Authors: Hannah Howell
immediately agreed to take her home. However, they had not gone far when Leo had halted the carriage and slipped away into the night. Chloe wished
she could ask him what he was doing, but she knew her cousin would not be able to tel her much, so it seemed pointless to question him. However, Leo’s
desertion had left her alone with Julian and she was finding that—disturbing. Julian’s fury over the fact that his wife had struck her was oddly arousing.
“She just slapped me, Julian,” she said. “She is trying to kil you and tried to kil Anthony. I think that makes this red mark upon my cheek a very
smal matter indeed.”
He lightly thumped his fist against his thigh. “Her attention turned to you far more quickly than I had anticipated. This is not good.”
“We knew they would look my way eventual y. It just happened tonight instead of later in the week. You had to have expected some sort of reaction
when you threw them out of Colinsmoor.”
He nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, ignoring how she tensed beneath his grasp. When he had first seen the mark upon
Chloe’s cheek, a mark left by the wife he was eager to rid himself of, Julian had become enraged. If not for the fact that Chloe had looked a little wan and Leo was urging them to leave, he would have taken the time to hunt Beatrice down and make her pay for striking Chloe. He knew, however, that there was
not much he could have done. Worse than that, he would have only added to the attention that had become fixed upon Chloe. She was right to say that, as
of now, she was seen as the wronged party and that could only work in their favor.
“Word of that banishment spread very quickly even though I had not noticed anyone listening to the conversation I had with Arthur and Beatrice. It
could be that Beatrice made her anger about that a little too loud and too public.” He lightly ran his hand up and down her arm, biting back a sound of
satisfaction when she softened and leaned against him. “And the tale of the confrontation between you and Beatrice in the lady’s retiring room also
spread quickly. Beatrice did not act wisely there. There were witnesses and they quickly told the tale to anyone who would listen. Why did you not strike
her back?”
“That would not have been wise of me. Best to stand there and look like an innocent victim of a virago.” She sighed. “And if I had hit her back, I
would have knocked her flat or broken her nose. Then al sympathy for me would have been lost.”
“Knocked her flat?” He picked up her smal hand and studied it. “With this little thing?”
“I have two brothers. I learned how to fight at a very young age.”
“Tormented you, did they?”
“A little, but mostly it was that they played rough and if I wished to play with them, I had to learn how to play rough as wel . When I knocked the
squire’s son down at the age of fourteen, I decided I had learned my lessons wel . Although I was never able to knock down my brothers,” she muttered,
stil a little disappointed by that.
“Why did you knock the squire’s son down?”
“Because he was sixteen and spotty and thought I would wish to kiss him. I did not.”
“As a man who was once sixteen and spotty, I should feel sorry for the fool, but I think I should like to knock him down myself.”
“Best not. He is married now and his wife could knock us both down with no trouble.”
Julian laughed and rubbed his cheek against the top of her head, enjoying the feel of her silky hair against his skin. “I saw Lady Marston before we
left.” He felt Chloe tense again.
“Oh?” Chloe silently cursed, certain that Lady Marston had decided the vision Chloe had had did not need to be kept secret from Julian. “Did she
greet you with what appears to be an innate bluntness?”
“As always. Since the day I married Beatrice, Lady Marston has felt it her duty to tel me I made a grave mistake in judgment. This time she
suggested I shoot both my uncle and, as she has always referred to Beatrice, that whore.”
“She told your mother the same thing.”
“Lady Marston also said that I should ask you what you saw. She said she was sure I would enjoy it.”
“Humph. She said she would keep it a secret.”
“Then she wil . She obviously felt that I would do so as wel . So what did you see? What was your vision about, as I assume that was what her
ladyship referred to. A vision.”
“Are you certain you wish to hear about it? It was not a pleasant one. I am not sure why Lady Marston thought you would enjoy it.”
“Tel me, Chloe. Should I not know what Lady Marston does?”
She pul ed away from him but he kept his arm wrapped firmly around her shoulders, so she did not get far. “I was staring at Beatrice after she
slapped me when it came to me. That is one reason why I did not hit her back. I saw Beatrice, but not Beatrice. I could see her hair, her gowned body, and
even the hand she had raised to hit me again. But her head was not as it should be. It was a skul . Around her throat was not the rope of pearls she was
wearing but a real rope. A hempen noose. Beatrice is soon to die.”
He held her close and began to stroke her arm again. “You do not think there could be some other explanation for what you saw?” It was a chil ing
sight for a young woman to see, but Julian had the strong feeling that she had seen others just as dark.
“Nay. I have seen such things before. Just before my father was thrown from his horse and kil ed, I saw him in his saddle, his riding clothes clean
and fine, and then, suddenly, his head became a skul . It was also sitting oddly upon his shoulders. Afterward I understood why. He broke his neck and he
died. I told him not to go riding, told him I had seen that it would be dangerous for him to do so, but he rode out anyway.”
“S’blood, Chloe, do you often have such dark visions?”
“Sad to say, the dark ones outweigh the good ones. Warnings are probably more powerful than glad tidings.”
Julian thought about that and decided that it made a strange sort of sense. “Do you think your vision of Beatrice means that she wil hang?” It was
a punishment Beatrice had undoubtedly earned, but he would rather not have to tel his son that his mother had been hanged.
“I would think it does. Other deaths matched the things I saw in my visions. Yet, despite committing crimes she must know are hanging offenses,
Beatrice revealed no concern about punishment.”
“Beatrice believes her beauty wil save her from al consequences of her actions.”
“She is very beautiful,” Chloe whispered, able to see al too clearly how the woman had been able to enthral Julian.
“In her face and form, yes. Beneath that she is ugly. Never forget that that beautiful woman set her own child in the arms of a dying woman living on
the desolate moors and never gave another thought to the child.” He grimaced. “As if you ever could, for that was a time of grief for you. But that is the true Beatrice. Cold and deadly. That is what I saw when I final y had the blinders taken from my eyes. And that was before I learned the whole truth, a truth that revealed just how deeply ugly she real y is.” He kissed Chloe’s cheek. “You are far more beautiful. Your beauty goes to the heart.”
Chloe had no chance to respond to what she considered was a ridiculous piece of flattery, for the carriage came to a halt in front of Leo’s home.
She al owed Julian to help her out of the carriage and then tried to hurry into the house ahead of him, but he was far too quick for her. Instinct told her that she had just lost al chance of escaping his attention for the evening. It was cowardly to even considering hiding in her room, but that did not make the
thought any less tempting.
She inwardly sighed with resignation when she heard him order Wynn to bring them some wine before he led her into the blue salon. Chloe had to
wonder if Julian had chosen the room purposely. Leo did have another salon, after al . They did not have to sit in this one.
“Sit, Chloe. We need to talk,” he said even as he pul ed her down onto the settee beside him as if he did not trust her to obey him.
That was probably wise of him, Chloe thought, and nearly grinned. Her good humor was fleeting, however. She had a sinking feeling she knew
what he was going to talk about. There were not that many topics he would look so serious about, and since they talked freely about Arthur and Beatrice,
that left only her exam and the marriage he and Leo were planning on. As Wynn served them some wine and then left, Chloe tried to prepare herself for
what could wel be a very uncomfortable conversation.
“First I would like to beg your forgiveness for what you had to suffer through earlier today,” he said, staring into his wine, for he felt awkward looking
at her while he spoke on the intimate exam she had had to endure. “I did not do it just to prove to myself that you were pure. You do know that, do you
not?”
“I know that. It was for Anthony. There must be proof that he is not my child, or someone could try to steal what is his rightful place as your heir. It is the only reason I al owed it to be done. For him.” She was not about to tel him that she had wondered if he had needed to reassure himself of her
innocence. It had only been a passing doubt, and tel ing him about it would do no good, could only insult him.
He cleared his throat with a sip of wine. It surprised him, after al the sin he had indulged in for the last year, that he found it so awkward to speak
about her exam. Julian supposed it was because it had been such an intimate thing and he knew she was a complete innocent. He had been wel trained
to be careful in how he spoke to a virginal miss, and some lessons could not be shaken off.
“And now we must speak about the marriage,” he said and sighed when she grimaced. “I wil be a good husband to you.”
“I never thought you would be a bad one,” she said.
“Then why have you refused to say yes?”
“Why should I offer an answer when I was never asked a question?”
“Ah, you wish to be proposed to.” He took her hand in his and kissed her palm, pleased when she shivered slightly. “Marry me, Chloe.”
“That is stil not a proposal.”
“Chloe, you were prepared to give me your innocence. Right here on this settee. If Leo had not interrupted us, that exam you had this afternoon
would have been a waste of time. It was not wel done of me, but I did it, and—”
“Now you must pay the consequences?” she snapped.
Julian sighed and dragged his hand through his hair, ruining his queue. “I do not think of marrying you as a consequence. I wil be honest and say
that I had thought to never marry again. Can you blame me for that thought?”
“Nay. I daresay I would feel much the same if I had suffered like you. Although it is no compliment to be thought of in the same breath as Beatrice.”
“I know you are nothing like Beatrice. For one thing, you make me smile and she never did. Neither did I need to get her in my arms simply
because she is in the same room with me. I do not know how to explain this to one who is so innocent, but you enflame me with just a look. I knew I should
leave you alone, that you are a virgin miss and that I am stil married in the eyes of the law and the church, but I could not.”
That was a very flattering thing to hear, but Chloe struggled not to let it turn her head. “Desire is not a good reason to get married. Marriage is
forever. Desire fades. I am the penniless daughter of a knight and my own mother cast me off. I live on Leo’s charity. You, m’lord, could do so much better than that in a wife.”
“No, I could not. And do not belittle the importance of passion, Chloe. It is important in a marriage. And there is more. I trust you.”
“In everything?”
“What do you mean?”
“You have suffered the sting of an unfaithful wife. Do you trust me to be faithful to my vows, or wil you always be watching for me to betray you as
she did?”
Julian stared at her for a moment. He thought about her question, even imagined a few incidents that could look suspicious, yet he found he did
not immediately feel threatened by them. At some point during his stay at the Wherlockes’, he had come to trust Chloe in every way. It surprised him, but
he was glad of it. Not only did he know such constant doubt and mistrust would sour a marriage, but it would also sour him.
“No, I wil not. I said I trust you and I do. I know you wil hold as firmly to your vows as I wil .”
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief, but she was stil not sure what he offered was enough. She feared she was being foolishly greedy. Julian was the
man she wanted, but she had thought they would just have an affair. That would be a disaster in the end and she knew it, but she was not sure she should
step into a marriage simply because they both wanted to fal into a bed.
“Chloe, I also like you. We enjoy each other’s company. We can talk about so many things, so there wil be no long, silent meals with me at one
end of the table and you at the other. And, Chloe, you love my son.”
“Ah, aye, I do. And with you comes Anthony, is that what you are saying?”
“What I am saying is that no matter what my thoughts on marriage were, I feel that at some time I would have begun looking for a mother for him. I
can think of none better than you, none I would trust to love him as he deserves to be loved.”
“So what you offer me is passion, liking, trust, good company, and Anthony.”
He just stared at her and she sighed. It was a lot more than she had thought she was getting from him, and she real y could not say what else she
wanted. Yet it was such a big step to take. Marriage was forever. Could she marry a man who did not speak of love? And did she even love him? Did it
even matter?
“What about my gift? My visions? My family that is riddled with such gifts?”
“I cannot promise to believe in al of them, but they do not frighten me.”