“Yes. We will all go tomorrow and make a girls’ day out of it.” Livie placed her free hand onto Emily’s shoulder, stopping her in front of St. Clara. “Darling, this is your mother’s other brother, your uncle, the Duke of St. Clara.”
The little girl looked up at the tall man, a serene smile on her face. “Hello, Uncle,” she said excitedly before turning back to Livie. “I have three uncles, Aunt Livie!”
“Yes, darling. You are a very lucky girl.” Livie turned the little girl around and looked expectantly at a bemused St. Clara. The duchess tilted her head slightly down toward Emily, indicating that he should say something to the child.
“Y-yes, it is very nice to meet you, Emily,” he said awkwardly, before adding, “You look very much like your mother.”
“Aunt Livie says I look just like her. We could be twins.” Emily’s eyes were wide as she looked from her uncle to her aunt.
“You most certainly could be.” Livie went to her father, taking Freddy out of his arms. “Now come along, children.” She ushered Emily toward the door with Teddy following after them.
Julia rose and straightened out her skirts. She looked up to find Henry’s green gaze on her. She had loved the color of his eyes once. It reminded her of the grass and trees in the spring.
“We’re coming!” Aunt Len called out, rising with Mother Di.
The pair of them never wanted to miss a moment of time with the children and would’ve happily moved in if Remington would’ve allowed them. He remained adamant that they could not move in under any circumstance.
“Well, since the ladies are occupied, let’s say you buy me that drink, Hempstead.” Mr. Prescott stood.
“Excellent idea. We’ll be at O’Brien’s if you want to join us, son,” her uncle said to Remington. Over the years their relationship had grown from parliamentary acquaintances to friends to eventually father and son.
“Excellent, we will see if Mr. Edwards would like to join.” Karrington sat down in an armchair and stretched out his long legs.
“Hempstead, may I join you at O’Brien’s once I leave here? There is something I would like to discuss with you,” St. Clara said.
Hempstead looked from Julia to St. Clara in confusion, then over to Remington whose face was crinkled in apprehension. Her father stood and pointed over to where his son-in-law sat. “Of course, and you will speak with Karrington as well.”
“Yes, of course,” St. Clara agreed.
As Hempstead and Prescott left the room, an uncomfortable silence blanketed the four occupants.
Heartford glared at St. Clara, a look of disdain marring his once boyish face. “You have not seen our niece in three years. No doubt you turned your back on her as you did our sister.” The words were thrown at St. Clara in contempt.
“Unlike you, who has been the perfect uncle since she was born? I was not off gallivanting around the world.” St. Clara waved a long hand at him.
“I would’ve been here if I could have. What’s your damn excuse?” Henry’s voice rose.
Julia fumed inside. What the hell did he mean,he would’ve been if he could? It was clear to her that he chose to leave, no one forced him to abandon his niece.
“Heartford,” Remington warned his friend in that familiar, fatherly tone of his.
St. Clara’s body became rigid. “My excuse is, it’s none of your damn business.” His words were venomous, his gaze violent. “Don’t sit there and pretend you treated our sister any better than I did. You only befriended her after her husband died. Where the hell were you the other years of her life?” His face started turning a terrible shade of purple.
Lady Julia’s gaze bounced from one man to the other, unable to form a favorable opinion on either one. Neither had attempted to get to know Emily in any way at all. So, for either one of them to claim that one was worse than the other was downright comical. If judgement was solely up to her, neither would receive any accolades for best uncle.
“I will not tolerate your issues in my home. If you must argue, do it somewhere bloody else.” Remington sat up straighter, the duke in him replacing his fatherly persona. “In truth, every man in that little girl’s life has been absent in some way or another, but she has Livie and me. She’s young, so all of you can make it up to her, starting now.”
He stood and walked over to the sideboard to pour himself a drink. “I suggest you two learn to get along, because I won’t have either one of you upsetting my wife in any way.” His hard blue eyes were the same as when she first met the imposing duke before Livie had torn down his defenses.
Henry stood, sighing wearily. “Forgive me, Karrington. You are right. If you all will excuse me, I must go see my solicitor. I suddenly can’t stand the company.”
St. Clara huffed out a laugh as Henry left the room.
Julia sat in confusion. She knew that both Henry and St. Clara had issues with each other from their shared past, but she had no idea it was so intense.
Remington sat down, looking from Julia to St. Clara now that they were all alone. “What game are you two playing? We all know that neither one of you are romantically interested in the other.”
“Well, it shows how little you know, cousin.” Julia glanced down at her nails.
