Never Land the First Fish

Chapter Twenty-Two: Part 1

They pulled up to Brickdale the next afternoon—Gills, Jewel, and Lord and Lady Coventon. The second carriage, filled with things Sally insisted they would need for comfort, had arrived before them, as they had stopped for a midday meal.

They were met at the door by a butler, who introduced himself as Barton, and a housekeeper, Mrs. Meadows. They were invited in, and their outwear taken to be hung.

They hadn't a full complement of servants, Mrs. Meadows explained, "But enough strong backs to be getting on with." She directed the two footmen to stop emptying the baggage coach to unload the traveling coach and take the baggage to the rooms set aside.

"Her Grace sent a lady's maid for you, Lady Julia, and Mr. Barton will act as your valet, Lord Joseph, if you have no objection."

"None at all. I have been without a valet for months now; I shall become quite spoiled."

"Lord and Lady Coventon, your servants are here and settled in. We have tea prepared, as we didn't know when you might arrive." The housekeeper deferred to Lady Coventon, as the ranking lady in the room, and Jewel made no objection, only wishing to be in her room, ignoring Gills' incessant chatter about the advantages that would accrue to his wife—not Julia, of course, but some nonspecific wife, far in the future—and Lord Coventon's broad hints that it was time for Gills to settle and start a family, and Lady Coventon's subtle interrogation of Julia, clearly wanting to be certain whatever her brother-in-law saw in Lady Athol Soddenfeld wasn't just an illusion. It was all exhausting.

"Will you all forgive me if I retire until dinnertime?" She barely waited for the answers in the affirmative before she followed her new lady's maid to her room.

She stopped short in the doorway. Sally Grenford had clearly assigned her a room for an honored guest. It was enormous, to start, with a huge bay window and window seat. The bed curtains, on a bed that would sleep ten, were of gold brocade, as were the accents in the deep green room. Julia's belongings were already unpacked, the armoire still standing open and her toiletries a jumble on the delicate vanity in the corner. A door in the other corner presumably led to a dressing room or bathing room, and the outside door to a balcony. She opened it and looked outside. First at the view over the garden, and then along towards another door onto the same balcony, set into a corner so that, from below, it must look as if the balcony belonged to this room alone... No, surely not. Surely Sally wouldn't have...

She shut her eyes against an incipient headache when Gills put his head out of the other door. "I will not have you living in the adjoining suite, Lord Joseph."

"No, of course not," he said. "I will have my things moved to a different room entirely." He didn't seem disappointed or angry, only matter-of-fact, but in a mutter Julia could nonetheless hear, he added, "Sally Grenford and her meddling..."

Julia stifled a laugh. Sally Grenford's meddling indeed. She called after him. "Come back, Gills. Who will ever know?"

With a wary stare, he followed her into her room. "Why are you allowing me into your bedroom?" He looked around like answers might be hiding behind a curtain or a lamp.

She sat down on the sofa next to the fireplace and patted the seat next to her. Maintaining his distance, he moved slowly and carefully, like she was dynamite ready to explode. And perhaps she was. Gills took a seat on the other end of the sofa.

"I've changed my mind."

"About what?"

"As meddlesome as Sally Grenford is, Lord Joseph, she was not wrong in one thing. If you truly wish to marry me, this time together in exile, so to speak, will be an excellent time to test the theory. I wish to know you, Gills, to understand you. A shared balcony does not tempt me to lie with you, but it tempts me very much to invite you to join me in a game of chess."

"Does this mean you wish me to remain in the adjoining bedroom?"

"Will you respect my door, even if I do not lock it?"

"Of course, I will."

"Will you promise not to be in and out all hours, trying to force me to entertain you or convince me to go to bed with you?"

"Yes."

"Can we logically and reliably keep the existence of your door to the balcony a secret from your brother and his wife?"

"It cannot be seen from the hall door in my room." He judged the angle of her door. "Yours, either, I'll wager. If we keep them out of our rooms..."

She agreed. "Do you play chess?"

"Tolerably well."

"Then yes, I would like you to remain in the room next door, so I may get to know who you are, Lord Joseph Gildeforte, before I decide whether to pledge my life to you."

His eyes lit up. "You are considering it?"

"I am."

He jumped up. "That is excellent, my darling!" He started to lean in to kiss her but stopped. "Are you... may I kiss you?"

She laughed and looked at the door. The maid could return at any moment. "You are mad. Are you not the one always concerned with appearances? Or is that only a ruse to make me think I should marry you?"

"I need no ruse for that. There are a million reasons why you should marry me."

"Equally as many not to. But I am considering it, you may be sure."

He leaned in further. "May I?"

With another glance at the door, she nodded, and he enjoyed his first kiss with Julia beyond a stolen peck on the check.