Mistletoe, Marriage, and Mayhem: A Bluestocking Belles Collection Page 14

  "It's the way of society, Julia. You know that. I regretted that our childhood had to end, but I had to put it all behind me as pleasant memories and move on to the next phase of my life." He shrugged. "I wasn't thinking of marriage then, of course. Too much else happening."

  She nodded. "Growing up. I understand, Oliver. I wasn't best pleased when Mother forced me to take music lessons and learn deportment and embroidery and all manner of ladylike drudgery either."

  Encouraged, he smiled and continued. "It was well worth it, I assure you. I could not take my eyes off you from the first, and I could see that I wasn't the only gentleman appreciative of your charms. I shall always regret that I allowed my pride to keep us apart for so many years, my love. But when I looked at you, I saw a beautiful woman who deserved much more than a mere banker's grandson making a pittance in a lowly clerk's office."

  Julia shook her head. "Oliver—"

  He put his hands up. "Oh, I know. It was such a small thing. Grandfather would have made it right for us, provided a house, increased my allowance, given me a promotion. He's wished for this all along, you know. But—I hadn't earned it yet, Julia. I was still trying to prove myself worthy of my birthright. I wasn't ready to take on the responsibility of a wife and family until I could be certain I wouldn't turn out an abject failure like my father."

  Julia clasped his arm and looked at him directly. "I would have waited, Oliver. I was young and just as ill-prepared as you to take on such adult responsibilities. But that doesn't explain… Kate. You had five years after that night to prove yourself worthy—and then you married her. My best friend."

  She dropped his arm, and her chin trembled. "She knew, you know. She knew how I felt about you, and she stole you for herself. I've never felt more betrayed in my life as when she informed me of your engagement. But what could I do? Nothing at all! The two of you had fallen in love, and it was all settled."

  A sudden coldness jolted Oliver at his core. She knew? Kate had known of Julia's feelings for him all along? All the stories she'd recounted of Julia being courted by earls' heirs and the most exalted eligible gentlemen of the ton and how she was expected to marry even higher than her two younger sisters had. He wanted to pound a fist on the table next to him. Kate had used her friendship with Julia to trick him into marrying her, and in doing so, had betrayed both of them and caused Julia years of suffering.

  "Ah, Julia." It wasn't nearly enough. But what else could he say? Kate had played them both. And now she was dead, leaving little Violet as a constant reminder. Could he ever forgive her? Could Julia ever forgive either of them?

  ***

  Alarmed at Oliver's obvious agitation, Julia was almost glad when Emma bustled into the room, surprised to see them still there.

  "Haven't you given him his tour yet, my dear? I would do it myself if I could, but I have to slip out for an appointment. You'd best make it quick, as we have a large school group scheduled for two o'clock, and the place will be jammed with adolescents."

  She pulled on her coat and picked up her handbag. "It's been a pleasure to meet the two of you."

  After she had gone, Julia looked at Oliver. "We'd best be on our way too. It's still a bit of a walk to Kensington Palace. I can give you a quick tour of the treasure room, though."

  "About Kate…" he began, somewhat hesitantly. "You should know the truth about her… and our marriage."

  Julia sighed. "Yes, of course. I'm beginning to see that I wasn't the only one whose friendship she betrayed. But… perhaps not here, where we can be interrupted at any moment."

  Oliver smiled. "Of course. Lead on, my lady."

  After they'd admired the lavish tributes made to Wellington by grateful world leaders after the Battle of Waterloo, they donned their outer clothing and made their farewells to the staff. The rain had stopped, and a hint of sunshine was peeking through the clouds.

  Julia skipped down the steps. "Let me show you Hyde Park. Otherwise known as Winter Wonderland."

  Once he had recovered from his initial shock at being introduced to the twenty-first-century carnival, Oliver got in the spirit of things, gallantly buying Julia a stuffed bear dressed in a red suit and pointed hat with the word Noel printed all over it, although he was required to borrow the money to pay for it from Julia. Seeing him look longingly at the German sausages, she bought him two of them, along with a tankard of beer, which he declared was excellent. At his insistence, she laughingly managed to eat half of one sausage even though she wasn't in the least hungry. She liked the way Oliver kept her close by his side, holding her arm possessively as they made their way through the crowd of merrymakers. Well aware of the admiring glances aimed at her handsome escort, she was elated to see that he had eyes for no one but her.

  Although he was quite interested in the mechanical devices that people paid to toss them around every which way and made them scream with delight. The prospect of allowing them to do that to her made her nauseous, but, fortunately, Oliver did not suggest it. His interest seemed to be confined to the mechanics of the things and what was used to drive them. But he didn't try to linger, seemingly content to be led by her through the park and Kensington Gardens toward the palace she was so determined to see.

  Chapter Ten

  A distinct disadvantage of traveling in the future, Julia discovered, was learning of the events that were still to come in their own time. It was one thing to know that your country had eventually triumphed in the seemingly interminable war against the French, but another entirely to discover that a popular princess would marry and die in childbed soon after, leaving no heir to the throne. Life was so fragile, even for royalty. One never knew when its tenuous hold would be interrupted. The young Queen Victoria, who wouldn't be born for several years in their time, had made a love match, spawned a large family, and lost her beloved husband far too soon, mourning him for the remainder of her reign, which turned out to be a very long time.

  "It's all rather fascinating to see what the future looks like," mused Julia in between munching on a pastry, "but I wouldn't want to know too many details, such as the date of my death, or that of anyone I know. It would be like living under a death sentence."

  Following their tour of Victoria Revealed at Kensington Palace, they had stopped at a coffee shop, where she introduced Oliver to Coca Cola. He didn't care for it at all, declaring that the beverage must, in the end, burn a hole in one's belly, so she bought him a cappuccino instead.

  "Agreed," said Oliver, setting his mug on the table. "Although I suppose we are all living under a death sentence, really. We just hope for a good long life first."

  "Kate didn't have one," Julia said, giving him a significant look. "We weren't close friends then, not after your marriage. But I would never have wished for her to die at such a young age. Never to have the chance to raise her own daughter. Violet won't even remember her."

  Oliver sighed. "No. But you should know that Kate was never a happy person. She always wanted more than she had. She was dreadfully envious of you, Julia. I didn't realize it until after our marriage, but she resented your good fortune. Not just your title and wealth, but even your family. Her own parents she wrote off as fools, but for yours she had a deep respect. Kate didn't think it was fair that you had so much and she so little."

  "So she formed a scheme to attach you," Julia mused. "How did she manage it, Oliver?"

  "It was shortly after her father died. I happened to be in Sussex at the time, for my grandfather's seventy-fifth birthday, and she came to call, begging for my help. She and her mother had to be out of the vicarage by the new year to make room for the new vicar, and their only option was to beg some distant relatives in Cornwall to take them in. I offered them a cottage on the estate, but she said that her mother would never accept charity from us, and in any case, there would be rumors that I had an immoral motive in locating them on our property."

  He shook his head. "If I had had my head about me, I would have seen the fallacy of that argument. I was in Lo
ndon more than eleven months of the year at that time, and I don't believe anyone would suspect my grandfather of having designs on either one of them. But she was so distressed, and I confess I felt deeply for their predicament. As a banker, I've seen it happen quite often, you know. A man dies without making provision for his family's future, and they find themselves destitute, with few options. I didn't like seeing Kate in such a situation."

  Julia lifted an eyebrow. "No, of course not. But marriage, Oliver? Did you really think it necessary to go so far?"

  Oliver winced. "I'm afraid I played a part in that, however unwittingly. By that time, I had given up nearly all hope of ever winning your hand in marriage."

  She scowled and started to speak, but he held up his hand. "No, allow me to finish. Of course, in hindsight, I realize that from the first, I should have made clear my intention of courting you rather than assuming that my suit would not be welcome. That was my failing, and I take full responsibility for it. Kate's scheme could not have been successful had I been more willing to declare myself and risk being humiliated."

  He ran a hand through his hair. "If you recall, Julia, you and your parents were away from home that summer, visiting relatives in Ireland."

  She nodded. "Yes, we were visiting a cousin of my father's, his heir at the time. Cousin Cedric, now the sixth Lord Pendleton."

  Oliver nodded. "I've met him. He's a client of Stanton's bank."

  She raised an eyebrow. "He married one of the Stickney twins, and they live on the Pendleton estate in Hertfordshire. But what has that to do with anything?"

  "Exactly. But there was talk that the purpose of your trip was to arrange a marriage between the two of you."

  Julia frowned. "Nothing but rumor. It's true that Papa expressed such a notion when I first came out, but I disabused him of the idea from the first—without ever meeting the man—and Mama supported me. She knew it was you I wanted, Oliver." She shook her head. "But that was years ago. I hadn't realized it was still fodder for the gossips so much later."

  He sighed deeply. "Perhaps it wasn't. But I'd overheard your father mentioning it at the Hortons' ball that night, and, I confess, it confirmed my belief that my suit would not be welcome. So that when Kate informed me ever so casually that you had confided to her of your impending betrothal, I was so willing to believe it." He shrugged. "And once I thought you were permanently lost to me, I was easily persuaded that marriage to Kate was the logical thing to do. Of course, when you returned unwed and unbetrothed and remained so—and your cousin wed another lady—I did regret my actions. But it was too late. Kate was my wife, and I had to try to make the best of things."

  He grimaced. "I did try, you know. But the more I became acquainted with the real Kate—the scheming, conniving Kate beneath the facade of sweetness and innocence—the more I realized I'd been duped, and it inevitably formed a barrier between us. She responded by overspending, and, just prior to her death, gambling heavily. We quarreled about it constantly, and on the day of the accident, I had insisted that she accompany me to a dinner with a client. When the accident occurred, we were arguing rather loudly, and the next I knew, another carriage, attempting to overtake us at a high rate of speed, had toppled us into a ditch." He flinched. "The door came unlatched, and Kate was thrown out and killed instantly."

  Julia reached out and took his hands in hers. "And you've been guilt-ridden ever since, have you not? Oliver, the accident was not your fault."

  He swallowed and gave her a pained look. "No, perhaps not, but if I had not insisted on it, she would not have been in the carriage, and thus still alive. As much as I resented her duplicity, I never would have wished her dead. And yet it was her death that freed me to offer for you, which I did at the earliest opportunity. But there, too, I made a muck of things, by not confessing all to you from the start and giving you the sort of courtship you deserved."

  He looked at her with troubled eyes. "Is it too late, my love? Can you find it in your heart to forgive me and give me another chance to win you?"

  Julia's eyes filled with joyful tears. "Always, Oliver."

  He raised her hand to his lips, never losing eye contact. She shivered with pleasure at the desire in his eyes. For a long moment, they sat there, lost in a happy haze, oblivious to those around them. Eventually, they realized the daylight was fading.

  "And what now?" he inquired. "What plans have you made for the rest of the day, my lady?"

  Julia shrugged. "I hadn't made any plans. I was just doing whatever I felt like doing. Dodging all my problems, you see." She bit her lip. "I shall have to face up to them eventually, though. Sooner than I would like."

  Oliver squeezed her hand reassuringly, and suddenly, she knew she—they—could do it. They could do it together.

  She grinned. "I've spent the last of my money, so I suppose you shall have to pay the shot from here on."

  He looked at her with cautious hope. "It would be my pleasure to do so, my love. But mine is only useful in 1812. Might you be willing to consider returning there with me?"

  "Yes, I think perhaps I will," she said with a small sigh. "Alas, I fear the twenty-first century will be forced to continue without me. Although it's been a most stimulating experience, I belong in 1812."

  "With me."

  It wasn't phrased as a question.

  "I think, perhaps, you are right," she teased.

  But her heart fluttered when she looked up to see the ardent expression in his dark eyes, and she took both of his hands and squeezed them.

  Whatever turmoil awaited them in 1812, they would face it together.

  Epilogue

  December 24, 1812

  St. George's Church

  Hanover Square

  London

  Half past ten in the morning

  "Now that Julia and Oliver have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands and the giving and receiving of a ring, I pronounce that they are husband and wife, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Those that God has joined together let no one put asunder."

  The church resounded with a hearty amen, and Julia and Oliver, gloved hands joined, looked into each other's eyes and smiled. He bent down and kissed her softly on the lips before they turned to face their family and friends.

  It was done. Julia was his wife, and they would settle in their new townhouse on Manchester Square with Violet, who was already installed in the nursery Julia had prepared for her there, along with her nurse and Kate's mother, who had been caring for her since Kate's death. Mrs. O'Hara would be removing to the dower house on the Stanton estate in the spring, but Julia had not wished to traumatize the little girl by sending away too quickly the grandmother to whom she was closely attached. Julia and Violet had taken to each other almost immediately, which was not surprising really, since Julia was a doting aunt to her two nieces and a gifted storyteller. And Violet, of course, was an adorable child, with Oliver's dark hair curling around her dainty little face, and Kate's striking blue eyes and pert nose.

  Surprisingly, he no longer felt the overwhelming guilt that had plagued him so unmercifully following Kate's death. He hadn't cared for her the way a man should care for his wife, but there had been affection between them. She'd tricked him into marriage and caused Julia a great deal of heartache, but poor Kate had died in her prime and wouldn't see her daughter grow into womanhood. In view of that, it seemed petty to carry a grudge, and after a great deal of discussion, he and Julia had decided to forgive her. It wasn't like they hadn't known Kate's true character. She'd always managed to manipulate people and situations to her satisfaction. As children, they'd loved her anyway, on occasion even secretly envying her for it. Neither of them had realized the depth of her envy of Julia's status and wealth until recently, when they had shared their memories of certain incidents and put two and two together.

  Turning to his bride, stunningly beautiful in a gown of Saxon green embellished with red and gold trim that matched the C
hristmas décor of the church, he offered her his arm, and guided her proudly down the aisle toward the atrium, where his new carriage was waiting to transport them to Grosvenor Square for the wedding breakfast.

  The church was thin of guests this time, primarily because they had decided on a discreet gathering of friends and family members who would be there to witness the ceremony, and not society busybodies bent on promoting scandal. In any case, the vast majority of the polite world had retreated to their country estates for the Christmas season and were thus unavailable to attend. He nodded approvingly at his grandfather, whose improved health had made it possible for him to be present this time, and his father, sitting next to him, who appeared to be sober and on his best behavior for once. Also present on the groom's side of the church were a handful of his cronies from Oxford and their wives, Stanton family friends, and representatives from the Stanton Bank.

  Lady Pendleton was, of course, in attendance, in a gown of peacock blue embellished with rows of gold rosettes, which, according to Julia, was much more subdued than her usual apparel. Julia's sisters were there with their spouses, of course: Lady Philippa and Lord Hooper, as well as Lady Sarah and Sir Henry Newsome. Among the other guests on the bride's side were a sprinkling of cousins and aunts and other relatives, most of whom he had yet to meet, and a handful of her London friends.

  While the footmen went to fetch their coats and wraps prior to their departure, his new mother-in-law took advantage of the delay to bestow on him an enthusiastic embrace.

  "I'm so happy for the two of you," she said, blinking away a few tears. "I confess that I had my doubts after the disaster of the first wedding, but, Oliver, you proved yourself worthy of her when you faced the unknown to bring her back and treat her to a proper courtship this time."

  Oliver squeezed his wife's hand. "I've been a fool," he said easily, "but my bride has been most forgiving of my errors, and, I've found, she is quite an articulate woman when one has the sense to listen to her."