“Even if that was true, why would I choose to become your mistress?”
Her voice was uneven, thready. He shook his head, as if she were a slow child, who had failed to understand something obvious.
“Because, if you don’t agree, then I will expose this moment, I will tell all of the worst kind of ‘gentlemen’ that you propositioned me, that you met me secretly, and allowed me to have my way with you. Not only will the gossip finally completely ruin you, but many of those men will seek you out, looking for the same kind of favours I will tell them you granted to me. Surely you would prefer to simply quietly disappear, and to live in relative luxury, in your own little house?”
The mere thought of what he suggested left Juliana shaking with fear. Every memory of being mocked returned to her, and her imagination was more than able to extrapolate from that to what would happen if he did as he said.
He was watching her, and she knew that her thoughts must be revealed on her face. The tears spilled over. He leant forward again, and allowed his tongue to trace the tears’ path, licking the salty water from her skin. She flinched, unable to stop herself.
“There, there my dear, no need to cry. I will make quite certain that you get some pleasure from the arrangement. But you see, now, that you have no choice.”
She stifled a cry of horror.
Chapter Seven
Garrett had moved through the various rooms, chatting to people, but had felt Lady Juliana’s presence like something pulling at him, drawing him back to the main parlour, where she had been circulating amongst the guests at her mother’s side. All the while he was puzzling over the look she had given him, just after she had arrived – it had been full of anger, and something that looked, to him, almost like despair. He did not understand what he had done to deserve such a look. Surely, his small smile of greeting was not the cause?
He stepped back into the parlour and paused, scanning the room. Her mother and sister stood with a large group, deep in conversation. But Lady Juliana was not with them. His heart beat a little faster – where had she gone? His mind returned to the previous evening, in the library, to the feel of her lips against his, her softness in his arms. Dare he hope? If she had, again, taken refuge from the crowd in the library…
He was moving before he thought about it, through the door and down the hallway.
As his hand touched the library door, faint sounds reached him from inside. Voices. He eased the door in with great care, until it stood open just enough for him to see inside. It took every bit of strength he had to stop himself from charging instantly into the room. For there, before the fireplace, stood Lady Juliana, caught in Fondleton’s arms. He could not believe it of her. Surely not…
Fondleton was speaking, although Garrett was not able to determine the words. The voice stopped. Then she moved, pulling away from him desperately but unsuccessfully, a small stifled scream escaping her as she did. Fondleton hauled her back against him, and laughed.
Garrett needed to see no more – it was, from that interaction, profoundly obvious that Lady Juliana was not in Fondleton’s arms by choice. He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, the sound of his movement disguised by Fondleton’s laughter.
In four strides, he was behind Fondleton. Garrett grasped both of Fondleton’s arms, a sharp pull causing the man to release Lady Juliana, who stumbled back. He spun Fondleton around, and landed a solid punch to his jaw, every part of the intense anger he felt fuelling its force. Fondleton dropped to the floor, unconscious. Garrett lifted his finger to his lips, and Lady Juliana nodded, still standing, frozen with the shock of the last few moments.
He bent and scooped Fondleton up, carrying him to the door. Once he was sure that the hallway was empty, he took the man out, and carried him as far as the servants’ stairs, and left him there.
Garrett hoped that whoever found him would think him passed out from drink – for Fondleton certainly smelled as if he had consumed enough of it. Garrett quickly slipped back into the library, closing the door again. Lady Juliana still stood in the same spot, but she was shaking.
He went to her immediately.
“My Lady, are you unharmed? Did he…?”
She brought her eyes to his, and her shaking eased a little.
“No. He forced a kiss upon me, but nothing worse.”
“That is bad enough. He is no gentleman, to force a Lady to anything.”
Her eyes held his, full of uncertainty, and what looked to him like fear. Instinctively, he wanted to draw her to him, to hold her and protect her. He reached out, unaware of his action. Her eyes snapped down to his hands, and she scurried backwards a few unsteady steps, putting a chair between them. Garrett stilled completely, his heart aching, hurt beyond words that she should fear him. Fondleton deserved far worse than the blow he had given him.
“Lady Juliana… why do you back away from me? Have I given you any reason to fear me?”
She looked down a moment, her breathing ragged, then raised her face again. He saw the echo of that look she had given him upon her arrival – anger and despair mixed. It made no more sense to him now than then.
She countered his question with one of her own.
“Why do you expect me to trust you? How can I know that you are not as bad as Lord Fondleton? For surely your flattering words have been just to cozen me, for your amusement – I see no other reason why you should treat me so differently from all other men before.”
“I had hoped that my behaviour might have spoken for me, spoken to my honour and my sincerity. It seems that is not enough to convince you. Why? What makes you doubt me so?”
She glared at him, as if he had somehow done wrong by her – could it be the previous evening’s kiss? Perhaps… but he felt that there was far more to this. He waited.
“I have never been beautiful, graceful or elegant,” she almost spat the words at him, “but you have spoken all of those words to me. I struggled to believe you for, fool that I am, I wanted someone, anyone, to see me that way. I should have known better – my failed Season taught me that much. But then I was given some ‘helpful’ information. It was discreetly pointed out to me that perhaps you are a bit of a rake, although quiet about it. That perhaps I was simply a passing amusement, a woman so in need of being noticed that she would fall for any flattery. But that, equally, there was a longstanding arrangement between you and another, soon to be made formal. Suddenly, everything made more sense. It was a reason that, indeed, a man might flatter me falsely, and was easier to believe than that I had magically transformed overnight.”
Garrett felt as if he had been the one to receive a ferocious punch. The air left his lungs. It seemed that the vicious gossip was not only directed at Lady Juliana. And her words left him with a quiet certainty about who might have spoken so.
“Lady Juliana, who told you these things? For they are, in their entirety, untrue.”
“Oh? Then why would the Lady tell me, if not to warn me away from someone she regards as her own, someone with whom she has an arrangement?”
“If the Lady in question is who I suspect it is, she would do so precisely because there is no arrangement, except as a hopeful daydream she has nourished for years, no matter what I have done to dissuade her.”
“Who do you think told me these things?”
“Lady Prudence Baggington.”
He heard the revulsion in his own voice as he spoke the name. Lady Juliana considered him, thinking, but relaxed a little more.
“Yes. It was her. But why? I don’t understand. And… even if what she said is untrue, you have not helped me. In your presence, all of my clumsiness has returned. It is as if all of my years of careful work to remove it have been for nought. And my clumsiness has been noted, and the gossip has begun again. I am doomed to a lonely life as a laughable spinster. Lord Fondleton was right about that, if nothing else.”
Garrett’s heart broke, hearing the despair in her voice. Now that she had said it, he remembered tha
t moment upon her arrival when their eyes had met – she had paused, caught, then stumbled. Guilt rushed through him – with his best intentions, he had still made her life worse. He swallowed.
“Lady Juliana, Lady Prudence cannot let go of the idea that she is fated to be my wife. But I have never cared for her.”
“Then… she spoke so to hurt you, as much as to hurt me?”
“I believe that is very likely. I have never encouraged her, I am barely polite to her, but she has cosied up to my mother, and does everything she can to intrude on my life. This though, this is beyond the pale. Let me say now, also, that every word I have ever said to you about your beauty was sincere. I cannot understand how others perceive you as anything other than beautiful.”
“I… I think that I believe you mean that. I found it hard to countenance what she told me, and yet… it made a terrible kind of sense. But I am glad to hear you deny it – I would far rather believe the best of you.”
“I am glad of that. But… I am of a mind to make my opinion of Lady Prudence known to her, in no uncertain fashion. If politeness has achieved nothing, perhaps it is time for me to be less than polite.”
“No… please, do not make a scene. Do not do anything that might lead to yet more scandal attached to my name. I could not bear it. I struggle to bear each day as it is. Far better that we simply allow that she is deluded, perhaps she even thinks that she truly loves you, and acts from desperation. I understand what desperation feels like. Let us just ignore it, and go on as if it had never happened, please.”
Garrett stood, astounded at her generosity, at her ability to forgive and move on, even though it was a choice made from self-interest as well. He would, he knew, honour her request, although part of him desperately wished to have it out with Lady Prudence. He nodded, and stepped forward again. This time, she did not retreat.
“As you wish. For your sake, I will not speak of this to her. But, what of Lord Fondleton - how did he come to be here, holding you trapped?”
“I slipped away from the main room, unable to bear being invisible amongst the conversation, and came to hide here. I knew it was foolish, but I could not stand the sideways looks and the whispers. I did not hear him enter – but suddenly he grabbed me from behind, and despite my struggles, I could not escape his grasp.”
“What did he want of you? Was there more than just his forcing his kisses upon you?”
Garrett knew that he really did not have the right to ask, but he could not help himself, he had to know, had to understand – for he suspected that Fondleton was not one to give up easily, if he wanted something. She paused, her head tilting slightly to the side, in that way that was uniquely hers. Then she shuddered, like a cat casting off dirty water from its fur.
“I… I am ashamed to speak of it. Yet I feel that I must. I want you to know the truth of my reactions now, lest any terrible gossip happen hereafter.”
“Gossip? About this? Who would…”
“Lord Fondleton. He… he wished to force me to become his mistress. As he put it, I have nothing ahead of me but life as a spinster mocked by society. He offered a nice little house and a quiet life, in exchange for becoming his mistress. When I refused, he threatened…” she took a deep breath, shaking, and then went on, “he threatened to spread gossip with all of the wrong sort of men, saying that I had asked for an assignation with him, that I had allowed him to have his way with me.”
Her voice was filled with revulsion, her face with bitter sadness. She went on. “He rightly pointed out that such gossip would irredeemably ruin me, and that men who believed that of me would seek me out, asking for my favours. He used the threat to suggest that I had no choice in the matter. And truly, it is a terrible threat, for such a thing would reflect on Eleanor too, and would ruin her chances at a match. As I stood here, held in his grasp, considering the terrible truth of it, you appeared, like a vengeful angel, and struck him down.”
Garrett reached for her, taking her hands. He tugged gently, and she came to him, and allowed him to enfold her in his arms. For a moment she was stiff, afraid, then she softened, melted against him, and cried silent tears. He held her as she shook with them, and pulled his handkerchief from his pocket. She took it, still silent, and wiped the tears away. When she moved a little, he released her instantly. She looked up, meeting his eyes.
“Thank you, Your Grace. I should return to the parlour – for the last thing I would bring upon you is the scandal that would result if someone found us here now. But I am truly grateful, for everything.”
Garrett nodded, and lowered his head. When she did not pull away, he brushed his lips over hers, butterfly soft, just for a moment. She sighed, but he felt her relax a little, more of the stiffness leaving her.
“Come, let me check that the hallway is clear. You leave first and I will follow shortly after. I will seek you out in the parlour, as if in completely normal conversation. But I will make sure that Fondleton, should he return to that room, comes nowhere near you.”
Lady Juliana adjusted her hair and skirts, restoring herself to the picture of calm respectability, and followed him to the door. When he looked, the hallway was empty, and she slipped out, to hurry back to the parlour. He watched her go, and, a few minutes later, took the same path.
~~~~~
Lady Prudence Baggington was having a most unsatisfactory evening. At first, she had been pleased when the whispers she had fed to the inveterate gossips had spread far and fast, and the stricken expression on Lady Juliana’s face when Lady Prudence had helpfully informed her that the Duke was already hers had been most satisfactory. But Lady Juliana was still attending all of the house party events, and the Duke was still watching her – and still ignoring Lady Prudence.
And, to add to her frustration, she could, at present, locate neither of them. Worry gnawed at her. She watched every door to the room, whilst, she hoped, appearing engrossed in the conversation around her. Finally, her patience was rewarded. Lady Juliana slipped quietly into the room through the door from the hallway, and stood to one side, scanning the room – to find her family, Lady Prudence assumed. Then she moved, having located them.
Just as Lady Prudence was pondering the question of where Lady Juliana had been, the Duke stepped quietly into the room, through that same door. Lady Prudence narrowed her eyes and her jaw clenched. It would seem that her warning to Lady Juliana had fallen on deaf ears.
For the two of them to have appeared, from the same door, so close together, she could draw no other conclusion than that they had been together… somewhere private. Perhaps she had miscalculated, and the annoying girl had found the thought of the Duke being a rake titillating. Perhaps she had even been scheming to get him alone, with the specific intent of being discovered, and compromised. Thank God, thought Lady Prudence, that did not seem to have happened, although she was sure that they had been alone.
It seemed that more aggressive tactics were called for – she had to stop whatever was going on, and as fast as possible. She was not willing to lose the man she was destined for to some clumsy interloper!
Turning back to the conversation around her, she waited her chance to further damage Lady Juliana’s reputation, and also watched, hoping for another chance to catch Lady Juliana alone.
Chapter Eight
Juliana breathed a sigh of relief when she slipped unnoticed back into the parlour. She stepped to the side, where she was sheltered by a convenient potted palm, and searched out her mother and sister. They were in a group of women on the other side of the room, obviously completely absorbed in the conversation. She wondered if they had even noticed her absence at all.
Sighing, she moved quietly across the room towards them, conscious, as she did so, of the faint sound of the door behind her. A small smile crossed her lips. The Duke was true to his word. Now that she considered it, after seeing the disgust on his face when she had explained Lady Prudence’s words about him, she wondered how she could ever have doubted him.
&nbs
p; She reached her mother, and nothing changed – no acknowledgement of her presence. Perhaps that was for the better. The conversation around her was all of fashion, and of the eligible gentlemen that the younger women thought worthy of consideration. From Juliana’s point of view, totally boring.
Still, boredom was better than being trapped by such as Lord Fondleton. She had no wish to ever be in such a situation again. After a short while, the Duke approached the group of ladies, greeting those he knew, and finding himself rapidly introduced to the rest. The degree to which the girls almost fell over themselves to stand before him was rather pathetic.
Juliana’s eyes met his, and she suddenly felt overheated, her cheeks flushed. There was such warmth in his eyes. She looked away. She was being foolish again. Just because he had rescued her, did not mean that he cared for her. She was in no way a suitable match for a Duke. The next hour or more was rather torture, for he stayed talking to them, or close by, the whole time. Her eyes followed him, despite her best intention to look away. She was grateful that he was doing as he had promised, yet wished herself away, for watching him without being able to truly speak with him was far harder than she had expected.
Finally, the evening was drawing to a close. Juliana realised that she needed the ladies retiring room, before they set off back to Hardcastle House, or she would be extremely uncomfortable in the carriage. She excused herself, and went through the connecting rooms to the correct room. It was empty, and the moment of quiet was a relief after the chatter outside. She quickly did what she needed to, and was about to leave the room when the door opened.
Lady Prudence. Juliana stiffened, and went to brush past her, but the woman put out a hand to stop her.
The Duke and the Spinster_Clean Regency Romance Page 7