The Accidental Countess (Accidental #2)(19)

His third goal was to return to the Continent, with or without permission, and help in the search for Donald and Rafe.

But first things first, hence his planned trip out to the countryside tomorrow to attend a house party. He supposed it had been fortunate, his running into Lady Worthing and Miss Bunbury. If he hadn’t met the two ladies at Penelope’s house three days ago, he might not have known where Penelope had gone off to and he certainly couldn’t have arrived uninvited. It had been quite fortunate, indeed.

“I cannot wait to hear all about the house party,” Daphne said with a sigh. “It almost makes me wish I had been invited. And I detest house parties.”

“Why would you say that?” their mother asked, sipping at the teacup the butler had just handed her.

Daphne wrinkled her nose. “Ah, all that country air and tedium. I much prefer town. So much to see and do.”

“And trouble to get into?” Julian offered.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Daphne replied, turning her head and batting her eyelashes at him innocently.

Their mother gave Julian a knowing look over the lip of her teacup. She’d written to him on more than one occasion about Daphne’s penchant for, ahem, colorfulness. The countess set down her cup and stood. “I bid you both good night. I’m exhausted.” She turned to Julian. “I’ll see you in the morning, dear, before you leave on your trip.”

Daphne and Julian said good night and Julian stood as his mother left the room. Donald’s absence was wearing on her. Julian could tell. After the door shut behind the countess, Julian settled back into his seat. “Don’t worry, dear sister. I’ll tell you all about the house party after I return.”

“Thank you. And you must tell me all about this Miss Bunbury. I’m simply dying to make her acquaintance,” Daphne replied.

Julian stretched his legs out in front of him and let his head fall back against the chair. He stared absently at the frescoed ceiling. Miss Bunbury. If he were being honest, he wasn’t exactly reluctant to see her again himself. Try as he might, he couldn’t seem to get the image of that young lady out of his mind. She was gorgeous. Yes, it had been a long, long time since he’d been with a woman, but he’d seen many of them since returning to England. None of them had affected him the way she had. The way she smiled and flashed a row of bright white teeth that tugged at her full lower lip when she was thinking about something.

“What does she look like?” Daphne asked, shaking Julian from his thoughts. “Perhaps I have met her and I’m thinking of a different young lady.”

Julian took a deep breath, still staring at the ceiling “She’s tall, blond, pretty.”

“Pretty or beautiful?” Daphne asked, a smile in her voice.

Gorgeous. “Quite pretty.”

“And her friend, what did you say her name was? Lady Worthing?”

“Yes, she’s got dark hair and the most unusually colored eyes.” Julian stood. “I’m going to retire for the evening, as well. I have some letters to write before I go to sleep. Good night, Daphne.”

“What’s unusual about them?” Daphne asked, just as Julian made it to the door.

Julian stopped. “Unusual about what?”

“Lady Worthing’s eyes.”

“Oh, one is blue and the other is green.” He reached for the door handle.

“Really?” Daphne’s voice was sharp and he turned to face her.

He narrowed his eyes on his sister. “Yes, really. Why?”

Daphne pursed her lips. “And you say this house party is in Surrey?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Perhaps I do know this Lady Worthing after all.”





CHAPTER SEVEN


Cass wore her lavender gown. The newest one she had had made for her twenty-third birthday. Her hair was twisted behind her head in a fetching chignon and she’d pinched just enough pink into her cheeks. She might have been ill-prepared to see Julian the first time, but when he arrived at Upbridge Hall, she intended to look her very best. She’d decided to stop thinking about the madness of the plot she’d become involved in. The fact was that she would have a few days with Julian, a few uninterrupted, wonderful days in which she could dance with him and laugh with him and talk to him without having to acknowledge the fact that he was meant for another woman. That’s all that mattered. For now.

She would tell him the truth. She would, just as soon as the opportunity presented itself. In her quieter moments, however, she had to wonder. Would Julian know her? Know from her speech, her voice, her mannerisms, her words? Know that she was his dear friend whom he’d been writing to for years? He was certain to guess. How could he not? But then she had only to look at Lucy and see her sparkling, radiant confidence. A certainty she wore like a cloak, a cloak Cass desperately wished she could purchase or borrow.

It was madness, pretending to be Patience, and nothing good could come of it. Lucy was hoping that somehow Julian would fall in love with her and renounce Penelope. Cass already knew for certain that would never happen. It couldn’t. Julian, the honorable man she’d come to know and love, would never do anything so callous as toss over his intended for another woman. And of course there was the inevitable day of reckoning, in the background, overshadowing her happiness. For eventually, Julian would learn her true identity—as Pen’s cousin, she couldn’t pretend to be someone she was not forever—and then he might well hate her for lying to him. Cass wasn’t usually a liar. She wasn’t. After all, she was the same young woman who had walked an entire five miles to the vicar’s house one sunny summer afternoon at the age of fifteen after discovering that her dog had come home with the vicar’s hat in her mouth. It would have been quite easy, preferable, perhaps, to hide the evidence and pretend as if she knew nothing about that bit of wool, but instead, she’d marched down the lane, ruining her favorite pair of slippers, with the soggy bit of material in her hand and presented the facts to the vicar and his lovely wife. She’d profusely apologized and offered to pay for a new hat, but the vicar had graciously declined, though he never did leave his door open so that Daisy could get in again, and knowing Daisy, Cass was sure she’d tried.