He finished with the tie and looked at her. “I do not wish to speak of it,” he said. “I will see you at home.”
He moved to mount the charger but Addington put herself in front of the horse. “Tell me why you are leaving or I will not move,” she said, more firmly. “You are going to have to go through me to get out of this stable block and if you try, I will tell Mother. Worse still, I will tell Cole and you will have a lot of explaining to do. Stop being so evasive and tell me what has happened.”
He stopped short of climbing into the saddle because her threat was a real one. He knew she wouldn’t move and he didn’twant to hurt her, but given Addington’s determined nature, he probably would have to plow through her to leave and he wasn’t going to go that far. So he stood there for a moment, thinking on the answer he didn’t want to give.
He snorted softly.
“I am a fool,” he said simply. “Can we just leave it at that? I am a fool and I belong at Pelinom.”
Addington didn’t understand him in the least. “Why?” she begged softly. “Please tell me, Julian. You know you can trust me. I would not betray a confidence.”
He knew that. He and Addington were inordinately close. Scratching his head, he looked at her. “It seems that Lady Lista has another suitor,” he said. “I thought… well, it does not matter what I thought. I was wrong so I am going home.”
Addington’s face screwed up with confusion. “What suitor?” she demanded. “Who?”
Julian fumbled with the reins. “De Rhos,” she said. Then, his control slipped. “I saw them, Addie. Their arms around each other. I trusted him… I trusted her… the worst part is that I genuinely liked de Rhos. Nay… that is not the worst part. The worst part is that I thought Lady Lista liked me. She certainly acted like it and even agreed to let me court her. But, yet again, Julian de Velt is made a fool of.”
Addington genuinely had no idea what he was talking about. “Julian, you are not making any sense,” she said. “You saw them with their arms around each other? Where?”
“In the vineyard,” he said. “They were in quite a romantic embrace, so there is no point in me remaining. I will not be humiliated again.”
Pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together for Addington, especially when he mentioned the vineyard. “I just saw Louis upstairs and he said that Lista had hurt herself in thevineyard,” she said. “I am sure that is all you saw. Mayhap he was helping her?”
Julian cast her a look of disbelief before finally mounting his horse. “Helping her, indeed,” he said. “Is that what he called it?”
Addington grabbed on to the reins so he couldn’t get by her. “Julian,stop,” she commanded softly. “I do not know what you think you saw, but Lista likes you very much. She is quite agreeable to having you court her and she did not lie to you about that. Why in the world would she carry on with de Rhos? That does not seem like something she would do.”
Julian pulled his helm out of a saddlebag. “How do you know?” he said. “She has us all fooled into thinking she is sweet and kind when the truth is that she is just like the rest of them.”
“She is not,” Addington insisted. “I do not know what has happened, but the least you could do is go and ask her.”
He grunted. “Not me,” he said. “Iknowwhat happened. Get out of the way because I am leaving now.”
Addington held fast. “I am not getting out of the way because you are acting rashly,” she said. “I know you are used to women treating you poorly, but Lista is not one of them. If I thought she was, I would have never agreed to come here. I came here because I wanted to play matchmaker between you two and I have. Why are you trying to ruin this?”
“I told you what happened. I will not tell you again.”
“You told me what you saw. You did not tell me what happened.”
“Do not be stupid, Addie.”
“You are the one being stupid. You have so little faith that you will not even ask Lista?”
“Excuse me, my lady. I am sorry to trouble you.”
It wasn’t Julian who replied. It was Louis. He was suddenly in the entry of the stables and both Addington and Julian turnedto see the man standing there, mostly looking at Addington, but having some confusion when he managed to look at Julian.
Addington smiled weakly.
“How can I help, Sir Louis?” she asked.
He gestured to the castle. “The physic said it would be better for Lady Lista to soak her foot,” he said. “Since the servants seemed to be missing or occupied, I’ve come looking for a bucket. I thought there might be one out here.”
Addington saw the opportunity to clarify the situation for Julian. “You mean for Lista’s sore ankle?” she said. “The one she twisted when she slipped in the vineyard?”
It was a long way to get to the point, at least for Louis, and he nodded at the rather odd questions. “Aye,” he said. “Is there one around here I can rinse out?”
Addington sighed heavily but, in truth, it was mostly in annoyance at Julian. The man was being irrational as far as she was concerned so if he was going to leave, then she figured he should have all the facts.
