Page 59 of Unmasking a Wicked Marquess
“Badmouthed you, I know.” Edward shrugged, still not caring. “That was all a long time ago, and it hardly affected your business, did it? You have raced the king’s horses ever since, regardless. I still do not see what any of that has to do with Lady Juliet.”
“You are insistent,” Philip murmured, still not picking up his glass of claret as he glared at Edward. “You are insistent on seeing her as something separate from her family.”
Edward wished to make more of an argument: that he wasn’t sure they should see the family as enemies at all, but he didn’t get a chance to speak.
“Let me speak plainly, Edward. That family is not to be trusted. If you continue to stare at the daughter, then you will simply be persuading me that your loyalty to this family–”
“You question my loyalty?” Dumbstruck, Edward turned his body to face his father completely. Philip’s face was blushing a deep shade of red. Unable to bear this discussion any longer, Edward sought to distract his father, to throw off his suspicions entirely.
“I’m flummoxed, considering all that I do for this family, all I do foryou.”A hint of guilt appeared on Philip’s face, but Edward pushed on regardless. “Lady Juliet may be a beautiful woman, Father, and I cannot help noticing that, but that is as far as it goes. You need not fear anything from me. Is that understood?”
Philip nodded curtly and snatched up his glass. Apparently having heard everything he wished to hear, he returned to the dining room.
Edward took a large gulp from his own glass and topped it up again.
“Edward?” Amelia had crept up on him, and Edward jumped, in danger of spilling the claret everywhere. “Is everything well?”
“Yes, perfectly,” Edward said tightly, though his mother plainly didn’t believe him. For a change, rather than say anything, Amelia took his arm and offered comfort with her smile. She drew him towards the dining room, and he was thankful indeed for her silent support.
As he entered the dining room, his eyes slid to Juliet. She had a vacant spot beside her at the table, and the way she looked at him, she clearly hoped he would take it.
I must protect you from my father’s suspicion.
He pointedly sat at the other side of the table beside his mother instead.
***
I knew it. I knew he regretted it.
Juliet didn’t say a word to anyone as she ate her dinner. She kept replaying the way that Edward had said they needed to speak of something earlier in the woods that day. She had been so certain from that look of seriousness in his expression that he was going to say it was the one and only time they could ever be together in such a way that she had been eager to escape him fast.
Now, there was no doubt in her mind. He sat at the far end of the table, refusing to speak to her and even refusing to catch her eye throughout the meal.
“It was a successful day indeed,” the Duke of Lantham declared rather loudly at the table. The hubbub of different conversations died down a little as many listened to his words.
“I am sure the king will be delighted with all the work you do with his horses,” the Duke of Darby joined in eagerly. “Why, one of your horses left the rest eating dirt today. What a lark it was!” General laughter joined in this conversation, but there was one man who plainly didn’t laugh.
Juliet looked up to see her father sitting opposite her. He stared down at his wine glass, tapping the spindle rather persistently. Cecily placed her hand over his, subtly on the table, calming the action.
“It seems no other can come near the horses that your son trains so well,” the Duke of Darby went on as others joined in, all praising the good work Edward had done.
Once more, Juliet attempted to catch his eye, but he refused. Edward was smiling rather comfortably, seeming perfectly at ease in that room, unlike her own family, who were now all shifting in their seats.
“Tell us your secrets, My Lord.” The Duke of Darby elbowed Edward, trying to get him to talk. “How do you see so many races won by your own horses?”
“They cheat,” Robert mumbled, but it was so quietly that only Cecily and Juliet heard him. Cecily laid a hand on his again, silencing him, and Juliet glared at her father. She could see heat rising in his cheeks, making him turn a bright shade of crimson red, but he said nothing more.
“Ah, our secrets are for us alone to know,” Edward said with ease. “Hard work is something we all know, though, and without doubt, that is the chief reason why our horses do so well, and the jockeys too. They all play their part, and it is certainly not down to my work alone.”
The modesty and kindness of the words made Juliet want to smile again. She looked at him, but he gave no sign of even knowing she existed.
It’s as if this afternoon never happened at all.
***
“My Lady? Please sit down. You’ll wear the floorboards thin.” Meg’s attempt at a jest did nothing to lighten Juliet’s spirits, though.
She was impatiently waiting for the time she could go down to breakfast, already fully awake, dressed, and with her hair pinned into an updo.
