Page 64 of Forget Me Not

“It is an intriguing and challenging study, but I think you are equal to the effort.”

The tension eased in her posture. “Thank you for this. The books as well as your reassurances.”

“It is truly my pleasure.”

“I won’t keep you any longer from your friends.”

He shook his head. “They will survive. Don’t misunderstand me, they will miss me terribly, but they can endure their disappointment.”

“Do you mean to stay in here with me?” The fragile hopefulness in her eyes tugged at him fiercely.

“If you’ll allow it,” he said.

She nodded and, with an almost flirtatious twinkle in her eyes, crossed to the sofa and sat before opening one of her books. Lucas was not one to pass up a sought-after opportunity. He took up one of his unread editions ofThe Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasureand joined her on the sofa.

They sat side by side for hours, sharing things they read and found interesting. Julia asked questions when the gaps in her haphazard education left her a little uncertain about what she was reading. She found his article on travel very interesting and engaged quickly and easily in discussions.

With her beside him, sharing a mutual interest, he could, for the first time, truly imagine a future between them that was happy and comfortable. If only he could have hope for a marriage that was also built on love.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lucas took a walk aroundthe area the next afternoon. Julia joined him, though she was very quiet throughout. Still, he had seen no indication of unhappiness in her. Perhaps she was simply pondering her newest studies.

Upon returning to Brier Hill, she went directly to her room, excusing herself with the insistence that she was tired. Lucas couldn’t be certain she was telling him the truth. He wished he understood her better.

He crossed paths with Kes and Digby in the front entryway. “You ought to have joined us this morning.”

Kes’s brow lifted in the way it did when pondering an interesting puzzle. Digby’s mouth twisted in a show of barely restrained laughter.

“What are you two scheming about?”

“No schemes,” Kes said. “We simply know something you don’t.”

He would have been worried if not for the excitement in Digby’s eyes.

“Walk with us,” Digby said.

“Is that the Royal ‘Us’ or... ?”

Digby rolled his eyes and motioned Lucas to the front sitting room. The sight that met him as he stepped inside was as perfect as it was shocking: the other three Gents.

Lord Aldric Benick, the General, sat in a tall-back armchair, facing the door, his elbow propped on the chair arm and his temple resting against his upturned fingers. He wore the all-too-familiar look of patient planning that had earned him his particular moniker.

Henri Fortier stood near the fireplace, its glow illuminating him in a nearly heavenly aura. Fitting, considering he was the one they called Archbishop. Fortier wasn’t a saint, but he was as close as any of them were likely to come. They’d often teased him over the years about the unlikelihood of a French saint, but he’d always responded with a very calm and cordial listing of many of his countrymen who’d been given that designation.

And Niles Greenberry sat on the sofa, wearing an expression that clearly communicated he was happy simply to be there. He was quite possibly the most agreeable person any of them had ever met, quick to undertake a lark, willing to do almost anything for anyone. He’d earned his name over the years: Puppy.

“What are the lot of you doing here?” Lucas couldn’t even pretend to be upset by the unannounced visitors.

“Saving your skin, apparently,” Aldric said. “We have it on good authority you’re making a regular rubbish of everything.”

“That seems harsh.” But Lucas was ignored.

“And the poor lady you’ve married is truly your Julia?” Henri asked. His French accent was not as pronounced as it could be, a sure indication he’d not been to Paris recently.

“MyJulia?” Lucas didn’t know what had inspired the description, but he liked it. Indeed, thinking of her bright eyes and happy smile the night before, he liked it more and more. MyJulia.

Aldric’s eyes darted to the others as his nostrils flared. “We’ve been hearing tales of Julia for years. None of us will ever think of her without connecting her to you.”

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