Page 6 of Earl for the Summer
Cassian had rarely ever heard his brother curse, rarely seen him anything but jolly. Hopeful. He wished to aid him however he was able, but he still couldn’t fathom what his role might be.
“Perhaps you should write to her. Tell her what you feel.” It was nothing Cassian could imagine doing, but he’d never wooed a lady properly. “I’m hardly one to advise you in these matters.”
“A letter won’t do. Don’t you see? In but a few hours, she’ll be at the Carstons’ ball. Tomorrow there is the Hollingsworths’ musicale in Mayfair. The Season does not stop for a man with a broken leg.”
“I see that it puts you at a disadvantage, and I’m sorry for it. When does Coates say you can be up and around?”
Julian’s face fell, and he scraped a hand over his clean-shaven cheeks. “A month. Perhaps more. The Season will be over, Cassian, and I will have lost her. No doubt, she’s already had offers.”
Cassian stood, his brother’s misery causing a stew of unease inside him. Julian was often fanciful, but in this, he seemed to have adopted a sense of practicality. If the young lady was lovely and appealing, as most were who’d been dubbed the Season’s diamond, then she would, in all likelihood, be snapped up.
“I need to be there.”
“No chance.” Cassian shook his head firmly. “A broken bone needs time to heal. Months.”
“She’ll forget me.”
Cassian stroked his beard. “Even if I helped transport you to London, you’d need to convalesce there. Not go to balls or?—”
“No, I do not wish her to see me like this. How would I compare to the bucks who surround her?” Julian twisted his hands on his lap, ducked his head, and then shot Cassian a long, beseeching look. “There is a solution.”
“Which is?”
“You must go in my stead,” Julian said in a firm, unwavering tone. “As me.”
Cassian stood, and the floor seemed to sway under him like when he was on the deck of a ship at sea. The thought of the crush, the noise, the heat of a hundred perfumed bodies preening and pontificating made him queasy in a way seasickness never had.
“No.” The reply came out without thought, immediate and unwavering.
Yet he saw the seriousness in Julian’s gaze. The resolve. As if he were nearly as hard as their father had long wished his heir would be.
Then the ridiculousness of it struck him, and he choked out a laugh.
“You cannot imagine I could fool anyone.” He needn’t stand side by side next to his twin to know how much they’d diverged in the last two decades—in appearance, in habits. Even their accents set them apart. Cassian’s had been softened the slightest bit by his time in Scotland. Julian’s was as plummy and refined as any aristocrat’s.
Julian cocked his head. “A good shave. Kit you up with suits from the best Bond Street tailor. And I’ll fill you in on Lady Selina and what I’ve learned of her interests. In truth, we’ve only danced thrice and made conversation at a few other soirees.”
“Julian…”
“I know I’m asking a great deal, but you are the one person upon whom I can ever truly rely. And I’ve never needed your help more than I do now.”
Despite the impossibility of his request, Cassian settled heavily onto the chair beside his brother’s bed. He’d never failed to help Julian. Indeed, the idea of failing him felt as impossible as whirling though London’s ballrooms.
“If she ever learned of your deception, you’d lose her entirely. Ladies do not like to be lied to.”
“There’s no chance of her being mine if I can’t be there to compete with her other suitors.”
Cassian pressed at the arch above his left eye, pressing at the hammering pain that had begun the moment he thought of entering London society. “You truly want me to wooyourlady?”
“Not thoroughly, of course,” Julian said dryly. “But dance with her?—”
“You must have forgotten that I’m dreadful at dancing.” He’d happily left all the social graces to his twin.
“Charm her a bit.”
“The last lady I charmed was an injured, surly wolfhound who I found in the woods.”
“There are only a few weeks left of the Season. You won’t be stuck in my place for long, and once those weeks have passed, I will take up my place and offer for her.”
