"I don't care." Julia offered him a seductive look. "I love you, Ben, and I don't care who knows it. Tonight, and every night forward, I am yours so long as you'll have me."
He grasped her hand and squeezed it tightly. "Forever, Jules. Forever."
With a tug, she began pulling him through the crowd toward the terrace, heedless of how it might look. "Excellent because I have plans for you, my lord." Then she gave him one last grin. "Now let's go home so you can seduce me properly. Again."
Epilogue
1818 - Late August
"Does it still hurt overly much?" Benjamin lightly traced the line of the bullet wound on his wife's hip up to her waist and then to just below her ribcage. It began just where the ragged scar his father had inflicted on her ended, and each time he saw it, his heart tugged anew at just how close he'd come to losing her. "I thank God every day that Landover is a lousy shot." It scared him sometimes how much he loved her, but he wouldn't change it for the world.
"I thank God that he's been banished, never permitted to return to England." Julia, Benjamin's wife of only a few days rolled over in bed and snuggled into his caress, seemingly unable to get enough of her husband's affections. "And no, it does not hurt. Not much anyway. Gibbs says that by Christmastime, you will still see the scar, but the redness will have gone down considerably."
She felt rather than saw her husband roll his eyes in response. "That man. I am still not certain why you felt the need to invite him to our wedding. I don't care if he and Amy are smitten with each other. They made proper fools of themselves at the breakfast, you know. Not quite the thing to be done." Then he tweaked her nose, letting her know that he was kidding. For the most part.
Linking her hands through his, Julia slid her thumb over the back of his hand, enjoying the way his cock tightened and rose against her hip in response. "They are smitten, but she is running out of excuses to justify seeing him. I simply gave them another one. If only she would just admit that she cares for him, they could run off to Gretna and be done with it." Then she sobered for a moment. "And you must admit that it was beneficial to have him here when the Marquess of Berkshire decided that it was time to depart this earth. I'm simply thankful that the festivities were mostly concluded and many of the guests had already departed."
The death of the marquess had taken everyone who had gathered at Seldon Park for Julia and Benjamin's elaborate nuptials by surprise. Then again, the marquess was in his sixth decade, and he drank far more than he should, even for a man half his age. Blackwell had confided to Julia in private that it was a wonder the man had lasted as long as he did. From merely looking at him, the doctor had concluded that the marquess had essentially drank himself to death. The official cause of death would be heart ailments, of course, because it would be unseemly to admit that the Marquess of Berkshire had any sort of vice, even though the ton knew it was true.
It had also not gone unnoticed by either of them that Nicholas had been the first to offer his comfort and condolences to Lady Berkshire. Julia had seen the look that had passed between them and prayed that her brother knew to be careful. The countess would be in mourning for at least a year, and it would not take much to incite another scandal, especially so soon after the one they had just weathered. Then again, she was also confident that Nicholas knew what he was doing. He would not make such a silly mistake.
Then, her husband kissed her and all thoughts of Lord and Lady Berkshire, as well as her brother, flew from her mind. In that moment, there was only Ben.
"There is that," Benjamin agreed as he leaned back into his pillow, pulling Julia with him. "And everyone did say that you were a lovely bride. By far the toast of the season." He kissed the top of her head as his hands roamed lower to stroke the sides of her breasts. "Thank God I convinced you to marry me before some other rogue swooped in to claim you."
"As if there would ever be another man for me." She arched up into his touch. She doubted that she would ever grow tired of his hands on her body. "There has never been another. There never will be. Besides, I think everyone showed up just to make certain that I wasn't with child and create even more scandal."
After the Evanston ball, Julia and Benjamin had both disappeared, almost overnight, from London society. They had made their statement to the ton and, after they'd departed, the whispers had begun, many of them fueled by Lady Henrietta's rage when she realized that she would never capture the duke's heart, if for no other reason than that Julia had possessed it all along. The first banns had been cried at the Rosemont family chapel two weeks later, fueling speculation that Julia was a fallen woman. After all, the gossips reasoned, why else would she have fled the warm bosom of society so soon after she'd been welcomed into it?
Lady Letitia had even gone so far as to suggest that Julia had brought on her own ruination in order to trap Benjamin into marriage, a rumor quickly silenced by both Nicholas and Lady Evanston. After that, it had become clear that, for reasons that few were privy to, Julia was under the protection of the countess, and most of the rumors had ceased. That didn't mean, however, that society as a whole had lost their curiosity. So when the invitations for the wedding of the Duke of Radcliffe to Lady Julia Rosemont had been sent out, every person, down to the last, had affirmed their intentions to attend.
That had made Seldon Park rather crowded, but since she and Benjamin had escaped to Spring House after the wedding breakfast, she hadn't minded quite so much. Now that it was just the two of them, as well as a skeleton staff to keep the house running, she liked it even better.
"We could work on that, you know," he teased her as he rolled her again so that she was beneath him, his hard length poised at her entrance.
Quirking an eyebrow, she gave him a saucy wink. "I think I should like that very much, my lord." Then she moved so that he slid into her easily, and she sighed in contentment.
When she'd left home at the beginning of the season, she could have never imagined the events that awaited her - both the good and the bad. Still, she wouldn't trade any of them. If those things hadn't occurred, it was unlike that she wou
ld be here with Benjamin now. As his wife. They might have gone on indefinitely, both afraid to alter their relationship. Because of what had transpired, they had finally admitted their feelings and for that, Julia could not be sorry.
Nor was she sorry when she looked into Benjamin's eyes and saw the depth of her own love reflected back her. She was his. He was hers. She was also confident that they would remain that way until the end of time.
She hadn't set out that season to catch a duke, but she had. And for that, she would be forever grateful.
Coming Soon...
Spring is in the air, and so is love. At least it is for Lady Amy Cheltenham. The only problem is, the hardheaded man that she's in love with won't admit that he cares for her. But she knows that he does. He's simply worried about the differences in their stations, but she doesn't care a whit. Love conquers all. Doesn't it?
Doctor Gibson Blackwell is a respected London physician with a thriving practice and a bevy of pretty - albeit boring - women who would thrill to be his wife. Yet he doesn't want any of them, either in his life or in his bed. The woman he does want is so far beyond his reach that he has no hope of ever claiming her. Or is there a way to bridge the seemingly unconquerable gap between them?
Look for "Far Beyond Scandalous," the second book in the "Tales From Seldon Park" series, coming soon.
Other Books By Bethany M. Sefchick
The “Ghosts, Inc.” series
Novels
Ghosts Of Lovers Past
Heart of Shadows
Passion’s Spirit (coming Spring 2014)
Ghostly Shorts
All Night Long
Dream Lover
Root Beer Float For Two
Key Largo
A Man After Midnight
Music Of The Night
Diamond Girl
You Don’t Know Me
Cold As Ice
Lovers In A Dangerous Time
Promises In The Dark (coming Spring 2014)
Man On Your Mind (coming Spring 2014)
For Once In My Life (coming Spring 2014)
Edge Of Heaven (coming Spring 2014)
Do You Dream About Me? (coming Spring 2014)
The “Aphrodite’s Closet” series
Nobody’s Cinderella
Fairy Tale Theater
A Little Bit of Magic
Finding Prince Charming
Stardust and Moonbeams
Belle Of the Ball
The Enchanted Season
Also Available
Santa Search And Rescue
A Midsummer Night's Delusion
Much Ado About Something - A Short Story
Fairy Tale Lives (coming soon)
The Clockwork Doll: A Steampunk Novella
On A Cold Christmas Eve
To Catch A Duke (Tales From Seldon Park: Book 1)
Far Beyond Scandalous (Tales From Seldon Park: Book 2 - coming soon)
Love, Fluff, and Other Stuff (coming soon)
About the author
Making her home in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, Bethany lives with her husband and a plethora of Betta fish that she’s constantly finding new ways to entertain. When not writing romance novels, she enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, and lavishing attention on her parents’ cat, whom she visits frequently. She always enjoys hearing from her fans at: [email protected]
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