Page 73 of A Lovely White Christmastide
A laugh sputtered out of her. How could she stay upset with him after such a forthright admission? But his words had hurt and that pain had not fully dissipated.
“I believe when men grovel they do it on their knees,” she finally said.
“Forgive me, I am an inexperienced groveler.” He moved to kneel in front of her and a breeze fluttered her dressing gown.
Julianna cringed. She was in herdressing gown, her hair completely undone and hanging nearly to her waist. Sheer rebellion had led her to undo her plait after the maid left and now she regretted it. She was not sure what to do first, gather her hair or pull her gown tighter around her. In the end, she settled for wrapping her arms around her midsection.
“Is this better?” Daniel asked in a husky voice.
She shivered. “I suppose.”
“Julianna, I am sorry I questioned your plan. I know nothing is foolproof. Years of battles have taught me that even the most brilliant strategy has extenuating circumstances that can make the plan go awry. Please forgive me.”
The awkwardness of standing over him overcame her and she crouched in front of him. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark making the earnest intent evident on his face.
“No, Daniel.” She fumbled to find his hands, holding them tightly in hers. “It is I who needs to apologize. I should not have run away. You had every right to question. I get these ideas in my head and do not think them through before rushing forward like a river plunging over a cliff. Beth is always telling me to be more cautious, that people can get hurt, but I keep going without much thought.”
He clutched her hands to his chest. “But sometimes it saves people.”
She began to shake her head, but he pushed on. “It can. I cannot tell you how many times in the heat of battle a thought or an instinct saved me or my soldiers' lives. The world needs people like you and me, Julianna. We may not always be right, but without your insight, Bingham would have never known how much your sister’s necklace meant to her.”
“But I sent him out in a storm. I endangered his life for a mere piece of silver. If he dies, I will be responsible and Beth may never forgive me.”
Daniel pulled her close as they sat upon the floor.
Another voice joined theirs in the darkness. “I suppose it is good that I am returned then. I would hate to be the cause of any sisterly estrangement.”
Both Julianna and Daniel scrambled to their feet.
“Bingham, is that you?” Daniel asked.
“In the flesh.”
“Well, that is a relief after we have been discussing the possibility that you became a ghost.”
Bingham chuckled. “I am not a ghost, but I now know how the ices at Gunters feel, and it’s not pleasant.”
“We should get you before a fire, then,” Julianna said.
“I am not speaking about this moment. The ride today was quite pleasant. But I almost became a lordly icicle on the way to the posting inn where we left your family’s coach to be repaired.”
Julianna’s chest pinched and her cheeks flamed red. “I am so very sorry. I never should have?—”
“Yes, you should have. If not, your family might never have recovered the coach as the innkeeper was trying to pawn it off to the highest bidder.”
“No!”
“Yes. Apparently he did not realize I was one of the parties who’d traveled in the conveyance and assumed I was just another wealthy man who came to inquire after the stolen property. When I arrived he offered to sell me the coach for a hundred pounds.”
“You did not have to pay to get it back, did you?”
Bingham took up a seat near the window. “Of course not, but I did offer to have him brought up on charges and reminded him that theft of that magnitude was a hanging offense. It seems being threatened by a lord is enough to make a man rethink his life choices. Unfortunately it was not soon enough, however.”
“How so?”
“He’d already sold Beth’s necklace.”
“But I thought you said you had it.”
