Caroline and Julia by Darcy Clare

Author:Darcy, Clare [Darcy, Clare]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Caroline, meanwhile, had truly enjoyed her conversation with Sidney as they danced. He had skillfully led her on to happy reminiscing about her mother, expressed his admiration for his own mother who had been in a like position of having to fend alone for her child, and told Caroline how much courage she herself had shown in coming to London alone. He made no effort at this stage to make love to her, sensing it would hamper his cause rather than forward it. Sidney was not rruly very intelligent, being used to having his thinking done for him by his mama, but in the area of engaging the affections of women he had developed the process to an art, it being the one area where his mama could not follow him.

He had seen at once that though grass green, Caroline was of a rare independence of mind and in the habit of taking a long, assessing look at everything before she made any judgements. She therefore could not be swept off her feet by romantic tarradiddle.

His plan was to get her to trust him, to feel safe in his company, to turn to him with confidences. Once on a footing of familiarity with him, and completely at ease, he would gradually let her become aware of his own very warm regard for her. Not blatantly, of course, but with the subtle inference that he was aware he stood little chance with her and would therefore not embarrass her with his deeper feelings. This he felt sure would disarm her and cause her own feelings toward him to be stirred. He congratulated himself that so far he had not put a foot wrong.

When Neville came to request Julia to go down to supper with him she said carelessly that she believed she had already promised that honour to His Grace of Malby and turned back to her conversation with a young lieutenant of the Light Bobs who was fanning her face as they spoke.

Affronted, Neville bowed coldly and left her, fuming inwardly that she had not the courtesy to save supper for him since he had escorted her here. What the devil had come over her to change her in rhe space of a moment from the warm, giving creature she had been at the beginning of their first dance to this coolly disinterested beauty?

By the time of their third dance she had worked herself into a rage she could no longer conceal from him. His own quick temper, primed by the supper incident, leapt into flame, and by the end of the dance, their conversation had settled into a desultory exchange of cold, inconsequential nothings, every word glinting with ice.

On the carriage ride home Caroline and Julia sat side by side with Neville facing them, his back to the coachman. Caroline atfirst chattered happily about the evening, but gradually her enthusiasm ebbed as she became aware that the other two were each staring out the windows in opposite directions, not only not speaking to each other, but carefully not looking at each other either.

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