An Agreeable Arrangement

by Shirley Marks

  “I beg your pardon. I am very sorry, I-”

  “There is no excuse. We cannot … there would be a scandal if we were found!”

  He took another step back. Clearly he could not be trusted in her proximity. He couldn’t even trust himself.

  “You must promise me,” she implored him. “We deny our feelings because it is what we must do, do we not?”

  “It is our duty to continue.”

  “But we must be successful. You must help me” Tears filled her eyes, making them glisten in the moonlight. “You know that I never wished to marry Edward. I believe I made that clear the day I arrived at Stewart Hall”

  Julian almost smiled as he remembered her slapping him. He never imagined they’d end up in a situation such as this.

  “Even though marriage to Edward is not what I desire”-she paused and Julian felt his heart break as he stood before her-“I am willing do so”

  It would be more difficult for him than for her. She would have Edward to love her. After the wedding they would move to her beloved Hedgeway Park.

  In a year’s time the squire was certain that Lorna would marry. Which left Julian alone, trapped in the mausoleum of Stewart Hall. Which wasn’t nearly as bad as losing the woman he loved.

  The thought that Cassie could be relatively happy with Edward by her side in the home she treasured was comforting to Julian.

  “I do not know how I am to proceed, knowing that you are ..” Cassie worked on strengthening her composure. “We must never be alone. Do you understand?”

  Julian nodded, he knew exactly what she meant. Coming out here, being alone on the terrace with her was a mistake. The guests’ conversation and the dancing music from the ballroom seemed to have resumed. The squire realized how foolish his action had been.

  “I am to be married!” Her words were spoken in an emotional plea. “Please, you must promise me”

  “As you say, this is difficult enough for us” Julian gave a shallow bow of his head. “I give you my word.”

  “Until we meet again … in a more public venue.” Cassie dipped a curtsy and left the terrace.

  Julian watched Cassandra reenter the ballroom. He dare not follow directly. He did not want anyone to have the slightest notion that anything untoward had happened.

  He watched her take Sir Horace’s arm as he escorted her onto the dance floor. After a few moments, Julian thought it safe to proceed. Edward met him the instant he stepped inside.

  “I say, Julian, had a go at one of the guests, did you? Aren’t you the downy one?” Edward swiped his upper lip, indicating that his brother should mimic him. “For heaven’s sake, Julian, wipe that lip paint off your mouth or everyone will know.”

  The squire drew a handkerchief from his coat pocket and removed the stain. The smudged rouge told him of his indiscretion.

  “Glad to see you have it in you, old man.” Edward slapped his brother’s midsection with the back of his hand.

  The squire eyed his brother. Edward would not have been so jolly about the news had he’d known it was Cassie who’d been kissed.

  On his return to Stewart Hall, Julian once again isolated himself in the library. He peeled off his coat, tore the cravat from his neck and tossed them both aside.

  He poured a glass of brandy, lifted the glass to his lips and froze, remembering that evening and those few precious moments he shared with Cassie.

  He had promised her. He had given his word. He would not interfere. And by God, he was as good as his word.

  He set the untouched glass on the table then sat at his desk. Closing his eyes for only a few seconds, he could clearly hear Cassie humming a song as they danced.

  He jerked awake. Julian did not wish to fall asleep. He’d dream of her. He always did.

  The squire donned his spectacles and pulled that day’s correspondence toward him, determined to answer every missive upon his desk.

  The sound of voices woke Julian and he raised his head off the desk.

  He heard Cassie’s voice.

  Julian pushed himself up and moved to the door, pulling it open just an inch to peer through.

  “Thank you for seeing me home safely. I am sorry to make you leave the ball so soon” Cassie stood with Edward at the end of the foyer.

  “No matter, my dear. My bachelor days are numbered. This will give me a chance to stop by the clubs, play some cards. I shall not be staying out late once we’re wed”

  “I’m glad I did not ruin your evening, then.”

  “I never regret the chance to share your company.” Edward led her to the staircase. “I wish you a good night, my dear.”

  Edward took Cassie into his arms for a kiss. Julian could not make himself watch the painful scene. He leaned back and closed the door.

  Not more than a minute had passed before a small tap sounded from the door. Whoever it was did not wait for him to answer. The door ever so slowly opened and Loma slipped through the narrow opening. Julian had never seen her look this miserable.

  “Julian?” she whispered in a guilt-filled voice and moved toward the hearth where he sat in a leather chair.

  “Shouldn’t you be headed to bed?” The squire straightened, concern for his sibling overshadowing his personal problems. “What troubles you, poppet?”

  “Tonight at the party,” she whispered in the same soft hush. Her cheeks flushed with a deep, dark red.

  “Did someone act improperly?” Julian’s temper began to rise at the thought of some young buck making advances. He would see the fellow thrashed!

  “I believe so,” Lorna answered coolly.

  “I demand you tell me who is responsible for the outrage!” He stood, readying himself to rush out of the house that very night and see justice done.

  “You,” she said directly, her eyes accusing him.

  Julian froze at the accusation.

  “I saw you … on the terrace … you and Cassie.” The shock in her young voice and that she had witnessed his duplicity. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

  Julian’s legs lost their strength and gave way, dropping him back into the chair. How could he deny it? “Yes … yes … I do love her.” He closed his eyes and clapped his hands over his face. Tears came to his eyes.

  “Does this mean she doesn’t love Edward, she loves you?” Lorna laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you stop the wedding?”

  “I can’t … I gave her my word”

  “But, you love her. Isn’t that all that matters?” Lorna looked upon her eldest brother.

  “No, I’m afraid it doesn’t. It’s what we both have to do,” he confessed.

  Julian could see it in her eyes. Lorna now realized she no longer wished for a suitor like Edward as she had always dreamed about. He was what she wanted in a man. Someone who could love her deeply and completely.

  And maybe that’s what the squire neededsomeone to care for him. If Cassie could find some happiness without him, why couldn’t he manage the same?

  Indeed, perhaps it was time he found a new wife. The night was still young …

  Maxwell entered the room with a tray of coffee and set it on the table next to the desk. “I believe it is your wish to work throughout the night again, sir?”

  “I was … but I have changed my mind.” Julian pulled his discarded cravat from the floor and tried to shake the wrinkles from it.

  “Have you, sir?”

  “You know, Maxwell, I used to be like you” Julian straightened his collar and wound the linen around his neck.

  “Were you, sir?”

  “I used to have the same stern face.” The squire patted Maxwell’s cheek. “The same straightforward, stalwart stance” He patted Maxwell’s chest in male camaraderie and imitated the butler’s upright posture.

  Maxwell’s eyes continued to look forward and never once wavered.

  “I just want to thank you for your efforts.” Julian’s head moved from side to side as he spoke.

  “I’m sure I d
on’t know to what you are referring, sir.”

  “You know very well to what I’m referring.” Julian shook his finger at him. He moved near Maxwell’s ear to whisper. “That little tryst you planned for Lady Cassandra and me” He backed away, his lips curled in an offish manner, his eyes seemed to move about. “Very clever plan”

  “You credit me with more ingenuity than I am capable”

  “I think not. I believe you were only looking out for my welfare.” Julian tried to tie the neckloth into some semblance of its previous knot. “But it was wrong, Maxwell. We should not have met.” He pivoted toward the butler and pointed at his limp linen. “Do you think you could possibly .. “

  “I apologize, sir. I lack the proper skills for that type of delicate work. Perhaps I should send for Postlewait.”

  The squire groused and pushed the remaining lengths of linen into his vest. “That’ll do”

  “Perhaps if you had a good night’s sleep, sir. Tomorrow evening might find you in better form, and I’m sure your valet would be delighted to sculpt your cravat into a spectacular-”

  “I’m in fine form now, what?” The squire shrugged on the dark blue jacket he’d worn earlier at the ball.

  “I am only voicing concern for your extended late night hours. I do not believe you have spent a single night in your bedchamber since-”

  “Will you have the carriage brought around?” Julian brushed at the wrinkles he just noticed in his jacket sleeves. And he had the devil of a time trying to get them to disappear.

  Maxwell headed for the door and turned back at the last minute. “May I inquire if you will be returning to your study tonight?”

  Julian raised his head regally and surveyed his surroundings. “I should say not. I”-the squire made a grand gesture high in the air with his arm-“shall become a man about town”

  In the hours before daybreak, a light but insistent rapping came at Cassie’s door. It woke her from a light and troubled slumber that had not come easy.

  “What is it?” she asked from her sleepy state. The latch clicked open. Maxwell entered.

  “Pardon the hour, my lady. An emergency has arisen. I believe the squire is seriously injured.”

  The news brought Cassie directly awake. Donning a robe and slippers she hurried out of her room after the butler.

  “A disturbance at White’s,” he explained.

  Two footmen carried a limp body up the stairs. Cassie rushed over, and Maxwell followed with the candelabrum. The footmen paused for an instant before moving on.

  “Julian!” she gasped and shot a stern look at Maxwell.

  The momentum of the footmen carried them around the corner.

  “I’ve instructed them to take him to his bedchamber. I’m afraid the library sofa, although it might be the squire’s choice, would not be sufficient to accommodate him.”

  “Of course. You did the right thing, Maxwell.”

  “And I have taken the liberty and sent for the physician. I fear his injuries may be more serious than we can ascertain.”

  If she hadn’t known better, Cassie might have thought a line of worry crossed the butler’s usual unreadable face.

  Cassie headed down the hall, following the footmen. The squire’s body lay limp on a large four-poster bed.

  Julian … what’s happened?

  He looked terrible. In the dim light, Cassie lifted his tousled hair from his forehead. Untying the bloodstained cravat, she gently removed it and unbuttoned his torn shirt which was soaked with blood-his blood. Pulling the sides open, she saw the darkened areas on his abdomen and she feared that he might have bruised or broken ribs.

  She used clean linen and warm water Maxwell had brought to tend to Julian’s superficial wounds. Wringing the water from the rag, Cassie began to clean the caked, dried blood from his face.

  Bruises spotted his cheekbones, mostly on his left side. Setting the soiled cloth aside, she ran her cool hand along his injured face.

  Alone in the room, she traced his lips with her fingers. She let them linger for just a moment before she noticed Maxwell’s silent presence. She thought he had gone.

  “The physician should arrive by daybreak … in about an hour, my lady.”

  “Did you wake Edward?” Cassie did not try to explain the intimate touch she knew Maxwell must have seen.

  “Mr. Edward has not yet returned home.”

  “He’s not back? He said he went out to play cards.”

  “Apparently they were not together,” the butler calmly replied. “There are many clubs in London, my lady. It is quite possible he was at another.”

  Cassie glanced up at his response. If she had heard correctly, it was in a somewhat curious tone.

  “If Mr. Edward were in the vicinity, he surely would have come to the squire’s aid.”

  “Of course, you are right.” She sighed, feeling foolish that she had read more into his answer. “Please send for Mrs. Green … then there will be two of us. I don’t want the squire to be left alone” Cassie impatiently stood and glanced out the window. “Where is the physician?”

  Dawn had broken with the physician’s arrival. He stayed for nearly two hours tending to Julian. It had been almost three hours since he had left and Cassie still sat by the squire’s bedside, unwilling to leave. Mrs. Green remained by her side for most of the early morning. She took a few minutes to run to the kitchen to bring something for Cassie to eat, despite her insistence she was not hungry.

  Julian had not regained consciousness which was of great concern. The physician had no clue to why he was in this condition or how long it was to last.

  In the dim glow of the candlelight, Cassie studied Julian’s bedchamber. She could not see the entire room from where she sat in an upholstered armchair next to Julian, who lay on his solid four-poster bed. The adorning bedcurtains were thick and heavy to keep out the daylight. Against the wall across from her she could make out a tall cabinet.

  Heavy footsteps from the hallway grew louder. She doubted it was Maxwell. No one ever heard the butler enter or exit a room. Cassie straightened in her chair, wondering who the intruder might be.

  The footfalls stopped abruptly and the visitor leaned into the room. “Julian? Julian, you in there?”

  “Edward?”

  “Cass? What the devil are you doing in there?” He hurried into the room. Edward did not look his usual, incomparable self. His hair was untidy, his clothing wrinkled. He smelled of spirits, cheroot smoke, and stale scent.

  Is this what happened to men when they went out to play cards? They stayed out until the sun rose, came home smelling bad and looking worse? Surely he had been occupied with much more than ordinary gambling.

  “I beg your pardon, my language” He looked from Cassie to Julian laid out on his bed, still. “Shouldn’t there be a maid or footman watching over him?”

  “He is badly hurt, Edward. The physician is very concerned that he has not awakened. Are you not worried?”

  “Pfft, never … Julian is a robust individual.”

  “I cannot rest until I know he is well”

  “Aren’t you an angel” Edward neared, leaned down, and kissed Cassie on top of her head. “You go ahead and play the ministering miss if it makes you feel better. I’m off to bed” He rubbed his face and shuffled to the door.

  “Can you not make inquiries? Are you not at all concerned to what has happened to him? And who is responsible?”

  “Julian can take care of himself. He always has” Edward jabbed his index finger at the motionless form on the bed and left.

  An hour later, Julian moaned. Cassie rushed to his side, placing her hands gently upon him to keep him still. She hoped he wasn’t in much pain.

  He blinked open his eyes and smiled when he saw her. “Have I died? You’re here. I think I’m in heaven”

  “No, you are safe at Stewart Hall and the physician says you are in a bad state. You must rest”

  “You shouldn’t be here. You said we were not to be alone.
Here you are in my bedchamber .. ” He made a move to sit upright, winced at the pain then thought better of it.

  “Well, the circumstances have changed. I did not know you would be on death’s door the very next day and … I was afraid for you.” The confession seemed to ease the tension between them.

  “Do not mistake me, I am glad you are here, if only to watch over me.”

  “Apparently, I am the only one who is. Well, Lorna will be when she learns of your condition, of course, but I am shocked over Edward’s indifference. His family has always been of the utmost importance.”

  “It is not his place to worry about me. He is to marry you and his concern should be your new life together.”

  “If only there were a way we could manage . . “At this moment Cassie’s choice was clear if the decision of man or mansion had to be made. She sighed. “It does not signify. No matter what our outcome may be”-she pulled her hand free of his and stroked his face-“I shall always be here for you”

  “And I,” he said, placing his hand over hers. “Your devoted servant”

  In two days, the mended squire ventured out of Stewart Hall into London. He would first stop at White’s. Its front window was boarded and the inside was in a state of complete disrepair. George Raggett, the new owner, had been expecting Julian’s full retribution for the damages incurred.

  “Bought this place only a month ago, sir,” Raggett explained. “I didn’t expect the patrons in an establishment such as this to brawl as if in a common pub” He shook his head. “Who would have guessed that you started it all”

  Julian said nothing but felt properly humbled.

  He’d taken a swing at Lord Avery, who might have deserved to have his cork drawn, the squire couldn’t remember. He hadn’t been able to remember much from that night, only that he had, as Mr. Raggett stated, started a most undignified fight.

  Sir Anthony Crenshaw was the kind soul who, with the assistance of a Mr. Hanford, had helped Julian leave the premises. It was also Sir Anthony who had seen the squire to his transport and sent him home.

  “It’s not just the window … I’ll be closed until they finish repairs.”