Julian used his good leg to push up and then stood, bringing the injured leg straight. He tested putting weight on it for a moment and while there was pain, it was no longer as sharp as it had been when he had originally tried to stand. He blew out a sigh and looked down at Miss Doyle who still sat on the ground, and she smiled up at him.
“I apologize for such a display.” He held out his hand to her.
“There is no need. Slamming your knee against the stone must have been terribly painful.” Miss Doyle placed her hand in his and allowed Julian to help her to her feet. “Shall we return to the celebration?” she asked in a more searching tone than suggestive.
Julian did not want to join the festivities, but instead spend the remainder of the day out here with her. “Why do we not sit inside the gazebo. We can enjoy the breeze off the sea.”
A rounded gazebo sat at the back of Norbright’s property, on the edge of the cliff and overlooked the sea. Gabriel Westbrook, Earl of Norbright, had once been a Devil and was now happily married and owned Harrington Manor. Julian knew from walking on the beach previously that it was solid stone all the way down so there was no concern of its crumbling.
“I believe I would enjoy that.” Miss Doyle smiled at him again. There was such comfort when looking into her eyes. A warmth, almost like home.
Julian held out his elbow to escort her and she slipped her hand onto a sleeve but as soon as he took a step his leg nearly gave out as his knee buckled. It was Miss Doyle who caught him and kept them from tumbling to the ground.
This was more embarrassing than being wrapped up like a mummy before he was brought into Norbright's home after the carriage accident and then being forced to lay in bed until others told him he was free to move about.
“Please, let me help you.”
As he had no choice. Julian tried to smile and was certain that it came out as more of a grimace. “Thank you.”
Slowly the two made it to the gazebo and he negotiated the one step up before he fell onto his seat. A gentleman would have waited for her, but he needed to be off his leg and prayed that nothing had been fractured when his knee had slammed against the stone.
“Does it pain you terribly?”
Julian stretched out his leg and tested it. “I am certain that it will recover and quickly.” At least he hoped that was the case. “Why did you not return with your sister?”
Miss Doyle looked away and he saw a flash of sadness in her eyes. Perhaps he should not have asked.
“I suppose we both had our own reasons for being on the beach.”
Miss Doyle looked past Julian and out to the sea. There was a sadness and longing in her green eyes, and he could only assume that… He could not assume anything. He did not know her so well. But her brother had died not long ago, she had lost her parents earlier in life, and her only sibling had wed today. Perhaps Miss Doyle feared that she was losing her one remaining family member.
“I will confess why I am out here if you promise not to tell anyone.” Eventually he would tell his friends but not today. “I will share my news with them tomorrow. Now is not the time.”
“News?”
Julian reached inside his coat and withdrew the missive that he had received and handed it to her. “This arrived for me a short time ago.”
She stared at it. “I should not read your personal correspondence.”
“It is easier that you read than I speak of it.” He wanted to confide in Miss Doyle, he just couldn’t say the words right now. He couldn’t voice,my brother died.
“Very well,” she offered with concern and then took the letter from him. Slowly she opened it and then placed a hand against her heart as sympathy filled her eyes. “I am so sorry for your loss.” She then folded the parchment and handed it back. “I suppose that I should now call you Lord Rivers.”
“It does not feel right. I am not certain if I will ever get used to it.”
“You will in time,” she offered with compassion. “It is difficult to lose a brother.”
“It almost does not seem real.”
“That is the way of it. When Eve told me that our brother had died and how it came to be, I could not reconcile it in my mind. It took a few days before it truly sank in that he was gone.”
“Is that when the mourning began?”
She offered a sad smile. “The mourning for my brother took place long ago. We lost the man we knew after our father passed away.”
“It has only been little over a month for you, and a few hours for me,” Julian reminded her.
“Had we truly been in deep mourning, my sister would not have wed today, and we would both be in black.”
