“I hear Lord Weston is down by the river again.” Catherine poked Julia’s side, forcing her to open her eyes.

Julia scowled and rolled onto her side, facing the back of the chaise. “Why should I care?”

“I thought you wanted to protect the otters.”

Julia sighed. “He will never listen to me. Why should he? He does not care about what I think. He only cares for himself.” The words sounded petulant. And they were. So much of her had hoped he was different, that he was not who she had assumed him to be. What a silly fool she was.

The rumors were true. They were all wildly, uncomfortably true. Not only was he arrogant and rude but he was bedding young women and leaving them pregnant. She huffed out a breath. To think she had been thinking differently of him. But he said it himself. It was all his fault. She supposed some might think him honorable for looking after the woman—the poor girl clearly did—but she could not.

Catherine flopped down onto the chaise and lifted Julia’s feet so that they rested on her lap. “I am not sure what has happened between you two since the, um, nothing that I saw, but you cannot let it defeat you. The Julia I know would not be intimidated by a man, even if he is a duke.”

“Is that Lord Weston you’re talking about?” Emma asked as she entered the parlor. “Flora said he was at the river with his friend.”

“Julia has decided she is going to do nothing and let the otters suffer,” Catherine told Emma.

Julia rolled again, coming onto her back and staring up at the ceiling. “What can I even do? What can one woman do against such arrogance? He has lived his whole life without consequence.”

“I thought you rather liked him,” Emma said, coming to kneel beside the chaise. “I thought he rather liked you too. If he’s falling for you, perhaps he will listen.”

Snorting, Julia sat up and removed her legs from her sister’s lap. “He does not like me. He was simply toying with me.”

“Do I need to kick him in the nether regions?” Catherine asked.

Emma laughed and Julia shook her head. “No, but you might give me a slap for being so silly. I was guilty of thinking he was a better man and that I could persuade him to change his plans.”

“I think I will save my slaps for someone who deserves them.”

“Who are you planning to slap?” Her sisters jumped up when Amelia entered the room.

“No one at the moment. Oh, you’re all wet.”

Amelia removed her bonnet and shook the drops from it. “It has been raining on and off all morning. Who were you thinking of slapping?”

“Lord Weston. He is responsible for this.” She motioned to Julia who had remained on the chaise, slumped back, and was now staring at the ceiling again.

“Goodness, whatever has he done?” asked Amelia.

“He has been an arrogant, irritating, horrible man,” spat Julia. “And he is going to kill the otters.”

“The otters...of course.” Amelia sat next to Julia and took her hand. “Perhaps we can go and talk to him?”

Julia tore her hands from her sister’s grip. “That sort of man does not listen to mere words. There is no persuading him.”

Amelia frowned. “Do you not think you are being a little...”

“Dramatic?” Catherine put in.

“Silly?” suggested Emma.

“A lovesick fool?” Catherine giggled and Julia shot her a look.

“I was going to say defeatist. But dramatic works too.” Amelia took Julia’s hand more forcefully this time and she had no choice but to listen to her sister. “You have never been one to give up. What happened when Mama said you could not have a garden of your own?”

“I pestered the gardener,” Julia mumbled.

“What about when everyone said that baby bird could not be rescued?” Amelia continued. “What did you do?”

“Rescued it.”

“Do not forget the many, many times you were told no one would ever be interested in your research and yet you have been published at least half a dozen times now,” Emma reminded her.

Julia straightened her shoulders and sat up properly. She glanced from sister to sister. They were right. She had not let herself be defeated before and she would not let this man be the one to do it. It did not matter how handsome he was or how she missed his teasing words or how the idea that he was not all she had hoped made her heart ache...

No, she would not be defeated.

“He is down by the river according to Flora,” Julia told Amelia. “Will you come with me?”

Amelia nodded. “Of course. We all will. Somehow, we shall persuade him the otters must be saved.”

Julia set a brisk pace, her sisters following along behind her. She was still not sure what she would do, but she could not hide away and nurse a broken heart. No, not a broken heart. A little bent perhaps but not broken. After all, she would have had to have loved him for it to be broken and she certainly did not.

Not at all.

The rain returned, dripping through the tree canopy and tugging her curls down around her face. The ground squelched underfoot having likely absorbed plenty of water the previous day.

“My boots are filthy,” Catherine complained.

Voices echoed through the woods and her heart beat harder. Palms clammy, she motioned to her sisters that he was nearby and pressed a finger to her lips. She spotted Guy first. His friend was just behind him and Roo was running around their legs in loops, back and forth, back and forth, mud hanging from his golden coat.

Guy spotted her before she could get near enough to be on the attack. She had wanted to surprise him, send him off guard. He grinned. “Julia.”

Her sisters remained back, allowing her to take the lead.

“Lord Weston,” she said, chin lifted.

A dark brow rose at her cold tone.

Julia rushed forward, ready to do battle.

Guy held up a palm. “Julia, be—”

Something snatched her leg, bringing her to a sudden stop. Arms flailing, by some miracle she remained standing. A look down told her the muddy ground had a firm grip on one boot. She huffed out a breath and scowled at Guy’s amused expression.

“I did try to warn you.”

“Oh, yes, I am sure you did.” She gave her leg a tug. “A man like yourself would never find amusement in such matters and just let them happen.”

With a grunt of effort, she ripped her leg up only to lose her boot. The sudden loss of the weight caused her to sway forward. Julia fought to keep herself upright, balancing on one leg but it was impossible. Her bare foot slammed down into the mud.

“Just wonderful.” She let her shoulders drop in defeat. Mud seeped between her toes and sucked her foot deeper. She was willing to bet if she tried to move her other foot now, it would remain stuck.

“Oh, Julia,” Amelia said. “Do not move, you will get sucked deeper.”

“What else am I meant to do?”

Guy nodded. “She’s right. Keep still. I will get you out.”

Julia thrust a finger at him. “You will not lay a hand on me. My sisters will help.”

“We will?” said Catherine.

Julia heard her sister’s barely concealed snigger. This was perfect, just perfect. Now not only could she not confront him properly and persuade him once and for all this mill could not be built but she looked an utter fool.

“Let me help you.” Guy leaned forward and offered a hand.

Julia folded her arms. “Certainly not. I would rather stay here forever than accept the help of a scheming, lying, arrogant man like you.”

“That can be arranged.”

“Beast.”

“Are you holding me responsible for this mud puddle? Is this why I am receiving a torrent of abuse?”

“Is it abuse, if it is truthful?”

He folded his arms across his chest. “I won’t deny the arrogance, but when have I schemed and lied?”

She stared up at him. The loss of a good few inches from being stuck in the mud made him tower even higher above her. Still, she would not let him cow her. If he wanted her to utter the truth in front of his friend and her sisters, she saw no reason to remain quiet.

“You have schemed against me to ensure I did not get in the way of your plans. You…you tried to seduce me in the hopes I would back down. But let me assure you, Lord Weston, I will not.”

His lips curved and heat burst through her. How could he find all this so amusing? The horrible, horrible man.

“I never expected you to, Julia. But I do believe you seduced me as much as I seduced you.”

“S-seduced you?” she spluttered. “I never—”

“All those fiery looks and heated exchanges. I must confess I have a weakness for such things.”

“Yes, well, I know all about your weaknesses.”

“What weaknesses would those be?”

She glanced around them at the onlooking crowd. Fine, if he continued to deny it, she would have to tell everyone. He left her with no choice.

“I know about the woman. I’m sure there are many others. No doubt you hoped to take advantage of me the same way.”

“The woman?” His brow creased.

“Oh, but of course, there are so many. No wonder you have forgotten.”

“Julia—”

“I did intend to talk to you yesterday. I lied about needing to leave.” She laughed. “Can you believe I thought at that point you might listen to reason? That you might actually…care for me enough to change your mind about the mill?”

Guy opened his mouth then shut it.

“I saw her, you know. The woman who was round with your child. I heard everything you said.”

“Ah.”

“Yes, ah. I know it all.”

“Julia—”

“Do not even try to deny it. I should have known when we first heard the rumors that there was no chance you could be a better man. Gambling, debts, bedding young and vulnerable women. I was a fool to think any different.”

He held up a palm. “May I?”

“What? Defend yourself? Go ahead, though I do not see how your actions can be defended.”

“I am no saint. Or at least I was not in my younger years. I gambled to be certain, but I never accrued any debt. I have been with women too, but never left them vulnerable, and I certainly would never take advantage of a woman.”

“But—”

“Think back to the other day in the garden. I could have taken advantage then. You know I could have, Julia, but I did not. I would not.”

“The woman…”

He pushed a hand through his hair. “Was taken advantage of by my brother.” He shook his head. “The debts are his too. He is a terrible card player. I intended to start up the mill as a way of financing our move here to keep him away from bad influences and temptations, not to mention to take care of that poor woman. It was my fault, you see, for not teaching my brother better.”

Julia blinked several times. Her foot had grown numb in the mud but the rest of her had followed suit. She tried to process the words and come up with a response but there was none.

“So, Lord Weston, you’re not a bad man at all,” Catherine said almost gleefully. “I just knew it.”

“I am guilty of one thing,” he said.

“And what’s that?” called Emma.

“Being arrogant. And toying with your sister.”

Julia dropped her gaze to the ground. So, he had been playing with her after all. It was perhaps not as bad as being debt-ridden and getting poor girls in the family way but it struck her hard in the chest, regardless.

He bent down and began unbuckling his boots. She frowned and watched as he slipped off his boots and came to stand in front of her, one foot after the other sinking in the mud. Guy pushed her glasses up her nose and took one of her hands. Still in shock, Julia let him.

“Whatever are you—”

“I should have told you sooner that I had no intention of continuing with the mill.”

She gaped at him. “You did not? You do not?”

“The truth is, I had an idea a while ago but I wanted to make sure that I was correct about you. About us.”

“Correct?”

“Yes. You see I have a project in mind that could be quite profitable for many of us, including Morgan here. It will also bring a fair amount of work to the village. But I needed your expertise.”

“Expertise,” she echoed.

“I was just talking it over with Morgan and making sure that I was right about it all. In fact, we were coming over to your house so that I could speak with your mother.”

“Mother?”

He chuckled. “I want to grow hops, Julia. For beer. And I want you to help me. I’d like to cultivate some that are notoriously hard to grow and I think between us we could create the best beer in England.”

“Beer?”

“Oh, just kiss her,” Catherine bellowed. “Then maybe she will get the idea.”

Behind Guy, Morgan laughed. Guy smiled and put a hand to her cheek. “I want to enter into a partnership with you, Julia. But not just so that we can grow crops.”

“Um.” She considered his eyes and saw the sincerity there. Her body grew warm and her heart tripped several times. She could hardly believe it. He was not a womanizing, gambling, lying beast of a man. He was, in fact, simply a good man trying to look after his wayward brother.

And he wanted to enter into a partnership with her.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he murmured, drawing her close. “Everyone will see it and it will certainly not be ‘nothing.’”

Julia nodded.

A round of applause broke out and Catherine exclaimed, “Finally” when he pressed his lips to hers. When he pulled back, Julia could not help but catch his infectious grin.

“Do you mean it? There will be no mill? The otters will be safe?”

“Bloody otters. Will they always take first place to me?” he teased.

“That depends, I suppose.”

“On?”

“On what sort of partnership you are offering.”

He drew her head forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “The best kind of partnership. Just like otters.”

“For life?”

He nodded. “For life.” Guy glanced around at their audience. “Now will someone get us out of this bloody mud?”