“No!” Evie said.
“Send him away!” Arabella shouted.
Julia turned toward them. “Mr. Castleton,” she said. “Not Lord Castleton. I believe you mean Mr. Alexander Castleton, the viscount’s cousin, yes?”
“Yes, miss. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear.” Parsons inclined his head.
“Oh no, you were,” she assured him with a gentle squeeze on his arm. “We’re all a little on edge, I think.”
“He should still be sent away,” Arabella said, more calmly this time as she stepped up and wrapped an arm around Julia’s waist.
Julia pondered that. Perhaps he should. She couldn’t imagine what he could have to say to her, especially after their last encounter. But the idea of sending him away was actually painful.
“No,” she said. “I should see what he wants.” She glanced at Parsons. “Tell him I’ll be down shortly. And be certain there’s tea for him.”
“Yes, miss,” Parsons said, and backed from the room.
Julia closed the door and leaned back, trying to get her bearings after this unexpected news. She hated that her sisters were just…staring at her. Reading her, as they were both so very good at doing.
“He was out in the country with you, wasn’t he?” Evie asked. “What is he like?”
“Well, he’s nothing like his cousin,” Julia said, and elaborated no further. She couldn’t, really, not when her heart was beating out of her chest.
“That’s little praise,” Arabella muttered. “Evie and I will be with you to see him. We can be a buffer.”
Julia almost laughed at that idea. Her sisters trying to come between her and the man who had pinned her to a settee and made her body feel ways she’dneverfelt before. If they came into the room and watched her interact with him, they would certainly see that. But if she denied them outright, they would equally suspect something was going on.
They were both just too intelligent. It could be quite irritating sometimes.
She shifted. “Of course you may come and meet him, but you needn’t stay. I know you were both going to depart before tea and you should still do so.”
“Leave you alone with this man? This stranger?” Evie gasped.
“He isn’t a stranger to me,” Julia insisted. “And he is—he’s safe.”
That didn’t feel entirely true. Nothing about Alexander Castleton felt safe. Not dangerous, of course. But not safe.
“No one from that family is safe,” Arabella said.
Julia ignored that and moved toward her wardrobe. At present she was wearing an old flannel gown that she’d put on for the sorting and crying. She handed Beatrice over to Arabella and smoothed her hands over it.
“Help me put on some armor, will you? That’s the best way to protect me.”
She saw them exchange a glance, which she ignored as she entered her dressing room to pick a gown. One to repel or attract, she didn’t exactly know anymore. And that uncertainty was terrifying.
CHAPTER 16
Being made to wait half an hour by his grandfather had caused frustration for Alexander, but being made to wait exactly the same amount of time by Julia created a very different sensation. The anticipation to see her, even with the heavy facts he brought to her doorstep, only increased. He had to know if she was as beautiful as he recalled when memory gripped him.
And when she entered the parlor, the answer came clear: she was even more beautiful. She wore a pale violet gown that was a little lower cut than anything she’d worn in the country. It made her skin look luminous. Her dark hair was done up simply in a very pretty twist at the nape of her neck.
She stopped after entering the room and stared at him, her gaze flitting over him in a sweep. She swallowed, hand flexing at her side.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Castleton,” she said softly, then she motioned behind her.
He started because he hadn’t noticed two other women had come into the room with her. He recognized them, of course, their infamy had been as great as her own over the years. Perhaps greater. It was her sisters, Arabella and Evelina. He wasin the presence of the infamous Comerford Courtesans, even if two of them were now in very different places in their lives.
He stepped away from Julia a bit, as if the distance might make him focus. “Good afternoon, Miss Comerford,” he said, and was happy his voice didn’t tremble.
