The Rake's Redemption (10 page)

Raising his quizzing glass, Rodney peered closely at her. “Sophia, ‘fraid I’m still a bit vague. What are we talking about?”

“Don’t you see, Rodney. I conceived the plan to come to London to find her widower, thereby forcing George into the city and into the
ton
. But not for an instant did I intend for Juliana to settle for a stuffy widower with a brood of children. No! She must have someone like Dominic.” Encountering his shocked stare, she patted his hand again. “Not Dominic precisely. Someone like Dominic. It is my fondest wish to see my sweet Juliana happily settled.”

Lacing his fingers with hers, Rodney gazed at her solemnly. “If it is your wish, then it is also mine, Sophia dear.”

There was a discreet knock at the door. Smithers entered, his usually impassive face twisted with disgust.

“Sorry to disturb you, madam. The housekeeper needs your assistance downstairs.”

“Now, Smithers? Whatever is the problem?”

“Something about turning a parlor maid off without a character. Mrs. Nelson needs your approval.” His rigid stance portrayed his dislike of airing staff problems in front of Lord Rodney.

Rodney cleared his throat. “Um, I believe I’ll go now, Sophia.” He rose and executed a portly bow. “Perhaps I’ll be able to do something, um, about our previous conversation.”

Sophia dimpled up at him. “I knew I could rely on you.”

As Dominic turned onto the street, someone was walking away from Juliana’s town house. Suddenly the man waved his walking stick and bellowed, “Dominic. Dominic Crawford!”

“Blast!” Dominic muttered under his breath, recognizing his Uncle Rodney waving at him frantically. After his childish outburst at Sophia, he had not intruded upon her with his presence, but it had become his habit to drive his high-perch phaeton past Wentworth House in the afternoon. It was unfortunate that today he had been caught.

“Dominic, what luck! Need a word with you, my boy.”

With a nod from Dominic, his tiger jumped down to assist Rodney onto the high seat. “How is Sophia? And the boy, Ben?” Dominic asked carefully.

“Fine. Fine. It is Juliana that…”

“Juliana!” His horses shied and he relaxed his tense grip on the reins as they trotted away. “She isn’t ill?”

“No, no. Fine in that way. But Sophia is concerned that she ain’t found a husband.”

Dominic became aware of strange stirrings in his chest. “I wasn’t aware Juliana was hanging out for a husband.”

“She might not be keen on it. But Sophia’s fondest wish is to find her a dashing husband. You for instance.”

Permitting himself the smallest of smiles, Dominic glanced at his uncle. “I’m sure Sophia did not suggest me for this honor.”

“Well, not precisely you. Someone like you. Must find a way to help Sophia. Do anything for the woman, Dominic. Dashed if I wouldn’t … Just let me off here at White’s.”

Tossing the reins to his tiger, Dominic jumped down and assisted Rodney to the cobblestones. “Coming in are you, Dominic? Be thinking about likely candidates, will you, my boy? Mean a lot to me.”

Leaving his uncle in the card room, Dominic opened the heavy doors to the library. The quietness of the room settled over him, and several of the older members glanced up from their deep wing chairs as he made his way to a desk. At a wave of his hand a servant brought paper, pen, and ink pot. He must do this quickly before he changed his mind. He knew how to help Sophia achieve her goal and this was the first step.

Quickly he penned a note and addressed it to Mrs. Juliana Grenville. Before he could change his mind, he gave it to the waiting servant with delivery instructions.

Sprawling back against the hard chair, he stared at nothing, letting himself remember those days at the inn when he had first realized Sophia was interested in eligible parties. He had found it amusing then. But that had been before he had discovered the only woman he had ever wanted and decided he could never have her. Now he would help find someone truly worthy of her. Someone as fine and decent as Will Grenville.

Three days later a scrawny maid in a lacy, bibless apron admitted Juliana to the front parlor where Sophia sat in front of a hot fire in the carved marble fireplace. The heat felt welcome to Juliana, for she could never seem to stay warm these days after her long, chilly vigil beside Ben’s bed.

“Did you notice the family resemblance between our new parlor maid and Smithers?” Aunt Sophia remarked when she entered. “Bella is his first cousin twice removed. He promoted her from scullery maid.”

Juliana laughed aloud for the first time in days because, with her rawboned hands and long chin, Bella did bear a striking resemblance to Julius, the one puppy her late papa had insisted on keeping from the last litter Claudius had sired. She knew Aunt Sophia had meant to make her relax and she had succeeded admirably.

This afternoon her aunt was clad in a jonquil frock with puffed sleeves that showed off her nicely rounded shoulders. With her dark hair pulled up in a yellow ribbon and small curls framing her face she looked younger than her thirty-nine years.

“Are you going out, Aunt Sophia?” Juliana asked, reclining on the settee.

“Yes. Rodney is taking me driving in the park just as he has every day this week,” her aunt replied with a self-satisfied air, before turning a stern gray eye on her niece. “It certainly wouldn’t hurt you to get some fresh air. Young Ben has been raising havoc in the kitchen for days. Even his father has ordered him back to his own quarters, but still you hover over him. The least you could do is accept Dominic’s kind invitation to go for a short ride. You know you miss your horses dreadfully.”

“Aunt Sophia.”

“Don’t tell me!” Aunt Sophia held up her hand to protest her niece’s confidences. “What you do next to put poor Dominic in his place, I’d rather not know. He was goodness itself when Ben was sick. Sending fresh fruit every day and keeping the house full of flowers. But if you still harbor these absurd feelings of persecution, I want to hear none of them!” She sighed deeply, shaking her head. “Of course, you may be correct and I wrong. As your chaperon I should, perhaps, be encouraging you to stay away from such a rake.”

Surprise widened Juliana’s eyes. “Aunt Sophia, are you saying that Dominic is someone I should be protected from? If so, why do you wish me to ride with him?”

“Of course, you don’t need to be protected from Dominic! Even though several ladies of the
ton
have made morning calls for the express purpose of informing me that Dominic is a rakehell. However, I, as you very well know, am an excellent judge of character.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Believe me, my dear, if Dominic ever paid the slightest degree of attention to any one of their daughters, the tattle mongers would be in raptures, for he really is quite wonderful.”

“You are right, Aunt Sophia, Dominic is … has been wonderful since Ben’s illness. I was foolish to say such things the night of the ball. Obviously I misjudged him. I will ride with him today.”

Sophia gasped, nearly choking on a bonbon she had just popped into her mouth.

“Well, it is the least I can do,” Juliana remarked, raising her chin in defense. “I have had both Freddie and Lord Edgemont to tea this week. It hardly seems fair to exclude Dominic when he has been so kind.”

“Don’t bristle at me, love. I couldn’t agree more.” Bella came in bearing tea, plain biscuits, and small plates of paper-thin sandwiches topped with watercress.

Juliana stared at the frugal fare. “Surely you aren’t going to serve Lord Rodney this!”

“Of course. You have probably not noticed, but Rodney has already dropped over half a stone. Is that not marvelous? I hope he can continue to make such excellent progress without his elixir. It is nearly all gone.”

“You have been giving his lordship Mrs. Forbes’s potion!”

“Of course. I told you it might come in handy one day and so it has.” Deciding the tea had steeped long enough, Aunt Sophia took off the cozy and poured the steaming liquid into white teacups. “Drink your tea, dear, and then change for your outing. Wear that russet velvet habit. It looks magnificent with your coloring.”

Juliana was ready thirty minutes before Dominic arrived. She watched for him from her bedroom windows. She paused only briefly in front of her mirror to arrange the short-crowned hat more becomingly over her curls and smooth out the skirt of the matching habit before she went to the head of the staircase.

When Smithers admitted the marquis into the foyer, a slight rustle of her skirt caught his attention. He glanced up and saw her. She seemed to glow when the sunlight filtering through the high windows caught her, making her velvet habit gleam and shine with her every movement as she descended the staircase. He resisted an impulse to go to her and catch her in his arms. Instead he waited for her to cross the foyer and then raised her gloved hand quickly to his lips.

“I’m pleased to see you, Juliana. You look lovely today,” the trite conventional pleasantries he had mouthed to dozens of other women came easily to his lips.

Her smile was warm and sweet, as she had seldom given him, and he almost forgot his intentions. Almost. Rod had told him Sophia’s fondest hope was to see her niece happily settled. That was why he had to proceed very carefully if he was to help Sophia attain her goal. And what little honor remained to him demanded that he help Sophia in her quest for Juliana’s happiness. To be seen with the Marquis of Aubrey would bring Juliana’s credit high, indeed: as long as he was very careful that his attention was not too marked. Too much attention and she would be fuel for the gossip mill just as he was. He knew his world well, and had carefully considered how to promote Juliana’s interests. Somewhere in the
ton
there must be a man worthy of her, all she needed was to be brought to his notice. Freddie or Lord Edgemont, who seemed to be running tame in the house, were not quite fine enough, he had decided grimly.

Freddie had said Dominic’s horses were among the finest in London, and he had not exaggerated. Dominic rode his white Arabian stallion, Bucephalus. But for Juliana he had chosen a rich brown gelding with a proud carriage. She stroked its nose once before Dominic tossed her in the saddle.

“His name is Caesar and he is still fresh this morning,” Dominic warned.

Juliana hid a small smile while they rode through the streets to Hyde Park. Dominic could have no way of knowing that she had often risen at dawn to ride bareback and shoeless through the fields of Berkshire before her marriage to Will.

A curricle raced past, far too close to her gelding, and she steadied the frightened animal quickly, leaning over and whispering into his neck. She straightened when she felt the horse relax back into a brisk walk.

“That was well-done, Juliana.” Dominic gave her a breathtaking smile, which reached into his eyes deepening their color, drowning her in their depths. “You ride just as I knew you would.”

His words and his smile made her dizzy with joy. Her heart pounded like a drum and her stomach knotted into a tight bow. It was not right for her to feel this way about this man. She knew it was wrong, terribly wrong. Dominic appeared to be many things to many different people. But to Juliana Vane Grenville he must be only a man who, for reasons she did not understand, extended kindnesses to her, which she accepted gratefully. To her he must be a friend, nothing more.

They passed through the stone posts at the park’s entrance and turned down a bridle path that was still sparsely occupied. It was a bit early yet for the
ton
’s daily promenade. Dominic remained silent, and Juliana was grateful for the moments to relax and steady the uneven beat of her pulse. Her eyes roamed slowly over the park’s rolling green hills, tall copse of trees, and wide fountains, whose sprays of water sparkled like diamond chips in the sunlight. Across the gardens the scent of hundreds of flowers perfumed the air.

Her lips parted in a smile. “It really is quite lovely you know.”

He glanced around, an amused expression softening his face. “Is it? I must confess I haven’t taken note of it for years.” He looked at her, almost grimly, she thought. “You have a way of making me see things in a new light.”

The horses stopped, conspiring with the beauty of the park and the depth of sincerity in his voice to allow her to search his eyes.

He’s sincere, she thought. If only he would stay this way: gentle and tender. If only I could understand his moods.

When a rider approached, Juliana looked away suddenly, confused by the intangible connection she felt to the marquis, as if they had been communing without words.

Lord Edgemont checked his horse and embraced her in such a warm smile that Juliana felt sure she blushed. “You ride like a goddess, Juliana,” he effused, extending his hand to take her fingers. Peeling back her glove, he kissed her wrist lightly.

Embarrassment warred with a flash of triumph that Dominic should see that, at least in one quarter, she was a complete success. She quickly glanced up at him to gauge his reaction, but he appeared completely absorbed in flicking a speak of dust from his perfectly proportioned shoulder.

“Thank you, Lord Edgemont. You are very kind.” She laughed lightly, a little higher pitched than usual, a habit when she was nervous. His lordship’s rather intense pursuit, for she could think it nothing else when he had called every day this past week, was a bit unnerving. She was vastly relieved when Dominic gave him a cool nod and moved ahead so abruptly, with her gelding following, that Edgemont was forced to back up several paces and be left behind.

When Dominic finally slowed, she raised her eyebrows while he coolly inquired if she had wished to dally longer and perhaps have Edgemont join them.

“No.” Juliana drew her horse alongside his. “I am very much enjoying myself with just the two of us.”

“Good.” The warmth she had felt and responded to in the Blue Boar Inn was back for an instant caressing her. “Edgemont is right. You ride like Diana. I believe you might even be able to handle Bucephalus.”

Juliana was sure she went scarlet with pleasure. Such a compliment from an acclaimed rider like the Marquis of Aubrey was praise, indeed. And she admitted ruefully, any compliment from Dominic was precious. “Thank you, my lord. I do not believe I have ever been compared to a goddess twice in one day!”