Lady of Fortune: A Regency Romance (The Unconventional Ladies Book 2) by Ellie St. Clair

Author:Ellie St. Clair [St. Clair, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prairie Lily Press
Published: 2022-06-09T16:00:00+00:00

Julia managed to find a few moments that morning to take a well-deserved nap, and she had almost forgotten the Duke’s promise to call on her — until a knock sounded on her bedroom door.

“Lady Julia?” came the butler’s voice. “Are you within? You have a caller.”

“Drat!” she muttered, before answering the butler and asking for Maybelle. She hastily dressed in a white muslin day dress with pink piping and went down to greet the Duke. He stood within the drawing room as though he had been created to be a life-like statue in such a setting. Eddie was right about one thing. A man like the Duke certainly did belong here, in a home like hers. But he didn’t belong in her heart and that, she determined, was more important than anything.

“Your Grace,” she greeted him, determined to be polite, and yet to make it clear today that the two of them would never be more than acquaintances.

“Had you forgotten that I was calling upon you?” he asked, and she bristled slightly. So she had taken a few minutes to get ready. It wasn’t as though she knew the exact time he was coming — or even if she had remembered his promise.

“Not at all,” she said, stifling her urge to say what she felt. Perhaps if she were Phoebe or even Elizabeth, she would have a witty retort that was still acceptable, but Julia often found herself at a loss for words in such circumstances — such as dukes coming to call upon her. “Would you like tea?” she asked. “I should call for tea.”

As she went to ring for the butler, her father surprised her by walking into the room.

“Julia, do you—” he broke off, curiosity overcoming his face as he saw who was within. “Clarence. How are you?”

He welcomed their guest, though he seemed slightly perplexed as to why he would be within the drawing room. He seemed about to ask when Julia’s mother walked in.

“Your Grace,” she said, her eyes lighting up at the Duke’s presence, and Julia cringed. Until this moment she hadn’t considered just how detrimental it would be to her own plans with Eddie if her parents became aware that the Duke of Clarence perhaps had some serious interest in her. For despite the fact they had always urged their children to follow their hearts, a potential match with the Duke of Clarence may be enough for them to consider otherwise.

“I was actually just about to ask Julia if she would like to accompany me,” Lord St. Albans said as he looked at his daughter. “But perhaps you would both like to come. I will be meeting the jockey, the one that has been riding Orianna. He’s to meet us over at the Rowley Mile stables.”

“I would be glad to,” the Duke said, his eyes lighting up. “I am still on the hunt for a jockey, as mine has proven rather unfit.”

Julia’s heart lifted at the thought she may be rid of him rather quickly.

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