Page 3 of Lady of Fortune
She knew full well that the dance card attached to her wrist was near-to-empty, save for two names — one space marked later on in the evening by her friend Phoebe’s well-intentioned husband, and another by a friend of her brother. Therefore, Julia saw no recourse but to nod as she stood. The man standing before her towered above her, though that was not at all a surprise, for Julia spent her life craning her neck to look up at others.
But when her eyes reached his face, she had to keep herself from gasping aloud. The Duke of Clarence? He wished to dance withher? She looked around to see if there was any other woman nearby to whom he may be speaking, but no, it seemed he was, in truth, asking her. Using every bit of restraint within her to keep the shock from her face, Julia took his arm as he led her to the dance floor as the musicians played a quadrille — thank goodness. Julia wasn’t sure she would be able to manage a full conversation or the body contact a waltz would involve.
“You are a friend of Lady Phoebe’s, are you not?” the Duke asked, to which Julia nodded. Ah, so that was how this came about. The Duke was a good friend of Phoebe’s husband, the Marquess of Berkley. They must have cajoled him into taking pity on her. Julia and the Duke lined up as the notes of the dance began, and when they came together, Julia summoned her courage.
“Your grace,” Julia said quickly. “Please do not feel that you must spend time with me out of debt to your friends. I —”
The Duke’s eyes hardened ever so slightly as they separated and Julia took the hand of her next partner before she and the Duke were circling again.
“I do nothing that is not of my choosing, Lady Julia,” he said with a hard voice, and Julia could only nod before the dance separated them once more. It was the last they spoke through the set, as time together was limited. Julia studied the man as they came together and separated. He was certainly handsome; there was no denying that. His hair was the color of midnight, his eyes a blue so piercing it was difficult not to be caught within their spell. But there was something about him that made Julia feel uncomfortable. It was as though he was trying to see through her, attempting to assess her thoughts. And she didn’t like it — not one bit.
When the dance finished, she curtsied to him, and he bent low over her hand, shocking her when he laid his lips upon it.
“Until we meet again, Lady Julia,” was all he said until he released her, and Julia whirled away, relief flooding through her when she found two of her friends awaiting her on the side of the dance floor.
“Were you just dancing with the Duke of Clarence?” Elizabeth asked, the surprise in her tone accented by a fair dripping of disappointment — whether in Julia or the Duke, Julia wasn’t entirely sure.
“I was,” Julia responded, leaning in toward them as Sarah handed her a glass of lemonade. “I could hardly believe it myself. I figured Phoebe or Lord Berkley must have asked him to dance with me, but he assured me that was not the case.”
“Well, he certainly is handsome,” Sarah said with a slight sigh, assessing the man who was now striding back across the room, stopping to speak with many acquaintances along the way.
“Looks can be deceiving,” Elizabeth said dryly, and her friends turned to look at her.
“What does that mean?” Julia asked, but Elizabeth shook her head.
“Nothing of any note. I am simply being my typical shrewish self.”
“Oh, Elizabeth, do not speak of yourself so,” Sarah admonished, but Elizabeth simply shrugged an elegant shoulder.
“It’s true, and I am well aware of it. However, when one knows the truth of the realities of certain people’s character, it is difficult to think otherwise.”
“And what is it that you know of the Duke?” Julia asked with curiosity as Phoebe joined them.
“Nothing of any note. We were acquainted in our youth, that is all. I have known the Duke far too long to be taken in by his charms.”
“He actually was not particularly charming,” Julia said as she took a sip of her drink. “In fact, there wasn’t anything about him that overly attracted me. Nor do any of the gentlemen here or at any other party, unfortunately, much to the dismay of my mother.”
Julia looked across the room now, catching her mother’s eye. She was beaming, of course, clearly having noticed Julia grace the dance floor with a duke. Julia sighed. If only she could have refused him, for now her mother’s hopes would be high and Julia wouldn’t hear the end of it for days.
When her eldest brother had married, both of her parents had been overcome with joy. Martin had always done precisely what was expected of him, and now he and his wife, the daughter of a marquess, no less, were expecting their first child to be born this very summer. Julia’s other brother, Samuel, was known by all to be a rake who enjoyed the company of far toomanywomen, so her mother had set her sights on Julia’s prospects instead.
Since Julia’s come out three years ago, her mother had suggested one eligible young man after another, but none suited Julia, nor caused any emotion to fill her but boredom or, in the odd case, a simple bit of friendly affection. Fortunately, her parents would never push her to accept a man she didn’t want, having known perfect happiness through their own marriage, but she could tell they were becoming frustrated with her lack of interest in accepting any sort of courtship or interest from the gentlemen who did call upon her.
“Well, at least you have had your fair share of callers,” said Sarah somewhat morosely, but Julia shook her head at her friend.
“Only because of who my father is,” she responded. “Why, to the rest, I believe they think me to be a child — a boy, at that.”
When Phoebe began to chuckle, Julia narrowed her eyes at her friend. “That may be entertaining, Phoebe, but you with your beautiful curves can hardly imagine what it must be like.”
Phoebe laid a hand on Julia’s arm. “I only laugh because you are one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever laid my eyes upon.”
Julia rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face at Phoebe’s words. She could always rely on her friends to say what she needed to hear, though at the moment she wished for nothing but to be done with this party.
“Are any of you going to Newmarket at the end of the month?” she asked hopefully, but all except Elizabeth shook their heads at her.
“Not with the new babe at home, but I assume you will be off?” Phoebe asked, and Julia nodded enthusiastically. With her father’s love of horses, they attended all of the major races, of course, and it was one of the family traditions that Julia actually loved rather than lamented.
“I can hardly wait!” she said. “Father has given me full control over Orianna, for which I am ever so grateful, and I can hardly wait to race her. I’ve chosen a new jockey for her. He’s young, but I wanted to give him a chance, and I think he will do admirably well.”
