The Accidental Countess (Accidental #2)(78)

Julian stepped forward. “I’ve come to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage, my lord.”

Both Lord and Lady Moreland looked as if they might faint or have an apoplectic fit, perhaps both.

“What? What? What?” Lord Moreland clasped his lapels, his jowly face turning redder by the moment.

“You’ve gone mad,” Lady Moreland said to Julian.

Julian cracked a smile. “Is that a no?”

Lady Moreland whirled to face her husband but she addressed her remarks to Julian. “Sir, if you refuse to leave, we shall forcibly remove you from the premises.”

Julian inclined his head toward both of them. “I’d like to see you try.”

Lord Moreland’s jowls shook. He started toward Julian with a determined look in his eye. The two footmen followed suit. The moment they laid hands on him, Julian sprang into action. The first footman received a blow to the jaw that spun him across the foyer where he lay in a heap on the rug. The second footman was a bit larger and harder to stop. He came at Julian with a bear hug around the waist. Julian pulled him up and flipped him over his back. Thank God for all of those press-ups. Julian spun around to face him again. The footman remained on his back, groaning and cradling his head in his hands.

Lord Moreland came at him next, though he looked no more interested in fighting him than Julian was. He quickly sidestepped the older man, twisted Lord Moreland’s arm behind his back, and shoved him forward.

“This is preposterous!” Lady Moreland screamed. “Shakespierre, do something!”

Shakespierre shifted his gaze and pursed his lips. It was obvious he had absolutely no intention of engaging in a physical altercation with a man nearly twice his size, especially one who had just proven himself to be quite an accomplished fighter. Good man, Shakespierre. Good man.

“Would you like me to call Lady Cassandra?” Shakespierre offered.

“No, I would not,” Lady Moreland retorted, stamping her foot. Her curls bounced along her forehead.

That was all Julian needed to hear. Cassandra was here. “Cassie!” he called, using his loudest captain-in-His-Majesty’s-army voice. “Cassie!”

“Stop it, this instant!” Lady Moreland called. “I’ll have you thrown in the Tower for this ridiculousness.”

“I don’t care,” Julian replied. And then, “Cassie!”

“Unhand me!” Lord Moreland demanded.

Moments later, Cassie appeared at the top of the stairs, wearing a high-waisted white gown with pink flowers embroidered on it and looking like an angel. She glanced about the foyer. Both hands flew to her cheeks. Her mouth was a wide O. “Julian?” she called back.

“Unhand me this instant!” her father repeated.

“With pleasure.” Julian released her father’s arm with a small shove and sprinted for the staircase. He ran up, taking the stairs two at a time while Cassie picked up her skirts and ran down toward him. They met at the landing in the middle. Julian picked her up and twirled her around and around.

“Why, Julian? Why are you here?”

He set her down gently and then fell to one knee in front of her. “Marry me, Cassie.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Marry you?”

“Marry me. I read your letter, the one that you wrote when you thought I was dying. The one you never sent.”

She shook her head. “How did you—”

“Lucy brought it to me.”

“Lucy?”

“Yes. She thought it would make a difference and it has. Marry me, Cassie. I love you. I just didn’t know you loved me until now.”

She searched his face, tears running down her cheeks. “What do you mean?”

“When I first arrived in London, Hunt told me you were in love with an unnamed man. I understand now that he meant me, but I didn’t realize that at the time.”

She swiped at her tears. “Of course it was you, Julian. It was always you.”

“And it was always you, Cassie.” He stood and grasped both of her cheeks in his hands and kissed her. Her parents, who were glaring at them from the foyer, gasped.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ve always loved you, Julian.”

“Go get him!” Lady Moreland screamed from the bottom of the stairs, her hands clenched into two red fists. She glanced about at the two injured footmen and her husband, obviously expecting them to rush up the stairs and stop the actions unfolding in front of them. None of the men looked as if they were eager to do so. Shakespierre was contemplating his fingernails.

“There is absolutely no possibility that you are going to marry Cassandra!” Lady Moreland said with another stamp of her foot.

“Hell yes, there is,” Julian replied in a perfectly calm voice. “I’d like to see you try to stop me.”

“How do you expect us to agree to it?” Lord Moreland demanded. He remained at the bottom of the stairs and stared up at the couple, rubbing his arm.

Julian smiled but his eyes remained fixed on Cassie. “I expect you’ll agree with it because I’m about to thoroughly compromise her.” He scooped Cassie into his arms and carried her down the stairs. She kept her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He marched down to the foyer, past both of her openmouthed parents, and a wide-eyed Shakespierre.