Page 69 of Snowbound Regency Christmas
‘I will,’ Joshua said. ‘Now, we both had best go and get ready for dinner tonight. My dear Roger hates being late by even a minute.’
The emotion that had threatened to choke Devin only moments before somehow turned into a breathy chuckle. ‘How does he get Mama to arrive on schedule?’
‘Roger simply leaves her if she is late.’
The image of their imperious mother being left behind was too much. Devin laughed loudly and Joshua joined in his mirth. They parted in the hall and Devin went up to his rooms. He was grateful to see that the servants had already begun filling a copper tub for him. He would need to bathe quickly. He didn’t want to give Roger a bad opinion of him by being late.
Once the servants left, Devin deftly stripped out of his clothes and stepped into the steaming water. Leaning his head back against the rim, he felt lighter than he had in years. The truth really did set one free.
Chapter Eleven
‘Have you not disgraced our name enough with a very public jilting of a baron?’ her father demanded as soon as she stepped inside Broadwick Abbey. ‘You spent two nights pretending to be Mr Ballantine’s wife and you come home unengaged? The driver said that it is all over Pickwich and no doubt the scandal-mongers will see this sordid tale reaches London. You are ruined, daughter.Ruined.I ought to throw you out on your ear at this very moment so that you don’t hurt Amelia’s chances for a good match.’
Her half-sister, Amelia, would be ten years old now. Would they feel like strangers? Julia had adored Amelia from the day that she was born and doted on her. But she’d learned as a governess that children could be very changeable.
It had been three years since she’d last seen her father in person and he hadn’t changed a bit. At least, in personality. He still yelled instead of speaking. Dictated instead of discussing. But his famously handsome physical features had altered. His face had more lines around the mouth and eyes. His light brown hair possessed more silver and he had a hint of a second chin. When he’d loomed over her in anger in the past, it had frightened her. But after living with Mrs Heap, nothing could scare Julia now. She’d faced the worst and managed to survive. She would not bend herself to another’s will again. Not even Devin’s.
‘Fine. You can throw me out into the cold,’ Julia said. ‘But I will be taking my mother’s inheritance with me.’
Cursing, Papa grabbed her wrist tightly. ‘Who told you?’
She struggled against him. ‘Mama.’
Her father tightened his hold. ‘That money is rightfully mine. I was your mother’s husband. That is the law of the land.’
Julia would not allow herself to cower. ‘Then, you shouldn’t have signed the marriage contracts before you wed my mother. No doubt my trustees will be shocked to learn that you forced me to become a governess for Mrs Heap.’
Her father did not make a sound, but from behind him her stepmother, Mildred, did. She was holding Amelia’s hand. Her half-sister seemed to have grown at least a head taller and her dark brown hair was much longer, nearly to her waist. Her little sister did not return Julia’s smile, nor did her eyes meet her gaze. Julia’s heart plummeted in her chest. Her sister was looking at her like a stranger.
Her stepmother had always been a dainty woman with pale features and light coloured hair, but in this moment her countenance was ghostly pale. ‘Are you spending your daughter’s inheritance?’
Julia wrenched her wrist from her father’s grasp. ‘Papa could only do so while I was a minor. Is that why you finally sent for me to come home? So that you could convince the trustees to release the funds to you for my care and upkeep?’
Mildred released her daughter’s hand and turned to face her husband. ‘Is that true?’
Papa’s face turned an angry red. ‘You can’t believe Julia. You know that she is a spoiled and foolish child. She embarrassed you and your dear friend Lady Ballantine when she jilted her son.’
‘Instead of offering insults, Eustace, you should be begging your daughter for her forgiveness and clemency,’ Mildred said in her quiet voice. She walked to Julia and hugged her. ‘I am glad you are home, dear. I am only sorry that I allowed your father to send you away to become a governess in the first place. I was taught by my parents and the church that a wife had to be obedient to her husband—but surely, a wife should not be obedient if her husband is behaving wrong? Still, he is my husband and if he will not ask for your mercy, I must, for the sake of myself and my daughter.’
Julia did not wish to hurt Mildred or Amelia. She loved them. Even if Amelia wouldn’t look her in the eye. Julia took a deep breath. ‘I will not seek redress for the three years I spent as governess, but I will not let my father spend another farthing of the yearly income from my inheritance.’
‘You expect your own family to live in poverty? Selfish, unnatural girl,’ her father screamed. Spittle dangled from the side of his mouth and her father looked angrier than she had ever seen him before. But he didn’t scare her. Julia was no longer dependent upon him because Devin had explained how marriage contracts worked.
Devin.
It had only been a pair of hours, but she already missed his comforting presence, his handsome face and the courage she had found while in his company. As much as she had grown to care for him, Julia could not exchange one keeper for another. She no longer wished to be subject and obedient to any man. She didn’t need anyone totellher what to do.
Julia lifted her chin. ‘I expect my father to live on the income from his own property and, if that is not enough money, to seek employment, as I have done. Working for my bread has taught me to appreciate the smallest of services—from a cup of hot tea to a freshly washed glove. Perhaps it will do the same for you, Papa.’
Now what was she supposed to do? Go back to one of the inns in Pickwich and wait until the mail coach heading towards London arrived? Julia didn’t know when Devin intended to return to the capital. She could stay in a hotel until he came back. He would know exactly how to contact the trustees and to see that her yearly income was given directly into her hands. She trusted him with her money. If only he had asked for her heart…
Picking up her portmanteau with both hands, Julia looked back to Mildred and Amelia. ‘Might I trouble your servants for a ride back to Pickwich? I carried my bag for a mile before and it was quite exhausting.’
‘You can’t leave, Julia!’ Amelia shouted and ran to hug her sister. Since Julia was holding the portmanteau in both hands, it was an awkward side hug, but it warmed Julia’s heart. Amelia had not forgotten her after all.
Mildred came towards them and took the portmanteau and set it back on the floor, which allowed Julia to properly hug her little sister. ‘How I have missed you!’
A tear slipped down one of Amelia’s cheeks. ‘I thought that you had forgotten me. You left and never came back. And you never wrote.’
