His cousin rolled his eyes. “Yes. She says that since she is going to be seen as a lady soon, she wants to begin to behave like one. So when I escorted her home from the engagement party last night, she wouldn’t let me come up with her. Can you imagine? She’s my mistress and she turned me away from the bedIpay for.”
“She’s…shewasyour mistress. Don’t you feel the relationship changed when you asked for her hand?” Alexander asked.
“Ugh, now you sound like her.” Laurence slugged the drink back. “It’s a little late to be missish, don’t you think? It isn’t as if the world doesn’t know what she is.”
“I suppose. And yet I can understand her desire to change that perception. After all, she’ll have a great enough struggle with acceptance as viscountess.”
“It will work itself out, I’m sure.”
“Are you?” Alexander asked. “You have no plans to turn the tide?”
“If she’s intelligent, she’ll find ways to do that herself.” Laurence shrugged. “Anyway, this will all be over soon enough.”
Alexander shifted at that odd phrase. Not untrue, but it brought a finality to the subject rather than the idea that once they were wed the two would embark on a life together. Still, this was a good time to press Laurence a little now that the topichad been opened. “You must care for her a great deal to risk so much.”
“Of course,” Laurence said, and waved his hand like that was a foolish statement. “She’s beautiful and desirable.”
“Yes. But isn’t there more to it? After all, if it was just about adornment and pleasure, she could remain your mistress and you wouldn’t have to risk the wrath of Heathfield.”
“His wrath,” Laurence muttered, and set his empty glass down with a loud clink. “Yes, he’s made his displeasure more than clear. There was a scree waiting for me here when we arrived earlier today, but he can do little about the situation. I’m the heir whether he likes it or not. If he wants to lock horns with me, he’ll not like the outcome. He’s already learning that, I think.”
Alexander wrinkled his brow. There were undercurrents here, something unspoken he could feel but not yet understand. But before he could press the matter, Laurence looked past him toward the big windows that overlooked the drive. “Ah, there they are at last.”
Alexander turned to watch a carriage pull to a stop down below. He followed his cousin to the foyer and out onto the drive where they waited for Julia and her aunt to be assisted down. He watched Laurence, noting that there was a neutrality to his expression, as if this meant little. Then Julia came down and suddenly Laurence smiled and moved to her.
“There she is at last. We were beginning to worry.”
She smiled up at him. “Good afternoon, Laurence. We’re very well.” Her gaze flitted to Alexander and he saw the shift in her expression. The coolness that entered her eyes. “Mr. Castleton. Good afternoon. You remember my aunt, Mrs. Banfield.”
Alexander stepped forward, hand extended. “Mrs. Banfield, a pleasure.”
“Indeed, Mr. Castleton,” the older woman said, looking over him swiftly. “And my lord, good afternoon.”
“Let’s come in, shall we. Your things will be taken to your rooms,” Laurence said, offering an arm to Julia. As they entered, he continued talking. “Unless you wish to share a room.”
Alexander had taken Mrs. Banfield’s arm to assist her and both of them took a staggering step at that utterly inappropriate suggestion. Mrs. Banfield’s hand tightened on Alexander’s arm and her lips tightened in clear displeasure.
As they entered the parlor, Julia released his cousin and stepped away, her cheeks flaming. “You are a terrible tease, Laurence. We both know I won’t visit our chamber until after the wedding. Aunt Caroline, I see tea. Would you like some?”
She stepped away and went to work pouring. Alexander noted the tension in her shoulders. She’d played off his cousin’s loutish suggestion as playful, but it was evident she knew otherwise.
“You found the roads well?” Alexander asked Mrs. Banfield, trying to soften the mood. “It’s so different in a carriage to riding a horse over from the city.”
Mrs. Banfield settled into a chair. “Very well, thank you. The rest of your guests shall have no trouble with any of that assuming we don’t get torrents of rain before the wedding.”
“Rain on a wedding day is good luck, I’ve heard,” Alexander said.
Julia turned back and glanced at him. “I would think a studious person such as yourself wouldn’t put much stock in good luck signs.”
He arched a brow. “Studious? Oh, that could be a curse or a benediction, Miss Comerford.”
“Julia could think of it as nothing but positive,” Laurence said with a roll of his eyes. “She is forever with her head in books. She was even asking me for more details about your damnedsteam engines, Alexander.” He put his attention back on Julia. “Best get it out of your system now, dearest, after we’re wed you’ll have much more important things to take up your time.”
Alexander looked at Julia again. She was smiling and nodding, but once again he noted a tension to her lips. Fascinating. She seemed as irritated by Laurence’s loutishness as he was indifferent to her. But she was certainly the one to gain the most from this union. It lent credence to his grandfather’s argument that she was only a gold-digger.
And yet as they continued to chat, she never seemed like the arch courtesan Heathfield feared. Occasionally she almost seemed nervous. Which was fascinating. And something he’d have to observe a little closer during the next few weeks before the wedding he was charged with stopping.
CHAPTER 7
