The Accidental Marriage (26 page)

* * * *

Sir Carey was smiling as he rode round the farms. It was the first opportunity he’d had, as he had left for Lincolnshire the moment Samuel had been taken off to gaol, and since his return the previous day had spent much of the time sitting beside Julia. Now she seemed on the mend, from the doctor’s report, and the news Molly brought that she had recovered her appetite.

He knew now that she loved him. The problem would be to convince her he had fallen in love with her too. But he didn’t doubt his ability to do that. He would need to wait until she recovered her strength, perhaps until after his birthday, which was just a week away.

He had not expected to fall in love. It was a totally different emotion to the one he’d felt for Angelica. That had been infatuation. If he believed in witchcraft he’d have thought the girl had bewitched him. He’d been dazzled by her beauty, and her obvious adoration of him. Her beauty would probably fade in time, and long before that he would have been bored and irritated by her shallow nature. Julia was beautiful in a different, quieter, but more lasting way. She had a strength of character he could not recall ever finding in other women. She was brave, resourceful, and had already made his life more comfortable than he could remember. But none of these qualities mattered. He simply loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

When he reached home late in the afternoon he found Julia sitting in the library, surrounded by lists. She looked up with a smile.

‘Is all well on the farms?’ she asked.

‘It is. But should you be up, my dear?’

‘I mean to go back to bed straight after dinner, but I wanted to leave my room for a time. I feel so much better. Molly tells me you have been away. Is it Lord Castlereagh? Are there problems in Belgium? I have heard no news.’

‘No, the armies have entered Paris. I went to Lincolnshire, on private business. With Daniel.’

She looked at him, raising her eyebrows.

‘He admitted he sent Samuel here to murder you.’ He paused. Even now the thought of Daniel’s activities made him furious. ‘I gave him an ultimatum. He either left England for somewhere far away, or I turned him over to the authorities. He chose to go to Canada, and his attorney will sell his property here, so I doubt he’ll want to return.’

‘What about his cats?’ Julia asked, and chuckled. ‘Did you see them?’

He grinned at the recollection. When he had finally left Daniel the morning after their confrontation, and after the attorney had finished his business, the man had been trying to collect his cats in one room, ready for confining in cages so that they could be taken to the ship. Every time he had captured one and opened the door to push it in, another feline had escaped, and Daniel had suffered several scratches on his hands.

‘Too many.’ He told Julia of Daniel’s struggles and she gurgled with delight.

‘So he is safely out of the country.’

‘He will be in a few days. I booked a passage on a ship from Liverpool, it sails next week. But enough of him. What have you planned for my birthday?’

* * * *

Julia surveyed the shambles on the lawn in front of the house. The trestle tables still held some food, though most of the pies, the meats which had been roasted, including a whole pig and several sheep, plus a side of beef and numerous fowls, had been eaten, along with the soft white loaves. The pastries and other sweetmeats had been demolished, and the barrels of ale and cider were almost empty.

The jugglers and acrobats Elizabeth had sent down from London at Julia’s request were packing their equipment into a large cart. Musicians recruited by Foster from the villages nearby were scraping on their fiddles for a country dance, and most of the guests, apart from the very young and the old, were singing as they danced.

Julia, pleading her recent illness, had declined, and was sitting on a stool watching Sir Carey partnering the buxom Mrs Harris while her son Jed bashfully led Caroline down the line as it became their turn.

The local squires and their wives had been invited to dinner, and Julia had arranged for another buffet to be set up in the dining room. The servants had been working non-stop for several days to prepare all the food, and she wanted them to be free to enjoy their own festivities, not have to wait at table.

The informality seemed appreciated by her guests. By now she knew most of them, she and Sir Carey had dined with them, or they had come to her dinner party before she went to London. A few had also been in London, and they had met at balls and assemblies there.

‘A wonderful day,’ one of the older men said to her. ‘Carey’s a lucky young devil to have captured you, my dear.’

Eventually they took their leave, and Julia forbade the servants from clearing up that evening.

‘It’s late, and you must be longing for your beds,’ she told them firmly.

They bade her a good night and dispersed. Sir Carey was locking the doors and windows, and Julia said a brief goodnight to him and went wearily upstairs. She was tired, but she knew she would not sleep.

She was sitting by her window watching the last of the sunset when the door of her room opened. Thinking it was Molly she did not turn round. ‘I told you all to go to bed,’ she said. ‘I can do for myself tonight.’

‘But I’d rather help you.’

She swung round to see Sir Carey standing in the doorway carrying a bottle of champagne and two glasses. He came into the room and set them down on a small table near the bed. He had removed his coat and waistcoat, and she could see his rippling muscles under the shirt and pantaloons.

‘I - what do you mean?’ she asked, breathless.

He came across and pulled her to her feet. ‘Thank you for the best birthday of my life,’ he said, and took her in his arms, bending to capture her lips with his own. ‘Julia,’ he said, as they broke apart, ‘I want you to release me from my promise.’

‘What promise?’

‘That I would not expect a proper marriage. But I have grown to love you dearly, and from what you said when you were delirious, I think you could come to love me too.’

Julia thought back and blushed. She was recalling her dream that she had told him she loved him. ‘It was a dream!’ she exclaimed.

He laughed. ‘You may have thought so, but I did not imagine it. You did not know what you were saying, but I know it was the truth. Julia, could you love me?’

She nodded, unable to speak. This was a dream come true. With a satisfied sigh he drew her into his arms again, and kissed her long and deeply. As they broke apart he pulled the pins out of her hair and let it ripple over his hands. She was wearing a simple muslin gown, fastened with strings round the neck. He pulled the strings free, and slid the gown down over her body. Swiftly he divested himself of his clothes and before Julia knew it she was lying in his arms. He caressed her gently, murmuring how much he wanted her, kissing her until she was desperate for more, and when she thought she could bear it no longer he entered her, and it was the most exquisite sensation she had ever known.

Hours later, it seemed to Julia, he sat up and reached for the champagne. Quickly he released the cork and poured the bubbling wine into the glasses. He handed one to her, and took the other, raising it in salute.

‘To Julia, my dearest love, and the best birthday present I have ever had.’

She sighed with pleasure. ‘I think it may already be the day after your birthday, Carey.’

‘We will stop the clocks. But now, sweetheart, we can pretend it’s a birthday every day. In case I didn’t say, I love you dearly. I was so fortunate to find you on that Bavarian road. It was an odd marriage, but the best one I could ever have made.’

‘For me too,’ she whispered, and he set down the glasses and reached for her.

‘We’ll start the clocks again in - oh, a year’s time?’ he suggested, and she laughed, and went to him.

Copyright © 2008 by Marina Oliver/Sally James

Originally published by Robert Hale [UK] (ISBN 978-0709085485)

Electronically published in 2014 by Belgrave House/Regency Reads

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This is a work of fiction. All names in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to any person living or dead is coincidental.