“Be warned what you are taking on, Your Grace.” Lord Finch was exasperated, passing a hand through his hair. “She speaks so easily these days.”
“What of it?” Edward made his tone nonchalant, despite the fact he was tempted to be sharp. “I’d sooner that than have a silent wife afraid to speak to me.” Edward returned his eyes to Julia, finding her smiling back at him.
“Hmm, that may change in time.” Lord Finch reached for the door another time. “Heed my warning though. Do not make an enemy of Lord Gillet. It will not serve any of us well.” He left quickly, leaving Edward and Julia alone staring at one another, with the maid chaperoning seeming utterly uninterested in her embroidery.
Edward waited until he heard another door close in the distance, ensuring that Lord Finch was gone for good before he spoke again.
“Has your father always spoken in such a way?” he asked intently, gesturing to the door behind him.
“It is who he is.”
“And your mother? He speaks to her in such a way too?”
“My mother bears the brunt of his dislike for a woman’s point of view.” Julia fiddled with the book in her grasp before lifting it between them and offering a smile. “I wanted to thank you for this. I cannot tell you how much I like it.”
“You are more than welcome, but I am not done on this other subject yet.” He walked toward her and placed a hand over the book, lowering it between them gently. It meant her eyes met his, never once darting elsewhere. The amber color struck him once again. “I wish to make a vow to you, Julia. I want you to know, I would never be like that. I could never think like your father nor say such things.”
Julia smiled. The effect was sudden and lit up her face.
“For a minute, Edward, it sounded as if you and I were really to be wed.”
It did… did it not?
Edward swallowed, finding his mouth was suddenly dry. How could he tell Julia that the idea of marrying her was not something that abhorred him but thrilled him? He couldn’t. Not when she had sworn off marriage altogether.
“Why are you here, Edward?” she asked, clearing her throat and affecting a relaxed tone, as if they hadn’t just been talking of something so serious.
“To issue an invitation.” Edward stood taller, making his tone more formal. It felt foreign to him. He was never formal with Julia. The mere thought of being formal with her after what had passed on his desk between them made something in his stomach curdle. “Tomorrow night there is to be a ball at my friend’s house, Lord Rutley. Would you come as my guest?”
“Another opportunity to prove to thetonour betrothal is real?” she asked softly.
I suppose so.
Though inside Edward, more words wanted to come forth. He clamped his lips shut instead, keeping the thought locked away.