by Joan Wolf
Well, they had made a bargain, I thought. Evan felt sorry for me. He knew I had no place to go, so he had offered to take me on, the way he had offered to give me a season and bought me a horse. He felt responsible for me. And my darling Sir Matthew approved.
I would not allow it. My whole heart and body cried out for Evan, but I would not saddle him with a wife he didn’t want, a wife who could only be a burden to him. A wife who was afraid to go to America.
I set my jaw and said, “Well, I don’t want to marry you.”
Once again the two men looked at each other over my head. I wanted to scream.
“I’ll take her back to Stoverton with me for the night,” Evan said to Sir Matthew. “No one needs to know we were there together. Then, tomorrow, I’ll take her back to London.”
I looked at Sir Matthew, knowing he would never agree to such an improper situation. “An excellent plan, my lord,” he said. “I’ll tell anyone who asks that Lady Julia was with me.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I looked at my dear and only friend and protested, “I can’t be alone with Evan at Stoverton, Sir Matthew! It isn’t proper.”
Evan put his hand on my arm and started to march me toward the curricle. “I never thought to hear you worry about what was proper or improper, Julia.”
I tried to pull away from him, but I couldn’t.
Sir Matthew said, “I’ll have someone bring Ty over to the Stoverton stables. Toby can look after him.”
“Sammy can bring him,” Evan said.
Sir Matthew nodded.
Evan picked me up as if I weighed nothing and plopped me in the curricle seat. He swung quickly into the driving seat, took up the reins and began to turn the horses. I looked over my shoulder at my protector. “Are you going to let him kidnap me, Sir Matthew?”
“Go along with you, lass, and listen to his lordship. He’s a good’un and if you do as he says, you’ll end up just fine.”
The horses broke into a trot and I had to clutch the seat to keep my balance.
“I’m not going to talk to you,” I said to the profile next to me.
“Well, I am going to talk to you,” he replied, and the horses trotted faster.
Chapter Thirty-five
I stared straight ahead during the drive and refused to speak. After making one or two attempts at conversation, Evan gave up. The entire drive was made in silence.
My first view of golden Stoverton almost broke my heart. I loved it so much that I wished I could stretch out my arms and embrace it.
Stop this, Julia, I told myself. You’re an interloper here now. Stoverton belongs to Evan; there’s no place for you at Stoverton any longer.
Evan stopped the horses in front of the great oak door and Peter came out almost immediately to help me down and take in the luggage. Evan was busy with the horses, so I took Peter’s hand and jumped down from the seat.
“I don’t have any luggage, Peter,” I said coldly. “You can take his lordship’s.”
“I’m afraid I have no luggage either,” Evan said. He had secured the horses’ reins and descended from the high seat. “Lady Julia and I plan to stay just the one night. We’ll be off to London in the morning.”
Peter’s eyebrows twitched, but he said only, “Very good, my lord. I shall have your bedroom and Lady Julia’s prepared.”
“Thank you,” Evan said. He took my elbow into his large hand and prepared to march me into the house. I was not enamored of these strong man tactics and pulled my arm away. “I can walk by myself, thank you,” I informed him, and swept ahead of him through the front door.
My heart cramped with love as I stood in the main hallway. Stoverton. I simply could not stop loving it even though I knew I had to put it behind me. It had belonged to a Marshall for many centuries and it must remain in the hands of a Marshall.
The hall was cold, but then we had stopped heating this part of the house during my mother’s time.
My mother. I had tried not to think about her, about her betrayal of her husband and of Maria and me. She may not have loved my father – my alleged father – but she had sworn a solemn vow to be faithful to him.
I had no sympathy for my mother.
Evan took my elbow once again and guided me through the old part of the house. I didn’t pull away this time – I needed his support. I would miss this house for the rest of my life.
We ended up in the library. Lucy was starting the fire as we came in the door and Evan said, “Will you make sure a fire is lit in my rooms, Lucy?”
She bobbed a curtsy, “Yes, my lord.”
He hadn’t told her to light a fire in my bedroom, but I held my tongue. I knew Lucy would take care of me.
The library door closed behind Peter leaving Evan and me alone. My heart began to beat faster and I said, “There’s no use in arguing, Evan. I will never marry you. I know you think you’re obligated to offer for me, but my answer is no.”
He didn’t say anything, just stood looking at me with intent blue eyes, overpowering me with the force of his closeness. The air between us seemed to swell and throb and it took all my willpower to keep from moving toward him.
He said, “I don’t want to marry you because I feel obligated to, I…”
I jumped in, cutting him off.
“I said I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t know why you insisted on bringing me here, but I am going to my room right now. I’ll be ready for you to take me back to Sir Matthew’s in the morning.”
Evan’s narrowed eyes had turned dark blue and were radiating such intensity that I shivered. He said, “Let’s not talk then,” and before I realized what was happening, he had pulled me into his arms and was kissing me. My whole body jolted at the touch of his mouth and, after a very brief moment, I kissed him back. I simply couldn’t stop myself.
He kept kissing me and kissing me until I was so dizzy I couldn’t think. My arms were around his waist and I clung to him, afraid I would fall apart if I let go.
Finally he lifted his head. He was breathing hard and the expression on his face stabbed into me like a knife. He said, “I don’t want to marry you because I feel sorry for you. I want to marry you because I love you.”
I had never heard such beautiful words. “You do?” My voice was shaky.
“Yes. I love you and I want to marry you. How about you, Julia?”
My heart was ringing like a cacophony of bells. He had said he loved me and I believed him. I rose on my toes and put my hands on his shoulders. “I love you too,” I said and lifted my face to his.
This time his tongue pressed against my mouth and I opened my lips and let him in. The only light in the room was coming from the coals in the fire and the darkness seemed to breathe around us. The rhythm of his body beat against me and I pressed against him, filled with a fierce, aching passion I had not known existed.
When he put his hands on my shoulders and held me away, I almost stumbled. I looked up, not understanding his abrupt withdrawal. His face was hard with passion and his hair was disordered. Dimly I remembered running my hands through it. “Is something wrong?” I asked.
“We have to stop this Julia. If I keep kissing you like this I won’t be able to stop at all.”
He was such a wonderful man and I loved him so much. “Why should we stop?” I asked.
His eyes sparked blue fire and he stepped away from me, resisting temptation. “Because we’re not married.”
“But we’re going to be married, aren’t we?”
“We most certainly are, and as soon as possible.”
“Then what difference does a few days, or weeks, make?” Part of me couldn’t believe I was saying this, but a bigger part of me didn’t care. We were here together, we could do as we pleased, and he was mine.
I could see him struggle to do the right thing – or what he thought to be the right thing. I took his hand and said, “Let’s go to your bedroom.”
Suddenly he grinned. “You are diabolical, do you know that
?”
I smiled back. “That’s why you love me.”
He groaned. “God help me, it’s true.” He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my palm. Then he folded my fingers over the kiss, picked me up and carried me to where I wanted to be.
* * * *
The earl’s bedroom had a fire just starting up in the fireplace. Evan laid me on the big bed and, as I looked up at him, the moonlight from the uncovered window fell upon him, silvering his hair and face. For a moment he looked like one of those Greek gods I had read about in the library here at Stoverton, but then he leaned over me, blocking the moonlight with his shoulders, and he was Evan again.
“You are so beautiful, Julia,” he said, his voice thicker than usual. “Let me take that tie out of your hair.”
I sat up a little so he could reach behind me to until the ribbon that held my hair away from my face. He smoothed one of the long shiny black locks between his fingers. “So beautiful,” he said, and lifted the strand to his lips.
“You’re the one who’s beautiful,” I said.
“I know – I look just like the first earl.”
“No, you’re much more beautiful than he was.”
He smiled. “Does that mean I have beaten him out in your affections.”
“The man’s been dead for centuries. There was no contest.”
He smoothed his finger across my cheekbones. “I love you so much,” he said.
“I’ve been thinking the same thing about you,” I returned shakily. “I just never thought you’d want to take me back with you to America, that you were afraid I wouldn’t fit in.” I bit my lip. “I probably won’t, at first, but I’ll try, Evan. I promise I’ll try.”
His whole face had become very still. “Are you saying you’d come to America with me?”
I said recklessly, “I’d go anyplace in the world if you were there.”
This time his voice was shaky as he said, “Brave and gallant, as always. But you won’t have to make such a sacrifice, my love. I have decided to remain in England and turn Stoverton into a profitable estate once more. I think my father would have wanted me to do that.”
I sat up. “Are you serious? You’re going to stay in England?”
“Yes. I didn’t ask for it, but I have been entrusted with the lives of many people and I can’t desert them. I’ve decided I shall just have to become the Earl of Althorpe and do my duty.”
My mouth was hanging open. I had not expected this. “Are you sure?”
“Perfectly.”
“It’s not just because of me? It’s what you really want to do?”
“Yes.”
My heart lit like an explosion of candles. “Oh Evan, that makes me so happy!”
He gave me the sweetest, most tender smile. “I rather thought it would.”
I lifted my arms to him and said, “Kiss me again!”
We kissed until we were both breathless and panting. Somehow we managed to shed our clothes and then we were truly close, skin against skin. I kissed him and kissed him, loving the feel of his strength, the feel of his flesh under my hands. He lowered his mouth to kiss my breasts and I gasped and arched up at the sharp sensation that went through my loins. He sucked on my nipple and I quivered, my body growing tauter and tauter, like a bow waiting to be shot. I opened my legs, feeling my need, wanting him to come into me.
When he did a hot drenching swell of pleasure came with him. I think I whimpered. I know I raised my hips so he could come even deeper. A shock of burning pain caused me to stiffen and cry out and he buried his face in my neck and said, “It will pass, Julia. It will pass.” I hung onto him and let him stay, surrendering to him, feeling him inside of me, stretching me, giving me such mounting pleasure that I wanted to scream.
Then it happened, a fierce explosion of pleasure that caused my whole body to convulse, again and again and again. His seed poured into me and felt such exultation, such joy, that I thought I might die of it.
Evan turned me on my side and took me into his arms. “I love you so much,” he kept saying. “So much.”
“I love you more,” I said, and he laughed.
* * * *
We drove back to London the next day. Everyone crowded into the drawing room when they heard we had arrived, including Uncle Gordon, who had returned in my absence.
“Thank God you found her,” Lady Barbara exclaimed.
Maria was hugging me so hard I almost couldn’t breathe. “I’m sorry I worried you,” I said. “I wasn’t thinking very clearly.”
“I know.” Maria looked down at me, her blue eyes bright with unshed tears. “I know why you left and I understand.”
Lizzie came to hug me next. “I’m so glad to see you, Julia. You know how much I love you.”
I did know and I was grateful for her love. Lizzie’s friendship had been a great gift to me.
Aunt Barbara said ominously, “Where did you spend last night, Julia?”
It was Evan who answered. Clearly he thought himself a better liar than I was. “She stayed with Sir Matthew, Aunt, and I stayed at Stoverton.”
Aunt Barbara fixed him with a piercing gaze. “Make sure that remains your story,” she said.
My, my, I thought. Such a nasty mind.
“We are very happy to have you back,” Uncle Gordon said, coming to kiss me on the cheek and to shake Evan’s hand.
“I have put it about that you were ill,” Aunt Barbara informed me. “Fortunately you were not gone for long. I think we shall muddle through all right. The marquis even asked about your health, Julia. I have hopes you can still attach him.”
Evan and I looked at each other. I gave him a small nod and he took a deep breath and stepped forward. “I have some rather good news for you all. Julia has promised to become my wife.” This brought gasps from all around. He continued, “And we plan to remain in England and live at Stoverton.”
Dead silence greeted this part of the announcement. Lizzie recovered first, squealing and coming to hug me again. Then she hugged Evan. “This is wonderful! I have been praying it would happen – you two so clearly loved each other.”
I looked at my cousin’s beaming face. “How did you know that?”
“Oh, anyone with eyes could see it,” she responded blithely.
Tears were rolling down Maria’s face.
“Maria!” I said, rushing to her side. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy for us?”
She nodded, sniffled, and said, “I’m crying because I’m happy. I was so afraid I had lost you.”
I wrapped her in my arms. “I would never desert you.”
Evan said plaintively, “Don’t I get a kiss, Maria? I’m going to be your brother now, you know.”
She flew to him and kissed his cheek enthusiastically. “I’m so happy, Evan. So happy.”
He grinned at her. “So am I.”
Maria turned to me and said, “Just think, Julia, you’ll be a Marshall after all! Think of all the family lore you can pass along to your children.”
I blinked. Strangely, this thought hadn’t yet occurred to me.
Uncle Gordon said, “This news calls for a celebration drink. Surely you have some champagne on ice, my dear?”
Lady Barbara looked doubtful.
Evan said, “I’m certain the estimable Grantly can come up with something.”
Lady Barbara rang the bell.
Uncle Gordon said, “Come and sit down you two.” When we obliged, he gave Evan an approving smile. “I’m delighted with your choice of bride and I’m delighted with your plan to remain in England. Stoverton needs a steady hand if it’s to recover from the devastation of its previous owners.”
Evan looked very serious. “That is the conclusion I came to myself.” He turned to Aunt Barbara. “I believe this is what my father would have wanted me to do.”
Aunt Barbara smiled. A real smile, not her usual pained one. “Dear Tommy. He did love Stoverton, you know. If only he had inherited instead of Philip this disaster would have b
een averted. I’m very glad his son has decided to take up the challenge.”
“And Julia won’t have to leave us and go to America,” Lizzie said.
Evan said, “Chills run up and down my spine at the thought of Julia in Salem. The town would never recover.”
“That’s not true!” I said indignantly. “I told you I would go and do my very best to fit in.”
“Well that’s the strongest declaration of true love that I’ve ever heard,” Lizzie said, smiling at me.
Uncle Gordon said, “Julia is not the only one to have marital news for us. I am pleased to inform you that Lizzie is to marry Lord Roger Ainsley, the Duke of Morton’s brother.”
“Lizzie!” I shrieked and went to hug her.
“She could have had the duke,” Aunt Barbara said. “Instead she picks this young man who is going to be a clergyman.”
“You picked me,” Uncle Gordon reminded her. “What about that rich earl who wanted to marry you?”
We all stared at Aunt Barbara in amazement. To think someone else besides Uncle Gordon had wanted to marry her. It didn’t seem possible.
“Well, it was you I loved, Gordon,” Aunt Barbara said.
“Hah!” Lizzie grinned at her mother. “I believe that is how I told you I felt about Roger.”
The door opened and Grantly appeared. “You rang, my lady?”
“Yes, Grantly, is it possible that we might have some champagne?”
“Of course, my lady. I always keep a bottle on ice in case it is wanted.”
“Bring it up then, Grantly,” Evan said. “We have something to celebrate today.”
“Very good, my lord.”
Grantly exited with his usual dignity and Evan said, “It seems there are some uses for a butler after all.”
Aunt Barbara said with fervor, “Thank you, Evan, thank you for taking Julia off my hands.”
There was a moment of startled silence, and then we all began to laugh. Evan put an arm around my shoulders and led me to one of the sofas. I sighed with deep satisfaction.
“I think Ty will be all the crack in the hunting field,” I offered, thinking that perhaps we might even get to hunt with the Quorn if Tom could arrange it.