Page 60 of Lord Trafford's Folly
The earl’s brows drew together in a perplexed frown. “Julius offered you marriage?”
“He did.”
Lord Stirling scrutinized her, cocking his head as if seeing her for the first time. He was a busy man, frequently tied up with his duties to the Crown. Audrey had no complaints; he had collected her from Stirling and taken her into his home with no indication of impatience. She understood he had had little time to take note of her, and they did not know each other all that well. But he seemed to notice her now with a studied interest. He raised a hand to rub his clean-shaven chin, his blue eyes intrigued.
“Then there is no doubting that you are unique, Miss Gideon. I was prepared for him to put up a great resistance to being wed. That he will marry you willingly … You may have done me a great favor by bringing him up to scratch. I thought … Well, never mind that.”
Guilt and remorse flashed through her mind. Julius had made the offer to salvage her reputation. She still had to prove herself by winning his regard as a wife, or they would be forced to part when he pursued other more enticing paramours. The thought of losing him was enough to make her tear. Reading Casanova’s memoirs was proving more difficult than she had anticipated, which meant she yet had no inkling how to win the heart of such a contrary buck.
“Thank you, my lord.”
“Is this what you want? I feel I may have neglected my duties as a guardian. We should have discussed the future before now.”
Audrey fortified her courage. This was her chance to make her wishes known, at least in this one subject, and she did not know when she might be granted another opportunity to do so. It was imperative she forge her path, or she would continue to be bandied back and forth by the determination of others.
“I wish to be a healer. My father taught me much over the years, and it is my earnest desire to care for the health of others.”
The earl grew thoughtful, considering what she had declared while the ormolu clock on the mantel announced the passing of seconds. “It is remiss of me to not have known this. As a future countess, you cannot engage in paid work, but it is customary for ladies of the household to care for the tenants’ needs. Your father was a skilled physician, and I would be gratified to have his apprentice help me with the welfare of the servants and tenants on my many estates. There are issues that you can assist me with in the coming days.”
Audrey beamed, pleased to hear the earl would support her contribution. She knew that the apothecaries’ guild might never allow her into their ranks, but she could forge an alternate path for herself with his patronage, which would make it much easier to be accepted by the villagers in Stirling. Through the earl, she could reach thousands of people with her knowledge.
Now if she only knew how to impose her wishes on her betrothed. She hoped she did not disappoint Lord Stirling’s hopes that she could manage his son. Not only would failing break her heart, but it would prove humiliating within her new family, too.
CHAPTER 18
“I leave to others the decision as to the good or evil tendencies of my character.”
Giacomo Casanova
“You are my heir, Julius! You could have been killed!”
“You have Pierce if something happens to me! No need to fret about heirs,” Julius barked back.
Lord Stirling paused his pacing to glare at Julius with a pained expression. His features eased. “I meant to say … you are myson, and your loss would have been a terrible tragedy.”
Julius frowned, perplexed by this strange version of his father, who had returned home with his mother. “Never say you would mourn my death? I thought I was an incorrigible lout?”
“Both can be true,” snarled Lord Stirling in irritation.
Julius grinned. “I am gladdened to hear you have not completely lost your character, Father. For a moment there, I thought your trip to Paris had tamed you into a domesticated pet.”
The earl stared at him, tensing his jaw while clearly searching for a rebuke. His father was excellent at concealing his thoughts, which was why it was up to Julius to press him into genuine reactions. He did not wish for his father to harden into a cold marble statue, after all. It was, Julius theorized, important to the earl’s flexibility that he be provoked with frequency.
This time, however, instead of breaking into a scathing rant about Julius’s deplorable behavior, the earl continued to glare at him until, suddenly, he burst into a gale of laughter.
Julius flinched, taken aback by the echo of his youth, when his father had been more exuberant.
His father caught his breath. “I believe it isyouwho has been tamed, son.”
Julius grimaced. Nauseatingly so. If his father had not insisted on this audience, he would be making reparations to Audrey for his much-lamented offer of non-marriage. He had yet to speak with her since his revelation on the terrace, but his father had caught him heading inside, so he was unfortunate to be entrenched in the study for a scolding. He supposed he must get this out of the way, so he could focus his energies on recovering his romance with his Audrey.
He made a sound that was something between a growl and a groan. What if Audrey did not lovehim? Perhaps she wished for the marriage in name only?
That was a dreadful thought to consider. He had still to reconcile himself to being besotted with his betrothed, and building a future with her. If it turned out to be for naught, and Audrey did not wish for something more, he would be sorely disappointed. They had not spoken since breakfast, and he wasworried about her. He hoped her unexpected meeting with his father had not traumatized her.
His father arched a flaxen eyebrow in question.
Julius gritted his teeth, put out that he was revealing his emotions thus. “It is true! I am … partially … tamed.”
