Abandoned to the Prodigal, page 12
She smiled, about to offer her hand, but unexpectedly, he took the peony from herand began to thread the stem through her hair, reusing several hairpins to hold it in place.
Flushing under his ministrations, she murmured, “What are you doing?” For though the brush of his fingers in her hair was curiously pleasant, even exciting, she was very conscious of being in full view of everyone else.
“I don’t know.” His hands fell away, and his gaze dropped to hers, and then to her lips. Her heart gave a funny little lurch, and she couldn’t breathe. A reluctant smile flickered across his face. “I never know.”
Then he stepped back, bade a civil farewell to everyone else, and jumped up into the carriage.
“He is a little forward, that young man,” her mother observed. “But there, I daresay he is merely unconventional. Or would you say eccentric?”
“I’d say both,” Juliet replied. And the strange thing was, she wouldn’t have him any other way.
Chapter Ten
Since she had come home, Juliet had left the shutters and curtains in her bedchamber open, so that she was more likely to wake at dawn. When she opened one eye, it still seemed pitch dark, so she closed it again.
Only then, the unmistakable sounds of pattering rain filled her ears, and she sat up. It was dawn, but the sky was cloudy, and the birds were quieter than usual.
Drat the rain! She and Dan could hardly have their al fresco breakfast in such weather. In fact, he probably wouldn’t come, which was lowering. However, she would go as usual. If nothing else, she would have a good walk.
She donned an old walking dress, sturdy old boots, and her traveling cloak, then picked up the umbrella from the stand by the side door. However, the rain was relentless. There was little chance she would not get soaked and covered in mud.
The umbrella was useless in the woods, so she had to fold it up, but at least the trees gave some protection.
She saw him at the edge of the path, silhouetted against the lightening sky and the river. At least she hoped it was him, for he looked different hunched under the trees, his collar standing up and rain streaming off his hat.
Fortunately, he heard her coming and turned, and she immediately hurried on to meet him. Unfolding the umbrella, she reached up to hold it over him, too. He laughed and took it from her.
“Not a pleasant day for a walk,” he observed. “I passed a disused hut on the other side of the river.”
“There’s a cave closer by,” she replied. “Along the riverbank. Come.”
As they broke from the trees, he threw one arm around her shoulders, presumably to keep her steadily under the umbrella. She was not used to such easy contact. Even waltzing was more formal. But Dan seemed to be a very physical man. It excited her in some inexplicable way, but she didn’t dislike the feeling in the slightest.
The riverbank was slippery, and twice they almost ended in the water before she located the gap in the bank, overhung by willow roots.
“It seemed much larger before,” she said as he crawled in after her.
“When you were ten years old?” he suggested. “But it is dry, and I’m not complaining.” He took off his hat carefully and emptied the water collected in the brim outside the cave. He glanced at her. “Actually, I didn’t think you would come.”
“I almost didn’t. I nearly went back to sleep, but I would miss the walk.”
“Me, too,” he said vaguely.
“But where is Gun?”
“I left him at home, much to his outrage. He’s impossible in weather like this. I’ll take him later when I hope the rain will have gone off.”
“I got some honey cakes from Cook last night,” she said, fishing in her reticule. “They might be a little stale.”
“But very welcome. A cup of hot coffee would be good, too.”
“It’s not very civilized,” she agreed.
“Do you want to stop?”
Her eyes flew to his. “Do you?”
“I asked first.”
“I’m here in the pouring rain,” she retorted, “so I suppose I don’t.” She bit into her cake and considered. “Though after yesterday, I presume we can call at each other houses in the normal way.”
“Not sure my grandfather would agree,” he said wryly. “Mind you, I saw Patrick, the steward, coming out of his rooms yesterday, and he didn’t look unhappy, so it’s possible the old devil is softening in some ways.”
“Does he receive you all in his bedchamber?”
“He won’t allow anyone in unless he summons them—one at a time, of course, to lessen the chances of rebellion. But I don’t think he’s seen anyone more than once. Except me, because I barged in and took him by so much surprise that he forgot to throw something at me.”
“Maybe the others should do the same.”
“Colin tried. He threw the teapot at him.”
She couldn’t help her hiccup of laughter. “The secret is clearly to judge one’s moment.”
“Or duck and keep going, though that’s certainly a risky tactic.”
“Perhaps he just likes you.”
Dan appeared to consider that. “No.”
“Why not? People do, you know. Besides, he probably prefers people who defy him. He must be bored with servants and toadies. In fact, he sounds a very sad, lonely person to me.”
“Sad, lonely, and very bad-tempered.”
“Maybe he didn’t bring you all to Myerly to fight, but to provide company.”
“Well, he doesn’t take much advantage of it.”
“But he must hear your voices sometimes, your footsteps, all the bustle that comes with extra people. And even though he’s improving, he hasn’t asked anyone to leave Myerly, has he?”
“No,” Dan allowed. His lips quirked upward. “You’re quite wise and compassionate for a social butterfly, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know about any of that,” she said hastily. “Except that I’m not a social butterfly. I just like people. They interest me.”
“I know. It’s part of your charm.”
She couldn’t help her flush of pleasure, though she said, “Stop. I’m always suspicious of flattery.”
“Why, in case I kiss you again?”
Butterflies jumped in her stomach. “No,” she managed. “That was a kiss of friendship. Friends don’t flatter.”
“But they do tell the truth.”
“Hmm.” She brushed the crumbs off her hands. “You just like teasing me.”
“I do. But much as I hate to say it, you should go home and change into dry clothes before you catch a chill.”
“So should you. And you have further to go. You shouldn’t come with me this time.”
He shifted position and stretched one long leg out under the tree roots. “I’ll come part of the way and see if the sun comes out.”
“Optimistic,” she commented. “It looks to me as if the rain is on for the whole day.”
“At least there’s no wind. Or lightning.”
Dan crawled out of the cave first and clapped his hat back on his head, while she drew up her cloak hood and they scrambled up the bank, sometimes sliding backward again until Dan dug the point of the umbrella into the mud to hold them in place. The rain, if anything, was even heavier.
Eventually, laughing, they staggered over the top and ran for the shelter of the trees, Dan’s arm around her shoulders once more and the umbrella over their heads. She tripped over a gnarled tree root that crossed the path and stumbled back against the trunk. Only his arm prevented her from falling, but it still seemed exquisitely funny as she laughed up at him.
His eyes never left her face as he folded the umbrella. Gradually, the laughter in them died, leaving an expression of something very close to wonder. His gaze flickered to her mouth, and her stomach dived, much as it had yesterday. Rain ran off his hat and face. It trickled over his parted lips, and she couldn’t look away.
He bent his head and kissed her. It was gentle and brief, and she thought he was smiling as he did it. But her heart hammered as he raised his head. From pure instinct, she reached up to his damp cheek and drew him back.
His mouth closed over hers and began to move, caressing, exploring, and the world stood still. There was only Dan, the wonder of his kiss, of his arms around her. Rivulets of rain ran down into her hair, into her mouth. The kiss deepened, and she gasped, following his lead and her own blind desire. She flung her arm around his neck, tangling her fingers in his wet hair, and wished this moment would go on forever.
It seemed it would. She no longer knew if it was the same kiss or if had turned into others, just that she seemed to have melted in his heat and that a sweet, heavy ache was forming in her stomach, in her whole body.
With a groan that was almost laughter, he broke the kiss, holding her tightly against him with his cheek pressed to hers. That was wonderful, too.
“Dan,” she whispered.
Slowly, he raised his head and met her gaze. His eyes were warm and clouded and yet faintly rueful.
And then she heard the voices, clear, easily recognizable, and almost upon them.
“Surely, she wouldn’t have come so far in such weather?” Kitty said, almost pleading.
Juliet stared at Dan in horror. Something very like laughter flashed in his eyes, but he drew her slowly around the tree, which might hide them from the path, especially in the rain.
“She might have gone to the cave to wait for the rain to go off,” Ferdy replied.
“She won’t even remember the cave. I don’t think I could find it.”
“Hmm. She’s probably warm and dry at home while you and I…” Ferdy paused, and Juliet was afraid to breathe.
Then she saw the umbrella lying in the grass where they had been standing before. Ferdy picked it up.
“It’s ours!” Kitty exclaimed.
Their feet came closer, rounding the tree as she and Dan slid farther around—and came face to face with Ferdy. Juliet swung the other way, and there was Kitty.
“Found,” Dan said cheerfully to Ferdy. “Now it’s your turn to hide. Since you seem to be playing.”
Ferdy looked as if he wanted to be stern and ended by appearing merely bewildered.
“You’re playing hide and seek?” Kitty demanded. “In this weather? At this time of the morning? Juliet, is this an assignation?”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” Juliet said crossly. “Dan is a friend, and you know how bored I’ve been. In—”
“Why doesn’t he just come to the house?” Ferdy interrupted in a flat, hard voice.
“I did,” Dan said. “But I wasn’t received until yesterday. Look, you’re right to be concerned, but I would not hurt your sister, and you’re probably right that today was a mistake. Come, we can talk as we walk back toward the house.”
“Why do you seem too reasonable to be ordered off my land?” Ferdy wondered.
“Feel free,” Dan offered. “I’ll go if you ask. And let’s face it, my grandfather would happily throw you all off his. It seems to be up to us to behave like adults.”
“Adults!” Kitty exclaimed. “Playing hide and seek in the rain before seven in the morning?”
“Even adults play games,” Dan said. “I should know. I’ve lost money at most of them.”
Ferdy gave a crack of laughter. “You’re an amusing rogue, I’ll give you that. But you shouldn’t be meeting my sister in secret. And Julie, what the devil are you thinking of? You’re not even out of the last scrape yet, and you’re getting into another. How is anyone meant to believe this orgy business is lies if you’re—”
“How dare you compare the two?” Juliet said furiously. “Dan is the one who—”
“No, he’s right, Juliet,” Dan said ruefully. It felt like a slap in the face. “I always knew it was wrong. It just seemed the lesser of two evils for you at the time. Now, it isn’t. We’ve had a good run of luck, but it’s time to change games before we’re caught by someone who could hurt you with gossip. I’ll call like the gentleman I’m supposed to be.”
“That would be best,” Ferdy said, though he spoiled it almost immediately by asking, “Did Juliet show you the cave?”
“We nearly ended in the river several times.”
The rest of the walk home passed in pleasant chatter, leaving Juliet baffled and hurt that Dan had given in so easily. He had kissed her—kissed her in such a way—and now he was shuffling her off. Did he imagine he would be forced to marry her?
And dear God, what had she been thinking of to allow such intimacy? To kiss someone she had no intention of marrying… But that line of thought seemed far too confusing.
“Join us for breakfast?” Ferdy offered, having apparently forgotten his original ire. Had that been Dan’s plan all along?
“Thanks, no, I won’t. I want to see the Myerly steward, and I need to take my dog for a run if he’ll still acknowledge me.” And with that and an amiable bow to her and Kitty, he trudged back the other way, kicking up mud and puddle water as he went.
She turned resolutely away in the other direction. “Why were you looking for me in the first place?” she asked her siblings.
They glanced at each other.
Reluctantly, Kitty said, “I saw you go out early yesterday morning and the one before. You always veered off the drive to the woods. Then I saw you with Mr. Stewart yesterday, and it seemed to me you were friendlier than acquaintances who had met on a dull stagecoach journey. And then this morning, you weren’t in your room, and it was bucketing with rain. So, I woke Ferdy and made him come and help me look for you.”
“Oh, dash it, Kitty!” she exclaimed and broke off to take a deep breath. “I know you meant it well, and it is just your good nature. But this…this whole situation stifles me. It’s as if I have no control over anything anymore, and Papa is as likely to marry me off to the weasel after all as to send me to a nunnery or lock me in the attic!”
Ferdy grinned. “He won’t lock you in the attic. You’d make a shocking row.”
His sisters ignored him.
“So, Mr. Stewart is your way of controlling your life? Is he not a little…erratic for such purposes?”
“Entirely,” Juliet said helplessly. “He is simply fun. And he may not be rich, but he is a gentleman.” A gentleman who kissed me in the rain, and dear God, I want him to do it again. She swallowed. “But thank you for looking after me.”
“Then you won’t do it anymore?” Kitty asked anxiously.
She shook her head. He would not be there anymore. She wanted to cry.
They entered the house by the side door and went their separate ways to change out of their wet clothes. Clean and dry at last, Juliet made her way down to the breakfast parlor, where she almost bumped into her father coming out.
He was frowning over a letter while he walked but pulled up short at her murmured apology. Unexpectedly, his brow cleared. “Ah, Juliet, just the person I was looking for. Come into the library for a moment.”
It was something of a relief that he didn’t appear to be angry with her. After all, he had been so since she’d come home.
“This letter is confusing me,” he said, closing the library door behind them. “Perhaps you can shed some light on it.”
“Oh, dear, it’s not from the Alfords again, is it?” she asked apprehensively.
“What? Oh, no. They will come tomorrow when they said they would. This is from Lord Barden. Are you acquainted with him?”
“Very slightly. He had some place in the Prince Regent’s household, and he occasionally carried messages to Her Highness when I was there.”
“Did he show any special interest in you?”
“No, I don’t believe so. In fact, I rather thought he disliked me for some reason. But I never paid him much attention, and then the princess refused to receive him because he’d shown too much interest in Ha…one of the other ladies.” She frowned. “But oddly enough, he was at Connaught Place the night—that night—and he was still there in the morning.”
Her father frowned. “You mean, he saw you there?”
“I think so, yes.”
“He must know what happened and that you are innocent.”
“Then I wish he would say so,” Juliet said tartly.
“Perhaps he intends to. He is proposing to visit us while we are holding Kitty’s engagement dinner, in fact, and I don’t believe I have time to put him off. But then, it may work out for the best.”
“What may?” Juliet asked, bewildered.
“His assurance. If you are there. He writes quite cryptically, but if I’m reading it aright, he is implying he might offer for you. And if he does…and if Jeremy Catesby stops behaving like a nincompoop, you may yet have a choice of suitor. Which cannot be bad.”
“Can’t it?” she said, gawping at him.
“No…Odd who your friends turn out to be sometimes.”
“Is Lord Barden your friend?” she managed.
“I didn’t think so. Well, not after I won most of his fortune off him at hazard one night.”
Her eyes widened. “That was Lord Barden?”
His eyes refocused on her face. “I’m not proud of it. But he would keep playing.” He shrugged. “Debt of honor. He had to pay, though it left him damnably short. But at least he got the place with Prinny, so he didn’t starve.”
“You would consider a poor man for me?” she blurted, her mind for some reason on Daniel Stewart.
“It’s true I wouldn’t have up until a week ago,” her father replied. “But if it gets us out of this scrape, I’ll give an even more handsome dowry. I’d never let you want for anything.” He waved the letter at her. “Go and eat, girl. You look half-starved.”
Chapter Eleven
Despite the rain, Dan spent most of the day outside. After a quick breakfast with his mother, he rescued Gun from his makeshift kennel in the garden and trudged over the fields with him to meet Patrick and Pat.
The older man was delighted that Lord Myerly had finally agreed to some basic repairs and to look again at plans he’d shown him two years ago. Young Pat was furious because his lordship hadn’t gone nearly far enough to save the estate.
