Page 48 of A Lovely White Christmastide
“But it is three miles, and so cold,” her uncle protested. “You will not make it half that far before services begin.”
“Then you may pick us up along the way.”
The butler took his cue, retrieved Mr. Kaye’s coat, and helped the stunned man into it. Julianna did not even wait for Mr. Kaye to button it up before grabbing his arm and pulling him past the others. Outside the cold nipped at her nose, but she kept walking, dragging her apparent fiancé down the steps and onto the road that led to Kendal.
Birds chirped and for once the sun was shining, but even with the chipper atmosphere all she could think about was how in the world they were going to get themselves out of this mess.
“What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t.”
Mr. Kaye’s admission brought her to a halt.
“Listen,” he said with a sigh. “When I entered, all I knew was that I could not allow Mr. Waverly to bully you. I said the first thing that came to my mind to stall him.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “But my reputation. If we do not go through with a marriage, I will be ruined.”
“Not if we go back and stop the others from telling anyone.”
“There were servants who heard us, Mr. Kaye. Not to mention the man you declared it to.” Exasperation filled her as she clenched her hands.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
“You might as well use my given name. We are engaged after all, even if it is only for the moment.”
She placed her hands on her hips, breathing slowly through her nose. Was this all a game to him?
“Fine,Daniel.But you do understand how much servants gossip, do you not? We could return and say it was all an act, but they have probably passed it about the whole house by now. Then there is my sister. I could not possibly tell her now. You saw the way she became so distressed.”
Daniel cringed. “And I would hate to tell Bingham or your uncle. They might order twenty lashings and I prefer my hide right where it is.”
She smirked at the notion and relaxed. “They would not. You are not in the Royal Army anymore. Besides, I doubt you received a single lashing as an officer.”
He quirked a smile. “You are correct, but that does not mean I am not deathly afraid of receiving one.”
Julianna chuckled, the tension between them disseminating. “What now?”
“I am not sure. We have a few weeks to figure this out. Besides, what better way to bring your sister and my friend together?”
“How so?”
“Well, one connection is sure to encourage another, especially if we can show them how happy we are.”
She lifted a blonde brow.
“Oh, come now, it cannot be too terrible being engaged to me.”
He tipped his head and batted his eyelashes over beautiful green eyes. She laughed, relishing the way he could lighten her mood. “That is yet to be determined. So how do we go about this?”
“To start, may I call you Julianna?”
“I suppose it is only right if I am to call you Daniel.”
His gaze softened and a little tickle of pleasure ran through her. She liked it when he looked at her like that. He offered his arm and they began to walk.
“We should probably come up with a story of how all of this began.” He gestured between them.
