The Abduction of Julia (36 page)

“But everyone knows what has happened.”

“Of course they do; they will talk of nothing else all day. The next question is how you will react.”

“And how will I react?”

“Like a princess, my dear. Refuse to acknowledge the event in any way. Act as if that newspaper is exactly what it is: a scurrilous publication that prints nothing but lies.”

“That seems easy enough.”

“Oh, no.”
The old woman’s brilliant blue eyes narrowed in warning. “It will take all the nerve you’ve got and a little more, for there are bound to be a few awkward moments
.“

“I’m getting good at those,” Julia said glumly.

Maddie’s mouth twitched into a smile. “The Dowager said tonight’s charity ball will be a shocking squeeze. We couldn’t ask for a finer opportunity to put a damper on the whole mess.”

“I certainly hope we can pull this off. Alec promised his grandfather he would keep the fortune away from Nick.”

“Leave it to me.” Maddie rubbed Ephram’s stomach with the toe of her shoe. “I’ll call on Almira this morning and ask for her help. If she comes out in our corner, we need have no fear. Everyone will follow her lead.”

Julia’s shoulders sagged. “The Dowager may not wish to assist me. The newspaper article was quite explicit.”

“Nonsense.
Almira knows which way the wind blows; she’ll be anxious to help.” Maddie’s face softened. “You’ve made quite an impression on her, Julia.
On several people, in fact.
Don’t worry; we’ll muddle through this. I don’t mean to say there’s not been damage, for there has. But we’re far from lost.”

Julia nodded, trying to reconcile herself to the thought of an entire evening spent under the harsh, knowing stare of the
ton
, tittering behind their gloved hands at her discomfort. Still, if there was even the slightest chance she could help Alec, she would do it, even if it killed her. “Thank you, Aunt Maddie. I was hoping you would see a way through this.”

“So I shall. Now tell me, my dear, what do you intend to wear this evening?”

As Maddie had predicted, the Dowager Duchess of Roth was outraged at the liberties taken by a newspaper she had no compunction calling a slanderous rag. Furthermore, once Maddie had finished edifying her ladyship about how Julia had been rudely cut by Lady Harrington, a woman they both heartily detested, the Dowager became so incensed she demanded that Julia and Alec be her guests of honor at the charity ball.

As a result, an elegant carriage equipped with the Roth crest arrived at Hunterston House to carry Alec and Julia to the ball as a visible sign of her favor.

Julia brushed a hand over the lush velvet cushions. “Nice carriage.”

Alec’s gaze flickered across her. “Yes, it is.”

It was the most he’d said to her since this morning’s scene. Julia folded her hands in her lap and sighed. She couldn’t fault him for his anger. She even understood why he blamed her. After all, she hadn’t taken his advice on one single thing.

Julia looked out the window and pulled her cloak closer, wishing the evening were already over. Aunt Maddie had seen to every detail of Julia’s costume, from the cut of the bodice to the bronze satin slippers festooned with amber crystals. She flexed her foot and winced. Pretty the slippers might be, but they pinched her feet hideously. Drat Nick for forcing her to this measure. She’d take great delight in telling him exactly what she thought of his antics.

The silence lengthened and Julia cast a surreptitious glance at her forbidding husband. He was elegantly dressed in black, an emerald nestled in the snowy folds of his cravat. He stared straight ahead, arms crossed, his mouth an unyielding line. To Julia, he looked every inch the Devil he was named. As she stared, he rubbed his jaw and winced as his hand brushed where a faint bruise lingered.

Mrs. Winston had told her how Alec had gained his bruised jaw. Julia couldn’t imagine that pummeling the author of the article had accomplished anything worthwhile, but if it had afforded Alec some relief, then so be it. In her opinion, Mr. Everard deserved more than a punch in the nose for his part in this dastardly plan.
Much more.

Julia toyed with the edging of her cloak. “Do you think there will be many people tonight?”

Alec looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, his gaze suddenly narrowing. “Where are your spectacles? You didn’t break them, did you?”

She flushed. “No.” That was another of Aunt Maddie’s suggestions, one Julia was sure she would regret.

Alec frowned and looked as if he would say more, but the coach rumbled up the graceful drive of Roth House. Its lights ablaze, the stately manor shimmered in the twilight. A footman placed a step by the door and Alec assisted her down, his silver gaze brushing across her for an intense moment. Looking quickly away, Julia clutched the cloak tighter and entered the foyer.

The Dowager had spared no expense to ensure her charity ball would be the event of the season. Yards and yards of gold silk swathed the entryway, which was brightly lit with fanciful golden lamps. A deep red ori-ental rug had been rolled across the marble floor. Julia felt as she if were arriving in a strange exotic land.

“Your cloak.”

Julia gave a start at Alec’s voice so close to her ear. She reached up to untie her cloak and for one horrifying moment, she wondered what she had been thinking to let Maddie talk her into this. But it was too late now. Taking a deep breath, Julia pulled the bow loose and allowed Alec to slide the cloak from her shoulders.

Cool air immediately chilled her neck and shoulders and brushed across the tops of her breasts, exposed by her low decolletage. Alec stilled, his cold gaze raking down the length of her body. She knew what he saw, for she’d stared at herself in the mirror a full half hour before she’d gathered the courage to leave her room, even wrapped in the concealing cloak.

The dress was simply, but seductively made. Heavy bronze-colored silk molded her body, outlining the shape of her breasts, the rounded contours of her hips,
the
curve of her thigh. A delicate lace overskirt the color of heavy cream served to emphasize the sensuous cling of the silk, drawing the eye to the length of her legs. A single bronze feather nestled in her curls and wrapped about her face, brushing silkily across one of her shoulders with every move.

Julia had never worn anything so daring. In one way, it was terrifying and she wondered if she dared breathe. In another way, it was exhilarating to think of
herself
the center of attention—or so Maddie had assured her.

Alec swore under his breath and held out her cloak. “Put this back on.”

Julia swallowed her disappointment. While she hadn’t expected his mouth to drop open in astonishment, a simple “You look nice” would have been pleasant. Shoring up her irritation, she turned from him.

“Damn it, Julia.” His breath brushed against her ear, as heated as his temper. “Put your cloak back on before anyone sees you.”

Another couple had just entered the foyer and were handing their wraps to the footman.

Julia waved at them and smiled, though she had no idea who they were. “Oops.
Too late.”

Alec’s fingers dug into her elbow as he pulled her to the corner and further from the line of guests. “We will go home and you will change.”

“I can’t. If I were to appear in two different gowns in one evening it would cause talk, and we don’t need more.”

Julia recognized the next arrivals as Lord and Lady Eston, and she nodded to them. Lord Eston immediately returned the greeting, his gaze raking over her with approval. Lady Eston turned away, nose in the air, pulling her reluctant husband after her.

The simple brilliance of Maddie’s strategy was suddenly plain. If Julia could just win half the people at tonight’s ball to her side, perhaps she could turn the tide of this latest disaster.
Even if that half was of the male persuasion.

If such silliness would save the fortune for Alec and the Society, she would be a fool not to at least give it a try. She caught Lord Eston’s appreciative stare as he waited to greet his hostess. Julia returned his smile with what she hoped was a seductive grin. For a second he looked astonished, and then his face softened into an answering smile.

Well! That wasn’t too difficult.
One down, two hundred to go.
She straightened her shoulders and decided to allow the clinging silk to do its magic.

Alec swore and caught her arm in a powerful grip. “What in the hell are you doing? Trying to prove what that newspaper article said is true?”

She plastered a smile on her face and said in a calm, rational voice, “My father used to say the best way to take a hit is square on the chin.”

“I have had enough hits for one day, madam. You will put your cloak back on and we will return home.”

Julia’s patience fled. She had as much to lose as he. She yanked free from his hold and planted her fists on her hips, heedless of the way the silk dress crumpled beneath such harsh treatment.
“Nonsense.
That article wasn’t about you; it was about me. If 1 can stand it, so can you. Aunt Maddie and I have a plan, so stop complaining.”

He looked at her bared shoulders. “
This
is a plan?”

“Of course.
And a good one, too.”
She hoped.

“I was a fool to ever put you in the way of that woman.” Yet, despite his churlish tone, he did not stop his intense perusal.

As his gaze touched on the curve of her breasts rising over the bronze silk, Julia shivered, her heart thumping an extra beat for good measure. “Aunt Maddie said the
ton
would forgive anything if one were interesting enough and had position or money.”

“We only have the money until my meeting with the executors tomorrow.”

“But we have it today,” she said brightly. “Now all we need is to become interesting.”

“Well, you have certainly made a start,” Alec said, wondering if he should just toss the cloak over her head and be done with it. But the hopeful glow in her emerald eyes held him in check. She truly believed she could help with such an obvious ploy.

Despite his apprehension, Alec had to admit Maddie had done her work well. No man would look at Julia this evening without wondering if what lay beneath the clinging silk was as luscious as it appeared. Never had her eyes appeared so deep a green, her skin so brilliant, her body more enticing. Worse, the tantalizing scent of cinnamon wafted from her honey-colored ringlets with every move, making him remember their one night of passion in vivid, intense, painful detail.

Alec
sighed
his defeat and motioned one of the footmen to take the cloak. “In the future, you will ignore
all
of Aunt Maddie’s plans. That woman can be dangerous.”

Julia awarded him with a brilliant smile before peering around the room, the bronze feather pinned in her hair smacking him across the face. Alec waved it away. “If you are looking for Lady Birlington, she always sits near the refreshment table so she can gawk.”

“Oh, no.
I wasn’t looking for Aunt Maddie. Do you see Nick?” Her voice deepened. “I want a word with him.”

The gown suddenly took on new meaning. Her careful preparation was not for him. She had worn the dress for the man she loved.

Something must have shown in his face for she laid her hand on his arm. “Are you well?”

“I was just thinking I should have brought my dueling pistols.” Pride lifted the corners of his mouth into a hollow smile. “No doubt all your would-be admirers will want to fight.”

A pleased flush tinted her cheeks. “I feel silly in this dress. I’m likely to laugh if I catch sight of myself in the mirror.”

From where she stood, her arm almost brushing his, Alec could see the tantalizing rise of her breasts above the bodice. The gown moved with her every breath, a gleam of gold playing across the bronze that drew the eye. Every satiny inch of the sinuous silk begged to be touched. He wanted to slide it up her long, smooth legs, across the luscious curve of her hip and to her narrow waist. He wanted to free her breasts from the bodice and tease them into delicious submission.

He cleared his throat. “No one will laugh, Julia. You look beautiful.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and he cursed himself for being a fool. She didn’t wish to hear such drivel from him. He was saved by Lucien’s arrival.

“Good God,” the duke murmured, stopping in front of Julia. He lifted his quizzing glass and regarded her from bronze feather to slippered feet. “Behold, the moth has become a butterfly.”

Julia frowned. “Moths don’t become butterflies, Wexford. Caterpillars become butterflies.”

His lips twitched and he sent an amused glance toward Alec before bowing. “I beg your pardon, Lady Hunterston. It just seemed rude to call you a caterpillar.”

“It was rude to call me a moth, too. Disgusting creatures! One ate a hole in my favorite bonnet last winter.”

He chuckled. “Though you look an angel, you are still very much our Julia. I am only surprised Alec will allow you to wear such, ah, fashionable attire, lovely though it is.”

Alec scowled at his friend’s levity. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“Lucien, pray do not tease Alec. It was Aunt Maddie’s idea. It is either this, or Alec and I can just go home and wait for the executors to take all the money.”

Lucien grinned. “I find it hard to imagine you sitting at home and waiting on anything.”

Her chin squared in a way that made Alec want to kiss her until she flushed with passion. He leaned forward to murmur in her ear, “You are the most damnable woman, do you know that?”

“So I’ve heard,” she replied, casting him a startled glance before coloring an adorable pink.

Lucien cleared his throat. “Pardon me. We should move out of the entryway. People are starting to stare.” He took Julia’s arm and led her toward the receiving line. “May I claim the first dance?”

Alec tucked Julia’s hand into the crook of his arm, pulling her from Lucien’s side. “The first dance is mine.”