A Scandalous Charade (38 page)

~ 29 ~

Gosling had been in turmoil ever since the accidental shooting death of Lady Masten’s brother Lieutenant Warner. Everyone quietly went about their chores as normal, though they definitely walked around on egg shells. A story had been relayed to the staff about the incident. Upon returning from London, Lord Masten had apparently gone to his chambers with Lieutenant Warner to look at the old earl’s collection of dueling pistols. One of the weapons had been loaded, unbeknownst to the two gentlemen, and had discharged, hitting the lieutenant in the chest.

Juliet didn’t believe that drivel, and she’d be surprised if anyone else did either. They’d all seen how Lady Masten had become skittish in her brother’s presence, how frightened she’d seemed of him. Juliet herself had moved into the children’s room, playing the role of sentry at night.

The earl hadn’t been home ten minutes before he put a ball in his brother-in-law’s chest. Something else most assuredly had happened. But it was none of her concern, so Juliet said nothing and neither did anyone else.

Doctor Grant, a kindly old country physician, had insisted that Lady Masten stay abed until he rescinded the order, and the earl had vowed that she would do so. In convincing his wife, Lord Masten had promised that Peter and Penny could spend their afternoons with the countess in her chambers. This gave Juliet more time alone—time she could spend researching and working on her plans.

She was surprised one afternoon when she received a summons from the earl, and she quickly went to meet him in his study. Lord Masten looked tired. His normally perfect hair was in disarray, as if he’d raked his hands through it a million times, and his brown eyes looked as if he hadn’t slept a wink since the death of his brother-in-law. “Sit,” he commanded, then softened his tone and added, “please.”

Juliet found a seat in front of his desk and sat. She waited for him to speak, but he simply stared at her for the longest time. Finally she cleared her throat and asked, “You wished to see me, Lord Masten?”

He nodded his head. “Yes, Miss Mitford. Or should I call you Lady Juliet?”

Juliet’s lungs seized, and her eyes grew wide in alarm. How had he found out? And what would he do with her? Try to send her back to Uncle Albert? The walls started to spin in her vision.

Quickly, he came around his desk and placed a consoling hand on her back. “Breathe, my dear.”

She took a breath, then another, until she started to feel that her pulse had returned to a more normal pace. “How did…” she began, but she couldn’t finish the question

The earl, who was usually so stoic, smiled warmly at her. “Figure it out? I have deductive reasoning skills that apparently neither of my siblings attribute me with possessing.” He took another long look at her, as if to make sure she wasn’t going to faint, then he sat on the edge of his desk, arms folded across his chest. “I can’t imagine what sort of trouble you must be in, my dear, to try to hide yourself in my employ. But you are safe here. I won’t let any harm come to you.”

With a relieved smile, the earl dropped into his seat. “Thank God.” Then he re-focused his eyes on her. “I won’t ask you any questions, my lady, and interfering—”

“Juliet, please,” she offered meekly. After everything, it seemed silly to be so formal at this point.

He nodded appreciatively. “Interfering in other’s lives isn’t something I do, Juliet. That’s my sister’s forte. I’ll respect your privacy, and you can stay as long as you need. Actually, I think my brother would shoot me if I let anything happen to you.”

Probably not the best choice of words considering the fact that she was certain the earl had recently shot his brother-in-law on purpose, but Juliet was struck by the sincerity of his voice and her heart swelled. “I’m certain Lucas hasn’t given me a second thought, my lord.”

“Robert,” he replied with a wink. “And again, I’m not normally the interfering sort. However, I would love to know what it is about you that has made my brother re-examine his life, my dear. I don’t know what Luke has done to make you push him away—I’m certain I don’t want to know—but whatever it is, he does seem lost without you. I’ve known my brother since he was born, and the last week I spent with him in London, he was a changed man—remorseful, sullen. I’ve given him permission to return to Gosling, and I imagine he’ll soon come to see you—though he didn’t tell me that. I just thought you should know.”

What did that mean? Would Luke return for her? Her silly heart leapt at the thought. If Lord Masten seemed willing to forgive the indiscretion with his own wife, couldn’t she do the same? Luke had lied to her, and she hated that, but—she wouldn’t think about buts. Luke wasn’t here, and she highly doubted that he would return, despite his brother’s words. After all, she hadn’t been terribly kind in her dismissal.

“Thank you.” She smiled at the earl.

“I don’t know how you want to handle this, Juliet. I feel awkward having you act as governess to my children, but I’ll go along with whatever you want. And truly, you have worked a miracle with them.”

Juliet felt tears threaten, but she pushed them away. It was silly to be emotional over this. However, Lord Masten—Robert—was much more kind than she had given him credit for. She shook her head. “I’ll stay on for now, if you don’t mind. I think Peter and Penny would be very confused. But when I receive word that my brother has returned from India, I’ll have to leave without any sort of notice.”

She was relieved that he hadn’t asked anymore about Luke. She didn’t want to talk about him or think about him, though that was easier wished for than done.

“Whatever you want, my dear. I will need to tell my wife, however. After everything we’ve been through, keeping secrets from each other is not something either of us is comfortable with any longer. Lydia and I will both be here if you need us.”

***

Traveling with his sister and her family was enough to drive Luke stark-raving mad. They’d gotten a late start, as acquiring the license had taken a bit longer than Luke had expected, and that had given Caroline ample time to make arrangements. Luke wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but the word terrified him.

In the coach, there was incessant chattering, temper tantrums, and pouting—and that was all Caroline. Luckily, the children rode in a separate coach with two governesses—their own and a replacement one for Gosling Park. Unfortunately, Staveley rode in his coach. And while the old stick didn’t annoy Luke as much as he once did, it was a bit unnerving that his brother-in-law smirked at him the entire way, as if there was some joke and Luke was the punch line.

“I say, Staveley, wipe off that silly grin, will you?”

Staveley complied, but his eyes still twinkled. “Do you remember what you said at our wedding?” He gestured to himself and Caroline.

Luke wasn’t much in the mood for playing guessing games, and he scowled at his brother-in-law. “I’m sure I said a great number of things.”

Staveley chuckled. “You said that it would be a cold day in hell before you got leg-shackled.”

Luke shrugged. That was a lifetime ago, and he’d been very foolish in those days. Suddenly, shots rang out in the distance. Then the disembodied voices of men ordering their coach to stop. The driver complied almost immediately. Then without warning, the coach door was wrenched open. “Everybody out,” growled a huge, hulking man.

Caroline screamed in surprise.

The highwayman, dressed in dark clothing narrowed his black eyes on the trio. “If ye do wot I say, ye’ll not be ‘urt.”

Staveley laid a consoling hand on his wife’s back. “Don’t be afraid, my dear. Carteret said the same thing happened to them around this area, but they were soon back on the road and no one was injured.”

Luke was the first to step out of the coach, and he surveyed the group. Three burly men, unshaved and odiferous, loomed over him. This same thing had happened to Carteret? It was then that Caroline and Staveley crawled from the coach and Luke realized that the three men were paying particular attention to his sister. The first man had something cupped in his hand. Then he glanced up at Caroline and back to his palm, as if comparing her to whatever he held.

“What the devil is going on?” Luke demanded.

“Sam,” one of the other men said as he pointed off in the distance. “‘ere comes ‘nother un.”

Luke looked over his shoulder and saw the second Staveley coach barreling toward them—the coach that carried his nieces and nephew, and his temper snapped.  Those children would not be subjected to this treatment. The leader—Sam—was easily twice his size, but that thought didn’t even enter his mind as he turned, stalked up to the giant, and knocked the coveted item from his hand. “I asked what the devil you were after.”

The giant leered down at him. “Pick that up.”

Luke glanced down at the ground and for the first time, could see the item the man had held. A miniature? He frowned and did as the giant asked—not because he’d been ordered to, but because he was curious.

Juliet. Her young face stared back at him. There was no mistaking her image, though she was much younger when this had been painted. Anger coursed through his veins. What did these brutes want with his princess?

He glared at the giant and dropped the trinket into his coat pocket. “Where did you get this?”

***

As Juliet left the Masten library and headed for her room, she had an entire ledger full of information on America—Massachusetts in particular. She was starting to feel more secure with her plans. She could do this. She could make it on her own.

The schoolroom was quiet when she entered. Peter was spending the rest of the afternoon in the stables and Penny was sitting with Lady Masten in her chambers. She smiled when she thought of the children. She would miss them, but she was anxious for Edmund to return.

She turned the corner into her darkened room, and before she knew it, strong arms had enveloped her and she was being kissed, passionately. She knew those arms. She knew those lips.

Luke!

He had come back! And though she had pushed him away and acted as if she didn’t want him, she couldn’t have been more elated.

Juliet returned his kiss, she couldn’t help herself. She had missed him, and being back in his arms was so heavenly, she didn’t want to ever leave. He pulled her even more tightly against him and deepened his kiss. For a moment she thought he might swallow her whole, but if he did, she’d die happy.

Slowly, Luke raised his head. Juliet’s eyes had now adjusted enough for her to see that he was frowning down at her. And she took a surprised step backward. Really, that wasn’t the look she expected.

“I should take you over my knee and spank you.” His finger was pointed at her nose.

She blinked up at him. What was he talking about? And how dare he say such a thing to her. “Spank me?”

“Yes.” His lips flattened into a straight line. “Spank you until my arm falls off. You and Caroline both for that matter. What were you thinking with all of this?” He waved his arm around the room.

“Honestly, Luke, I don’t have a clue what you’re going on about.”

He lowered his head again and whispered across her lips. “But I’m so relieved to see you. I think I’ll spank you later.”

Then he was kissing her again. Juliet should have stepped away from him. She knew better than anyone how dangerous his kisses were. But instead, she pressed herself against him and kissed him back with everything she was worth. She had missed him so desperately and, despite everything, she still loved him with all her heart.

He finally eased away from her and caressed her neck with the pad of his thumb and her heart raced from his touch, like it always did.

Then he spoke softly, and with more warmth than she could ever remember hearing from him. “You should have told me, princess. I would have—”

“Caroline told you?”

He nodded. “Aye, but it should have been you. Juliet my love, you wouldn’t really have gone to Boston without telling me, would you?”

She didn’t know what to say, so she simply blinked at him.

His warm hands cupped her jaw and he looked down at her with those heavenly green eyes of his. “You wouldn’t have gone off, taken my child to America.”

She looked down and shook her head. “I’m not with child, Luke. Is that why you’ve come?” She’d been quite disappointed when her menses had begun after he left, knowing she would never bear his child.

“No,” he answered solemnly. “I’m here, princess, because you’ve captured my heart and soul”. He ran his finger along the edge of her rather dowdy bodice. “I’m here, princess, because you’re mine, and I’m tired of living without you.”

What beautiful words. A lump lodged in her throat.

“As we stand here, Mr. Lovelace is waiting in the green salon to marry us.”

Her mouth fall open in surprise. “M—marry us?” she finally sputtered and shook her head. Had he lost his mind? “I’m not going to marry you. I’m going to wait for Edmund to return from India and then—”

He was pointing at her again, right at her nose. Juliet decided that she didn’t like this new controlling aspect of him. “You are going to marry me. You’re mine, Juliet.”

This was on the outside of enough. How dare he? She jabbed his chest with a finger of her own. Hard. “I’m not yours. I’m my own bloody person. I belong to me.”