“Lord Marshfield,” she added, her features softening, “there is not a loyal subject of Britain who doesn’t appreciate what our soldiers have done in Europe. Didyougo to war?”
“I did.” He tried not to be a stiff priss, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to carry on a civil conversation when she seemed intent on shooting arrows his way.
She nodded. “Then I thank you, sir. How nice you could return tothisworld.” She gestured around them, and at that moment, a servant approached with glasses of champagne. She took one.
“However, many of the regulars who fought just as loyally are seen begging in the streets, their once proud uniforms in tatters. Next time you and your friends are taking on yourheavymantle of statesmanship, you might want to consider ways in which Parliament can help out those who served under you. And I don’t mean your horse.”
She tipped her glass to him in salute before walking away. He’d been roundly dismissed.
Left staring after her, Jasper finally sauntered to an empty table, head held high.
Now what?That hadn’t gone as planned, nor had he even questioned Miss Sudbury about his blasted sapphire cravat pin. He almost felt embarrassed to bring up the subject of jewelry. Moreover, she no longer seemed the type to indulge in thievery, so righteous over the injustices of society.
***
JULIA WISHED SHE HADN’Tbeen quite so tart-tongued with the earl. After all, he needn’t have put himself in harm’s way in France at all. Many of the nobility hadn’t. Yet his arguments for the usefulness of aristocrats in London were laughable, especially in a room filled with vapid young snout-faces, all hoping to make a match based on family connections, titles, and wealth.
Regardless, she hoped she hadn’t made an enemy because he was two things — powerful, thus potentially dangerous if he ever discovered her illicit actions, and he was incredibly attractive.
Of course, that was neither here nor there, but Julia couldn’t ignore it. He made her heart beat quickly and her body pulse along with it. How amusing it would be to relax into some sort of easy banter with the man and, even better, enjoy her first full-fledged tryst. She sighed, knowing she had probably scared him off.
It didn’t matter at that moment. She had her own important task to perform.
“I’m going to the ladies’ retiring room,” she announced to Mrs. Zebodar. Unfortunately, her chaperone nodded and rose to her feet.
“Oh, are you coming, too?”
“Indubitably,” the woman replied.
Julia grimaced. Her normally easy mission, although occasionally heart-thumping, was no longer going to occur on her own schedule if she had to worry about dodging Mrs. Zebodar every time she wasn’t with a dance partner.
“Surely you don’t think I’ll come to any harm in Lady Pritchard’s retiring room?”
Her chaperone pursed her lips. “You cannot wander on your own. You might be assaulted in a hallway or dragged outside or abducted into a carriage. What if someone tries to kiss you?”
Julia nearly laughed. Mrs. Zebodar was equating a kiss with some other truly dreadful actions. And she, for one, wouldn’t have missed the thrilling kiss with the Earl of Marshfield for all the world. Although not her first, it was undoubtedly the best she’d ever experienced.
Glancing around, she noticed the very man himself was staring at her as she crossed the room. At his piercing gaze and dour expression, she nearly smiled and waved just to be cheeky, but decided such behavior was a tad vulgar.
Instead, Julia turned her thoughts to the hound of a chaperone by her side.How would she ever manage to get away from the woman?
Then a thought struck her. “I think before we go to the retiring room, we ought to secure a few more partners. There will be four more dances altogether, I believe, and I have one secured by the Earl of Marshfield.”If he still showed up after her impertinence.“I don’t want to incur the reputation for being a wallflower, do I?”
“Heavens, no!” Mrs. Zebodar looked alarmed. “That would reflect badly on me, indeed. And you are such a lovely girl. There is no reason you shouldn’t enjoy every dance until the wee hours.”
What a horrifying notion!Dancing with strangers all night didn’t sound appealing at all. If only the country dances, as the people in Town called them despite doing them in the London ballrooms, weren’t so very long.
Although the waltz with Lord Marshfield hadn’t seemed long at all.
“I know that young man,” Mrs. Zebodar exclaimed, nodding her head toward a gangly buck, leaning against the wall, talking with a few others. “He’s a baron’s son. His mother is an acquaintance of mine. Let’s see if he has yet to promise for all the dances.”
Exactly so!Julia wouldn’t give a fig if she stood him up, leaving him on the edge of the dance floor, which was what she needed to do to slip away upstairs.
After meeting the unfortunately named baron’s eldest, Mr. Boreman, and letting him claim a quadrille, as well as two more partners whom Mrs. Zebodar sniffed out, at last, they went to the retiring room to freshen up.
An hour later, Julia’s plan worked like a charm. When her partner claimed her from her chaperone, on the way to the dance floor, suddenly she begged off with a cry of dismay.
“I’ve torn my hem. So clumsy of me. I’ll go to the cloakroom where they’ll be able to assist me with a quick stitch. I’ll meet you by the fireplace,” she assured him. “While we can’t dive interrupt the flow of this dance, I believe my next one is free.”
