A Season with Her Forbidden Earl by Julia Justiss

Author:Julia Justiss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2024-02-07T19:17:38+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Several hours later, Julian guided the horses into Portman Square where, to his surprise, Maggie asked him to drive around to the mews. With his tiger available to hold the team while he escorted her in, he was mystified why she would want to enter her home via the stables, but didn’t question the request.

After handing her down, he said, ‘I’ll walk you in. A gentleman always sees a lady safely inside her door.’

‘I won’t object,’ she said with a smile. ‘In fact, I’d appreciate if you could stay a bit longer. I’ve been very impressed with the speed and handling of your phaeton. I’d like to talk with Russell about purchasing one and would appreciate having you give him your advice.’

‘I’d be happy to,’ Julian replied. ‘But the horses are tired, let me send Henry home with the team. I’ll get a hackney after we’ve consulted with the head coachman.’

‘If you’re sure it won’t inconvenience you.’

‘No trouble at all.’ After giving the tiger his orders and instructions to give the horses an extra ration for their good behaviour, Julian walked Maggie inside the stable gates.

‘Like most aristocrats in Society, the horses will consider they’ve spent the day in surroundings beneath their dignity,’ he explained to Maggie.

‘Only Hyde Park and Mayfair for them?’ she asked, chuckling at the analogy.

‘I’m pleased that you approve of my investment interests. It’s not just high-bred carriage horses who’d be indignant at the surroundings we visited today. I’d never mention such an outing at my club. The kindest reaction I could expect would be puzzlement as to why I would wish to visit such an area. At worst, they would say taking such a personal interest in commerce betrays my breeding as a gentleman.’

Maggie nodded. ‘Crispin says that Comeryn often told him he was a disgrace to the family name for “dirtying his hands with vulgar commerce”. Whereas for me, the expansion of travel and trade doesn’t just represent a vision of the future. “Vulgar commerce” has gifted me with independence, for which I can never be thankful enough.’

Julian was not sure he was quite so thankful, since that independence allowed her the freedom to not depend on any man. Much as he’d chafed at his late wife’s over-reliance on him, he wouldn’t mind Maggie leaning on him a bit more. But he’d have to be content with being the friend she chose to consult, if and when she needed him.

And keep his desire for her a subject only of his dreams.

Walking into the stable, they located Russell and spent half an hour consulting about the purchase of a phaeton. If the head coachman looked dubious about a female driving such a vehicle, he knew better than to voice his scepticism.

As they left the stables and proceeded into the garden, a curious mood seemed to come over Maggie. Seeming suddenly tense and watchful, rather than take the allée that led straight to the front entry, she clutched his sleeve and steered him onto one of the side paths.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.