That she was intelligent and vivacious.
That she was undoubtedly beautiful.
That the young gentlemen of Society, the titled and the rich, and those less of each, were invariably drawn to her during any social occasion, as if she were a honeybee drawing them toward her sweetness.
A sweetness Nicholas knew was only surface deep.Below her outward ladylike demeanor, Julia could be both sarcastic and funny, and she was not afraid to speak her mind.
As she had just now, when she had stated quite firmly that she would not marry him.
A statement Nicholas had no intention of accepting.Not just for honor’s sake, but because it was what he personally wished for more than anything else.
“If you will excuse me?”He gave all those left in the library a formal bow.“I believe I shall seek out Julia and see if we cannot come to some sort of amicable agreement on this matter.”
“If I know my daughter at all, and I do,” the countess sighed, “having once said she will not marry you, then she will not.”
“I will do my best to persuade her otherwise,” he murmured.
“You must join us for dinner again this evening,” the earl stated rather than invited.“I am sure Julia will have settled down by then and be prepared to discuss this matter sensibly and calmly,” he added when Nicholas looked less than convinced by the statement.
Because, knowing how stubborn Julia could be, he doubted that would be the case.
But he gave a brief nod of acceptance for the dinner invitation before leaving the room in search of the beautiful and rebellious woman he wished to make his wife.
CHAPTERFIVE
“Where have you been?”Amanda demanded, having risen to her feet the moment Julia entered the sitting room she and her cousin shared whenever they stayed here.It was conveniently situated between their two bedchambers.“I have been worried sick that Wolfingham had carried you off to Gretna Green against your will!”
Julia gave a derisive snort as she stepped forward to warm herself by the fire.“Does he appear to be the sort of man who has any interest in romantic actions?”
“I do not believe he does, no,” Amanda acknowledged wryly.
“That is because he isn’t,” Julia derided.“I assure you, I have not seen Wolfingham since I left here earlier.”
It had been some hours since Julia had walked away from Roxburgh Manor.But, as she was aware Wolfingham knew of her partiality for sitting near the fountain in the middle of the maze, she had instead walked toward the village.
She had found a place there to rest and think on a bench beside the pond, the ducks providing ample entertainment when her thoughts were in such turmoil.
Much as she had tried, and she really had tried very hard, she had not been able to think of a single way in which she might excuse herself from the agreement made, in good faith, between her grandparents and the present Earl of Wolfingham’s father.Not without causing severe damage to the honor and reputation of both families.Along with what could become her own exclusion from Society if she was the one to break such a long-standing agreement between those families.
Julia not wishing to marry at all was one thing, but refusing to marry a man as wealthy and handsome as the Earl of Wolfingham, a man she was already promised to, would result in her being ostracized from all decent company.
The dismissal of the betrothal might have been arranged without anyone outside the family being aware of it, and if Nicholas were of a similar mindset to end it.But even the thought of asking for his help in anything was repugnant to Julia.
Besides, if he had intended to bring an end to the betrothal himself, he would already have done so.
Unless it was because, once he had a wife, he would be able to hide behind the respectability of that marriage to flirt and indulge in his numerous affairs without impunity?
Julia’s heart felt heavy just thinking of becoming the wife of a man whom everyone in Society would know was making a fool of her with other women.She could not bear even the thought of being the focus of the pity of so many others in their social set.
But despite her hours of contemplation beside the pond, she had been unable to think of a single way in which she might extricate herself without also losing her family when she was unable to spare them from the shame of her actions.
In the end, she had been compelled to come back to Foxburgh Manor.Not because she had found an answer to her dilemma, but because the biting cold wind made it necessary to warm herself.
“I am surprised at that.”Amanda frowned as she spoke again.“Wolfingham left here minutes after you did, saying that he was going to look for you.”
“Well, obviously, he gave up and went home to Wolfingham Park instead when he failed to find me,” Julia dismissed as she continued to warm her chilled hands in front of the flames.
“He no more strikes me as the type of man who would ‘give up’ on anything than he is prone to making romantic gestures,” Amanda drawled.
