“Juliet,” Celia whispered.
Juliet turned toward her oldest, yet most reserved stepdaughter. “Yes?”
The young girl bit her lip. “Please give him another chance.” The unshed tears in Celia’s eyes washed away all Juliet’s hurt and anger.
“This isn’t for you three to even think about,” Juliet said as firmly as she could manage while fighting back her own wave of tears. Not tears borne of Lord Presumptuous’ ill-treatment, mind you. She could care less about his opinion of her. The tears forming in her eyes were a product of the sadness and hurt she felt for these girls, who’d just had to witness yet another confirmation that their parents didn’t have any great affection for each other, much less a civil regard. She swallowed. She owed it to these girls to get along with their father. By no means did she plan to go out of her way to make amends with him, nor would she bend to his will. But she’d stop avoiding him and would treat him with a cool reserve when they spoke, much as other wives she’d met in London did with their husbands.
A knock on the door jarred Juliet from her thoughts.
She smiled at the intruder. “Emma,” she greeted, relief coursing through her. She was in desperate need of a friend just now.
“Are we interrupting anything?”
“We?”
A dark-haired, blue-eyed woman stepped through the doorway. “This is Caroline,” Emma explained. “She’s Marcus’ cousin and one of my dearest friends. I thought the two of you would make great friends, too.”
Juliet smiled. “Of course we will.” Any friend of Emma’s had to be a good person, indeed.
Emma and Caroline came in and greeted the girls, who promptly asked to try on their scarves, gloves, hats, and Helena even asked to try on Caroline’s slipper even though it was more than twice the size of her foot.
“Have things improved any?” Emma asked.
Juliet shook her head in answer to Emma’s cryptic question.
“Drake’s always had a hard shell,” Caroline commented. “You’ll just have to find a way to penetrate it.”
Juliet closed her eyes to keep from rolling them. The last thing she cared to do was penetrate his shell. She wanted the man to be cordial to her, not entice him to divulge his deepest secrets to her. “Wait. Always? He’s always been this way?”
Caroline slipped off her second lacy glove and handed it to Helena. “I’d say so.” She turned to Emma. “Don’t you think?”
“I suppose. I don’t think he was quite so cold before―” Emma broke off and bit her lip. She cast a quick glance at the girls.
The girls were too preoccupied to hear what they were talking about. “What was she like?” Juliet didn’t know why she was asking, but she found herself oddly curious. Besides, if anyone would know and be willing to tell her, it would be these two.
Emma and Caroline exchanged looks. “I can’t really say,” Caroline said at last. “If I were to be honest, I’d have to tell you that I didn’t know her very well.”
“I thought Lord Pre―” cough cough― “Excuse me, Lord Drakely was friends with your cousin. Didn’t she come to Ridge Water to visit?”
“He did, she didn’t,” Caroline corrected. She sighed and plucked at the fabric of her pink skirt. “Lady Drakely didn’t like me,” she admitted finally, averting her eyes to look out the window.
“Why ever not?”
“Remember that secret I told you?” Emma asked quietly.
Caroline shot her friend a grateful smile, presumably because she’d just been relieved of telling a complete stranger that she’d once had a girlhood tendre for her husband. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, Caroline,” Juliet assured her. Then before she knew what she was saying, she blurted, “If it makes you feel any better, your sister-in-law tried to play matchmaker between your husband and me and he thought I was too boring.”
Caroline blinked at her. “What?” she asked with a slight giggle.
“Edwina thought we’d suit and your husband didn’t,” Juliet clarified, a nervous sensation crawling over her body. Why was she telling such a humiliating fact?
“Tell me, Juliet, did you want to marry Alex?” Caroline grinned at Juliet’s stunned face, complete with raised eyebrows and an unhinged jaw. “I didn’t think so. Unlike you, I wanted to marry Drake. That’s the difference.”
Juliet smiled. When put that way, it really didn’t make it seem so bad. “May I ask something?”
“You just did,” Caroline said with a teasing grin. “But go on.”