“Dear God.”She shuddered.“Mr.Masterson said he believed that the driver and groom of his carriage were both dead.”
His jaw tightened.“They are.”
“Why did this happen?”
“It appears to have done so when one of them was thrown from a moving vehicle and the other crushed beneath the wheel when it rolled over?—”
“Not to them.Why was this done toyou?”Julia cut in determinedly.“I am sorry for their death, but that regret is tempered by the fact that they gave every appearance of being bad people.But I want to know why they kidnapped you.And please do not insult my intelligence again by trying to fob me off with another nonsensical reply.”
Wolfingham’s lips curved into a smile.“Perhaps, as you suggested to your father, a cuckolded husband decided to take his revenge on me?”
Color once again burned her cheeks.“My father should not have told you that.I was merely voicing a possible theory.”
His smile faded.“A fair and just one, on the evidence you no doubt have heard and seen with your own eyes these past sixteen months of my behavior when in Society.”
Julia eyed him searchingly.His eyes were no longer as dilated, and he had a little color in his cheeks that was not due to bruising, but his expression appeared to be one of regret rather than guilt.“What of your behavior when you are not in Society?”she finally prompted.“What is that like, Wolfingham?”she urged when he gave no answer.
He gave a half-smile.“I believe I should like you to call me Nicholas.At least when we are alone.”
To Julia, his tone sounded almost…wistful.As if it were a request he had wanted to make for some time.“We are rarely alone,” she pointed out.
“We are now.”
“So we are…Nicholas,” the name came out huskily.
“Would you prefer for me to use Julia or Juliet?”
She drew in a sharp breath.“Julia,” she finally answered softly.
* * *
Nicholas knew exactly how important this moment was.Julia, having finally given him permission to call her by the same name her family and friends did, was momentous.He was fully aware of its significance when she had previously been so adamant she would not accept any familiarity from him.
“Julia.”He nodded in acknowledgment of the gift received.
He had come awake earlier almost as soon as Julia touched his hand but had continued to give the appearance of being asleep once he realized who his visitor was.Julia was the last person he had thought would ever be interested in checking on his well-being, especially in the middle of the night.
His reluctance to reveal his wakefulness was due to wanting to know whether Julia’s curiosity was based on a desire to know whether he was dead or seriously hurt.The former would release her from the betrothal she had already made clear she did not want.
But it had quickly become clear to him that Julia really was concerned for him.
Nicholas had continued to watch her through slitted lids as she studied his bruised features, before she gently, very gently, caressed the back of one of his hands with her fingertips.
Nicholas had almost given himself away at the first touch of the softness of her fingers against his skin.It was the first time, he believed, that she had ever touched him voluntarily.He did not count that kiss in the moonlight, because he had been the one to instigate it.No, this time, Julia had been the one to reach out and touchhim.
“Are you really seriously unharmed?”she now inquired worriedly.“Mr.Masterson seemed to be of the opinion you had been knocked unconscious before being locked in the baggage box.Perhaps my papa should have called for the physician to take a look at you?”she expressed her concern when she no doubt observed that levering himself higher up the pillows caused him obvious discomfort.
Nicholas shook his head.“I persuaded him that it was not necessary.”
“Why?”
“I will almost certainly have a headache for a few days and will be covered in bruises for even longer,” Nicholas admitted.“But none of my injuries are life-threatening.”
“You cannot know that?—”
“Surely you are not concerned for me?”he taunted, knowing by her expression that was exactly what she was feeling.
It was an emotion Nicholas truly welcomed from her, but he knew Julia well enough to know she would regret that concern in the clear light of day.
