Sighing, Julianna crossed her arms over her chest and contemplated the entire complicated affair for a moment. Perhaps she’d been thinking about this all wrong.Perhapshe hadn’t left and tossed her over on a whim.Perhapsthe ladies’ gossip on the tour was true and Rhys was deep in debt.Perhapshe had wanted to be responsible, and hadn’t wanted to bring a wife into that situation.Perhapshewasa hard worker and a kind man who merely wanted to help her sister learn to ride and win his bet to put his outrageous gambling debts to right.Perhapshe had truly loved her, and it had hurt him when he’d seen that story in theTimes, making him believe that she’d never cared a whit about him.Perhapsthe past was in the past and she no longer needed petty revenge.
Julianna rushed over to her wardrobe to find a riding habit. She had to get to the stables and talk to Rhys.
* * *
Less than an hour later,Julianna made her way to the stables with tentative steps. A riot of emotions ran through her and she was still mentally jumping from thought to thought in a matter of seconds. For the first time in an age, she felt as if the sadness and anger that constantly plagued her whenever she thought of Rhys Sheffield had lifted.
Apparently, Rhys was destitute. No doubt that was why he hadn’t wanted to offer for her. He’d said something about doing her a favor. That could easily have been what he meant. And if that were true, she could see how he had truly felt as if hewasdoing her a favor by leaving and not returning. It would have been kinder, of course, to tell her the truth. But men like Rhys were proud. She tried to imagine her own dignified father having to admit to gambling away his fortune. The thought made tears spring to her eyes.
If Rhys had left to allow her the space to move on, however, he should have been resigned to seeing her engagement announcement in the paper. Only it hadn’tjustbeen her engagement announcement. No. It had included a bit of nonsense theTimeshad invented about her setting her sights on thenextmost eligible bachelor. Which of course made Rhys think that she had only been interested in him for his title.
Only, the story in theTimeshadn’t beenentirelymade up. Per her mother’s directive, Juliannahadset her sights on the next most eligible bachelor. It was just that she’d truly been falling in love with Rhys before he’d left. Oh, the whole thing was so complicated. How would she and Rhys ever be of the same mind on the matter?
But now she realized where they’d both been wrong. She’d been trying to exact revenge and he’d been trying to hold onto his indignation. Perhaps they didn’t need to forgive each other. Perhaps they didn’t even need to forget. Perhaps they merely needed to…call a truce.
And that’s why she wanted to speak to him, to tell Rhys that she’d decided to leave him be. To wish him luck on winning his bet, and to assure him that however preposterous she might think it, she had no intention of telling anyone about the three noblemen pretending to be servants at this house party.
She found Rhys in Violet’s stall, combing her mane and speaking gently to the lovely mare.
“Be careful,” Julianna said with a grin, leaning over the rail. “You’ll spoil her for all other males.”
Rhys turned to look at her and returned her grin. “That’s my intention,” he replied.
Julianna swallowed. Were they talking about Violet any longer? She shook her head to clear the tension in the air and quickly changed the subject. “You’ll see I’m quite proper again today with my riding habit. No more riding astride.” She stood back so he could see the garnet red habit she wore.
“A pity,” he murmured, not removing his gaze from hers.
Heat rushed between her legs. She had to change the subject again, quickly. “I saw your friend, Kendall, this morning. He was carrying logs to the library.”
Rhys shrugged and went back to combing Violet’s mane. “Seems footmen get the worst chores. Kendall’s poking around fireplaces while I get to attend to the lovely Lady Violet here.”
Julianna stepped back up to the railing and rested her arms atop it. “None of you have been recognized yet, I presume.”
“Not as of this morning,” Rhys replied with a laugh. “I still have every intention of winning, however.”
“I’ve yet to see Lord Bellingham,” Julianna added.
“I doubt you’ll see Bell unless he wants to be seen.”
Julianna laughed. “Tell me. Has Lord Kendall found a potential bride?”
Rhys turned to her. “I suspect he fancies Miss Wharton, but don’t you dare tell him I said that.” He winked at her.
“Miss Wharton?” Julianna replied, lifting her brows. “She seems to have a fine head on her shoulders. However, I fear Sir Reginald has his sights set on her already.”
“Fine head on her shoulders?” Rhys scoffed. “I heard she made a scene at dinner the first night.”
“Oh, she did,” Julianna replied with a laugh. “But I suspect she only did that to rid herself of Sir Reginald’s company. I thought it was quite a marvelous idea, actually. Wish I’d thought of it myself.”
“Hmm. Perhaps there’s more to Miss Wharton than meets the eye,” Rhys replied, slowly nodding.
“I think so,” Julianna said with a nod of her own. “Mary quite likes her also.”
Rhys finished combing Violet, opened the stall door, and came out. Julianna tried to ignore how handsome he was in his groomsman’s attire. There was something about him in that casual white shirt and breeches that made her mouth go dry.
He dusted off his hands against his firm backside. “Have you come for another ride, my lady? Or are you simply here to torture me again? I won’t give up easily, you know.”
Once again, Julianna wondered what precisely they were talking about. Rhys’s words were loaded on so many levels.
