Page 68 of Snowbound Regency Christmas
Blinking, Devin finally realised what Julia had been trying to hide. ‘She caught you in a compromising position not with another woman but with a man.’
‘I am not ashamed of my lover or of my feelings,’ Joshua said quietly. ‘I am ashamed that Mama forged my name on the marriage contracts. And once the newspapers printed our engagement, I could see no honourable way out of it.’
‘Did Mama know that you—that your heart was already taken by another?’
Joshua nodded. ‘She thought that marrying a beautiful young woman would cure me. But I do not need to be cured. Nor do I want to be. This is who I am, Devin. Who I have always been.’
Devin’s hands clenched into fists. ‘Mama has much to answer for. I only wish… I wish that you had told me this three years ago. I am a barrister. I could have found a legal loophole since the signatures were forged. Or if nothing else, I would have taken your place as the groom.’
His brother glanced over his shoulder at Devin. ‘You would have done that for me?’
‘I would do anything for you, Joshua. You were more father than brother to me. There is no one else I care about more. And I hope that someday you will feel comfortable telling me who your lover is and knowing that I will always love and support you.’
Devin grabbed his brother in a bear hug.
They stepped back from each other and Devin could see that Joshua’s eyes were filled with tears. ‘I should have trusted you sooner. I am sorry that I didn’t, brother. Roger is my lover and has been for the last twenty years—we have been as devoted to each other as any married couple.’
The wheels began to turn in Devin’s sluggish mind. His brother’s steward, Roger Ashby, had moved into Riverdale House not to console Joshua but because they were a couple.
‘Actually, I am relieved. Nay, I am happy to know that you are with Roger,’ Devin admitted sheepishly. ‘Then, I do not have to feel guilty for harbouring feelings for Julia.’
Joshua raised his eyebrows. ‘That must have been some snowed-in adventure for my stoic little brother to have fallen in love in only three days and two nights.’
‘It was,’ Devin said and they sat down. Then he told his brother the entire tale—leaving nothing out, even his sharing a bed with her and his insulting words. ‘And since I had gotten us into a fix by claiming that we were married, I offered to speak to Julia’s father and to take care of everything. I thought that she, too, had grown fond of me, but she glared at me, like she had from the very beginning of our relationship, and said, “I don’t need another man in my life telling me what to do”.’
Joshua exhaled slowly. ‘I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?’
‘The bad news.’
‘She didn’t sayno, because you never asked her to marry you.’
Scoffing, Devin shook his head. ‘I promised to speak to her father and she did not wish me to.’
‘Of course she did not wish you to speak to her father until you had asked her,’ his elder brother pointed out in an annoyingly reasonable tone. ‘The poor girl has never been proposed to. Her father told Julia that she was engaged to me and then you told her that she would be engaged to you.’
Devin felt as if he couldn’t breathe for the second time that day. First at the realisation that his brother had been tricked into an unwanted engagement. And second that he’d behaved like a complete gudgeon with Julia. She’d lived for twenty-one years under her father’s tyranny. Why would any woman in her right state of mind wish to spend the rest of her life under a dictatorial husband?
‘I mucked it up terribly.’
Joshua nodded. ‘You did. But I have not told you the good news yet.’
Sighing, Devin did not think that he could hear anything worse than the fact that he had ruined his chances with the woman of his dreams. ‘Better get it over with, then.’
‘We have been invited to the Sullivans’ for Christmas dinner tonight. Lady Sullivan has extended an olive branch to our family to help hush the rumours that still circulate about the bad blood between our families. Perhaps you can try asking Julia this time. I would suggest that you at least become engaged before Sir Eustace learns of the days and nights she spent as your wife.’
‘Good heavens, yes,’ Devin agreed. ‘And will Roger be accompanying us tonight?’
‘Yes.’
‘Excellent. That is how it should be. Our family is together for the holiday.’ Devin got to his feet. ‘I am going to bathe and then try to prepare a speech for Julia.’
Joshua stood up beside his little brother—well,youngerbrother—Devin was three inches taller. Joshua grasped Devin’s shoulder tightly. ‘Maybe less speechifying and more listening to Julia next time.’
A laugh escaped his lips, but then Devin sobered quickly. ‘Do you think that Sir Eustace will accept my suit? I am not a baron with an estate like yourself. I am only a London barrister.’
‘You are my heir and I will make sure that Sir Eustace knows that after my failed attempt at matrimony, I am far too old and jaded to try again.’
Devin tried to swallow a lump in his throat. ‘I don’t want to be a bloody baron, so you’ll have to promise me to live for a very long time.’
