The Heart of a Duke(73)
“Don’t you have more gambling hells to visit? And take Brett with you. We will meet with Shaw’s partners tomorrow.”
With a sigh, Brett uncrossed his arms and rose to his feet. “My presence is no longer needed. Lady Julia, it has been a pleasure. If you marry Daniel, you can help us run Curtis Shipping.”
“Daniel has already offered me a job.” She grinned.
“Of course he did. He has good business sense, nor can I argue with his choice of a wife, if you will have him.” Brett dipped his head. “I was hoping to see your lovely sister before I leave, but alas, I shall have to wait until tomorrow.”
“She usually is up, but today she is having a lying in,” Julia said, intrigued by his query. Was he interested in Emily?
She followed Robbie and Brett to the door, seeing them both out, the awareness of Daniel behind her almost tangible.
When Burke closed the door, Daniel grabbed her by the hand and tugged her into the drawing room. “I thought they’d never leave.”
She freed herself and stepped away. “They are devoted to you, you are fortunate to have such wonderful friends.”
“I am. But I am far more fortunate now that I have you to myself.”
She shook her head regretfully. “I promised Jonathan I would take him to the British Museum. I was hoping to see the Elgin Marbles.”
“From the Parthenon? News about those reached Boston. Elgin first pilfered them, then our government recently purchased them, and now they are displayed at Montagu House. Now that is very clever negotiating. I would love to see them.”
She frowned. “It is my understanding that Elgin was exonerated. And . . .” She paused. “You want to go to the museum with my family?”
He dipped his head, his eyes warm. “It is my desire to go where you are going.”
The pleasure of his words was abruptly drowned out by a gnawing, pulsating fear. “What about . . . I don’t know if . . .”
“I will not hide,” he cut her off, his eyes hard. Seeing her stricken expression, he gentled his tone. “I will be fine. You do not need to worry. They will not attack me in broad daylight in Bloomsbury. And I will watch my back, even though I much prefer watching yours.”
She tossed him a chastising look and managed a nod. “I suppose you are right. I have never seen any green-eyed Cyclopes in Bloomsbury.”
“No, they much prefer to skulk about the docks.”
His teasing smile was so sweet, it nearly broke her heart. “All right. Jonathan will be delighted to have your company, as will I.”
“Thank you.”
She wanted to keep him here. To lock him in Keaton House and never let him out. To keep him safe. But she had to let him go.
He was not hers to keep. Yet.
Chapter Nineteen
ON his way to the front foyer the following morning, Daniel overheard Brett’s voice. Did the man have to be so bloody punctual? Fine for business meetings, but it put a damper on his seducing Julia. There were far too many people around as it was. Family, friends, servants. It was a problem. With Julia so devoted to her family, it was difficult to separate her from them during their visit to the museum, but damned if the Chandlers weren’t growing on him.
Planted in the middle of their tight-knit group, it was inevitable that like vines, he would become entangled with them. More surprising was that they were filling in places he had never realized were empty.
How could one resist a five-year-old warmonger, the brusque, “hmphing” Taunton, and Emily with her clandestine assistance in his pursuit of Julia?
He had believed his freedom from family bonds a gift. The Chandlers had taught him otherwise. What his family had given him, with the exception of a love of the land, was a gaping hole of loneliness that he had filled with makeshift families. First with Robbie’s, then Brett’s, and now Julia’s. That is, if she would have him.
She had to marry him. His mind was made up. He refused to sit by and watch a wave of scandal wash over her family, not when he had come to think of them of his own. He could not stem the full flood, but he could prevent it from drowning them. There could be no ruination if Julia was protected under the bonds of wedlock.
Why wouldn’t she say yes?
It did not matter. He would simply have to change her mind. To be more persistent in convincing her. Perhaps court her more gently, rather than insisting she marry him. He had learned from Brett, who with three sisters was more familiar with the minds of women, that women did not like to be told to do anything. It ruffled their feathers. After meeting with Shaw’s partners, he would dispense with Brett, figure out a way to get Julia alone, and court the stubborn woman.