Page 87

Juliet nodded again, beginning to feel like a ragdoll of sorts. “In that order.” And how she wished it were not so, but alas!

“Good God,” Valerie said. “He’s a complete idiot.”

Despite herself, Juliet laughed, long and real, unlike the fake laughter she had been producing for four days. “Valerie.”

“Oh, come off it. You know I am being accurate here.” Valerie broke a biscuit in half with some energy. “A man does not drag himself out of his own comfortable isolation, attend a full London Season, rearrange Penhurst’s financial life, and watch his wife teach his daughter to float at a lake,”—Juliet wondered if she’d inundated Valerie with too many details of her new life when she said that part—“and then go on to say the most catastrophically stupid thing I have ever heard from a man.” She ate the biscuit. “It is absolutely idiotic.”

Juliet winced again. “And I…I truly don’t know what brought this on at all,” she said. “It is what frustrates me the most. One moment, he is opening up to me and the next, he is cold as ice. I do not think I can keep up!”

Valerie was quiet, her biscuit held in both hands. “Here is my theory,” she said, “and I want you to hear it before you decide whether you want it or not.”

“Say it.” Juliet swallowed once, fidgeting.

“From what you have just described,” Valerie said, setting the biscuit down, “that does not sound like he’s being cold. That sounds like he is frightened.” Juliet blinked. “A man who has kept everyone at a distance would no doubt get frightened when he realizes someone is becoming too close. That does not make it less awful to be on the receiving end of it.”

“No,” Juliet said, almost pouting. “It does not.”

It was not as though she did not understand what her friend was saying, but the disappointment continued to brew in her belly. It was just that she had thought Adam had gotten comfortable enough with her that he would have known to talk to her about this, at least. But instead…

“And you are allowed to be angry.” Valerie’s words interrupted her thoughts.

“I am not angry.” Juliet set her cup down. “That is the infuriating part. I am…” She trailed off, staring at nothing in particular. “He told me that he does not generally speak the way he spoke to me, that it comes more easily with me. He said that fact alarmed him.” She pressed her fingers together. “And I thought…I thought that was him opening a door.”

The reality of that door slamming in her face only made her heart ache more.

Valerie picked up her tea again. “What I think—and I could be wrong, but I do not think I am—is that he is going to find his way back. It may just take time you do not want to spend waiting.”

Juliet huffed. “I cannot simply sit in his house until he stops being afraid of me. It is not a dignified position.”

“No,” Valerie agreed. “But the alternative, leaving, is not one you’re considering.” She looked at her without pressure. “Is it?”

Juliet swallowed. “Of course not. No.” Her answer came without pause, and Valerie’s lips curved, as though she had expected that answer all along.

When she spoke, her voice was gentler as she said, “Then you’re just going to have to make sure he feels sorry for this.”

Juliet blinked as her friend’s words settled in her mind. “And if he doesn’t?” she asked, her head tilting.

“Oh, he will,” Valerie said with complete conviction, her eyes sly. That conviction was enough to settle the ragged thing inside Juliet’s chest, and she let out a breath.

“How has your week been?” Juliet said.

Valerie arched a brow at her. “You are the one with the crisis.”

“How has your week been, Val?” Juliet repeated, rolling her eyes, and Valerie chuckled.

“Oh, all right. If you must know, I have been just fine. Lord Honeysett called sometime in the week.” Valerie smoothed her skirt, suddenly becoming preoccupied with the threads of the material. “He stayed for dinner. It was objectively a very funny affair.”

Juliet’s eyes widened. “Oh? And how many times has Lord Honeysett called without you telling me about it?” she asked, her brows sitting high on her forehead.

Valerie cleared her throat. “It is nothing, really. Apparently, he and my father have some unfinished business together.”

“Oh, do they?” Now, Juliet knew she was just being unruly, but teasing Valerie really helped to calm her down.

“Oh, stop it. Go home,” Valerie said, eventually. She set her cup down. “And when you see him, do not let him pretend it did not happen. He does not deserve that much mercy.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Juliet came home to a house settled into the quiet of the three o’clock hour. She was on the first landing of the staircase when she heard Eloise’s voice coming from below, off the entrance hall, and she stopped.