Page 49 of A Marquess' Season of Secrets
Juliana had hardly been able to wait to rush back to the manor and tell Mrs Black about her success, but the urge to do some shopping, even if it was only window shopping, had been great.
She had even purchased a few small items and a little bag of hard-boiled sweets she and Kitty could enjoy after work. One of the items was a gift for the maid and had come at a reasonable price.
“Did you wish to flirt with them?”
Juliana’s head snapped to attention as she stared at the duke. “Flirt, Your Grace?”
“Yes. Did you wish to flirt with them?” he repeated.
“The men?”
“I do not see who else I could be talking about,” the duke replied dryly.
Stunned, Juliana was momentarily rendered incapable of speaking. The duke had witnessed how the men had harassed her and had come to her rescue. A woman did not flirt with her tormentors.
“I do require an answer, Isabella,” the duke insisted. “I need to understand what possessed you to give attention to those men. Did you not realise the danger you were in? How far did you intend to take the flirtation?”
Heaven help her because he truly did believe she had had a hand in what had happened.
“I would never do such a thing, Your Grace,” she said, fighting to keep her voice even and respectful. “A woman does not accept the advances of men for fear of scandal.”
Juliana had no way of knowing if a scandal affected the working class as it did the upper classes, but she imagined it did. She had heard enough from the other servants to know that a lady with a scandal attached to her name was an effective way to become an ostracised and disgraced woman. Lady or not, this was her reputation at stake, and Juliana
would never willingly jeopardise it to simply flirt with men she did not know.
“’Tis easy to claim that you did not give them cause to approach you now that you are no longer with them,” the duke claimed. “I admit that I witnessed their harassment, but I cannot be certain of what happened before I arrived upon the scene.”
Juliana was confused. If he had indeed witnessed the interaction between her and the men, it should have been evident that their advances were unwanted, and she had only wished to go about her day.
A thought occurred to her as she pondered the duke’s accusation. “What led you to make such a conclusion, Your Grace? Was it my politeness?”
“If your definition of politeness includes smiling at men and showing more friendliness than necessary, then I suppose it was your politeness.”
Anger stirred within Juliana, shocking her. She had never felt anything but gratitude towards the duke, but today he had shown a new side to him that she didn’t particularly like.
“It is my first reaction to address everyone with kindness and a smile,” she told him. “I seldom wear a frown on my face, and I avoid rudeness. Smiling and speaking with friendliness to all people seems to be my nature, not an excuse to attract inappropriate advances.”
The duke said nothing, emboldening her to continue to speak. Juliana hoped this would not affect her position in the household.
“Do you think the men would have treated me so if I had been a lady and not a servant? It seems that my lowly position was the determining factor of how they treated me, and not anything I might have done.”
It was ridiculous that seeing her loosened hair had emboldened the men to approach her. It was just hair and nothing to fawn over. Admittedly, the situation could have been avoided if she had listened to Kitty and better secured her hair under her cap this morning, but she had been in too much of a hurry to get her day started.
It was a fairly good day until those men acted like fools and disturbed my shopping! Thank goodness I managed to buy Kitty’s gift and our sweets before they started with their behaviour.
Despite all her spending, Juliana was mindful of the money she earned and saved most of it since the household provided most of her needs. She didn’t have a family to send money to and had nowhere to go like the other servants. It was a sad situation, but she could do nothing about it.
The duke still had nothing to say in response and chose to look out the window. That suited Juliana just fine because she was still reeling from what had happened, and his accusations did nothing to improve her state of mind.
Instead, Juliana had begun to doubt if she had done anything wrong. She longed to reach into her sweets’ parcel and take out one hard-boiled confectionery to suck on while she settled her nerves, but the duke had placed everything at his feet. Juliana didn’t dare ask him for fear of what he might say next.
Adjusting herself, Juliana leaned her side against the carriage wall. It had begun to ache from the overexertion of carrying parcels and trying to walk away from the men. It was no longer as painful as it used to be, but the throbbing was enough to remind her that she couldn’t push herself too much.
This is nothing compared to the pain in my feet after a night of dancing!
Juliana stilled at the thought that had burst into her mind unexpectedly. A night of dancing? She had done no such thing in the Stratford household, although there had been moments where she had wished to twirl around the ballroom.
Juliana had kept herself from actually doing it for fear of someone seeing her and accusing her of wasting time, but the urge remained.
