The Accidental Countess (3 page)

Cass bit the inside of her cheek. Lucy was egregious. How long could Cass remain silent?

“I’d sent Penelope a note this morning telling her I was to be here this afternoon. I suppose she didn’t receive it,” Julian continued, obvious disappointment marking his features.

Cass longed to reach out and squeeze his hand, run her fingertips along the strong jut of his jaw. She should say something, blurt out her name. But she was having the best time just watching him, staring at his beloved face, beyond relieved to have the chance to see it again.

Lucy sat forward and poured a bit more tea for herself. “It seems we got our days confused and Miss Monroe has already left,” she informed Julian.

Cass took another deep breath. Obviously, Lucy was going to go along with Pen’s madcap scheme. She was actually going to do it, tell Julian that Pen was at her fictitious friend’s house party. This whole thing was ludicrous.

“Already left?” Julian’s burnished brows snapped together again.

“Yes, and the silly thing is that she is on her way to the same place we are.” Lucy took a small sip of tea.

“Where’s that exactly?” Julian asked.

“Why, Miss Bunbury’s house party, of course,” Lucy replied.

“Miss Bunbury’s house party?” Julian asked.

“Yes. Patience Bunbury is one of Penelope’s dearest friends. Hasn’t she mentioned her to you in her letters?”

“I…” Julian cleared his throat and shifted a bit uncomfortably in his chair. “Miss Monroe rarely writes me letters.”

Lucy’s eyebrows shot up. “Rarely writes you letters? Oh, I must be mistaken as to your identity then, Captain. I was under the impression that you and Penelope are all but engaged.” Lucy turned her face so only Cass could see and gave her a quick wink.

Cass wanted to stamp on Lucy’s foot, but at the moment, all she could do was smile and nod. She wasn’t at liberty to speak since she still hadn’t been introduced. Just the way Lucy preferred it, no doubt.

Julian looked away again and tugged at the collar of his coat. “Yes. We’re supposed to be betrothed … eventually. But I was about to say that she did mention Miss Bunbury to me in the last letter I received.”

Lucy took another tiny sip. “Ah, so you know all about her then.” Lucy sighed dramatically. “At any rate, it seems Penelope has left prematurely for Miss Bunbury’s house party, and in addition to missing us, she’s missed her intended, back from the war. Such a pity.”

“You said you are going there,” Julian replied. “I assume that means you know where this house party is?”

“Oh, yes. We know precisely where it is,” Lucy replied serenely.

“Could I trouble you to give me the direction? It’s imperative that I speak with Penelope as soon as possible.”

Lucy’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Eager to see your future bride, Captain Swift?”

He tugged at his collar again. “Something like that.”

Cass had to look away. This was excruciating. She couldn’t listen any longer. And what possible address could Lucy give him? It was preposterous. She’d have to come out with the truth now that he’d caught her in her lie.

“I’d be more than happy to share the address with you, Captain Swift.” Lucy set her teacup on the table in front of her and folded her hands on her lap. “In fact, I can do even better than that.”

“Better than the address?” Julian tilted his head in inquiry.

Cass’s insides went hot and cold. Suddenly, it all came together, the sly look Lucy had flashed, the failure to introduce her, the questions she’d asked Julian, the things she’d said.

“Yes.” Lucy turned to Cass and splayed her hands in front of her as if displaying her for the first time. “Because this is Miss Patience Bunbury right here and we would be delighted to invite you to her house party.”

CHAPTER THREE

As soon as the front door closed behind Julian, Cass forced herself to count to fifty. She ensured he was well gone from the property before she jumped up, spun around, and bore down on her closest friend.

“Lucy, how could you? How could you!”

Lucy remained serenely seated and calmly pressed her hands to her coiffure as if smoothing her dark locks. “Cass, if you’ll only sit down and think about this reasonably, you’ll see—”

Cass turned and paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. She pressed her hands against her cheeks. “Reasonably? Reasonably! I believe reason left this room over an hour ago, right around the time Pen started speaking nonsense about a person who doesn’t
exist
!”

Lucy merely raised a brow. “Sit down, Cass. Allow me to explain.”

But Cass couldn’t sit. All she could do was pace the carpet and tug at her gloves. How in heavens would she ever extract herself from this situation? Julian hadn’t said where he was going, but it stood to reason that he’d go visit his older brother, the Earl of Swifdon, in Mayfair. He would probably stay with his brother until he secured his own lodgings. Either that or … “Lucy, did you even stop to consider that Julian may now be on his way to see his closest friend,
your husband
?”

Lucy pushed up her chin. “Of course I’d thought of that.”

“And yet you still did this?”

Lucy nodded. “Yes. That’s precisely why I didn’t tell him my real name. I thought of that and several other things, and if you’d sit down and be calm for a moment, I’ll tell you exactly how this will work.”

Cass tossed her hands in the air. “It can’t work. It won’t work.”

Lucy stood up, stalked over to where Cass was pacing, grabbed her arm, and dragged her back over to the settee. “Sit!”

Cass did as she was told, then she dropped her head into her hands. “Very well, tell me. Tell me all about this addle-brained scheme of yours.”

“First of all, I take extreme exception to the fact that you just referred to my brilliant plan as an addle-brained scheme—” Cass lifted her head and opened her mouth to retort, but Lucy pointed a finger in the air. “Allow me to finish.” Cass snapped her mouth shut. “And secondly,” Lucy continued, “this is going to work perfectly.”

“You’ve just invited Julian to a nonexistent house party, given by a nonexistent person,” Cass pointed out.

“Not nonexistent, not now.” Lucy flourished a hand toward her. “You’re Patience.”

A strange strangling noise came out of the back of Cass’s throat. “That is so mad I don’t know where to begin.”

Lucy took up her teacup once more. “Don’t you see, Cass? This is the perfect opportunity. You’ve been waiting for seven years to see Julian again. You wrote him a letter telling him how much you love him, for goodness’ sake.”

“A letter I never sent,” Cass replied.

“That’s not the point. Do you or do you not love him?”

Cass took a deep breath. It was true that when she’d heard that Julian was going to die from his injuries, she’d written him a letter. Lucy, with her domineering insistence, had convinced her to. But Cass had never been able to post the letter and now she was heartily glad she hadn’t. Oh, why hadn’t Julian recognized her? Was she truly that different-looking from seven years ago? If he had recognized her she wouldn’t be caught in this awful predicament right now.

She didn’t answer Lucy. She didn’t need to. Lucy knew how much Cass loved Julian. It was hardly a secret. She’d loved him since she was a girl.

*   *   *

“Penelope, Lord Julian’s coach is coming up the lane. You’ll want to meet it.” Penelope’s mother’s voice rang through the house. It was Cass’s parents’ manor house. And it was Cass’s sixteenth birthday. Her cousin and aunt had come for the celebration. Julian Swift, Penelope’s intended, was soon to be leaving for the Continent with the army. He had decided to visit the party to say his good-byes to Penelope.

Cass’s stomach filled with nervous knots. Julian? Julian Swift? Here? On her sixteenth birthday? It was a dream come true. She would never have thought to invite him, would never have imagined he would come. But apparently, he could not delay his journey any longer and he wanted to say good-bye to his intended before he left for God only knew how long. Perhaps forever. But Cass refused to think about that. Not today.

She hurried over to the looking glass that hung on the wall of her bedchamber and took a good look at her reflection. Her eyes were too big for her small, pale face. Her hair was lanky and a nondescript color. Her lips too wide, her nose too small. And those freckles weren’t helping anything at all. She was a fright, a sixteen-year-old fright. Perhaps she would be beautiful one day, but today was not that day. Today she was too thin and too scrawny and too everything. Too nervous, also. Mustn’t forget too nervous. The only good thing was her gown. It was ice blue. It brought out the bit of color in her eyes and didn’t make her skin look too, too pale. Her mother had had the gown made specifically for her birthday celebration and Cass looked good in it. Well, as good as she was going to look with the rest of the fright to go along with it.

“Must I speak with him, Mother?” Penelope replied in what could only be described as a petulant tone.

Cass swung around to stare at her cousin. All she could do was blink. “You do not wish to see Lieutenant Swift?” It made no sense to her. How could her cousin not want to see her intended?

“He’s not even a lieutenant,” Pen shot back. “He’s a second lieutenant, just received his commission.”

Cass didn’t see how that mattered. “But he’s … he’s … your intended.” Not to mention he was handsome, kind, strong, sincere, and absolutely wonderful. All of the times Cass had been in his company, she’d been positively mesmerized by him. Pen was a lucky, lucky young woman.

“He is not,” Pen retorted, crossing over the thick carpet and staring at herself in the same looking glass that Cass had recently abandoned. “He’s not my intended yet. Nothing is settled definitely.”

Pen’s mother plunked her hands on her hips. “I don’t care if he’s a cadet. He’s going to be your husband one day and he’s made the trip all the way out here to say good-bye to you before he leaves. You’ll do him the courtesy of speaking with him.”

Pen rolled her eyes and stuffed a fat brown curl behind her ear. “If you insist, Mother.”

“I most certainly do. Now, I’ll go and greet him. You come down to the rose salon in ten minutes, miss.”

Pen’s mother strode from the room, giving her daughter a stern stare.

“I wish she wasn’t so set on my match with Julian Swift,” Penelope said, after her mother had vacated the room. “For all I know he’ll be gone for five entire years.
Five years!
Can you imagine?”

Cass shook her head. In part because she truly couldn’t imagine Julian being gone for such a long time and in part because the thought brought tears to her eyes and she was already desperately fighting them. “No,” she murmured. “I cannot.”

“He might not even return at all,” Pen pointed out.

Cass could only nod, but her cousin’s words stung her heart.

“I may never see him again,” Pen added.

Cass walked silently back over to the looking glass and took her cousin’s hand. “Is that why you don’t want to speak to him, Pen? You’re afraid of getting close. In the event that he … d-dies.” She closed her eyes on that last word. Unthinkable. Unimaginable.

“Not really,” Pen replied, tugging her hand from Cass’s grasp. “I just cannot bear to think of myself growing old and ugly waiting for a man who might not be coming back. It’s completely unfair, don’t you think?”

Surely Pen didn’t know how harsh her words sounded. Surely she didn’t mean them the way they came across.

“I’m sorry, Pen,” Cass said simply. “It must be quite difficult for you.”

“You’ve no idea,” Pen replied. “And I’m sorry, too. Sorry that Mother and Father chose a second son with a target on his back to be my groom. I know I’m not the best catch of the Season, but surely they could find me someone who isn’t about to go cavorting all over Europe. They only want this match so that they can be connected to the Swifdon title.”

Cass couldn’t disagree with her cousin. It was true that the Swifdons were an illustrious family. But how could Pen not want Julian? Tall, handsome, kind Julian? Why, Cass had been in love with him since the day she’d first seen him.

“What are you going to do, Pen?” Cass smoothed her hands down her skirts.

“What can I do?” Pen asked with a sigh. “I’m going to have to go speak with him. Say good-bye.” Just then, Pen’s eyes lit with fire. “Do me a favor, Cass. Come and save me in five minutes.”

Cass blinked rapidly. “Save you?”

“Yes. Come down to the rose salon and interrupt. Tell me you’re about to begin the celebration or something. Anything. I cannot bear to stay there and endure an awkward discussion with Lieutenant Swift for Lord knows how long.”

Cass shook her head. She couldn’t imagine not wanting to savor what might well be her last moments on earth with Julian. “Oh, no, I cannot—”

“Of course you can. Do it, please. For me?” Pen squeezed Cass’s shoulder and flew from the room saying, “Thank you, Cass, you’re such a dear,” on her way out as if Cass had agreed.

Shaking, Cass turned slowly and took another look in the mirror. She’d gone white as a ghost, whiter, even, than she had been before if such a thing were possible. Perhaps she’d turn translucent next. Translucent with freckles, what a lovely combination. She sighed. What was she to do? Pen was expecting her to barge in on her last private moments with her future husband and interrupt them. Cass paced in front of the mirror, pondering it all for a moment. There was
one
good thing to consider.

If Cass did it, in the end she’d be alone with Julian. Possibly.

Very well, she would do it. It was her birthday after all, wasn’t it? What better birthday present could she ask for than a stolen moment with the man she loved?