Page 42

A s much as Juliana liked Lord Montgomery, she struggled to comprehend what he was saying. Something about an invention he—or was it Bea?—was working on.

Ever since her waltz with Victor, her mind was a muddled mess.

Those piercing blue eyes of Victor’s scattered her wits to the four winds.

Coupled with his suggestion to meet him in the orangery, his whispered words a promise of something deliciously provocative, they rendered her utterly useless on the dance floor.

Luckily, Lord Montgomery didn’t mind. Each time she stepped on his foot, he laughed and said she reminded him of Bea. Juliana took that as a compliment.

He smiled warmly as she managed through the steps of the country dance. Keeping his voice low, he said, “My wife tells me there are plans afoot to ferret out the perpetrator of that odious gossip sheet.”

She did her best to hold up her end of the conversation and whispered her reply. “That’s true. I’m so glad Lady Montgomery has joined The League. She was the one who narrowed down our suspects.”

“She is brilliant. If anyone can help catch that scoundrel, it’s Bea. If you want my opinion, my money is on Middlebury.”

“My brother encountered him last evening at The Knave of Hearts and enticed him with a bit of false gossip about the king.”

Lord Montgomery cocked a brow. “Oh? Any fallacious reports about our monarch could backfire with dire consequences for the one reporting such falsehoods.” His eyes gleamed with mischief.

“Although I can’t say I would be brokenhearted to see that churl brought to his knees. But what about your brother?”

“He promised he couched the rumor as just that—speculation, and if necessary, he will deny it. Drake said sometimes it’s good to be a duke.”

Lord Montgomery gave a hearty laugh. “If he has any doubts, please relay to His Grace how much I like him.” He gave her a wink. “And it’s good to have two dukes as friends. If there is anything I can do to assist in your endeavors to catch this rat, you have only to ask.”

Once the dance ended and Lord Montgomery returned her to the side of the ballroom, Juliana glanced around for Victor.

She gave a little shudder when her gaze landed on Lord Felix and he raised a glass of champagne in salute.

Scanning further, Juliana found Victor stationed near the entrance, talking to Mr. Ludlow.

When he peered over and caught her eye, her heart beat against her ribcage with giddy anticipation, only to increase both in speed and intensity when Victor slipped from the ballroom.

She heeded his instructions and waited five minutes, then carefully, so as not to attract attention, wove her way toward the doorway. What should have been simple—and would have been had she not been one of the main parties being honored—proved to be a challenge.

People stopped to wish her joy again. Several gentlemen asked if she still had availability on her dance card. Five more minutes passed.

Almost there . I’m coming, Victor.

With the ballroom’s doorway inches away, she jerked back when Lord Felix’s body appeared from the hallway and blocked her exit.

Hadn’t he been by the refreshment table?

“In a hurry, Miss Merrick?”

“As a matter of fact, I am, sir. If you would kindly move.”

He stood steadfast.

She tried to go around him, but as she stepped to the side, he did as well.

“I say, Davies, let the lady pass,” Mr. Grey’s commanding voice distracted Lord Felix enough for Juliana to skirt past him and escape into the hallway.

Modulated anger echoed behind her from Lord Felix’s protests. But she didn’t care. A rendezvous with Victor awaited!

Victor breathed in the fresh scent of lush foliage and citrus mixed with the pungent aroma of fresh earth in the pots and plant beds.

The orangery boasted multiple orange trees, of course, but also lemon and pomegranate trees, along with succulents and fragrant flowers in colorful varieties, literally bursting with life.

Faint illumination from the waxing crescent moon and flickering candles bounced off strategically placed mirrors used to reflect the light toward the growing plants.

Branches of the trees and plants created eerie shadows in the dim lighting.

Memory of his egregious slip when he’d kissed Juliana crashed back in tumultuous waves. Perhaps the orangery hadn’t been the best choice to confess his feelings. Would she doubt his sincerity, thinking he only used her as a substitute for Adalyn?

He’d only just arrived, and she promised to wait a few minutes. Perhaps if he left immediately, he would chance upon her and direct her to another place?

Soft footfalls against the tile flooring and the rustle of leaves surprised him.

Was she so eager to meet him she had not waited as he instructed?

Taking a deep breath, he turned to greet her.

At the flash of dark-blue fabric, the genuine smile tugging his lips vanished, and his eyes narrowed in confusion.

Had someone else followed him, or had another couple stolen away for a secluded interlude?

“Mr. Pratt? Victor?” The feminine voice, although not Juliana’s, was uncomfortably familiar.

Adalyn stepped from the lush foliage, and he breathed a small sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t Lydia. Adalyn’s smile, though genuine, seemed tentative, and Victor’s momentary relief dissipated.

Tension, like a taut bow, stretched between them.

“Lady Nash. Or do you go by Mrs. Talbot?”

“Adalyn will be just fine. We’re still friends, I hope.”

Friends . The word sent him back to that awful night when, on the verge of proposing, Adalyn had quickly stopped him. Prepared to risk scandal for her, he’d never felt so crushed.

But at that moment, as he met her gaze directly, none of the anguish, none of the rejection he’d felt that night surfaced. No ache of longing squeezed his chest. He admired her, liked her. But he didn’t love her any longer.

Did he ever know her well enough to truly love her?

He rather thought not.

“Of course we’re friends.”

“Forgive me for following you. I wished to speak with you in private.”

Whatever could she want? Best to find out quickly. He didn’t want to offend her, but he needed her to leave. But how could he tell her he’d planned an assignation with Juliana? Not that Adalyn would spread any gossip, but something in him wished to protect Juliana at all costs.

“Is there a problem?”

She glanced over her shoulder behind her. “That depends.”

His brow tightened. “I don’t understand.”

“Nash feels our presence here might be a problem for you.”

Nash . Would he forever carry that scoundrel around his neck like a millstone? “In what way?”

Streams of candlelight refracted from the mirrors illuminated her face, enough that he saw her cheeks darken.

“Nash seems to be under the impression that you still carry a tendre for me, especially considering Miss Merrick’s and my resemblance to each other.”

“He said as much to me earlier this evening, and I have assured him that is not the case.” The uncomfortable guilt gnawing at him earlier eased when he realized, although his attachment with Juliana had started out as a pretense, it had become very real to him, and the feelings binding him to Adalyn had not only loosened, but had fallen away entirely, freeing him to give his heart to Juliana without condition.

He cared for Adalyn, but as a friend, which, in her wisdom, she had recognized years ago. “Are you happy with Nash?”

“I know it’s probably not what you want to hear, but yes. I’m incredibly happy. He’s a good man, Victor, although he’d be the first to deny it. And he’s a wonderful father to our Benjamin and Mena.”

“I’m happy to hear it.” Surprisingly, Victor meant every word. Although he never understood why she chose the rake over him, he was glad she had. Especially if the scoundrel made her happy.

She stepped closer and took his hands in hers. “And I’m so glad you found someone to love you as you deserve. Juliana is a lovely girl, and she adores you.”

Victor’s mind reeled at Adalyn’s words. She does?

“I truly wish you all the happiness in the world, Victor.”

Unexpectedly, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders in an embrace and kissed his cheek.

No trill of sensation tripped up his spine, no desire to pull her closer flowed through him, nothing except for the comfortable warmth he felt for a friend.

About to make his excuses so he could find Juliana, he startled and jerked his head up at the feminine gasp mere feet from them.

Juliana wanted to lift her skirts to her knees and run like the wind to the orangery to find Victor, but people filled the house, some of whom wandered the hall from the retiring room, card room, or small parlors. And as they had in the ballroom, they stopped to extend their felicitations.

Finally, a break in the throng lay ahead, and once she turned the corner, she should find no more impediments. Her corset dug into her ribs and restricted her breathing, and around the corner, she placed a hand against the wall and paused momentarily to pull air into her lungs.

Blood pounded in her ears. And as she inhaled a deep breath, the scent of cigar smoke and brandy mixed with sandalwood made her spin around.

How had she not heard him behind her?

“You’re a hard woman to keep up with. Generates all sorts of ideas in a man’s mind.” Lord Felix smirked as he raked his gaze over her.

She had no time for this fool. “Perhaps, my lord,” she laced the honorific with as much vitriol as she could muster, “it’s because I have no wish to remain in your company. Now, if you would excuse me.”

When she turned, he grabbed her arm, and his fingers dug painfully into her flesh. “Now. Now. Don’t be like that. Why don’t we have a friendly private little chat.”

“You have nothing to say that I wish to hear.”

“Are you certain about that? What if I told you as you were rushing off to meet your betrothed, he was already having a tryst with another woman?”

“I would say, sir, that you are a liar.”

“Ah, but am I? Curious what he was up to, I followed your betrothed when he left the ballroom. Imagine my surprise to see him with the woman he courted several years ago. Being a gentleman, I left the two alone to their liaison. Instead, I rushed back to inform you of your intended’s betrayal.”

Adalyn? Lord Felix must be mistaken, at least as to the purpose of the meeting.

“Mrs. Talbot and Mr. Pratt are friends, nothing more.”

He tsked, shaking his head as if she were a simpleton. “Then why not have their conversation in the ballroom? Why meet in secret?”

A knot formed in her stomach, tight and painful. But why would Victor ask her to meet him in the orangery if he had planned a tryst with Adalyn? She would catch Lord Felix in his lie. “And where, pray tell, sir, did you witness this alleged tryst?”

“In the orangery, which I must admit was brilliant on Pratt’s part. Being able to hide amid all that greenery. A stroke of genius.”

The knot twisted. But Lord Felix’s accusation still didn’t make sense.

As if she were a child who had just discovered there was no Father Christmas, the pity, cold and harsh on his face, made her want to retch.

“Oh, my dear girl. You’re wondering why.

Permit me to explain. Many a man has evaded the parson’s mousetrap by allowing his intended to witness an indiscretion before their marriage.

” He shrugged as if it were a trifle. “And if the woman chooses to look the other way, so much the better for the man to continue with his mistress after the wedding.”

“Victor isn’t like that.” She spat the words at him, wanting to believe them. Needing to believe them.

He shrugged again. “Suit yourself. I merely wished to save you the pain of witnessing it first-hand. Now you can cry off and maintain your dignity. Or...” He turned to peer into the empty parlor on their right.

“You can get even. With me. How convenient there is a vacant room just waiting for us.”

“You’re a madman, and I’m done listening to you.” With all her strength, she pushed against him hard enough to throw him off balance. She spun around, ready to escape, but he recovered quickly and grabbed her by the arms again.

His leer made her skin crawl even as his fingers pinched her upper arms tighter.

Her stomach roiled. She may have been an innocent, but she was reared on a grand estate and watched her brother tend to horses.

Wild and dangerous, Lord Felix’s eyes reminded her of a stallion’s brought to mount a fecund mare.

She gritted her teeth. “Take. Your. Hands. Off. Me. This. Instant.”

He pursed his lips, as if considering her demand.

“I think...not.” Releasing his grip on one arm, he trailed the fingers of his free hand down her cheek.

“The country girl posing as an aristocrat. Tell me, how many men have you taken to your bed, sweet? Hmm? Some bumbling country oafs, no doubt. How would you like a man experienced with women?”

The gall!

“Miss Merrick, is this man bothering you?” The question was like an angel song from heaven, only spoken in a deep male voice.

Lord Felix turned and, upon seeing Miles Grey approaching, dropped his hands from Juliana’s arms.

Wasting no time, Juliana called over her shoulder as she raced away toward the orangery. “Thank you, Mr. Grey.”