Chapter Forty-Nine
Caroline waited until after supper that evening, then cried off spending time with her parents and headed up to her room.
When her maid came to help her ready for bed, a fully dressed Caroline slipped a coin into her hand and sent her away.
The rear garden at Dover Street had a break in the fence which was hidden by a bush. The younger Saunders siblings had an understanding with the family gardener not to have the hole repaired.
Stepping out into the dark garden, Caroline made her way to the fence and climbed through. Once she was in the laneway, she pulled the hood of the cloak over her head. If she passed anyone on the street, she would be incognito.
When she turned into James Street, a distance away, she spied Newhall House. She hurried across the road and made her way to the front steps of Julian’s townhouse.
When the butler opened the door, he took one look at Caroline and started to close the door. “I am sorry, madam. You must have the wrong house.”
“No, I must speak to Lord Newhall. It is a matter of urgency,” she pleaded.
She was about to pull back her hood and reveal her identity when, to her relief, Julian appeared in the foyer. “What is going on?”
The butler pointed to the still-hooded Caroline. “I am sorry, my lord. I was trying to explain to this person that she has the wrong house, that we don’t accept female visitors late at night.”
Caroline lifted her now unbandaged, left hand and held it up to Julian’s view.
Julian patted his butler on the shoulder. “Ah yes. I was expecting a visitor; it had completely slipped my mind.”
The butler’s brow furrowed but he said nothing. Julian dismissed him, then ushered Caroline into a nearby room and closed the door behind them.
“This is a pleasant surprise, but I don’t recall us agreeing on late-night trysts as being part of the courtship,” he said.
She flipped back the hood of the cape. Her heart leapt at the sight of him standing so close. “I had to see you. The countess is back in London.”
The look of surprise on his face told her he had been in the dark regarding his mother’s movements. “Are you sure? I mean, she sailed before I left London.”
Caroline nodded. “Yes. I heard her voice from another room at the modiste this morning. I asked Francis to make enquiries, and apparently the count’s yacht got into difficulties not long after they sailed. She has been in Brighton for the past few weeks making a nuisance of herself at the expense of the Prince of Wales.”
“No doubt hiding from me after what she did to scupper the house party. I shall track down her highness and have a not-so-quiet word with her regarding the necklace,” replied Julian.
“Francis says she is staying at the Austrian embassy. I don’t suppose she wanted to make her presence too widely known until she discovered where you were. If she has any sense, she will be doing everything she can to avoid having to explain herself to you,” said Caroline.
He smiled at her. “Thank you. I am grateful for your loyalty.”
Caroline rose up on her toes and offered her lips to him. Mere thanks were not what she had in mind when visiting Julian in the middle of the night. Their lips met in a soft, tentative kiss.
“Who is waiting for you outside?” he asked.
She chuckled knowingly. “No one. I walked here.”
The low primal growl he gave in response to her words set her blood on fire. Let him be angry with her. She was ready to take any punishment he decided to mete out, just as long as it ended with her in his bed.
“That was a dangerous and foolhardy thing to do. Promise me you will never do that again,” he said.
Caroline worked up her best coy look, but when Julian took her by the arm, she sensed she had read him wrong. He was angry. Not just a little annoyed.
“Alright. I won’t do that again, I promise. But I had to see you. And if I had come with Francis, then I wouldn’t have been able to stay,” she replied.
He held her gaze. His look was one of implacability, but she knew he was fighting a battle between social dictates and desire. By all accounts, he should be calling for his town carriage and taking her home. But when he slipped a hand around her waist, she knew desire had won.
“Just for a short while, after which I will take you home,” he said.
Caroline pulled on the ties of her cape and it fell to the floor. A satisfying intake of breath from Julian told her she had chosen the perfect gown to wear.
