Without waiting for his escort, she marched into the house. Lady Woodley and Mr. Gray were standing close together at the base of the stairs. When Juliet approached them, they almost looked surprised to see her.
“Goodness, there you are,” Lady Woodley said, taking a step toward Juliet. “Why don’t I show you two to your quarters personally? You can get settled in after your long journey.”
“That would be lovely, my lady, thank you,” Juliet said, casting a quick glance over her shoulder at Gabriel before she and her father followed his mother up the stairs and finally disappeared from view.
Gabriel spun away from his position, staring after her like a puppy. It would not do. Juliet Gray was a distraction he could not indulge in. He had too much to do.
So he would just have to avoid her as much as possible.
Juliet had told Lady Woodley she was lying down for a nap. She had intended to rest her eyes in the hopes she could sleep away the aftereffects of the past two long days of bumpy travel in her father’s modest carriage. But she found, when she put her head on the soft pillow in her magnificent room, sleep would not come.
Thoughts did, though, spinning in her head, making her relive every conversation she’d ever had with Gabriel. About his mother, about herself…and that all seemed to naturally lead her to the night of Gabriel’s brother’s wedding to Josie Westfall. Gabriel had come to her that night, drunk and obviously troubled and he had…well, he had kissed her. Quite thoroughly.
She sat bolt upright and threw herself off the bed.
“Damn it, Juliet, it was just a little kiss,” she hissed, pacing across the room in frustration.
Behind her there was a knock on the door and she turned slowly, composing herself before she sighed, “Come in.”
When the door opened, Juliet’s heart leapt with relief and happiness. The person who had intruded upon her “nap” was none other than Josie, herself.
“Juliet,” the other young woman exclaimed, launching herself into the room and grasping both of Juliet’s hands. “I know you were trying to rest, but I couldn’t help it! I wanted to see you so badly.”
Josie surprised her by throwing her arms around her and dragging Juliet in for a tight hug. Juliet returned it immediately, for Josie was truly one of her favorite people, despite their short acquaintance.
Josie Westfall—well, Juliet supposed she was Lady Jocelyn now that she had married Lady Woodley’s second eldest son Evan—came from as exalted a background as the Woodleys themselves. And yet there was something…special about her. Something basic and decent and welcoming. The two of them had bonded more than once about not feeling they belonged in the world of the Woodleys.
Though looking at Josie now, no one would ever believe it. She had a glow about her which enhanced how very pretty she was and made her open face even more enchanting.
“Marriage agrees with you, my friend,” Juliet said as she ushered her into the chamber and motioned to the two chairs beside the fire.
“It does,” Josie sighed as she took the offered seat. “It helps a great deal when one is madly, truly and deeply in love with one’s husband, of course.”
Juliet smiled. She had watched the often tricky road Josie and her husband, Lord Evan, had traveled. She had sensed Josie’s hesitation about the man then and his feelings, but there was none of that uncertainty in her demeanor now.
“I’m happy for you,” Juliet said softly, ignoring the slightest twinge of jealousy that made its ugly presence known in the pit of her stomach. “You deserve to be utterly happy.”
Josie blushed. “Thank you. I am. But what about you? I was pleased beyond words when I heard Mama Woodley had invited you to join us for the holidays and beyond. I have missed seeing you.”
Juliet shifted and cast her gaze away from her friend. “Oh, of course I was honored that Lady Woodley would want me to join the family. And that she would include my father.”
“Honored,” Josie repeated slowly, the word rolling off her tongue like she was trying to decipher the meaning behind it.
“Yes.” Juliet tried to lighten her tone. “After all, it isn’t every day that a person like me is dragged…brought into such a situation, is it?”
“Hmmm.” Josie tilted her head and examined Juliet closely. “What are your plans for London, then?”
Juliet continued to focus more on the fire burning across from her than Josie. “I have very few plans. Lady Woodley has grand ones, I suppose, and I shall do whatever she wishes.”
“And get through this,” Josie added softly.
Juliet found herself nodding before she realized the trap that had been set for her by her friend. She looked at Josie with a gasp. “I-I don’t mean to sound ungrateful.”
“You don’t,” Josie reassured her, reaching out to place a hand over hers and squeezing gently. “I think I understand your hesitation. After all, you and I once commiserated over our shared discomfort in Society. And now you are thrown into the depths of it.”
“Yes. I must admit, I’m overwhelmed by the idea of being swept into a room of important strangers and their judgments about my countrified manners, clothes and ways.”
Josie made a snort of derision. “With some of them no one could possibly win. But others are not so bad as all that. Besides, you will be surrounded by friends. Evan and I will be there wherever you go. And Mary and Edward and Audrey and Jude, as well as Gabriel.”
Juliet sucked in a breath, her mind going again to the way his eyes had bored into her when she arrived just hours before. “Yes, Gabriel,” she whispered.
Josie sat up a touch straighter and for a moment only silence hung between them. “Juliet?” her friend said softly. “You know you can talk to me.”
Juliet swallowed hard. She had never spoken a word to anyone about her relationship with Gabriel. It had festered inside of her, allowing her mind to twist itself into knots for months. The idea of sharing some of her pain and confusion was tempting.
“Would it be fair to talk to you?” she whispered, as much to herself as to Josie. “Evan is your husband and Gabriel’s brother.”
Josie shrugged. “Unless something is going to bring harm to Gabriel, I can’t see any reason to tell Evan any secrets you speak.”
“Hmm, well his definition of harm to his brother may include a penniless girl with an attraction.” Now that the words were out, she felt a swell of relief as well as terror as she waited for Josie’s reaction.
Josie took a long breath. “I assume that penniless girl is you?”
Juliet nodded slowly.
“First off, I know my husband and all his family very well. They do not judge on money, but on character. Yours is impeccable. If you were to enter this family, it would be to open arms and much joy. Is that what…what is happening here?”
Juliet shut her eyes. “No.”
“Tell me,” Josie encouraged, taking her hand again. “Sometimes saying the words helps a great deal.”
She hesitated before she spoke. “When I began helping Lady Woodley during her illness, Gabriel was the one who stood by most often. Of course I noticed him, how could you not? He is by far the most handsome of the Woodley men.”
Josie smiled as if she disagreed, but didn’t interrupt.
“He was sometimes so arrogant to me,” Juliet continued. “Questioning my methods, inspecting my tools and herbs. Utterly frustrating, but I understood his reasons. He has a keen mind, he studies situations and he has questions. I did my best to inform and comfort him by showing him my competence. We did sometimes disagree, but on the whole I think he respected me.”
“We all do,” Josie supplied softly.
“I thought of him more than I should,” Juliet whispered, saying the words out loud for the first time and hearing their truth. “And I caught him watching me from time to time, but I never thought or hoped he could…want me.”
“But?” her friend encouraged gently.
“He
kissed me,” she burst out at last. “At your wedding.”
Josie released Juliet’s hand and lifted both her own to her lips. “Oh my goodness! That is very exciting.”
Juliet shrugged. “It might be, except that he was very drunk and obviously unhappy. He pushed me away afterward and has kept his distance ever since. I suppose he doesn’t like me after all. I feel a bit foolish that I thought he might. And even more foolish that I wanted him to. Nothing ever would have come of it, even if he had wanted me.”
Josie shook her head, empathy in her eyes. “Oh, Juliet, I’m sorry. I had no idea all this was going on a few months ago.”
Juliet smiled and it wasn’t forced. “You were a bit busy, weren’t you?”
Josie’s cheeks darkened to a deep rose and she laughed. “Yes, I suppose I was.”
“And perhaps there was nothing to see after all, except for a foolish woman misreading the situation.”
Josie frowned. “Don’t judge Gabriel too harshly, Juliet. He has always been too much in his own head, denying himself pleasure regularly. It isn’t that Evan and Edward were libertines, but there were always whispered stories about their minor conquests. But never once about Gabriel. So he is slow to pursue, to say the least. And he is so focused on Claire now, trying to find her. He sometimes doesn’t see anything else.”
Juliet nodded. Gabriel had never spoken to her about his lost twin, but Claire’s presence had colored every moment she’d spent in the Woodley house. She was like a ghost, except everyone wanted her there so desperately.
“I know he can be singular in his thoughts,” Juliet admitted.
“He is a good man, though,” Josie insisted. “And if he kissed you, I don’t think you can think yourself foolish in your attraction. It could not have been as one-sided as you chide yourself it was.”
Juliet shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter now, though. Whatever was between us is in the past. And I will simply move on with my life and forget it. As he has.”
Josie hesitated but didn’t correct her, and Juliet took the opportunity to change the subject. But even as they chatted about other things, her mind continued to turn on the subject of one Lord Gabriel and the emotions her confession had suddenly made real. Emotions she would have to forget. Soon.
Chapter Four
One thing Juliet could not deny was that Lady Woodley certainly knew how to host a magnificent ball. Not that she had much point of reference for such a thing, but as she looked around the huge ballroom filled with important looking men and beautiful women, she couldn’t imagine there had ever been one better. The room sparkled from the lit chandeliers, the music was perfection and the drinks flowed freely.
And every moment, Juliet wished she were able to sink into the floor and disappear. People stared at her, whispered about her. Oh, they were kind enough when they met her, with Lady Woodley going on about her, calling her “an angel” or “the young woman who saved me,” but still Juliet felt so very strongly that she did not belong here.
At least she didn’t stand out thanks to her clothes. The first of the gowns Lady Woodley had insisted upon providing for her had arrived the previous day, including the finely stitched, peacock blue ball gown that now hung like a kiss over her curves. She had never had such a pretty dress before and she had to admit, she loved it.
“Are you having a good time?”
Juliet plastered a broad smile on her face before she turned to face the very woman who was the host of this fete. Lady Woodley looked divine in a gray silk gown that accentuated her silver hair. She had a massive ruby necklace at her throat that sparkled in the light. It was a far cry from the pale woman at death’s door who Juliet had encountered months ago. She almost didn’t know what to say.
“I-I am,” she stammered.
Lady Woodley reached out to take her hand. “You are overwhelmed?”
Juliet smiled at how her friend could read her. “A little,” she admitted. “They all seem to be watching me. You made it so clear that this party was to celebrate me and I’ve never been so much a center of attention.”
Lady Woodley nodded. “Well, you know the party is not all about you. The holidays are approaching and three of my children have been married in less than the span of a year. Certainly the party could be about those things as well.”
Juliet couldn’t help but laugh at this attempt to soothe her. Lady Woodley could say all she liked, but they both knew this was a coming out of sorts for her.
“Anyway, it’s a small gathering,” Lady Woodley said. “To ease you into Society.”
Juliet blinked as she looked around at what had to be close to two hundred people milling about the large room, their conversation buzzing so loudly it almost drowned out the orchestra in the back. “This is small?”
“Moderately sized,” Lady Woodley corrected herself. “Now, here come Lord Abernathy and his mother to talk to us.”
Juliet looked in the direction Lady Woodley had indicated and watched as a man of about her age and a plump middle aged woman in a dress worth more than a year’s earnings approached. They were both smiling and looked kind enough.
“He is a very nice gentleman, Juliet,” Lady Woodley whispered. “He has a good fortune, too. Five thousand per annum.”
Juliet cast a side glance at her hostess. It was odd to speak of people in such a way, judging their worth so strongly on their financial status. But that was the way of the ton, it seemed. She wondered if Lord Abernathy would smile so at her if he knew her dowry was just two hundred pounds.
“Good evening,” Lady Woodley exclaimed as the two reached them. “Lady Abernathy, you look divine!”
The other woman smiled and blushed. “Thank you, Lady Woodley.”
“May I present my special guest to you both?” Lady Woodley pressed, slipping her hand into Juliet’s arm.
“It is why we came across the room, I admit,” Lord Abernathy said with a smile for Juliet. He was handsome, she supposed, though in a rather bland way. Not quite as fair as…
Her eyes searched the ballroom almost against her will and she found the man who she compared all others to. Gabriel stood across the long expanse of the room with Josie and Evan, but he didn’t seem to be paying much attention to their conversation. No, he was staring across the room, straight at her, glaring.
All her uncertainty rushed back, making her suddenly uncomfortable in the bright room.
“—my savior, Miss Juliet Gray,” Lady Woodley was saying, and she gently squeezed Juliet’s arm to bring her back to attention.
Juliet forced a smile. “Oh, you go on too much, my lady,” she said, her voice cracking slightly as she tried not to look at Gabriel’s judgmental face again.
Clearly, he didn’t think she belonged here. Didn’t want her here. And that stung more than it should.
“We are so very pleased to make your acquaintance,” Lord Abernathy said, his smile seemingly genuine. “I wondered, in fact, if your dance card was already filled?”
Juliet jolted her attention back to the man before her. Although everyone had been kind to her so far, no one had asked her to dance as of yet. She had actually assumed that the only ones who would were the married Woodley men. And yet here was this eligible, handsome man who tilted his head and awaited her answer.
“I—no, my card is not full,” she stammered.
“May I ask you to dance the next with me?” he asked, holding out an arm and indicating the floor where the current dance was just ending.
Juliet nodded. “Of course, my lord. I would be honored.”
“Excellent. Mother, Lady Woodley, would you excuse us a moment?”
She felt the burning heat of Lady Woodley and Lady Abernathy’s smiles as the gentleman took her arm and guided her away to the dance floor. Now she could only hope she wouldn’t make a total idiot of herself and that Gabriel would ignore her at last.
Gabriel tracked every movement as Juliet spun around the dance floor in Lo
rd Abernathy’s arms. He’d never spared the other man much thought before. In fact, it had taken a moment for him to even remember the man’s name. Once he had, Gabriel had spun up all the information he could recall in an instant.
They’d gone to school together, though they had never been friends. Not enemies, of course, but never close. On further consideration, he realized he’d always thought the man rather dull and harmless.
And yet right now Gabriel despised him. Despised the way Abernathy’s hand rested gently on Juliet’s hip before they spun away from each other in the allemande. Despised the way Abernathy made her laugh as they returned to each other after the circuit.
Of course, if Gabriel was going to hate men for paying attention to Juliet, it was a long list that night. Abernathy may have been the first to ask her to dance, but he had certainly not been the first to watch her, track her movements. It seemed every single man in the room and a good portion of the married ones couldn’t take their eyes off of her.
And why not? She was stunning. Her bright blue eyes were accentuated perfectly by that beautiful gown, and her auburn curls were piled on her head in a loose hairstyle that made her look as if she’d walked straight off the ancient Athenian streets. She was a Greek goddess, a seductive nymph, a vision.
Who wouldn’t want her?
“Are you all right, Gabriel?”
He blinked and turned to face his companion. His brother Evan had stepped away to fetch some refreshment, but Evan’s wife Josie remained at his side. And she was watching Gabriel a bit too closely.
“Of course,” he said, perhaps a bit more peevishly than he should.
He turned his back on Juliet firmly and instead examined Josie. She had long been a friend to the family before Evan fell in love with her. More than that, she had been Claire’s best friend for decades. Recently, Gabriel had encouraged his brother to use Josie to obtain information about their lost sister.
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