“Yes,” Julia said. “I am grateful for your help.”
“If I could change your circumstances, all of our unfortunate circumstances, dear child, I would.” She pulled a square of lace from her long sleeve and dabbed at her watery eyes. “We women must stand together and not let these powerful men decide our futures without us having a say in it. Julia, is the Duke of Pridegate a man you could tolerate as a husband?”
Rising pressure in her chest stole her breath momentarily. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “He is the only man I have spent any time with, so I have no one to compare him to.”
“But he is a duke,” the dowager reminded her.
“Yes. His title has not escaped me.” She was not being impertinent, just glum.
“It is by his special request that I have come to get you,” she said.
“Really, Mama?” Willa asked.
“Yes. The duke wishes you to accompany him on the pianoforte while he sings.”
“What?” Julia could not believe it. What was he up to? Did he wish to disgrace her in front of all those people? Though she could play the instrument with confidence, she lacked the passion his voice possessed. They would be ill matched for such a public performance. “I cannot.”
The dowager sighed. “Cannot, or will not?”
Julia dragged herself to the French doors that opened onto the balcony. She pushed them ajar and slipped outside, hugging herself around her middle. The dowager coughed as she joined her, resting a calming hand on her shoulder.
“Julia, you are like a second daughter to me.”
“Yes,” she acknowledged, heart heavy with memories of her mother.
“Do not be afraid of accepting your responsibility as a member of the peerage and becoming a wife. Even if your husband leaves much to be desired, children will be your reward.”
“I never wished to marry.”
“I do not believe that, my dear. You were always a compassionate girl, and I think once your mother died, you clung to anything you could find to cover up your grief. Look at me, Julia.”
She reluctantly turned around.
“You are not a bluestocking or any of these other rebellious things you wish to be called. They are carefully constructed masks to hide behind. It is time to set these childish things aside and embrace your future. Let us go belowstairs and graciously accept the duke’s favor by you playing the pianoforte for him.”
Julia would never disrespect her. She nodded and curtsied. “You are right, we should go down.”
Chapter Sixteen
The Duke ofPridegate had nearly lost his patience as he glanced a last time at the entryway to the drawing room. He’d sensed something was wrong with Julia over dinner, but the fact that she had disappeared upstairs with Lady Willa gave him greater cause for concern. Had he said or done something to offend her, or worse yet, had someone else? If that rude American had, Alonzo would call him out and give him a true taste of English tradition! Just as he was about to go abovestairs to find out, the ladies in question arrived.
Relieved to see her, Alonzo sank back into the crowd, moving toward the pianoforte. His request had been simple, asking the dowager countess to bring Julia down to accompany him on the instrument while he sang. Admittedly, he intended to force Julia out of her shyness and to interact with her peers. She needed to be challenged—to showcase her talents as an accomplished lady—a responsibility she had ignored for too long.
Once she had greeted the Duke of Stanhope and his sister, Julia ambled over to him and curtsied. “I am here to do as you asked, Your Grace.”
He wanted to tip her chin up and have her look him in the eyes. “It is not meant to make you uncomfortable.”
“No?” she asked. “Then why did you not simply ask me to play for you?”
“Because I know what your answer would be. As much as I seek the adulation of my peers, you run from attention at every turn.”
“Is that not a desirable quality in a young lady?”
“If it was for the right reasons, Lady Julia.”
“And what would those be?” She finally met his gaze, her head held at a defiant angle, her brown eyes as alive as ever.
“There is the woman I have come to admire.”
