Page 36 of Lady of Fortune
Elizabeth chuckled slightly. “So it would seem. Would you like to share any of it?”
In hushed tones so as not to be overheard by the many people around them, Julia shared much of what had happened since she had last seen Elizabeth. She told her of her growing closeness with Eddie, that it had become more than attraction and she had no idea what to do.
“The worst of it is the multiple lives I seem to be leading now,” she said with a sigh. “And the deeper I find myself, the more people who seem to know the secret. What do you suppose my father would say if he found out?”
Elizabeth cocked her head to the side as she considered Julia. She paused for a moment as she lifted a sandwich to her mouth and took a dainty bite. Oh, why could she not be more like her friend? Julia mused. Elizabeth was so composed, so rational, while Julia felt as though everything in her own life was completely out of control and she had no way to rein it all back in.
“You have two more days until the race is over,” Elizabeth said calmly. “After that, all will return to how it was and you will no longer have to live this charade. You can go back to being the owner of Orianna, and the racing correspondent for Phoebe’s paper. And as for Eddie, well, that will be your decision. Do you wish to further your acquaintance, or leave it as the fling it currently is?”
“I do not want to let him go,” Julia whispered. “I will never find another like him, will never feel for another what I feel for him. He is one of a kind, Elizabeth, the only one for me.”
“Then you know what you have to do,” said Elizabeth.
“I do?”
“Of course,” Elizabeth said matter-of-factly. “First you have to determine if he wants the same as you. If he does, well, then you have to convince him that you can make a life together. And of course, you have to speak with your parents eventually. But you have an advantage that most of us don’t. Your parents love one other, Julia, and you know they want only for you to be happy. Yes, Eddie is a jockey, but he is no longer, at least, a servant in their household. Their acceptance may not be immediate, but perhaps in time they will understand.”
“And if they don’t?”
“Then you will have to decide what you want more — for your actions to be accepted by your family and to lose the man you love, or to be with Eddie and potentially lose both the financial support and care of your parents.”
Tears pricked at Julia’s eyes then, for she couldn’t imagine a life without either of them. Elizabeth clearly noticed and she reached out to cover Julia’s hands with her own.
“Do not despair before you know that you have to make the choice,” she said. “You never know, it may all work out exactly as you’d like and you can be a lady of significant fortune.”
“A lady of fortune?”
“A lady who is lucky enough to have love in her life and also to do what she loves, to be accepted by her family and the man she wants to be with. For could you be any luckier than to have it all?”
“No,” Julia said, forlornly shaking her head. “I certainly could not.”
“And now, to break from the melancholy,” Elizabeth said resolutely. “Tell me about this upcoming race. Are you ready for it?”
Julia chuckled. “Yes and no, I suppose you could say. The last race I didn’t have time to prepare but I also had no time to overthink what lay ahead or to become nervous about it. This race perhaps I’ve had toomuchtime to think on things, and now I may let my mind overcome my instinct, which would lead me to fail miserably.”
They both paused for a moment in contemplation.
“Or you may succeed brilliantly,” Elizabeth said with a smile, and Julia forced herself to return it.
“That may be,” she said.
They finished a companionable lunch before standing to leave, and Julia chuckling at one of Elizabeth’s stories from a party the night before — of two ladies who were both desperately fighting over one particular gentleman and had gone to the lengths of nearly ripping the gowns off of one another on the dance floor.
“Hello, ladies.”
The deep, smoky voice interrupted them and they looked up to find the Duke of Clarence standing in the doorway of the tearoom.
His lips were curled into what could only be described as a seductive smile, his waistcoat a deep scarlet under an immaculate black jacket and pants. He could never be described as a dandy, and yet his sense of style could nearly rival Beau Brummel himself.
Julia far preferred a man in an old, torn jacket who spent his days amongst the stables. She tried not to sigh nor show any chagrin at the Duke’s sudden appearance.
“Your Grace,” she said, dipping into the slightest of curtsies. “How are you?”
“I am doing quite well, particularly when in front of two of the most beautiful women currently residing in Newmarket.”
“How lovely of you to say,” Julia said, taking a look at Elizabeth out of the corner of her eye. Why was her friend so silent? Typically Julia could always rely on Elizabeth to have the most polite yet witty responses.
But Elizabeth simply stood there, her lips pursed in a line as she contemplated the Duke.
