Her grandmother, Lady Roxburgh, having had only two daughters of her own, and then two granddaughters, had always been fond of the three Harding brothers, born and brought up on the estate neighboring her own.Nicholas’s presence would seem to indicate that affection was wholly returned by the only Harding brother who remained alive.
Their grandmother’s recent death was the reason Julia and her cousin Amanda had cut short this year’s London Season and instead traveled to Surrey with their parents.Both families had come here to attend the funeral of their beloved mother and grandmother, followed by the burial of Lady Roxburgh in the family crypt beside her late husband.
Her grandmother’s lawyer was also due to arrive tomorrow and planned to read Lady Roxburgh’s will to the beneficiaries after the funeral the following day.
“I am sure my grandmother would have appreciated the courtesy if she were still alive,” Julia finally answered.
“If she were still alive, there would have been no reason for me to have attended her funeral.”
Julia’s eyes narrowed as she studied Wolfingham’s handsome face.She could see no trace of mockery in his expression or in that steady brown gaze, but that did not mean that emotion had not been in his statement.
Although she had perhaps deserved it, Julia allowed grudgingly.
Possibly.
In truth, the man who had become the Earl of Wolfingham following his father’s death was the only gentleman to whom Julia could never bring herself to be polite.She doubted that would change, even if her life had depended upon it.
Unlike his elder brother, Arthur, and his younger brother, Freddie, both of whom were now deceased, Nicholas was too arrogant.
Too mocking.
Too haughty.
Too self-assured.
Too handsome.
Too muchalivewhen her darling Freddie was dead!
The latter feeling she knew to be the opposite of all the teachings given to her by the church, her loving parents, and her grandmother.Some by example, others in words of gentle advice.
Unfortunately, Julia’s resentment toward Nicholas Harding had grown, rather than diminished, since Freddie’s death.
“I am sure there are some people who enjoy your sarcastic sense of humor,” she bit out.“But I am not one of them.”
“I apologize if I gave you the impression I was being facetious.”His jaw tightened.“Lady Roxburgh was a woman of warmth, charm, and good manners.”Unlike her granddaughter, the challenge in his gaze seemed to imply.“A woman whom it was impossible not to like, which is why I now wish to show my respects on the sad occasion of her death.”
Julia had a feeling she had probably deserved some of that rebuke.“She was indeed all of those things.I assure you, her family knows that only too well, and we arealldevastated by her loss.”She was not averse to also issuing backhanded rebukes.
No matter what Nicholas Harding chose to think of her, Julia had always loved spending time with her grandmother, both here and in London, as had Amanda.They were both heartbroken at the older woman’s death.The whole family felt the same, their dear mothers both inconsolable at the loss of their beloved mother.
Truth was, Julia had been feeling the heaviness of the family heartache just a little too much today.So much so, she had been desperate to escape the weight of that grief, if only for a short time, and instead indulge in something frivolous and lighthearted.
Which was why she had been found walking along a wall she had recently climbed, by the one man guaranteed to upset her day even further!
She lifted her chin again.“I am surprised you could spare the time away from your widely known and often…scandalous London pursuits.The ladies of thetonwill surely be devastated at your absence.”
“Feral little cat,” he murmured softly.
She huffed.“Not in the least.Everyone in Society has heard of or knows of the hedonistic pursuits of the Earl of Wolfingham.”
“Indeed?”
“Indeed,” she echoed scathingly.“It was because you preferred to continue those pursuits, rather than join the army before or after Arthur died, that it was left to poor Freddie to uphold the family honor.He should have joined the church, not the army.Instead, he died at Waterloo.
* * *
And that, Nicholas knew, was the crux of the animosity which emanated from Lady Juliet Chalmers toward him.
