Page 87 of A Deal with the Broken Duke
Harry would mind that very much, and he knew it. Perhaps returning to France was the right thing to do.
He didn’t know what to think.
But he did know that the idea of spending even one more moment in the company of Lord Stickland was too dreadful to contemplate.
He got to his feet. “You enjoy your drink. I hope you never trouble me with your company again.”
“There shouldn’t be any need for that,” Lord Stickland said smugly. “I’m not particularly desirous of your company either, Your Grace. I know you’ve never respected me, so why would I want to be around you? The only thing I’ve ever wanted from you you’ve now given to me. And I must say, you gave in much more easily than I would have imagined. You must never have cared about her much at all, in the end.”
Harry knew that comment was meant to hurt him, but what did it matter what Lord Stickland thought? He would never understand what it meant to care for someone so much that you were willing to walk away from them for their own good. Lord Stickland would never understand Harry’s reasons for staying out of Juliet’s life.
Even though his second drink hadn’t yet arrived, Harry walked out of the gentlemen’s club. The night had been nothing like the relaxing escape he had hoped for, and he wished fervently that he had never come out at all.
He would drink at home tonight, and in the morning, he would start to make plans for his return to Paris.
Because there was one thing Lord Stickland had been absolutely right about. He couldn’t stand to stay here. He couldn’t watch Juliet find either happiness or misery in a life that didn’t include him.
It would just be too painful.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
“Ican’t believe we’re still having this dinner party,” Juliet complained.
“The dinner party is more important now than ever,” her father told her firmly. “Now that your courtship is at an end, it’s essential that we find someone else for you quickly before gossip has time to spread too far.”
“I don’t want to court someone else,” Juliet mumbled.
She had known that wouldn’t matter, and she was right.
“You don’t have time to sit around and mourn about this,” her father told her. “You have to think about your future, Juliet. I indulged you in your wish to court Harry, but now that’s turned out to be a bad idea, so youwillfollow my lead from now on.”
Juliet noticed that he wasHarryagain, and notHis Grace. At least her father had given up on his strange need to pretend that things were more formal between Harry and their family than they actually were.
But Juliet knew it was too much to hope that it meant anything would return to normal. It wouldn’t. Things would never be normal between her and Harry again, and she wasn’t sure she even wanted them to be. It would be too painful to have to be around him and act as if nothing had happened.
He was coming to tonight’s dinner party. Daniel had confirmed that fact earlier today.
“I’ll tell him not to come, if that’s what you’d like,” Daniel had offered. “I know it might be difficult to see him right now.”
Juliet very much wanted Harry not to come, but she was too embarrassed to ask for that. “It’s all right,” she had said. “I can handle it.”
“Are you sure?” her brother had asked her. “Nobody would blame you if you decided you couldn’t.”
“But I can,” Juliet had insisted. “And honestly, Daniel, the last thing I want is to raise questions. I don’t want people to be asking each other why Harry isn’t here.”
“They’ll all have to know soon enough that your courtship is over,” Daniel had reminded.
“Yes, but everyone knows you and Harry are friends,” Juliet had said. “It’s better if they see that your friendship hasn’t been interrupted. If they think it has, they’ll wonder if something awful took place between me and Harry. The gossip will be abominable.”
Daniel had nodded. “All right. If you think that’s what’s best, then I’ll let him know it’s all right to come.”
“It’s always better not to make a scene, isn’t it?” Juliet had asked.
Daniel had smiled. “I suppose you’re right.”
Juliet had been confident in her opinion on the matter when she and Daniel had discussed it. But now, standing in the foyer with her family and waiting for their guests to arrive, she was full of doubt.
How was she going to get through this evening? What was she going to do when Harry walked through the door? The last time the two of them had been together, they had kissed and declared their love for one another, and now they were going to have to stand at a distance. Her father was going to spend the evening trying to arrange a new courtship for her, and it would happen with Harry right there in the room. Juliet honestly couldn’t think of anything worse.
