She took it without a word. That, more than anything, told him how badly shaken she was.
He stopped at the Stonevale carriage and looked up at the coachman, who had the good grace to look like a man contemplating the poor choices that had delivered him to this particular moment.
“No matter what she pays you,” Cassian said, with a quiet manner that was more unsettling than shouting. “No matterhow she asks, no matter what she tells you. You do not bring the Duchess out at night without my knowledge. Are we understood?”
“Y-yes, Your Grace. Forgive me, Your Grace, Her Grace said it was most urgent and I could not—”
“Ride ahead.”
He handed Juliana up into his own carriage and climbed in after her. The door shut behind them. He did not slam it, though it required considerably more restraint than he currently had to spare.
Cassian watched his wife from across the carriage, pressing his lips together. He thought tonight would unfold quite differently, with him arriving home to tease her. To finally bed her. He had not imagined he would spend the evening watching his wife sprint through a rookery with three men at her heels.
His leg throbbed painfully, but he would not cry out. Not in front of her. Not in front of anybody.
“I am so sorry,” Juliana finally spoke, her voice ragged. Her face, illuminated by gas lamps, looked hauntingly beautiful. She did not sound like the feisty minx she was. She sounded broken, and he did not like it.
“You are going to tell me,” he said at last, his voice very quiet. “Exactly what you were doing in that part of the city tonight.”
Juliana said nothing for a moment. Her hands were folded in her lap, not quite steady.
“I… I went to find Kit,” she said. “Grandmama told me he had been gone for days. That strange men had been coming to the house at odd hours asking for him.” She kept her eyes on herhands. “I knew the places he frequented. I thought if I could find him, I could… I do not know. Warn him. Bring him home. Something.” A pause. “He was there.”
“And?”
She was quiet for a moment, telling him everything even before she spoke.
“He pretended that he did not know me.” The words came out pained. “I walked toward him, and he looked me in the eye and told the men at his table he had never seen me before in his life.”
The carriage swayed gently. Outside, London slid past in the fog.
“He was frightened,” she said, and it was not quite a defense, more a fact she was turning over because she did not know what else to do with it. “He did not mean—”
“Are you sure about that? What did he do to help you, Juliana? He let those men run after you to do God knows what. I could have been home or elsewhere, but the carriage somehow passed this way, a place I often avoid or ignore. What do you think would have happened if I were not there?” he demanded. “It looks to me like he used you as bait, offering his own flesh and blood so he could save his hide.”
“He is my brother,” she said. The tears did not fall. She would not let them. “He is reckless and foolish, and he does not think. But he is my family. I cannot simply—”
“I could have been elsewhere, Juliana! Do you truly think Kit would have saved you? Do you realize what those men would have done to you? Do you think they would politely let you go?”
She was shaking her head the whole time. Even distress could not fully mar her features, even as she leaned away from him. Heclosed the distance even as she moved backward.
“Your brother would have let those men destroy you. All he thought about was saving himself. He is a coward, and this is what he always does.”
She shivered, perhaps thinking the same thoughts that were unraveling in his head.
“He… he was scared,” Juliana said, flinching as if he had raised his hand to strike her. He wanted to tell her that he would never do anything like that, but he supposed his words hurt more than a slap would. She knew her brother was a coward. She might not be prepared to say so, but he would.
“He is a coward,” he roared. “I set those rules for a reason. You thought I was merely being a tyrant, abusing my power. But I have come to know your brother a little too well. I know what can happen to women who wander in these places. You have been reckless. Irresponsible.”
Cassian reached out, his gloved hand holding her chin. She was looking somewhere to her right, tears forming in her eyes. He gently nudged her chin so that she would look at him.
“I… I am sorry,” she whispered, her eyes looking at him. In that moment, there was no defiance in them. She had been shaken. Badly. However, he also wanted her to see just how grave her mistake was. This was not the time to coddle her, even if it pained him that she had just apologized to him a second time in a matter of minutes.
“I hope you know now that what I asked of you was for your own good, not mine,” he said, relenting a little. “I do not want what happened to my sister to happen to you.”
Damn it.
Her eyes widened at that. He realized the slip of his tongue. He did not mean to mention his sister. Juliana should not know, at least not yet.
