Page 12 of Lady of Fortune
The Duke looked somewhat amused, though why, Julia had no idea.
“And who was the jockey? I do not believe I recall ever seeing him before.”
“N-no, Your Grace,” she said, and Julia noticed her father staring at her with much more interest now. “Unfortunately, Mr. Abney was… indisposed. Luckily another jockey was available at the last moment. He was untried, more of a groom really, with aspirations to become a jockey, but I decided it was better for Orianna to be ridden by a new jockey than by none at all. I’m sorry, Father, it was why I took more time in the stables. By the time I returned to the grandstand, the race was set to begin, and so I watched from slightly down the way.”
Julia had rushed through her explanation, which she had concocted on the spot, and she noticed the Duke watching her with interest.
“And what is the jockey’s name?” he asked now. “For an untried racer, he performed well. I have been looking for a new jockey, and perhaps I have now found my answer.”
“Oh, his name, yes. Um…”
Julia panicked for a moment as she tried to remember what she had told the Clerk of Scales.
“J-James. James Smith.” Yes, that was it.
“Never heard of him,” the Duke said with a frown.
“No, of course not, I hadn’t either. It was his first race.”
“I’m not sure an untried jockey is the best choice for the Two Thousand Guineas,” her father said, and Julia looked up at him earnestly.
“We’ll give him a week to train, Father,” she said. “And see how he does.”
“Very well,” Lord St. Albans said. “I look forward to meeting him.”
“Meeting him?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at her quizzically. “I think it would be prudent for me to meet him, do you not?”
He gave her a look as though she should understand why he would want to do so, particularly after the decision with Sam Abney had clearly resulted in disaster.
“Ah, y-yes,” Julia stammered. “Of course. I’m sure it can be arranged.”
“Very good,” her father said with a smile of satisfaction. “Perhaps one morning as he trains with Orianna. I’m sure Clarence would also be interested in attending, to determine if the jockey might suit him — for races in which Smith is not in our employ, of course.”
“Of course,” Julia said faintly, her stomach swirling so rapidly, she thought she would be sick. Oh no, she certainly hadn’t thought this through — not in the least bit at all.
* * *
Eddie leanedback against the rail as he watched the lovely Lady Julia converse with her father and the other gentleman. He knew the man was a duke, but could not recall his name, though he was around the track often enough and had a fair interest in horseflesh as far as Eddie could remember.
He also seemed to have taken some interest in Julia. Eddie snorted. A duke, of course, would be the man interested in her. Not that it mattered to him. He was sure the two of them would have a beautiful life together — as long as the Duke didn’t learn of Julia’s actions today. Eddie pushed himself off the rail, took one look back at the track where he had found victory today, and began to find his way out of the Rowley Mile course.
He blinked a few times he tried to clear the image from his mind — the image of his own fingers fastening the tiny, intricate buttons of Lady Julia Stone’s pretty lilac gown. Eddie had stayed to ensure that Julia wasn’t caught by anyone else, for that would be an utter disaster for her. But enough time had passed that once Orianna was finally returned to her stall, Julia had emerged wearing a bonnet matching her dress over her curls, and he wondered then whether she had worn it on purpose in order to match the St. Albans colors.
Ridiculous. Why was he concerned about the colors of a woman’s garment?
He had followed her as she made her way back through the stables, likely to find her father. The man would be livid in his worry. There was no one he loved as much as his beloved daughter — at least, that was the way it had been eight years ago, and Eddie doubted anything had changed in that time.
Whatever Julia had managed as her excuse, however, seemed to mollify him, as well as entertain the Duke, with his fine, expensive clothing, his immaculate dark hair, and his ready smile. Eddie knew his type. He had seen them often enough around the track, assuming they owned the bodies and souls of all they encountered. The Duke might hold power, ’twas true enough, but no one, Eddie determined, not even those who employed him, could ever fully hold any control over Eddie’s soul.
Eddie left the Rowley Mile stables on his own horse to return to his lodgings at Torrington’s rented facilities. What had he been thinking, agreeing to Julia’s ridiculous scheme? He should have said no. Hell, he should have stormed out of there as fast as he possibly could, found Lord St. Albans, and told him just exactly what his daughter had been up to. Even one race was far more danger than Julia should ever have put herself in.
But of course, he hadn’t done that. No, the moment he had seen her, all the years between them melted away. When she looked up at him with that earnest, angelic face, there was no possible way he could have denied her. It was the same problem he had all those years ago, except now… it was different. Before, he had felt for her the way one might feel for a sister or a close friend. He had wanted to help her, be there for her as a friend she could lean on. But now when she looked at him, her beauty and her very vibrancy called to him in a way that was much more than a friend or even protector. He felt a possessiveness overcome him, and a desire unsurpassed by anything he had ever felt before.
He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his ever-faithful mount Boomerang — past his prime, that was for certain, but a fast, reliable horse all the same — to find the way before him. Any attraction Eddie felt for Julia —LadyJulia, he continued to remind himself — must fade, and fade rapidly. For Julia was not his, nor would she ever be. It was a mistake to be spending any bit of time with her, for there was no possible outcome but tragedy for either of them.
And yet he couldn’t say no to her request.
