“Well, Miss Maitland,” said their host, “how did you find your visit to the castle? We are not such grand folks here as they are.”

Julia caught his joking mood, and smiled in reply. She had thought of the possibility that Mr. Douglas knew that a competing suitor was being proposed for her hand, and she did not want him to feel at a disadvantage in that situation.

“For grand folks,” she said, “they are not at all puffed up or unpleasant. But that formal kind of life doesn’t suit everyone. And unfortunately Emily and her younger cousin Freddie were away, so we couldn’t see them.”

“Well,” said her father, “perhaps we should be on our way now, Harry, or my wife will begin to wonder what has become of us. Please give our regards to your younger son when he returns home. I hope that there is better news of his godmother.”

And with that they rose and were about to say good-bye to their host when the butler entered the room and spoke in an under tone to Mr. Douglas. He turned to Julia and said in a friendly tone, “I am reminded that we must return the red shoes that were left here during your last visit, Miss Maitland.”

She said simply, “Thank you, sir.”

Then her father said farewell to his friend and, collecting the shoes from the butler in the hall, they both went down the steps to their carriage.

On the way home, Julia acknowledged to herself that the main reason that she had agreed to the visit was in the hope of seeing Kit Douglas again. She had an odd, empty feeling in her stomach that would not go away, and even a happy greeting from her sisters on their return home did not help much.

Over the next few days, Julia was well aware that her parents were having various conversations about the visits to Norton Place and to the Brandons at the castle, but they said nothing to her. She tried to keep busy, entertaining Sophie and Harriet and hoping that either Emily or Freddie would come to call soon.

At last, the urgent knock on the door came, announcing the arrival of Emily, full of news of her stay with friends near Leeds, and of Freddie’s progress in the regiment. Her golden curls were tumbling in an unruly fashion beneath a most becoming new bonnet trimmed with pink ribbon to match her dress, and she carried a pink reticule to match.

“Oh, Julia,” she said “it was such a pity that you were not able to travel with me, for we would have had such a good time together. When I go there next, you must come with me, for there are so many handsome young men in that part of Yorkshire, and the balls and musical evenings are held every week in Leeds!”

Julia felt like saying that she was rather tired of being part of the marriage market, even in a small way in Derbyshire, but her friend was so encouraging that perhaps she was being too cynical. Sophie and Harriet made it very clear that, if Julia didn’t want to go, they would be delighted to accompany Emily on her next visit. However their enthusiasm was dampened by Mama pointing out that they were too young to go without her. Eventually, Julia had the chance to talk to Emily in private about her discussion with Dominic Brandon.

“Emily, what I cannot understand is why your cousin should want to offer for me just because he made a promise to my brother before he died. I am sure that there is something else that I don’t know or that someone is not telling me. Can you help?”

“Well, after Dominic bought himself out of the regiment, he went back to live in our town house in London and resumed his normal life—I have told you about that before—enjoying the company of ‘bits of muslin,’ as he would call it, and gaming in the clubs such as Whites or Brooks’s with his friends.”

Julia nodded—none of that came as any surprise to her.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t really tell you, but as your good friend I ought to. A few weeks ago, Freddie found out that Dominic had fallen in love with a very beautiful girl—the sister of one of his gaming friends in town. But she has already had a child with someone else, and my parents will not hear of his marrying her. Dominic has told Freddie that he has nothing to lose by a marriage with you, provided that you would not object in his continuing to see her in private when he is in London.”

“Oh! So that is why he wanted me to know that your aunt and uncle had led partly separate lives. And the Countess hinted to me that Dominic was likely to want to live in the same way the as his father has done.”

“You wouldn’t agree to that, would you, Julia?”

“Not if I had any choice in the matter!”

“Nor would I. Who would want to be treated as second best!”

“Mama would say that we are being unrealistic. After all, many people that we know live like that. Not everyone has a choice, Emily. You may have a handsome dowry but, the way things are now with Papa’s estate, Mama says that I can’t be so choosy.”

Emily was about to say something soothing, but remembered that Julia might be right and kept quiet.

“I can see now why your aunt and uncle are very anxious for Dominic to marry, and that they prefer someone they already know. After all, they are rich enough not to worry about a large dowry.”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“And they are hoping that his liaison in town with that girl will wither away?”

“It is very much more likely that, if it did wither away, he would start another relationship with someone else who was equally unsuitable!” said Emily. “Harriet is quite right. You should do as you like, Julia, and not allow your parents, or anyone else, to tell you who you should marry.”

Four

Since this information had been given to her in confidence, Julia did not pass it on to her father. Papa seemed very anxious at present to distract her from any thoughts connected with engagement or marriage. She knew that he was worrying about her and that couldn’t be good for his health. Mama was still insisting that Julia couldn’t possibly refuse the opportunity to become the next Countess of Cressborough, and clearly she thought that a marriage with a son of the Douglas family was quite beneath Julia’s consideration by comparison, although she was not saying that in front of Papa.

Julia had tried to find out from her father whether there had been any news of Kit Douglas’s returning to Norton Place, but it seemed that he was still away.

She had not said much to Emily about her visit there, or about Kit. She was not sure enough of her own feelings to do so, and in any case she knew that Mama would strongly oppose her taking any interest in someone who had such limited prospects. The days seemed to drag by. Fortunately, her mother was kept busy with entertaining Sophie and Harriet and looking after Papa, so Julia tried to avoid any conversation with her mother about either Jack Douglas or Dominic Brandon. Quite often, she was able to escape to the library to read a book and forget about anything to do with engagements or marriage.

Emily came from the castle again to gossip about the latest fashions and to bring the news from Freddie in London. She said that Dominic was living in the town house, too, but Freddie did not seem to be seeing very much of him.

The following week her father called her into the library to say he had a reply to a letter that he had sent to Aunt Lucy in Bath.

“You will see that she has invited you to stay for a few weeks, and I do encourage you to go, for the change of scene would be good for you.” He sighed, and added, “Your mother would not agree with me, but you need to get away from all this fuss for a while at least.”

He observed her cautious expression. She knew that some people regarded Bath as one of the best places to find a husband for their daughters. That was the last thing that she needed at present.

“I am not trying to order you to go, Julia, but please think about the offer carefully before you refuse. You would meet new people and Bath is a very different world from rural Derbyshire.”

When she visited Emily a few days later, her friend was all in favour of the idea. She was very fond of Bath, and suggested that they could travel together in the Brandons’ carriage to the family’s London house. They could stay there for a few days in town, and see Freddie, before Julia continued with Emily to stay with Aunt Lucy in Bath.

So she decided to accept the invitation, and wrote to Aunt Lucy to ask if Emily could stay with her for a week or so.

As usual, Emily got everybody organised to suit herself. Julia was not involved at all in making the arrangements, but her friend persuaded the Earl and Countess to make the travelling carriage available so that the two young ladies could be transported to London. Harriet helped Julia pack, but she did not take her new red shoes—they were too precious to risk losing them.

It was clear to Julia that Mama was hoping that the stay in town at the Brandons’ house would encourage an engagement with Dominic. Luckily, there was no need yet for Julia to make it clear to her mother that that was the last thing she wanted.

She did find it very difficult to leave her father behind at home, for he was clearly ailing and spent much of the time sitting quietly in his chair in the library, reading a favourite book.

“Promise me, Papa, that you will look after yourself properly whilst I’m away. Harriet has said that she will take care of you for me, but please try to rest as much as you can.”

Her father patted her hand, telling her not to worry too much about him, and wishing her a pleasant stay with her aunt.

“Make sure, Julia,” said Mama, “that you take full advantage of your stay with Emily in London. It’s not often that you will have the opportunity, and I’m sure that Dominic or Freddie Brandon will be willing to escort you to the theatre and other delights.”

The journey to town passed pleasantly enough in Emily’s company, and on the third day the carriage entered the square and drew up outside the Brandons’ town house.

There seemed to Julia to be just as many staff there as at the castle, and a bewildering number of footmen and maids ran around getting the trunks from the carriage and taking them away upstairs.

The butler coughed discreetly to attract their attention.

“There is a message for you, Miss Emily, from Mr. Freddie. He will be able to leave his military duties this evening to escort you both to see Mr. Joseph Grimaldi at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre. He said that you are not to wait dinner for him, but he promises to be back in good time.”

Then one of the footmen took Julia and Emily to the bedrooms that had been prepared for them.

The house, though not as large or as grand as the castle in Derbyshire, seemed to Julia to be like a palace, with rich drapes on every window, elaborate furniture, and carefully chosen colours decorating the walls and high ceilings. Julia’s clothes seemed to occupy only a very small corner of the enormous cupboard in her room, and the bed was vast, with the softest mattress she had ever encountered. From their bedrooms, there were good views over the square at the front of the house and, at the back, the house had an outlook over the large private garden.

Freddie was as good as his word and came rushing in that evening to change, ready to take them to the Sadler’s Wells Theatre. During the journey across town in the Brandons’ carriage, he gossiped about life in the city, the many entertainments available for the visitor, and the places of interest that they were passing along the streets.

Mr. Grimaldi was the most expressive clown that Julia had ever seen. His face was painted with a coloured triangle on each cheek and that, along with all his facial contortions and athletic visual tricks, kept his audience on tenterhooks throughout his performance. To her surprise, he encouraged the audience to join in by shouting out, and Freddie did so, although Emily and Julia were content to watch the fun. Julia tried to store everything in her memory, so that she could tell Sophie and Harriet all about it when she got home.

On their journey back to the square, Julia took the opportunity to ask Freddie about Dominic’s account of what had occurred in Spain during the war.

“I don’t think that my brother is very proud of what happened,” he said.

“Why is that, exactly?” asked Julia.

“Well, as you know, Dominic and David were in the same regiment in Spain. My brother was with his men outside the fortress at Badajoz, waiting for the assault on the French to begin. His commanding officer knew that he had been in the area before, and asked him to be ready early the next morning to lead a group through very dangerous terrain towards breaches already made in the castle walls. That night, as usual, he had been drinking heavily with his friends. The following morning when he was roused from sleep by his servant, he was much too drunk to get out of his bed.”