Chapter Seven
Jasper had never slept so well in his life. Julia had tempted him all night long in his dreams, and the compulsion to roll over and find her in his sleep again was strong. But the flesh and blood woman was just a few halls away, and Jasper had never been content to dream when he could experience something in truth.
She was exceptional. From the boldness of her lie to the frankness of her confession. There was something remarkable about the way she embraced the present—her wholehearted pursuit of the present echoed his own beliefs. The future was not guaranteed. At any moment, a carriage could careen off the road and destroy it all. Fretting over tomorrow was wasted energy, and letting today pass by could be a grave error.
Julia Bishop deserved the love affair to end all love affairs, and Jasper DeVere was just the man to give it to her.
He was whistling when he took the stairs two at a time and practically skipped his way into the dining room. The whistle died off when he saw only Nicholas at the breakfast table. Jasper’s attention shifted between the breakfast table and the footman waiting at silent attention next to the sideboard. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to leave.
“Jasper.”
…Perhaps it was. Jasper accepted a seat at the table and nodded his thanks when a cup of coffee and a laden plate were set in front of him.
After a long moment, Nicholas asked, “Did you sleep well?”
An olive branch. “I did, thank you. Your home is very relaxing.”
Nicholas peered over the edge of The Morning Post. “You and Juniper took dinner in your rooms last night.”
Ah. Not an olive branch—an ambush. “We did. It had been a long day—and I think you mean Julia.”
The sound of Nicholas’s exhaled breath dominated the room, and robbed his expression of its sternness. “Oh, thank God. She told you.”
Jasper grinned. “How long did you think you were going to be able pull off a lie of that magnitude?”
Nick took a bite of toast, shaking his head. “The Bishop sisters are going put me into an early grave.”
“Does this mean we’re friends again?”
“We were never not friends, but—are you still pursuing Julia, now that you know she’s Julia?”
“I am.” Jasper tried to ignore the slight inherent in the question, but he couldn’t. What sort of man Nicholas must think he was; willing to throw over a beautiful, intriguing woman purely because of a circumstance of birth? An edge crept into his voice. “Will that be a problem?”
“I don’t know!” Nicholas pinched the bridge of his nose and finally, for the first time since he’d arrived, looked like Jasper’s friend and not some disapproving uncle. “This whole thing is just… I don’t know, Jas. It’s difficult for me to process.”
“What’s difficult about it?”
He pinned Jasper with a knowing scowl. “You and I have done a great deal of troublemaking together. I have detailed knowledge of your intimate exploits.”
“And…”
“And I don’t want to think about those details in relation to my relation.”
Jasper tried to put himself in Nicholas’s shoes. If Ruby suddenly took up with one of his more hedonistic friends, then he— No. His brain immediately went blank, refusing to contemplate it. “I see the problem.”
“You do?”
“I do.”
“Then you’ll give up pursuing Julia?”
“No.” That wasn’t something he could do.
“But you just—”
“I like her, Nicholas. More than I’ve ever liked anyone, and martyrdom is not in my nature, but I will be more understanding of your difficulties.”
“Oh, thank you.” Nicholas’s tone was full of sarcasm.
“Any time. We are friends, after all.” They were, and would continue to be. It was a weight off Jasper’s mind. Nicholas would continue to be surly and difficult, but their friendship would survive. Jasper hadn’t quite realized how important that was to him. “So about the eldest Bishop, what can you tell me about what she likes?”
“No. I will not help you seduce my sister-in-law.”
“It must be difficult to live such a conflicted life.”
“What can I say”—Nicholas raised his coffee cup in a toast—“I’m a complicated man.”
“You’re a wonderful one,” Amelia announced as she entered the dining room. She dropped a kiss on her husband’s cheek on the way to her chair. “Don’t get up.”
Jasper stood, taking his seat when she did. “I thought married women luxuriated through the morning, taking breakfast in bed.”
“And miss all the excitement? I’m surprised I didn’t find you two battling to the death with butter knives.”
“The morning isn’t over,” Nicholas warned.
Amelia ignored him. “Jasper, I don’t think I ever thanked you for sending us Giovani.”
“It’s entirely my pleasure. I couldn’t let a great chef go to waste, and I travel too much to make proper use of him.”
“Don’t thank him, Mia. Moments ago, he was grilling me for advice on seducing your sister.”
Amelia’s eyebrows rose at sister, and Jasper nodded confirmation that he knew. Her happy laughter spilled across the table. “Why did you ask Nicholas? What would he know about it?”
“Excuse me.” Nick discarded The Morning Post. “I know things.”
“About me, certainly. But Julia? I sincerely doubt it.”
Jasper gave Amelia his most charming smile. “Where might you stand on helping me woo your sibling?”
“That depends on your intentions, Lord Bellamy. Perhaps we should take a walk after breakfast.” Her eyes twinkled behind her teacup. “But first, I’m starving and I am woefully behind on news. While I eat breakfast, tell me—how is your sister?”
Devastated, no doubt. Angry. Terrified. Mostly angry.
Amelia saved him from having to answer by continuing to chatter. “I usually catch up on her exploits through the society papers, but Nicholas and I decided to make it a news-free holiday. No papers, no interruptions.”
“I was attempting to get up to speed on the country’s goings on, but then my wife insulted my prowess.” Nicholas tapped the closed paper while he arched an eyebrow at Amelia. She brandished her fork at him in a mock threat after she emptied it of eggs.
They didn’t know.
Jasper should tell them now about his grandfather, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Eventually it would be inescapable, but for right now he could pretend like everything was exactly as it had been. He could imagine the old duke was still sitting at his own breakfast table in London, perusing a copy of The Post and teasing Jasper’s grandmother, much like Nick and Mia were doing right now.
“I apologize for nothing,” Amelia was saying. “Hiding behind the paper when there is perfectly decent company to converse with is rude.”
Jasper added a bit of fuel to the fire. “Weren’t you always complaining about your father doing that?”
“Now, wait one second—”
“Maybe I’ll invite your sister out for a visit,” Amelia said. “I’d love for us all to be together again.”
Damn. “I’m not certain that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Ruby is lovely, truly, but she turns into an entirely different person when she thinks I might be pursuing an attachment. She can be quite cold, and I wouldn’t want Julia subjected to that.”
“Oh. Well that’s unfortunate.” Amelia frowned. “I wouldn’t want that, either.”
Somewhere in England, Lady Ruby DeVere’s eyes were narrowing as she sensed her brother perverting the truth. Ruby would be cold, but it wouldn’t have a thing to do with Julia.
Julia made it downstairs just as breakfast was finishing. She’d thought she and Jasper might spend the day together, but apparently that was a foolish expectation. He and Amelia disappeared almost immediately after with their heads bent together, whispering furiously. They didn’t cast so much as a backward glance at Julia and Nicholas.
“It looks as though we’ve been abandoned,” Nick said, stating the obvious.
“What do you think they’re up to?”
“Betraying the laws of nature and good sense.”
Julia peered at him. “I do believe marriage is making you less agreeable than usual.”
His eyebrows raised as he set down his paper. “Marriage suits me very well.”
“Then why are you such a crank?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Nick leaned back, arms crossed over his chest. “Perhaps it’s a side effect of being disappointed in my closest friend.”
“Jasper hasn’t done anything untoward.”
“I wasn’t talking about Jasper.”
“I—” For once, Julia didn’t have a clever quip. “You don’t mean that. About our friendship.”
“Don’t I? Jasper and I are close, but I’ve known you almost my whole life. You were there for every triumph. Every disappointment.”
“Most of them over Amelia.”
“Yes, most of them were. You were the only person I could be completely honest with for years. What did you think that made you?”
A fool. They’d been close, certainly, but she’d always thought…well, she was the sister of the woman he was in love with. A captive audience. She didn’t exactly make or receive social calls, so she was infinitely available whenever he needed to cross the field between their houses and unburden himself. It cast a different light on their relationship to know that was how he thought of her.
“How have I disappointed you?” she asked quietly.
Nick sighed. “You’re an extraordinary person, Julia. Anyone would be lucky to know you. I’m disappointed you thought Juniper Fairchild was necessary.”
“You know why I feel that way.”
“I do, and that’s why I went along with it. But just because people have been cruel in the past—”
She choked out a wry laugh. “The past?”
“And will undoubtedly be cruel in the future, it doesn’t make them right. It doesn’t make Julia Bishop someone who should ever be ashamed of who she is.”
A sniffle snuck past as Julia wiped the corner of her eye. “If you keep making speeches like that, you’ll be a member of Parliament in no time.”
Nicholas laughed. “I have to make it through becoming a barrister first. Your sister isn’t helping.”
“Amelia loves the idea of you becoming a barrister.”
“The idea of it, perhaps. She also loves traveling the continent. And having me home every night. And every morning. And occasionally in the afternoons.”
Julia held up hand. “That’s quite enough. I don’t need to hear any of that.”
“And I don’t need to see Jasper DeVere strolling bare-chested through my foyer, but here we both are.”
She cringed. “I see your point.”
“Do you?”
“You would prefer it if I were more discreet in my adventures with Jasper.”
“I would prefer you didn’t have adventures with Jasper at all,” Nicholas grumbled.
“But?” It definitely sounded like there was a “but”.
“But since I know that’s extremely unlikely, I’ll settle for plausible deniability when your father comes to tear my head from my shoulders.”
“Papa wouldn’t hurt you. He likes you.”
“Not that much. He lives for you and Amelia.”
It was true—their father spoiled them horribly. He’d purchased this estate and a house in London for Amelia and Nicholas as a wedding present. He’d always moved heaven and earth to give Julia anything she wanted. Almost anything. There were some things even a devoted father and a great deal of money couldn’t buy.
“Fair enough,” Julia agreed. “I will do my best to keep you clear of my father’s wrath.”
“Thank you.”
Julia grinned. “What are closest friends for?”
“A question I ask myself constantly.”
After breakfast, Nicholas left to finish up some paperwork and Julia found herself completely alone. Even Nora was scarcer than usual. The next time she caught sight of anyone was at the midday meal. Jasper walked into the dining room with a cat-in-the-cream smile, as if he hadn’t spent the entire day colluding with her sister.
“You look very pleased with yourself,” she accused as he sat down across from her.
“I am very pleased with myself. You’re going to be pleased with me, too.”
“Am I?”
“Very.” He winked at Amelia, who was sitting next to him and doing a terrible job of pretending not to be listening.
“Why is that?”
“Just wait and see.” Jasper turned away and struck up a conversation about continental politics with Nick.
Julia didn’t give a fig which prince of where had done what. She wanted to know what Jasper and Amelia had been up to. For the rest of the meal, every time Julia looked in Jasper’s direction, he smiled like he had some great secret—because he did. She didn’t, and she hated it. To add insult to injury, whenever she brought it up, Amelia and Jasper pretended as if she hadn’t spoken at all. Nicholas just shrugged.
“I despise you both,” Julia announced when the plates were cleared away. “Now do I get to know?”
“Very soon,” Jasper told her.
“You’re impossible!” she cried.
He just laughed and held out his hand. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
“You are going to ring for a bonnet and a cloak, since it’s a bit chilly today.”
“It is not.”
“It will be later this evening.”
“Is this surprise is going to take that long?”
He kept silent.
“You’re still not going to tell me?”
He led her down the halls, toward the foyer. “Your patience will be rewarded shortly.”
What patience? “I don’t believe you.”
He just smiled. They stayed that way, standing in the middle of the foyer, him grinning and her glaring, during the entire wait for Nora. Of course, the maid wasn’t about to let her disappear for hours on end without a fight. Before any of Julia’s items were handed over, Nora insisted on strong-arming her into the parlor for a private discussion.
“You cannot go,” the maid insisted.
“I can, and I will.” The merits of Jasper’s mystery adventure raised significantly in the face of Nora’s disapproval.
“You’ll miss the four o’clock schedule.”
“Forget the bloody schedule.”
“Lady Julia,” Nora warned.
A normal day—that’s all she was asking. One day where she didn’t have to think about the various ways her body could disappoint her, but that wasn’t Julia’s life no matter how many Jaspers showed up to flirt with her. “What can we do?”
“You can stay here.”
Julia scowled at Nora. “What else can we do?”
The maid stared at her for a long moment. With a sigh, she admitted, “We can do it now. That should hold you over until eight, but you must be back by then.”
“Then let’s get to it.” Eight o’clock was ages away. She could have the whole afternoon and most of the evening with Jasper. When the schedule was appeased and Julia was properly bonneted with her cloak draped around her shoulders, she dispatched Nora and returned to Jasper and the foyer.
“Now what?” she asked.
“Now we walk twelve steps.”
“Your big surprise is the driveway?” Julia was not impressed.
He gave her a sideways look, full of mischief. “My surprise is the high-perch phaeton in the driveway.”
Something about the way he said it made her skin start to tingle, but she wasn’t ready to give in yet. “You mean my high-perch phaeton. The one I brought with me.”
“The very same.”
Sure enough, Julia’s carriage was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, with her matched bays in the traces. “I take it we’re going somewhere?”
“We are.”
She let the last of her frustration go when Jasper handed her up into the driver’s seat. It was difficult to stay cross with a man who had the sense to know no one else drove her phaeton. His hand brushed against her thigh with promise as he handed her the reins, and his excitement for the adventure started to transfer to her. Just because it wasn’t her plan didn’t mean it couldn’t be fun. “Do I get any directions at all, or should I just strike out into the wilderness?”
He came around and vaulted into the seat beside her. “South, if it pleases you.”
“If it doesn’t?”
“I think it will.”
There was that tingle again. Julia clicked to her horses, and they were off with a bouncing lurch of springs. The gravel of the drive crunched beneath the phaeton’s wheels. Jasper leaned back against the upholstery and stretched his arm out behind her. She leaned into it, the closeness of him shifting her the last of the way toward accepting his mystery outing.
When they reached the road, Jasper gave her directions one turn at a time. Before long the breeze and the sunshine drained all concern from her about where they might be going. When he suggested she turn left at the fork heading into town, it came back in the form a dull ache in her stomach. “We’re going to the fair.”
“We are.” There was that pleased look again. “Amelia mentioned they were having one, and I thought it might be nice to stroll around and make everyone wildly jealous.”
“Amelia told you to take me to a fair?”
“She mentioned it in passing, but what could be better?” His smile was boyish in its utter delight. “I’ve never walked with a pretty girl at a fair. It seems a grave oversight, and I can think of no one better to correct it with.”
The small relief Julia felt that her sister wasn’t sabotaging her disappeared in the face of reality. “I’m not certain this is a good idea.”
“Why not?”
What he described sounded lovely. Unfortunately, that wasn’t how it would turn out. No one would be jealous watching Julia walk with her awkward gait. If she were lucky, they would only whisper and stare. If she weren’t… “Isn’t a small-town fair a little rustic for your tastes?”
“Nonsense. I enjoy mingling with the common man every now and then.”
That made one of them. Still, he looked so pleased with himself. Julia didn’t have the heart to ruin it. Perhaps a miracle would occur and no one would notice her at all. Maybe Jasper’s presence would intimidate them too much for them to cause a scene. He did cut a very regal figure, even in the clothes he’d borrowed from Nicholas.
“Well, then.” She pasted an exceedingly wide smile onto her face. “Let’s mingle.”
The village green was alive with activity. Temporary shops were set up in stalls arranged in haphazard order. There were food vendors, trinket sellers, men who proclaimed their products could work miracles, and even a pair of competing Punch and Judy puppet shows. The livestock brought for trade were penned at one end, away from the games, and there was a large space in the center where men were challenging one other to various feats of athleticism.
Jasper threaded her fingers through his as they walked, and for a moment she thought everything might turn out all right. Then, about ten steps into the crowd, the first person stopped to stare at her. Five more, and two women leaned together whispering.
Jasper didn’t appear to notice, making running commentary about the more aggressive hawkers and pointing out stalls that caught his attention. “Do you want a meat pie?”
“We just ate.” A man pulled his child back as she passed and Julia cringed.
“Refreshment, then?”
“No, thank you.”
“I’ve got it,” he announced. “I’ll win you a prize.”
She smiled in spite of the other fairgoers. She squeezed his hand—the one that had never once tried to pull away from hers. “You really don’t need to.”
“I think I do. It’s a requirement, when one goes walking at a fair with a beautiful woman, to exhibit proper displays of masculine aptitude.”
“I think you’re plenty apt, but I’ve heard those ring games are a cheat.”
Jasper would not be deterred. Within moments, he was lobbing away at a trio of wooden targets. Julia cheered when he got the first target, losing herself in his determination. He was actually quite talented, and it wasn’t long until he was bowing and presenting her with a folded paper flower. “Your prize, madam.”
They moved to the next booth and Julia added an orange to their winnings when she correctly picked the fastest kitten in a race. People pointed and whispered when she walked away, but she kept her eyes firmly on Jasper’s handsome profile. He’d braved the water for her and she would brave this for him. It was enjoyable, when she managed to block out everyone else. She managed it completely after Jasper towed her to the puppet show. He heckled the puppeteer until the man jumped up red faced and furious to tell him off, and Julia could hardly breathe from laughing when they were made to leave.
“Lord Bellamy, I’m beginning to think you spend more time at fairs than you let on.”
“Nonsense. I am merely inspired to great heights by my lovely company.”
The blush rose in her cheeks, but for once she didn’t mind…until she noticed they were heading past a booth lauding its vast daguerreotype collection of freak show figures. The crowd was packed five deep with people waiting to step inside and ogle the unusual. It never stops. No one in that group was paying any attention to her, but the excitement of the day and the strain of so much attention caught up with her all at once. “I don’t see how this day can get any better. Why don’t we go back?”
“Already? I worked up quite a thirst enraging that puppeteer.”
“Let’s get a bottle of something and take it back to the phaeton, then. We could go for a drive.” Evening was coming on, and getting lost on a quiet country lane with Jasper would be the perfect ending to the day.
They walked back in the direction of the vendors hawking food. Jasper looked down at her and she smiled, but out of the corner of her eye she saw a child pointing. He saw it, too. Looking around, his frown turned into a scowl as he finally noticed how many people were paying undue attention to them.
His hand tightened on hers. “Of course. I don’t need anything else. Let’s go to the carriage.”
Julia kept her chin high on the way back, even when the last couple they passed didn’t bother keeping their voices lowered.
When they were ensconced back in the phaeton, she took the reins and let the road erase everything except her and Jasper. People were cruel and horrible, and they didn’t deserve a moment of her distress. They weren’t worth a bit of her time or happiness. The carriage flew down the country lanes, wind whipping her hair until she’d lost her bonnet and the pins. As the miles dissolved beneath them, she looked over to see Jasper’s knuckles white on the wood of the phaeton.
Julia pulled off beside a bubbling creek and took a deep breath. She leaned back against the soft leather of the seat and watched the setting sun. The air was cool around them, breeze whispering through the leaves above them. When she looked back at him, Jasper was staring at her.
“I enjoy fresh air.” Julia could feel herself blushing.
“I can tell.” There was a huskiness to his voice that set her senses alight. “I’m sorry about today. I didn’t realize it would be like that.”
She smiled. “I had a nice time, actually. It was much more pleasant than I thought it would be.”
“I’m glad, but I should have realized it might not be pleasant at all. I ruined the afternoon on the lake yesterday, too. It seems I can’t do anything right around you.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. I’m just sorry I made you do it. I didn’t realize—”
“That I would lie about being an expert rower?” His tone was wry.
“Why did you? If you’d told me you were afraid, I wouldn’t have asked you to go.”
“Why didn’t you tell me why you didn’t want to go to the fair?”
Touché. Julia looked out at the water glinting in the setting sun as it raced over the rocks.
He leaned back and plucked a leaf from a branch drooping near the edge of the carriage. “You make me wish things were different. That I was different. I wanted to be the sort of man who could have a romantic afternoon on the lake with you.”
The same reason she’d let him take her to the fair. “The lake was romantic.”
Jasper squinted at her. “It was a comedy of errors.”
“Maybe a little,” she admitted. “Why have you never learned to swim?”
“I’ll tell you, but not today.”
“Why not?”
“It’s not a happy answer, and, if you’ll let me, I still plan to salvage this excursion.”
Julia looked around. They were in the middle of nowhere. “Are we going somewhere else?”
Jasper’s lips curved up in the sensual, crooked way that set her pulse to racing. “Not that I know of.”
“Do you…are you…”
His raised eyebrow teased her. “Am I what?”
“You’re going to kiss me,” Julia blurted.
He lifted her hand, pressing his lips to each knuckle in turn. “Am I? I thought I’d kissed you already.”
It almost made her forget what she’d been trying to ask—almost. “You know what I mean. Not on my hands, or my cheek.”
He tipped her chin up with his fingers, and then she really did forget everything she’d been trying to say.