That Perfect Someone (27 page)

Chapter Forty-five

S
HE WAS MARRIED, TO
him
. Julia was so close to tears she didn’t dare say anything yet, didn’t dare even glance at the angry man sitting across from her in the coach on the way back to London.

She was still so embarrassed she didn’t think it would ever go away. She’d had to stand there with a blanket wrapped around her for her wedding. They wouldn’t even give her an opportunity to dress first. The pastor had immediately begun the ceremony. She’d had to be nudged for her replies, she’d been in such a mortified daze, and nudged again for her signatures. Three times she’d had to authorize that travesty with a pen, for the parish ledger that the witnesses had also signed, for the document Milton wanted for himself, and for the document that was handed to her, her proof that she was married, as if she needed proof after that.

When that door had closed behind all those witnesses, and Milton’s laughter could be heard on the other side of it, Richard had looked as if he wanted to kill something, really kill something.

She was still too shocked over what had just happened to feel angry, but she did realize they’d made that much too easy for the earl. She tried not to sound accusatory, but she had to ask Richard, “Did you consider this possibility when you decided on our demonstration?”

“Hell no, I didn’t. And now isn’t a good time to talk to me, Jewels. Go pack, we’re leaving.”

He’d said no more. She didn’t argue because she wanted to leave Willow Woods as much as he did.

Leaving at night didn’t make for a fast exit though. Most of the servants had retired so they had to be awakened to help with the baggage and to bring the two coaches around. But they wouldn’t be racing down too many dark roads. She was sure Richard would find them an inn where they could spend the night once they were far enough away from Willow Woods. But he didn’t. He stopped only long enough to gather Ohr and a few of the guards, who could spell the drivers of the two vehicles because he intended to reach London before nightfall the next day.

Julia slept the rest of the night, despite the emotional turmoil that had begun to get worse. She was simply too tired not to nod off, even while sitting up. At one point Richard leaned over to push her down on the seat she had to herself so she could be more comfortable. She barely noticed, going right back to sleep.

She finally woke at midday, feeling rested, yet not a bit more prepared to deal with having a husband who was furious that he
was
a husband.

Richard still said nothing as she sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. He just handed her a basket of food they must have stopped for. It didn’t look as if he’d had any of it himself. It didn’t look as if he’d slept, either.

He was staring broodingly out the window. Every so often a muscle ticked in his jaw. His hair was loose and had been since she’d pulled it free of its queue last night in bed. But he was wearing a jacket and a loose cravat. Such an odd contrast that long hair made with his finely tailored clothes. He was half aristocrat, half daring adventurer, but still so handsome, even though he was putting up this cold, angry wall between himself and the world. It made her wonder what he’d really been doing all these years. What had made him so unconventional? He’d given her silly, teasing answers that she couldn’t possibly believe when she’d asked before. But now that the knot was tied, as it were, she had a right to know the truth.

“You
are
a pirate, aren’t you?”

She regretted the question the moment after she blurted it out. This was no time to discuss his past when they hadn’t even discussed what they were going to do about their future. And it didn’t yet look as if he’d calmed down at all.

He didn’t look at her, but he said, “No—not anymore.”

She hadn’t expected to hear him confirm it. “You used to be?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you try to convince me of it?”

“When you found it so hilarious that I could have lived such a life?”

“But a pirate, Richard?” Then she said in her defense, “I didn’t find it ludicrous that you could
be
a pirate, I simply didn’t believe that pirates still exist. You do know what century this is?”

He glanced at her. A half smile formed on his lips. Had she just cracked that wall of anger?

“I have a feeling you’re thinking of bloodthirsty cutthroats. “You’re right, they lived in another age. Let me tell you about my captain, Nathan Brooks. He’s Gabby’s father and a kind, good-hearted man—who used to be a pirate.”

She was soon fascinated, listening to him, and watching the way his eyes lit up when he spoke of his adventures aboard
The Crusty Jewel
. He told her how he’d met Ohr, and then Nathan and the rest of his crew, how they were like family to him now. Yes, they had loosely called themselves pirates, but they were treasure hunters, too.

“That was always Nathan’s real passion and what we spent at least half our time doing, hunting down old pirate treasure. And that’s actually all we do these days. After Nathan spent some time as a hostage himself, he washed his hands of anything to do with pirating. It was an easy decision for him to make, though, with Gabby marrying into the Skylark shipping family, who quite frown on that sort of thing.”

“So you really like the Caribbean?”

“Like it? I love it—but not everyone does. It’s beautiful, but there isn’t a single thing about it that’s similar to England. It’s a completely different way of life from what you know, harsh at times, the heat extreme. The English who go there soon wilt and return home.”

“You didn’t.”

“I was forced to adapt because I didn’t have a home to return to.”

He turned back toward the window, the wall firmly back in place now that he was reminded of why he hadn’t had a home to go back to. She looked down at her lap, sadness overwhelming her. The ring on her finger caught her eye, her wedding ring. Milton must have quickly bought it off one of the servants to present it at the wedding. It didn’t fit and was as ugly as her marriage ceremony had been.

A tightness formed painfully in her chest. She wished she hadn’t learned these things about Richard’s life away from England. A part of her, an emotional part,
liked
that she was married to him. She was afraid that she’d grown too attached to him over the last month and now she’d fallen in love with him. But from everything he’d just told her and how he loved the new life he’d made for himself in the Caribbean, there was obviously no place for her in it. But even if she could fit in, she couldn’t ignore that Richard didn’t like their current state at all. He couldn’t have made that clearer. So she had to make it right for him and at least offer him a way out. Yet, hesitating to broach the subject, she waited too long.

The coach stopped in front of her home in Berkeley Square, and Richard opened the door for her and handed her down to the curb. He didn’t leave the coach himself. Too angry even to come in with her to tell her father that they were married?

There was no help for it. She felt he was going to close the door without even a good-bye.

“I’ll start divorce proceedings immediately,” she promised him. “You needn’t—”

He cut in sharply, “You want a divorce?”

No sigh of relief? No thank-you? Anger still spewing forth? She grit her teeth. “Yes, of course. Neither of us expected or wanted this to happen.”

“Whatever you want, Jewels,” he said with a poignancy that she didn’t quite understand. But she must have mistaken it, because he added brusquely, “I’m leaving.”

He started to close the door. “Wait! You’ll need to be present for the divorce. It shouldn’t take more than a few weeks. Where can I reach you?”

He stared at her for a long moment before he said, “I guess you better pack for a long trip. If you want that divorce, you’ll have to come with me. I’m not staying in this country another day. If
The Triton
isn’t ready to sail, I’ll catch another ship. I’m going home where I can breathe and forget about that ruthless bastard again.”

“You’re not thinking logically. It will only take a little while longer, then we can be done with this.”

He shook his head adamantly. “If I stay here another day, I’m going to go back there and kill that son of a bitch. I need to get far away from that temptation. Immediately. So take it or leave it, Jewels. You’ve got the rest of the day to think about it.”

“Just like that? Wait! Where are you going? I’ll need to be able to find you to let you know if I—agree.”

“You can send the message to Boyd Anderson’s house, since that’s where Gabby and Drew are staying, and I’ll be meeting up with them.”

Richard closed the door and slammed a fist against the ceiling for the driver to move on. She stared at the departing vehicle incredulously. My God, what had just happened? She was doing him the favor of getting him out of this quickly, yet he wouldn’t cooperate?

Chapter Forty-six

T
HE DECISION TO LEAVE
England with Richard wasn’t as hard to make as it should have been. Julia made it before she even entered her home that day.

Waiting for her maid to get out of the second coach, she told the girl, “Have more trunks brought down from the attic and pack them today. I’m going on a long sea voyage with my husband.”

But stepping inside the house, she immediately glanced upstairs where her father was and knew that the hardest part of that decision was still to come. She didn’t like having to admit she’d failed at anything, and that farce at Willow Woods was the biggest failure of her life.

Her father was in his room, but not in his bed. Arthur was helping Gerald exercise his legs by walking him back and forth across the room, Gerald’s arm over Arthur’s shoulder for support. She was glad to see they were diligently working on getting his muscles back into shape.

“Welcome home!” Gerald beamed when he caught sight of her. “I didn’t anticipate your being successful so soon. Come, let’s sit on this delightful balcony you had built for me and you can tell me all about it.”

The doors to the balcony were open wide, letting in the warm, fresh air. Arthur led Gerald in that direction. Julia followed and sat next to him. How many times had she read to him here in the summer months? She’d been sure he never absorbed a word, but that hadn’t stopped her from trying, just in case he did.

She sighed at his expectant look. “It didn’t work, Papa. The earl called our bluff.”

“Called it how?”

“With a special license to marry immediately and a pastor at his heels. We’re married.”

Gerald frowned as he asked carefully, “That isn’t a happy statement, is it?”

“No indeed.

He sighed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t even have asked that. But you and Richard appeared to be getting along so well when you were here together, I got the notion that you might be liking each other after all these years and that something might still come of it.”

Feeling a tightness in her throat, she glanced away before answering. “We do like each other, we’re just not the least bit suited for each other. He lives a life of high adventure across the ocean, where he spends most of his time at sea. I’d rather be adding up profits in an account book—here.”

“Then if you two didn’t want to marry at that point, why did you? I told you I would deal with any scandal. Why didn’t you just refuse?”

She wished he hadn’t asked that. She could feel a blush mounting her cheeks. While she hadn’t actually made love to Richard that night, witnesses would say otherwise.

“I was sort of in my underclothes—in Richard’s room.”

Gerald cleared his throat. “I see.”

She winced. “Actually, there’s more to it. It was part of our charade. We wanted the earl to think we were, well, sleeping together, so he’d believe we really did want to marry and relax his guard. He’d been highly skeptical. We thought that might convince him. It never once occurred to us that he’d pounce on it as an excuse to marry us immediately instead. He barged into Richard’s room with a pastor and some other witnesses. Just as Milton no doubt hoped, he caught us in a compromising position. So the whole charade backfired on us. And Richard won’t even stay in London long enough for a divorce.”

“You mean he won’t agree to one?”

“Oh, he will, just not
here
. He’s leaving the country tomorrow. So if I want the divorce, I have to go all the way to his home in the Caribbean to get one. He’s so angry that it came to this, he won’t listen to reason.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“That’s just it, he won’t discuss it. If there were more time for him to calm down and think logically, he might see reason, but there isn’t. And I even understand why he’s so furious. All these years he stayed away, but it wasn’t to avoid me, it was to keep his father from getting what he wanted. Yet the earl just won the battle with this marriage.”

Gerald said in disgust, “Milton Allen isn’t going to get anything out of this other than the dowry I committed to.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I wish he wouldn’t get even that, after everything he’s done, but I understand the dowry was promised to him in the contract. Yet he could have had more. It makes no sense that he turned down your other offers, does it? And he
still
thinks he’s going to get a lot more, which—I hate to say this, Papa, but it makes me fear for your life. And Richard is playing right into his hands by leaving again. If you die, Milton will have control of everything through the marriage.”

He chuckled at her. “Don’t let your imagination run wild, dearest. The answer is as simple as my not breaking the tie when I should have because your mother always begged me to wait. Then the accident incapacitated me and Milton continued to think the marriage would still make us all one happy family. And families take care of their own, even their black sheep.”

She understood what he was getting at. Even her cousin Raymond, who could be considered their black sheep because he disdained any responsibility and led a frivolous life, was still supported by Gerald and would always be. He was family. And now Milton was family, unwanted, but dammit, family nonetheless.

“That implies you’ll help the earl out when he comes knocking at the door,” she pointed out. “And I don’t doubt he plans to, endlessly.”

“No, it means nothing of the sort. It just explains why he still
thinks
I will help him. You should have let me talk to Milton. I would have made it clear that I don’t forgive or forget. And he’s earned my enmity, for what he did to his own son, and for the tears he’s caused you.”

She chewed at her lip, still worried. “But he doesn’t know that yet. And what if he’s beyond reasoning with, due to his obsession with your wealth and—”

Gerald gently put his finger to her lips. “Hush. If it will relieve your mind, I’ll have a legal document drawn up today that will prevent him from ever inheriting anything of mine and have it delivered to him posthaste.”

“I like that idea. I also want everything put back in your name before I leave, so we can do that at the same time.”

Gerald nodded, but then sighed. “So you really are going all the way to the Caribbean?”

“It won’t be for long. A few weeks and—”

“It’s three or four weeks just to get there.”

She sighed. “Well, I’m going to find a bright side to it—somehow. I’ve never traveled before, other than here in England and to France a few times, so I suppose it will be an interesting trip. And once Richard calms down, he’s easy to get along with.”

“Is he?”

“Yes, very. He’s nothing like the man—well, the boy I used to know and hate. Living abroad for so many years away from his father has changed him dramatically—at least when he isn’t around his father.”

Gerald gave her a curious look. “Are you sure you want a divorce?”

That odd emotion was welling up in her again. All she could think to say was “I’m sure he does.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

No, it didn’t, so she confided sadly, “I can’t deny there were moments when I began to think he actually would be perfect for me. But our way of life just doesn’t match anymore, Papa. He’ll never come back to England, not as long as his father still lives here. But can you imagine me living in the tropics where it’s always so hot I’d be longing for a flake of snow? I can’t imagine it, and—and he doesn’t love me.”

“I see.” Gerald sighed. “This isn’t how I wanted you to get out of this mess I got you into.”

“I know, but at least that damn contract has been satisfied and will never haunt me again.”

“But a divorce is a serious matter. The
ton
that you hobnob with will consider it a scandalous solution. There will be repercussions that won’t be pleasant, at least in a social sense. You may find yourself not invited to their parties, even snubbed.”

“Are you suggesting—?”

“No, dearest, if this is something you feel you must do, then I will support your decision. And I’ve merely mentioned the worst that could happen, but it may not be so bad as that. Your situation is unique, after all, with a fiancé gone for so many years, and you were even kept waiting for three of them. That may gain you sympathy, or at least understanding for why you couldn’t forgive him.”

With the
ton
? If they considered something “simply not done,” the reasons wouldn’t matter. She could well lose all her friends over this.

Her father seemed to read her mind and suggested, “Why don’t you contact Carol before you leave and see what she has to say about all this? Arthur told me she hasn’t lived next door since she married, but does she live too far away for a quick visit? I didn’t think to ask when she stopped by the other day to express her delight over my recovery.”

“She and Harry do live at his country estate, but they also have a London house, and with the summer Season of parties under way, she’s probably still in town. That’s an excellent idea, Papa. I would like to see her before I leave for my brief vacation in the Caribbean.”

He chuckled at her choice of words. “If, as you say, Richard’s company doesn’t aggravate you like it used to, then you might as well enjoy the trip. The islands in that area are reputed to be quite beautiful, though perhaps a bit warm at this time of the year.”

“A bit? Richard made it sound a lot hotter than that. But I don’t intend to stay any longer than I have to. I wish you could go with me.”

“That isn’t possible. Even if I were physically fit, one of us still needs to hold down the fort here. But would you like to take Raymond?”

“Good God, no. Then the trip would be nothing
but
aggravating.”

As soon as she left her father’s room, she wondered if she would have time for everything she needed to do that afternoon. She sent off a message to Carol first, hoping her friend could come to her so they could talk while she was packing. She didn’t want to leave and miss the solicitor, either. And since she hadn’t seen Carol since the Malory ball, they had a lot to catch up on.

But she’d barely sent the footman off with her note when Carol burst into her room while she was laying out clothes on the bed for her maid to pack as soon the extra trunks were brought down.

Obviously, Carol had already been on her way to visit, and her first question was “
How
did you end up married?”

Amazed that Carol already knew, Julia asked, “How did you find out?”

“Are you joking? Your servants downstairs are talking about nothing else since your maid spread the news. Your butler mentioned it the moment he let me in.”

Julia sighed. She was going to have to give her maid a tongue-lashing. The girl really was too quick to gossip.

But Carol surprised her even more when she added, “But I already knew what you were
supposed
to be doing at Willow Woods.”

“How?” But then Julia guessed. “Never mind, Father said you paid him a visit while I was gone. I take it he mentioned it?”

“Yes, I came by to see you, but once again you weren’t home—it’s almost laughable how many times you and I must have just missed each other that week. So I visited with your father instead, since I hadn’t seen him since his recovery. But he only mentioned where you’d gone and why because he assumed I already knew. He knows you and I tell each other everything. I was
so
disappointed that I didn’t hear it from you. Your father didn’t exactly go into detail when he realized I didn’t even know your fiancé was back in town.”

“I told you about him that night at the ball—”

“You did not!”

“Yes, I did—well, indirectly,” Julia said. “Actually, I didn’t
know
it was Richard yet, either. The Frenchman? You remember now?”

“Him? Oh, my. But didn’t you say he was in love with someone else? A married woman?”

“Georgina Malory.”

Carol gasped. “He has a death wish?”

“No, and I’m sure that was merely an infatuation. He never once appeared melancholy again when she was mentioned. As daring as I now know he is, I don’t doubt he was just enamored of the risk of pursuing her.”

Carol sighed. “But this means you aren’t really married, doesn’t it? You just let your maid think you are for some reason?”

“You should probably sit down,” Julia said, then brought Carol up-to-date.

And after hearing it all, even the more intimate details that Julia would never tell anyone else, Carol said in amazement, “That’s quite a—predicament. No, don’t cry!”

Julia couldn’t help herself. “The irony is, he’s my perfect someone, but I’m not his.”

“Good God, you love him? After all these years of hating him, you actually
love
him?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“But I don’t want to live so far away from everything I know, in a place that sounds so foreign.”

Carol rolled her eyes. “You won’t know that you don’t like it until you’ve actually been there. So what other doubts do you have?”

Julia said in a small voice, “He doesn’t love me.”

“Are you sure?”