CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Julia was only expecting Charles to be gone for a moment, as he dispatched whatever interloper was at the door. When a few minutes passed without a sign of him, she quietly excused herself from the table and went to see where he had gone. She would never have been able to do such a thing if she were the official hostess of the luncheon, but since their engagement was still a secret, nobody expected her to entertain the guests.
Charles was not in the hallway. Perplexed, she was about to try the door to the library, when she heard a gale of laughter emanating from the drawing room. She followed it, and was horrified to find Charles laughing in the face of the one man she had hoped never to see again: Edmund.
The laughter was coming from Charles. To a stranger's eyes, Edmund was unaffected by it, but Julia saw the subtle tugging at the corner of his right eye which showed his anger.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed, carefully closing the door behind her so that no one would be able to overhear.
"My dearest little sister," said Edmund, with a wolf's smile. "How nice of you to join us. I was just filling in his lordship on all the lovely little details of your childhood in Seven Dials. Not to mention your connection with my own little establishment, Mallory's gaming hell. And then, of course, there was the matter of your father... But we had not yet come onto that." He turned to Charles, making a show of deference. "Perhaps, my lord, you will not find it all so laughable when you hear –"
"That Julia's father was the old Duke of Westbourne," Charles finished for him. He laughed again. "Did you really think these things would intimidate me? Why, I am not even surprised. Julia has been completely honest with me."
Julia flinched. She would never forgive herself for not being honest with Charles from the first – but how could she have known how generous and openhearted he would be?
Edmund was incredulous. "You mean that you intend to expose your innocent daughter to a woman of such low birth?"
Charles went to stand at Julia's side. He took her hand and placed it firmly under his arm. "Julia's birth is of no concern to me. I do not believe that birth denotes character. On the contrary, Julia's character is the finest I have ever encountered. Lady Annabelle has benefitted enormously under her care. I must warn you, sir, that I will not tolerate any more ill being spoken of her."
Edmund raised an eyebrow, finally understanding. Julia wished she could wrench her hand from Charles's arm and run away. She knew her brother better than anyone else. Just as an old sailor could sense the approach of a violent storm, she sensed Edmund's ability to cause trouble.
"It seems I'm behind the times," said Edmund. "I came here to give you unpleasant news about the character of your governess. Now I find that I have, instead, insulted your lover."
"Julia is my betrothed," said Charles sternly. "We will be married before the month is out. There is nothing that you can do or say to dissuade me."
"Is that so?" Edmund took a seat on the sofa, kicking his legs out comfortably. Julia's skin crawled at the thought of his dirty clothes on the beautiful upholstery. Edmund had never cared much for his personal hygiene; only Julia's care had prevented him from sliding into depravity. "Then you will not mind hearing me say this: I do not give you my permission to marry my sister. In fact, I absolutely refuse."
"That is of no consequence at all," said Charles. "Julia is more than of age and does not need a guardian's permission to marry."
"In order to prevent what I see is a grave mistake for both of you," Edmund continued, raising his voice to continue speaking as though Charles had said nothing at all, "I will see to it that the announcement of your marriage is swiftly followed by a story in all of the papers which gives Julia's history in great detail. I will leave nothing out." He took a deep breath. "You may care for my sister, my lord. You may even think that you love her. But nothing compares to my love for her. I will have her back with me. If you do not return her, I will make sure that your marriage brings you absolute disgrace. You know as well as I do that society accepts only those with spotless backgrounds. Julia, I am afraid, is irrevocably stained."
"Are you threatening me? No matter; I am not afraid of you."
"But are you afraid for your daughter?" Edmund stroked a finger lazily up and down the scar on his face. "What will become of poor little Lady Annabelle when her father is outcast from society? Who will befriend her? Who will marry her, when the time comes? What will she do?"
"That's quite enough," snapped Charles. "Mr Mallory, I cannot say it has been a pleasure meeting you. The time is now come for you to leave. Larkin? Larkin! Show Mr Mallory out."
"Wait!" cried Julia. She knew that Charles's desire to protect her had led him to dismiss Edmund's threats more quickly than he ought. She drew him aside. "Charles, you do not know Edmund like I do. He is absolutely serious. He will not hesitate to ruin me."
"And what if you are ruined?" asked Charles. "I will always stand by you, my love. You have nothing to fear."
"I do not fear for myself, but for Annabelle," said Julia. "You do not know what it is to grow up as an outcast from society. To be a woman alone in this world, unwanted by anyone, with no prospect of marriage. It is an awful thing. I would never forgive myself if Annabelle suffered that fate because of me."
"You are worrying needlessly."
But Julia knew that she was not. By marrying across a class barrier, they were already pushing at the boundaries of what society would accept. The addition of Julia's troubled past would push them over that fragile line. Charles was blinded by his love for her, but in time, he would see that their marriage represented an unconscionable danger to Annabelle's future.
Julia could hardly believe what she was about to do. She felt as though she were going mad. Half of her wanted to burst into tears, to bury her face in Charles's strong shoulder and never leave him.
The other half was firmly resolved. She loved Annabelle. She would never allow any harm to come to her.
"It's alright, Edmund," she said, her skin crawling to hear her own voice speak so kindly. "I'll go with you. I'm sorry that I abandoned you. I will not do it again."
"Julia, what are you doing?" demanded Charles, seizing her by the shoulders. "Have you lost your wits? You cannot seriously mean to go anywhere with this man! I will have the footmen throw him out and you need never think of him again."
Julia knew that his words were not true. She understood now that the true shadow which had been cast over her life was not her illegitimacy, but Edmund. She was his dearest possession – and the things that he did to men who stole from him did not bear thinking about.
"Charles, dearest Charles, please understand. I am doing this for Annabelle." She was amazed that she was able to speak without bursting into tears. Her heart felt as though it were breaking in two. "I will always love you. We shared a beautiful dream. But a dream is all it was."
Edmund held out his hand towards her, but she refused to take it.
"Don't bother packing your things, sweet sister," he said. "I will send Mr Silver to collect them for you in the morning. Come along now. Let me take you home."
"Julia, no!" cried Charles. "I refuse to allow this. Mr Mallory, I challenge you –"
"Don't you dare!" Julia snapped. "Don't you dare challenge him to a duel and risk leaving Annabelle fatherless. I have made my decision, Charles. There is no helping it. I can only hope that you come to understand one day why I have done this."
She walked out of Harding Hall with her head held high. Nothing under the sun would ever compel her to let Edmund see her tears fall.