Wild Lily (Those Notorious Americans Book 1)(51)

Three hours what what it had taken to go from London to Lord Carbury’s house weeks ago. Willowreach was so close to Carbury’s that she knew she had that time left until she and Julian would be doing more than talking. Before they went to his bed, she hoped they could bridge the gap between them in some ways. “Does he live at Willowreach?”

“Who?”

“The coachman. I thought you had only the one stable boy at the house.”

“I do. But this man, Goodrich, is my father’s man from Broadmore. I had him come down to London just to take us to Willowreach.”

“Thank you. That was thoughtful.”

Julian shifted. Tapped his palm on his knee. “I thought the wedding very well done.”

“I’m glad it met with your approval. We tried to meet your mother’s expectations. Elanna was a help, too. She sent me lots of letters with answers to my questions.”

“She prepares for her own wedding in three weeks. Or I should say, my mother does.”

“When will we go up to London?”

He blinked, his gaze soft and searching. “You aren’t looking forward to it, are you?”

“I’ll go, of course. But I thought— I wondered if we’ll stay with your parents in their London house.” Her relationship with Julian’s parents had not begun well. To be in their company so soon after her own wedding presented a fresh challenge she must prepare to meet.

“We should. But you don’t want to, do you?”

She considered her hands. “I’d rather stay with my family.”

“Of course, you would. I understand. Ada and Pierce have just arrived and you’ve had little time with them.”

It was the best possible reason to offer to avoid the Setons. “Would you mind if we did stay in Piccadilly?”

“Not really.” He inhaled. “It’s a very good plan. I worry about Elanna, though. I’ll need to visit with her before the wedding.”

“Do go. She’ll want to see you.”

“Hmmm,” he said with knitted brow and lifted the edge of the curtain again. With a shake of his head, he let it drop. “I hope to God she can be happy.”

Lily had to change the subject to one less foreboding. “One person who was happy today was Remy.”

“And another was Marianne,” he added with a sly smile.

“They spent so much time together even Ada remarked on it—and Ada is notoriously unobservant. Did you know that when we were in Paris, Marianne went to see an exhibit of Remy’s works?”

“Is that so? I wonder if he knows that.”

“Would that be important?”

“That he thought Marianne interested in him?” Julian crossed his arms and bent over with chuckles. “Essential, I’d say, to his well-being.”

“He likes her,” Lily said with a grin.

“He does.” Julian smiled at her. “Almost as much as I like you.”

His declaration was not all a bride could hope for but it helped to salve the wound of being forced to marry him. “Do you?”

“Very much.”

She tipped her head, wistful and hopeful.

“You have to know that.”

Her hand went to her throat where she wore his engagement gift. The four-foot long rope of flawless pearls had to be priceless. As she’d taken them from their red velvet box last week, her father had gasped with approval. Marianne had stared, her mouth open. “I’m delighted with these. Thank you.”

“I was pleased you wore them with your gown. And now, too. They’re not and never have been my mother’s.”

That had her beaming at him. She slid her fingertips over the perfect satin of one gem.

“They belonged to my Great-Aunt Priscilla, her own engagement gift from her fiancé who died at Waterloo. She was a bluestocking with a stinging wit and I loved her with a small boy’s fascination for saucy women. Before she died, she gave them to me. ‘A gift for someone you care for.’” He patted the seat beside him. “Come sit with me and we can talk more of it.”

She cast him a sideways glance. “I hate to ride backward. You come sit with me. Here.” She patted her own cushions.

“It’s dangerous you realize.”

Her eyes went wide. “In your carriage? What can you do?”

He threw back his head to laugh. “Anything.”

“You’re serious?”

“Quite.” He searched her expression.

“But…but you wouldn’t. Would you?”

“No.”

Her jaw fell. “Oh.”

With a wry look, he rose from his seat and positioned himself next to her. Close but not too close, he took one of her hands and put it on his knee. “Let’s be friends, shall we, and talk as we used to?”

She licked her lips, her eyes on their entwined hands. “I want to.”

“So then. Anything is possible in a carriage. Anything between a man and a woman is possible standing up or in a chair. On the floor.”

“Oh, you are making fun of me now.”

“Never.”

“And the reason we don’t do it in a carriage? Or…um…in this carriage?”

“Too damn uncomfortable.”