Page 10 of Forget Me Not

Lord Farland gave him one, nonetheless. “She has grown headstrong these past years.”

Lucas smiled despite his heavy mind. “Julia has always been headstrong.”

Lord Farland as well as his parents shook their heads. Apparentlythisstubbornness was new. If something was the matter with Julia, he didn’t mean to stand about doing nothing.

“Pardon me,” he said to the room as he left, following in her wake.

She’d moved swiftly enough to already be out of sight. Which way would she have gone? Outside? A sitting room? Her bedchamber?

Lucas made his best guess and headed in the direction of the family wing. His legs were longer than hers; he caught up to her as she turned down the corridor toward her bedchamber. “Julia, please wait.”

To his relief, she stopped. She turned and watched him approach with an expression one could only accurately describe as annoyed.

“Are you so opposed to the ball as this?” He took her hand. She pulled it immediately away. Just as she had before. When they were younger, he’d always been permitted to hold her hand. And she’d always been happy to see him. He couldn’t account for the change.

“You don’t powder your hair.” Why that observation fell so suddenly from his lips he didn’t know.

“I refuse to adopt a fashion I find ridiculous simply because it is all the rage.”Therewas the stubborn fire he’d seen in her as a girl.

“I powder my hair,” he pointed out.

“I know,” she said dryly.

He laughed. How could he not? “Mother and Father host the liveliest entertainments. You’ll enjoy yourself at the ball. And I’m certain some of those who’ve moved away will be in attendance.”

“Then you should have a fine time.” So distant.

“Are you angry with me?”

“No.” She spoke quite matter-of-factly.

“You seem to be.”

Her sigh was both frustrated and weary. “You’ve been gone a long time, Lucas. You do not know me as well as you think you do.”

“So come to the ball,” he said. “That will give us the opportunity to get reacquainted.”

“I already said I would go.”

She had, actually. He was more than a little upended. She was behaving so strangely.

“And you’ll dance with me there?” he asked.

She very nearly rolled her eyes; he could tell she almost had. “If torture is required of me, I will endure it.”

He narrowed his gaze, studying her, trying to sort out the mystery she presented. “At what point did dancing with me become torture?”

“I do not enjoy social gatherings.”

He’d managed to tease her out of her worries and heavy moods in the past, rare as they had once been. With a bit of effort, he could do so now. “I will make it my personal goal for that evening to see to it you are pleasantly surprised by the festivities. I’d even be willing to place a wager on it.”

Her head tilted to the side. “What would the forfeit be?”

He pretended to be shocked. “The promise of gambling captured your interest astonishingly quickly.”

Her lips twitched, but she didn’t allow a smile. Oh, she needed a bit of teasing. He would make that his mission during the fortnight he would be at Lampton Park. “As to the forfeit...” He made a show of pondering. “If you enjoy the evening, I will give you the present I brought you from the Continent.”

“You brought me something?” She sounded surprised.

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