Lily and the Lion (21 page)

"That Janet rubs along well with the other servants I readily believe," Lily said, chuckling. "But if she has already pressed and laid out my clothes, I shall be more than a little amazed!"

"Oh, you do say?" said Winny with a surprised shake of her head. "But I expect you know her best. And as for the other girl, Belle, I find the story Pie-shy has told us about
her
vastly interesting!" She turned to Julian and arched a brow. "It is especially interesting in the way it concerns you, Julian!"

"Tonight I refuse to answer any questions about the past three days," Julian firmly informed his sister, lifting his hands in a dissuasive gesture.

"Uncle Julian has been acting very odd, Mama," Peter offered, yawning behind his hand. "He not only took in Sebastian and Belle, but there's a highwayman named Nort coming to be one of Julian's tenants!"

"What?" cried Winny with a start and a nervous laugh. "A highwayman? Julian, what can have come over you?" She looked at her brother as if he'd lost his wits.

"Lily came over him," said Peter with a sleepy smile. "Comes over everyone … Sweet girl, Lily. An angel..."

Winny looked back and forth between Lily, who had bowed her head modestly, and Julian. Her eyes held a speculative glint. To forestall his sister's obvious awakening of suspicion concerning the state of his heart (Winny apparently understood him better than he thought), Julian nodded his head in Peter's direction, saying, "Gone to sleep. I daresay he'd not be up to sitting at table yet, anyway, Winny—especially tonight."

As Julian had intended, Winny was distracted. She bent a tender, concerned gaze upon her slumbering son and said, "He's so thin! Does he always fall asleep so quickly and in the middle of a conversation?"

Lily stood up and moved to place a comforting hand on Winny's shoulder. "He is worn out by the journey, and yesterday he had a fever. Don't worry! He's better now, but tonight I must tell you everything about his illness and give you the directions and medicine given me by Dr. Payne."

"
You can do all that tomorrow, after you've had a decent night's sleep, Lily, er, Miss Clarke," Julian said. "There's no hurry, is there?"

"Well, actually, there is," said Lily, averting her eyes, as a most becoming shade of pink bloomed on her cheeks. She didn't upbraid him for using her Christian name, and he thought the blush she was wearing lovely. "You see, though I know I offered to stay a few days after our arrival, I begin to think it would be better if I left as soon as possible." Lily glanced up briefly, then quickly returned her gaze to some figuring on the carpet she apparently found fascinating.

Julian felt his heart sink. She was leaving! "Miss Clarke, I don't understand—"

Again she looked up, a slight smile trembling on her lips and unmistakable meaning shining in her eyes. "Now that Peter has his mother to take care of him, he doesn't need
me,
my lord!"

"Oh dear, from what I was able to glean from Peter's letter, he'd much rather you stayed, my dear," Mrs. Wendover fretted.

"Precisely, Winny," Julian murmured. Lily was leaving so as not to encourage Peter, or at least that was what she implied. Did he dare to hope that there was another reason for her flustered look and the way she kept wringing her small hands in front of her? Was he a conceited popinjay to believe that she wasn't entirely indifferent to him? He must know!

"Miss Clarke, though you're probably eager to retire to your chamber, do you think I might have a, er, private word with you?"

Lily looked up quickly, an enquiring, puzzled look in her beautiful brown eyes. "A—a
private
word, my lord?"

"Yes, Miss Clarke, if you don't mind," he said kindly, stepping close and cupping her elbow with his hand to lead her from the room. "You will be quite safe, you know, because I intend to take you only so far as the library, two doors down the hall. Winny will stand guard outside if you like, or she may stay in here with Peter, but either way, I think your papa would consider you sufficiently chaperoned."

Winny had been watching and listening with a delighted interest, her suspicions having been confirmed. "I think you will be quite safe, Lily," she said, smiling warmly as Julian led the young lady, unresisting, out of the room.

Julian looked down at Lily and thought she rather had the look of a Christian about to be fed to the lions. He would find the comparison amusing if he weren't so nervous himself about the outcome of their little interview. He had never imagined that a week ago he'd be hanging all his hopes of happiness on this travel-worn little vicar's daughter with wide brown eyes and untidy hair, but she was exactly what he wanted.

It was almost as though he had been looking at the world through a dirty glass, and Lily had come along with all her industrious goodwill and wiped the glass till it was crystal clear. Of course, he still saw the injustices, the poverty, the evil, but on the other hand, he saw the kindness, the hope, and the miracles that were there, too. Most of all, he wanted to be part of that eternal tug of war between good and bad, pulling hard on the side of goodness. In conclusion, just through their short, intense association, Lily had given back to Julian a purpose to his life.

Lily walked the hall in a sort of dream state, for surely she was asleep and dreaming. Why would Lord Ashton... why would
Julian
want to speak to her privately? There had been only one other person in the room to hear whatever he had to say, and that had been his sister, whom he probably felt more comfortable with than anyone else in the world. What did he wish to keep private from
her?
And if the conversation was to be about Peter, certainly his mother ought to be included. But Winny did not appear affronted by their departure; in fact she'd been smiling when they left the room.

Julian's hand under her elbow was warm and sure, like she had imagined his lips would be after that fateful evening at The Queen's Arms. She deemed it a horrid weakness of character, but ever since Julian had nearly kissed her, Lily had sincerely regretted Pie-shy's interruption. Quite a lowering admission to make, because she could not imagine Julian respecting her at all once she had allowed his flirtatious trifling to be consummated with a kiss and embrace. For that was all it was, wasn't it—flirtatious trifling? But if he could trifle with her, why did she still think of him as the perfect man?

The library door closed behind them. A fire had been lit in the grate, as if the servants had anticipated their master's desire to sit there that evening. The heavy, solid furnishings gleamed with bees wax, and the smell of old leather and conservatory flowers wafted on the air. A vase of yellow cabbage roses stood on a table by a large, plush chair near the fireplace. Prints of Winslow ancestors co-mingled with more landscapes on the forest green walls. The room exactly suited Julian—elegant, understated, masculine and warm.

Her brief perusal of the library ended when she felt Julian looking at her. Their eyes met, that current of awareness pulsating between them as before. He took her hand and led her to a sofa near the fire. She sat down, their eyes never breaking connection during the entire removal to the couch. He did not let go her hand, and she made no attempt to snatch it away. She was mesmerized by the golden magnificence of The Lion's eyes. And if this moment was all she was destined to have in such close and tantalizing proximity to Julian, she would take it gladly.

"Lily...I may call you Lily, mightn't I? We've been through quite a lot together." His voice was low and gentle, caressing. Lily nodded her head, barely able to breathe, much less speak. He was stroking the palm of her hand with the firm pad of his thumb.

"You are wondering what I have to say to you which cannot be said in front of my sister?"

Again Lily nodded.

He glanced down at her small hand, encased as it was in his much larger one.' 'You have been a sore trial to me, Lily," he began, and Lily felt a stab of pain in her chest. Oh, dear, was he going to tell her what a nuisance she'd been and, from some chivalrous notion of honour and kindness, lecture her again about her foolhardy and meddlesome propensities?

"I'm sorry I've caused you any trouble, my lord. I never meant to," she mumbled, her heart breaking.

He surprised her by emitting a low chuckle. "Never say so! I don't believe you can be sorry about Sebastian, or Belle, or Nort, whatever you might say! And neither can I!"

She was much puzzled, and searched his face for some clue as to his meaning. She saw tenderness writ in every feature, and his eyes glowed with strong emotion. What emotion? she wondered.

"The only thing I regret, Lily, is that I didn't meet you sooner, that I wasn't there to snatch you the moment you emerged from the schoolroom!"

Lily's throat constricted with feeling. Her fingers wrapped about Julian's thumb. "What are you saying, my lord? Please don't trifle with me! You see, there's no need for flummery! And you mustn't think that because I wanted you to kiss me... No, I didn't mean that! That is, just because I might have
let
you kiss me if Pleshy hadn't interrupted us when he did, does
not
mean that I— "

Julian tugged his thumb out of Lily's agitated grip, as that appendage was turning rather blue, and firmly clasped her shoulders with both hands. He looked into her astonished brown eyes and said, "How many times do I have to tell you, my dear girl, that my compliments to you are quite sincere—not flummery in the least! And when I nearly kissed you, I had not been indulging the whims of a libertine, rather I was compelled to kiss you for reasons entirely spontaneous and genuine! It seems I've fallen in love with you, my
dear
troublesome little baggage! And I have no intention of allowing you to go one way in the world and myself in the other direction! Who will extricate you from the scrapes you will tumble into day after day? On whose estate will you farm out sundry animals and criminals and unhappy chits on their way to loveless marriages? Who, my dearest,
who?"

Lily's eyes were filled with happy tears. She blinked through the salty blur and smiled at Julian. "But you said that philanthropy was fatiguing and inconvenient, my lord! You said—"

Julian sobered. "I said a great many selfish, foolish things, Lily, for all of which I hope you may forgive me. I am a changed man, or maybe something like the man I used to be. I still have a long way to go in forming my character, and I hope you will help me! All I know is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, no matter how fatiguing it may prove to be. With my hard-headed realism and your charitable heart, we might contrive to do very well together."

"Oh, Julian!" exclaimed Lily, cupping his face in her hands and smiling brightly up at him. "You're such a
good
man, and I do love you so!"

"No more than I love you!" he answered gruffly, then pulled her against him for that long-awaited kiss, making quite sure that the wait was well worth it. Several moments later, with Lily's hair even more tumbled than before, and even Julian's hair gone a bit awry from Lily's shameless running of her fingers through the long, golden locks, she wedged her hands between them and pushed Julian gently away.

Her mind fogged with euphoria and a green girl's first passion, Lily nonetheless faintly enquired, "What about Peter, Julian? I know he doesn't truly love me, but he thinks he does. Do we dare tell him now? I don't wish him to fall into the megrims and make himself sick. I know it's silly, but I think he might take it rather hard!"

Julian straightened up and endeavoured to control his breathing. Lily saw the up-and-down motion of his chest and blushed at the idea that she could actually be the cause of such delightsome discomposure. "Peter's not a child any longer, Lily, and we're going to tell him tonight! Even if we postponed the announcement, judging by the effect you have on me I don't think I would be able to disguise my feelings for you for more than a few minutes, anyway! Then he would be angry that we hadn't told him in the first place!"

Lily's forehead wrinkled in thought. "I suppose you're right, but—"

There was a knock on the door. They looked at each other, Julian's tawny brows lifting enquiringly. Then they hastily tried to restore themselves to a semblance of order, straightening a puffed sleeve here, a neckcloth there, et cetera. They scooted apart about twelve inches. Finally Julian called out in a tolerably normal voice, "Come!"

Winny stepped into the room, grinning knowingly as she surveyed their flushed and dishevelled appearances. She approached with a kind of swagger, stationed herself directly in front of the sofa, and rubbed her hands together in the manner of a miser surveying his cache of coins. "I love weddings," she informed them irrepressibly. "When will yours be?"

Julian laughed and reached his arm behind Lily to pull her close to him. "That has not been discussed as yet, but you can be sure it will be soon."

Winny bent over and gave Lily a hug. "Welcome, little sister! I'm eternally grateful to you for saving this dear man from his own bitterness! Indeed, you
are
a guardian angel! First you save Peter, then you save Julian!"

"We were just speaking of Peter," said Lily, her smile faltering. "He has been used to thinking of me in a certain way over the past weeks. We're a little concerned that when we tell him about us, he'll—"