Page 33 of Forget Me Not

Though the door to Julia’s bedchamber was closed, he could hear the faint sound of voices within. She was likely giving instructions to a maid or the footman.

His bedchamber was quiet, but it didn’t offer the peace he sought. He paused long enough to pull off his greatcoat and gloves and lay them on his bed before moving to the door leading to the little circular sitting room.

He pushed his door open to find the door on the opposite wall was open, the one leading to Julia’s room. And she herself was insidehishaven, directing a footman who was just then entering, carrying a long Queen Anne–style desk.

“Just over here,” she told the footman. “Near the french doors, facing the windows.”

A matching chair sat very near the spot she pointed to.

“What is this?” Lucas asked.

She spun about, clearly startled. “Lucas. Why are you here?”

“I live here.”

She shook her head. “You know what I mean.”

“I spend most days in this room,” he said. “Why areyouin here?”

“This desk and chair were in the book room, tucked into a corner. They did not appear to be in use, so I’ve had them brought over.”

How very matter-of-fact she was about the upheaval she was creating in his desperately needed refuge. “This is a small room. There is not a great deal of space. And the unusual shape makes it a tricky room to furnish.”

The tiniest bit of misgiving entered her expression, but she answered without hesitation. “It is a long desk but not a deep one. It hardly extends into the room.” Her eyes settled on the missives in his hand. “Letters?”

“Some from friends of mine and one I’m certain is a business matter. Also my parents.”

She nodded, but something almost like disappointment flitted over her face. In the very next moment, her posture straightened and her expression cleared. She motioned to the furniture the footman had brought in. “There wasn’t a desk in here, but having one will be so very helpful when I’m working.”

“In here?”

She nodded without looking back at him. “It is a very nice room.”

“But it’s not a working room.” That was, in large part, the entire point of this space. An escape. A peaceful retreat. A refuge.

“But it will be.” She turned back toward him even as her fingers brushed the desktop. “How perfect it will be to sit here and look out the window while...” Her words trailed off, and confusion entered her expression. She watched him, uncertainty growing by the minute. “Was I not supposed to make changes?”

His first inclination was to say no, but he held back.

“You did say that I could,” she continued on. “Yesterday, sitting in my room, you told me that I could.”

He had, yes, but he hadn’t meant for her to changethis. “There are limits, Julia. For one, the estate isn’t self-sustaining; it hasn’t any tenants or sources of income.”

“But this desk was already in the house. There was no cost involved in bringing it down the corridor.” She’d poked a hole in that argument rather quickly.

“That isn’t the only consideration.” How could he explain his objections without admitting that he needed an escape... fromher? That without this retreat, he would struggle for patience and optimism?

“I thought this might be a bit of an improvement.” Julia waved to the desk sitting beneath the window, where it ought not be. “I can more easily work in here if I have a desk.”

“Thebook roomis meant for work. It is a fine space, already designed for that purpose. This is not.”

“But it could be.”

He and Julia were in the midst of a gathering storm. He needed this shelter if he was to weather it at all. Her insistence on overturning it was plunging him, panicking, beneath the waves. “This room is just as it should be.” He spoke firmly. He simply could not lose this room. Everything would fall apart if he did. “Changes can be made elsewhere, but not in here.”

“Why not in here?” she asked. “You’ve said I can make changes in the house, and this is part of the house.”

“Part ofmyhouse.” He paced away. “I’ve lived here for eight years. You’ve been here barely more than twenty-four hours. Some consideration must be given to my longer residence.”

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