Page 65 of Forget Me Not

“Now she’s rather permanently connected to him.” Kes walked casually into the sitting room and lowered himself into a chair firmly ensconced in the gathering of furniture.

Digby strutted in with an air of superiority. The King was nothing if not a performer.

Henri sat near Niles. Digby pulled a chair over from the table near the window.

“Spill your budget, Jonquil,” Aldric said. “How deep in the mud are you?”

They had undertaken discussions like this before. The six of them—seven while Stanley had still been alive—had pulled each other out of any number of scrapes over the years. He knew better than to think they’d let him shrug his way out of a full reckoning this time.

With a sigh, he dragged a chair over and plopped down among them. “Things are rough, I’ll admit, but we’ve been doing better, Julia and I. We’ll sort it out.” He assumed his most confident, unconcerned expression.

They all exchanged looks but not withhim.

“Why do I feel like I am being left out of a silent conversation?”

Niles didn’t often speak for the group, but he did then. “Our jester is wearing his mask.”

“You think I’m playing a part?”

Digby answered. “Your ability to laugh during difficulties and pretend everything is fine has been a godsend at times. But you can’t hide from this, Lucas. You have to fix it. Julia deserves as much.”

“What about me?” Lucas asked with a laugh.

“Juliadeserves—”

“‘Be ye kind one to another.’” Henri was forever pulling them back from the precipice of bad form, often laughingly quoting holy writ or sage adages.

Aldric held up a hand, bringing everything to a halt. He pointed at Kes. “Give us the details.”

“I’ve been here as well,” Digby objected.

Aldric was unmoved. “We need details, not drama.”

Digby conceded the point with a regal shrug.

“My letters to all of you covered the arranged and unwanted nature of this marriage, the very vocal objections of the bride and groom.” Kes listed the issues much the way one would the various assets of a horse one hoped to purchase. Grumpy Uncle could be infuriatingly logical at times. “Since I wrote to you, they’ve arrived here. The house has been divided into areas the new Lady Jonquil is permitted to traverse and those she isn’t.”

Three pairs of shocked eyes turned to Lucas.

“That’s notentirelyaccurate.”

Kes continued. “The Jester’s made a little headway, but Julia continues to keep her distance. The King and I have helped where we can. Lucas danced with her, which sent her running away in apparent horror.”

“Again, notentirelyaccurate.”

“And he flirted with her,” Digby added, “which thoroughly confused her.”

“Est-ce vrai?” Henri, loyal friend that he was, seemed to doubt the accounting. “Lucas has flirted with young ladies before. I have heard no whisper of him being inept in such things.”

“Perhaps they were all simply sparing his feelings,” Digby suggested with a look of pity tossed in Lucas’s direction.

“The lot of you are nothelping.”

“Sounds to me as thoughyouaren’t helping either,” Aldric said.

Lucas pushed out a tense breath. “How do I fix this when I don’t entirely know what’s wrong?”

“You let us help you,” Niles said. “It’s why we’re here.”

---