Page 66 of Unmasking a Wicked Marquess
“Yes, yes.” Philip waved a hand impatiently. “It has been decades since our horses raced against one another. I have always dropped a coin here and there to make sure it didn’t happen. I have never wanted a repeat of their argument. It seems it cannot be avoided this year. They must race against one another.”
“Perhaps this is wise.” Edward pushed the card back towards his father. “It is a chance for Lord Clarence to see we ride fair horses. We do not cheat, and we do not sabotage.”
Philip took the card distractedly and half nodded, but he did not look convinced.
“Perhaps,” he mumbled, turning and leaving quickly, heading for the stairs. Edward stared after his father, seeing, to his surprise, that there was a little fear in him. For so long, Philip had avoided the Earl of Clarence; it seemed now, with the prospect of their horses riding against one another once more, old wounds were being torn open.
Determined to speak to Juliet and discover how she felt about the matter, he walked away, heading for the nursery. He found the door and opened it wide, peering in, but there were not only no children inside but also no Juliet.
Edward took the pocket watch from his waistcoat and checked the time. It was possible she was running late. He decided to wait. Closing the door behind him, he took the chair in the corner of the room and sat down, his hand steepled in front of him as he waited for her.
Every minute or so, he kept checking his watch, and the hands slowly moved on until half an hour had passed, and he had to accept that she wasn’t coming.
Perhaps she got held up somewhere.
He hoped it to be the truth as he stood and left the room.
***
“Right, here we are,” Cecily declared, being the first to jump down from the carriage. She took Robert’s arm and led him towards the racing meet, where people gathered by the racecourse, eager for the horses to begin. Violet and her husband stepped down next, and it struck Juliet that her sister and mother were the only two in their party that seemed truly happy.
Robert walked towards the horses with a tension in his body Juliet did not recognize, and she followed behind with misery in her every step, finding it difficult to raise her head high. In contrast, Arthur followed behind her like a pup at her heels, his head turned upward, eagerly trying to talk to her every other second.
“Is it not fine weather we are having today? Such sunshine. Great for a race day, is it not?”
“Yes, it is,” she said woodenly, following her sister through the fences towards the raised seating and the fixtures board that listed the next races along with their times.
“And the grass, too. It is so beautifully cared for.”
“Yes, yes, they care for it well,” she said distractedly, for she had seen another in the crowd, a face she had been trying to avoid ever since the previous afternoon.
Edward stood with his family and Lady Clarissa. The two were talking together in conference, their heads bowed towards one another. Feeling sick, with bile rising in her throat, Juliet turned her head away.
“Perhaps I should fetch us some tea, Juliet?” Arthur offered, coming to her side and wiping his waxed hair back across his forehead with the palm of his hand.
Juliet felt too sick to drink tea, but if it offered her a moment’s peace from his attention, she would gladly accept it.
“Yes, thank you.” She forced a smile, and Arthur hopped away like an excited child, bounding through the crowds. Turning back around, Juliet met her sister’s amused gaze. “It’s not funny,” Juliet whispered.
“If our roles were reversed, you might find it amusing.” Violet took her arm consolingly. “He is sweet, you must admit that.”
“Of course I do. He is kind and attentive, too attentive. I am a woman. I am not an ornament that will fall and break like china if he does not look after it.”
“Yes, I take your point.” Violet nodded. “Well, I could cause a diversion for you?” She whispered these words in Juliet’s ear, so their mother and father stood ahead and looked over the fixtures board with Brandon, but they could not hear them. “That way, you could go to the man you actually wish to see.”
“No,” Juliet said so sharply and quickly that Violet’s eyes widened. “Thank you, but no. I … I do not wish to see him today.”
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
Fortunately, they had no further time to talk of the matter as Robert had turned back towards them all.
“It is the first race,” he said, with no small degree of anxiety and anticipation.
“What is?” Violet asked, distracted.
“The race where our horse is to go up against the Duke of Lantham’s, of course.” Robert gestured towards some seating. “Come, let us take our place, ready for the race.” He led the way across the seating.
