“Don’t be silly. We only ran into each other near the stables and so he escorted me back.”
“So you were at the stables alone together then,” Juliet smiled. “I understand now.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “You make it sound as if we were doing a lot more than speaking briefly and then walking a few steps together.”
“If it wasn’t so much, then go on and talk to him now.” Juliet steered Sarah from the drawing room and gestured to where Sir Felix was standing off to the side, speaking with Lord Cunningham and his friend, Lord Durby.
“Jules, I know he doesn’t feel the way I do. He only sees me as your best friend, maybe, if I’m very lucky, as his own friend. Nothing more.”
Juliet shot her a look. “You know nothing. They could be speaking of you right now.”
Chapter Two
“Iwant to help you.” Lord Cunningham was saying.
Felix shrugged the offer off, his pride smarting. “Stop offering. You may be my brother-in-law now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go for that duel you promised.”
Cunningham laughed. “I don’t believe I ever promised you a duel.”
It was good that the two could laugh now about the fraught days of their first meeting, when Cunningham had been found by Felix himself in a very compromising position with Juliet. Though but a year had gone by, one would never know that, at one point, these two gentlemen were nearly sworn enemies.
“And anyway, the fact that I am your brother-in-law is precisely why you should let me help you,” Cunningham pressed. “How much longer can you continue on this way without a little help? It’s just money, old man. We could call it a dowry, for Juliet’s hand.”
Felix raised a brow. “I know I’m just a bachelor, but if I am not mistaken, traditionally, the dowry is paid in the opposite direction.”
“It was worth a try.” Cunningham grinned. “Tell me truthfully, how bad is it?” he said, turning serious.
Felix shifted from foot to foot. “Must I?”
“Just tell me. Maybe we can work something out.”
“If I don’t figure something out, I’ll have to sell the land and cottage by the end of the year.”
Cunningham’s mouth fell open. “Felix… no.”
As ashamed as he was of his dire financial straits, and as much as he hated for his little sister’s husband to be aware of quite how dire that situation was, it felt good to tell the truth.
“I’ve had some hard knocks of late,” he admitted. “The houses my parents built to rent are too old and in too poor condition to be viable. I’ve thought of hiring people to work the land, perhaps with cattle, but the upfront costs are too expensive. And besides, the hilly nature of the land makes working it difficult. I’m at a loss for what to do for now.”
“Felix, you have no choice.” Cunningham’s voice had taken an insistent tone, the tone of a Marquess not often used to being denied. “You must take a bit of money from us. Imagine how Juliet would feel to learn her home and land were sold.”
“Juliet knows that people are more important than houses or land,” Felix said stubbornly. “She will get over it if she must. And besides, I’m going to figure out something before then.”
“What will you figure out? That’s not much time.”
“That’s exactly what I have to figure out,” he said, and then took a drink of the whiskey handed to him by one of the servants. “Let’s move on, I won’t hear another word about this.”
Cunningham looked as if he would argue further, but Felix spotted a figure hovering nearby and grabbed at the chance to change the subject.
“Charles,” he said to Leonard’s long-time friend, Charles Hitcock, the Earl of Durby, lifting his glass. “I didn’t see you there. Tell me, how are things? Still looking at land in France?” Felix and Charles had never become friends themselves, despite both of their relationships with Leonard, but they maintained a civil acquaintanceship. Felix was not sure why the gentleman had never warmed to him, but assumed it was due to his lack of wealth and low standing in theton.
Cunningham frowned, but Charles was quick to answer.
“I’m glad you asked. On my last trip to France, I discovered the most interesting talent in the Parisian brothels,” he said in a low voice, waggling his eyebrows. “You would notbelievethe thing the ladies do there. It’s something our English roses would never consider.”
Felix, not at all interested in what the ladies of Parisian brothels could do, tuned Charles out and scanned the garden.
Juliet did a wonderful job.
