She stepped forward, hands shaking as she neared them. “L-Lady Lydia?”
The young woman jolted at her name being said and glanced around her father toward Juliana. Her gaze flickered over Juliana’s scar and then darted away. “Miss Juliana Shelley,” she said. “How lovely to see you.”
Juliana fought to keep her smile as Mary stepped away to give them privacy. Juliana’s entire life she had wished on so many stars that people might one day see her as separate from her sisters. That she might be identified on her own merit. Well, she had finally received that desire. Just not the way she had wished.
“And you,” she said with a slight curtsey for Lady Lydia and her father. “Good afternoon, Your Grace.”
The duke gave her a slight nod and his gaze lingered on her face a moment, as well. He seemed uncomfortable and cleared his throat slightly. “Miss Shelley. Many felicitations on the marriages of both your sisters,” he grunted. “Your father must be…er…pleased?”
She pursed her lips at the tone of the question that implied Thomasina and Anne had not made good marriages. Of course that would be the gossip considering all the circumstances, but she refused to participate in the speculation.
“We are all deliriously happy for them. It is not often there is not one, but two, love matches in a family, and so close together,” she said with a genuine smile.
Lady Lydia looked a bit wistful. “That is wonderful.”
Juliana shifted slightly, darting her gaze to the duke once again. “And how is your family? Are all three of your brothers in Town?”
Lydia’s cheeks paled a fraction and her smile fluttered as if it were an effort to hold it. “Yes, indeed. My eldest two are busy with their duties and the Season and—”
“Only the elder two are in Town,” Lord Coningburgh interrupted with a shake of his head. “My daughter is mistaken.”
Juliana’s heart leapt. He was lying. And not doing a very good job of it, based on the sticky sweat on his brow and the shifting of his weight. He looked…frightened.
And Lady Lydia appeared confused. She glanced at her father and almost seemed as though she would correct him. Then her lips pursed and she pivoted away from him. Juliana recognized her expression. It was one of a woman who was always left to pick up the pieces. It seemed she and the lady had more in common than she had thought in their brief acquaintance.
Juliana feigned bored politeness. “So Lord Winston has not joined you? That is a shame. What is it that tempts him away from the pleasures of the Season?”
Lydia arched an almost challenging brow at her father and he glared at her in response. “Business in the country,” he grunted. “Come now, Lydia. We must be off. It was a pleasure seeing you again, Miss Shelley.”
“And you, Your Grace,” Juliana said softly. “Lady Lydia.”
Lydia shot her an apologetic look and then trailed after her father, who had headed across the park at a swift clip. Juliana watched them closely and saw how upset Lydia looked as she spoke to her father in the distance. Saw the duke cast a quick, furtive glance back at Juliana.
Once again, his fear was palpable. It caused a ripple effect through her body. The Duke of Coningburgh was a powerful man. Everyone knew that. He had maneuvered through the world using his position and his vast wealth to get whatever he wanted. And yet he was afraid of his youngest son. Deeply afraid.
Which made Juliana sharply aware of how dangerous the situation was. She faced Mary with a shake of her head. “We should go back,” she said.
Mary wrinkled her brow. “But we’ve only just arrived. Did you not want to walk?”
“Something has come up and I need to speak to my family,” she explained. “Come along.”
Mary followed, uncertainty lining her face, as Juliana all but ran back to Harcourt’s. She burst through the door, past the confused-looking butler and down the hall toward the breakfast room. The others were still gathered there, though their meal was almost finished. When she burst through the door, they all pivoted and stared at her in surprise.
“You’re back early,” Thomasina said. “Is everything all right?”
Rook pushed to his feet, his gaze narrowing on her. “What happened?”
She caught her breath. He could read her the same way Ellis could. A fragment left from the street, she supposed, where every tiny nuance had to be evaluated.
“I just spoke to the Duke of Coningburgh,” she declared.
The rest of her family jumped up and a cacophony of responses echoed in the room.
“Juliana, I thought you were going for a walk!” Anne snapped above the rest. “And you go to put yourself in danger again?”
“I didn’t go to put myself in danger,” Juliana said back with a glare for her sister. “I entered the park and almost immediately saw him with his daughter, Lady Lydia, on the bridge. It was an opportunity I would have been a fool not to pass up. Of course I approached them.”
Harcourt ran a hand through his hair. “This is exactly why we have all been watching you so closely since your arrival. You have been so reckless, Juliana.”
