The Accidental Countess (Accidental #2)(56)

She’d cried last night in front of him. That was poorly done also. But she hadn’t been crying for the reason he thought. He probably believed she was sad because Patience had developed a tendre for him. But the truth was she’d been crying because she knew he couldn’t kiss Patience because he still loved someone else, someone who was not Patience, and not Cass, someone whose eyes she wanted to scratch out.

Regardless, she must stop being a coward. She had to face Julian today. First, she’d find Garrett and see what was so urgent. Then, she’d find Julian. She would find him and finally tell him the truth. It was time. No matter what. No more hiding. No more lies.

Her maid returned with one more gown, a simple white one. “This one, miss?”

White, the symbol of purity, light, innocence, hardly a color she should wear today, sinner that she was. But if she was going to battle that devil who liked to pop up on her shoulder, she would need all the reinforcement she could get. “Yes, that one will be fine, Maria. I’m sorry I’ve been such a bother this morning.”

She stared back at her reflection in the looking glass once more. Patience? Cass? Whoever she was. It was finally time to face the truth.

*

Cass had just started down the stairway when a large commotion in the foyer caught her attention. There appeared to be a great many people there, all of them raising their voices.

She hurried down far enough to see the occupants of the space and caught her breath. She braced a hand against the bannister to steady herself. There, in the foyer with Lucy, Jane, Garrett, and a half-dozen servants, stood her parents. Owen wasn’t there. And neither was Julian, thank God. But … She leaned down to get a closer look.

Penelope was with them.

Cass’s heart thumped. Danger. That’s what this was. Danger, danger, danger. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to flee. Instead, she remained rooted to the spot, her shaking hand frozen to the bannister.

“I demand to see my daughter,” her mother, Lady Moreland, said.

“Yes, where is Cassandra? Bring her here this instant,” her father added.

Lucy kept glancing around nervously. “If you’d all just come into the drawing room, I’ll be happy to fetch Cass and we can all discuss this like civilized adults and—”

“Cassandra? Cassandra is here?”

Cass closed her eyes slowly and swallowed. She couldn’t see the person who’d just said those words but she knew him just the same.

Julian.

Julian strode forward then. Apparently he’d happened upon the scene in the foyer just as she had.

“Who are you?” Cass’s mother demanded of Julian.

“Why, Auntie, don’t you remember him? That is Captain Swift,” Penelope offered.

Cass’s mother’s eyes went wide. “Captain Swift?”

“Captain Swift?” her father echoed.

“At your service,” Julian said, bowing to them. “I haven’t seen either of you in quite a long time. I don’t blame you for not remembering me, Lord Moreland, Lady Moreland.”

Cass’s mother continued to eye him up and down before turning back to Lucy. “I want Cass here this instant,” she demanded.

Jane and Garrett were obviously attempting to assist Lucy in herding the little group into the nearby drawing room. Unfortunately, they were having as much luck as Lucy was. “I told you, Lady Moreland. I’ll be quite happy to go get Cass just as soon as you—”

Cass’s mother narrowed her eyes on Lucy and pointed her finger at her. “I don’t care if you are a duchess now, Your Grace.” She sneered the honorific. “I will not have you leading my daughter down the primrose path with you. All this time I’d been under the impression that the two of you were at a house party together until my niece here came to my home yesterday after her carriage broke down nearby and informed me that you were both here, only a few miles away.”

Julian’s head swiveled toward Lucy. “Your Grace?”

Jane and Garrett groaned.

Penelope looked as she did when they were children and she’d tried to solve a particularly difficult maths equation, a cross between pure confusion and a bit of nausea.

Cass’s parents both stared at Julian as if he’d lost his mind.

“Surely you recognize your hostess, the Duchess of Claringdon? Though I daresay she brings the title down a bit,” Lady Moreland said.

Lucy winced and turned her head sharply to the side as if she’d been slapped.

That was it. Cass marched down the stairs. She’d been a coward for far too long. She couldn’t allow Lucy to be treated with such disrespect by her parents, devil take the consequences.

“Mother!”

All pairs of eyes turned to look up at her.

“Mother?” Julian echoed the word, looking back and forth between Cass and her mother.

Cass marched down the stairs and made her way to the center of the group. “I will not allow you to speak to my friend so indecorously in her own home.” Cass put her hands on her hips and glared at her mother.

“It’s all right, Cass—” Lucy began, reaching out as if to soothe her.

Cass brushed her friend’s hand away. “No. It’s not all right. They’ve had weeks to get used to the fact that you married Derek and I didn’t, and it’s high time they began treating you with the respect due your title.”