Her Secondhand Groom (2 page)

Instead of fulfilling her mother’s dream of being the most sought after debutante, Juliet went virtually unnoticed. Not completely unnoticed, mind you. She was noticed by several unsavory sorts, usually lecherous older men or beautiful young ladies who couldn’t spare a kind word if their lives depended upon it.

After one Season that ended with nothing more than two carriage rides in Hyde Park accompanied by men old enough to be her grandfather, her parents insisted she return home. Since she’d come home bearing the shame of not having found a suitable husband, she’d taken to teaching her younger siblings to read, write, and do sums as best she could. Some days were challenging, but it made it all worthwhile to see her brothers and sisters finally make sense of something she was trying to teach them and grin with a sense of accomplishment.

It also helped to alleviate her guilt knowing her parents had borrowed an enormous sum in order to send her off. Not that her parents fired figurative arrows covered heavily with guilt at her that she’d wasted all their money and credit on a useless education and a fruitless Season when her sister, Henrietta, would have made such better use of their funds, but she at least felt that by educating her younger siblings, then her education wasn’t entirely wasted.

Henrietta going to a prestigious girl’s school and participating in a Season would have been met with the coveted results: marriage. Henrietta was everything Juliet wasn’t. Henrietta was slender with a medium height and build. She had the face of an angel decorated with pale blue eyes, pink pouty lips, and porcelain skin that had a brushstroke of pink across each cheek.

Juliet still resembled a girl in many ways with her awkward appearance. Her frame, though tall and slim, lacked the pronounced curves most other young ladies had. Her complexion was the color of honey, making her pale grey eyes and full, red lips more noticeable. Her hair was a dirty blonde and was so thick no matter what she did with it, it slipped free of all its pins no more than an hour after she put it up. To complete the ensemble, she wore spectacles. And not the little delicate ones some ladies and gentlemen wore; no, these were large and clunky. The silver rims were extraordinarily thick. They had to be in order to accommodate the thick, heavy lenses that rested inside. The weight of this hideous, but necessary, piece of apparel was enough that no matter how she moved her face―even if it was just a little―they’d either slide down her nose or stay situated at the top of her nose tipping to the right or left to a rather irritating degree.

No, Juliet Hughes was not an attractive debutante who took London by storm and had the gentlemen prancing after her. She was the shy, plain debutante who blended in with the wallpaper.

“
Come on, Juliet,” her youngest brother, Lucas, called, tugging her hand.

Coming back to present, Juliet adjusted her spectacles and shot Lucas an apologetic smiled. “Let’s be off, shall we?” Holding the door open, she waited for her six brothers and sisters to pass through. “Are you coming, too?” she asked Henrietta who was sprawled out on the sofa, seeming not to have a care in the world.

“
No.”

Juliet shook her head. “All right. But I have no idea why you’re so against a little sunshine.”

“
Because then my skin would be like yours,” Henrietta replied with a shudder.

“
And that’s such a crime since you have such lofty marriage prospects, don’t you?” Juliet mumbled under her breath as she none-too-gently shut the front door. “And which way shall we be walking today?”

“
That way,” Dara said, pointing her stubby finger down the lane that didn’t lead to the village but away.

Juliet shrugged. There wasn’t any reason not to go that way. It was probably better they didn’t go into the village anyway. Last time they went by the confectioner’s shop she was reminded that it was her fault they’d never get to taste sweets again. Clearing her throat and her thoughts, she nodded. “Very well. Let’s go for a walk down the lane and perhaps we can take one of those little trails that lead down to the creek.”

“
You’re not going to turn this into a science lesson, are you?” Peter asked with a pout.

Tapping her index finger against her lip, Juliet cocked her head to the left and nearly lost her spectacles. Righting those pesky things, she said, “Actually, that’s an excellent idea. I don’t know much about biology,” or science in general if one wanted to be particular, “but I do know a little.” A few years back while she was attending Sloan’s School for Young Ladies she’d met a young girl named Edwina Banks who was a few years her junior. Edwina had an older brother, Alex Banks, the current Baron Watson, who had the greatest interest in science of anyone she’d ever met.

Once when Edwina invited Juliet to Watson Estate (which, it should be noted, she only agreed to go at her parents urging), she was bored nearly to the state of tears listening to him prattle on about his latest science experiment. Good thing he hadn’t shown any genuine interest in her. Her parents would have leapt at the prospect of the match. She snorted. Her parents would have leapt at the idea of a match to just about anyone. Thank goodness the smithy who lived two villages over suddenly decided he’d like to emigrate to America. If he hadn’t, Juliet could have been Mrs. Saxon. She shuddered at the mental image
that
created and quickened her pace.

“
All right, Juliet, what droll facts do you have to knock into our heads about the fungus we’re passing?” Samuel grumbled.

“
Actually, none.”

“
None?” three of the six echoed in unison.

“
None,” she agreed. “Now, do your best to snap your mouths closed so I can tell you all I know about the
fauna
.”

A chorus of groans followed and Juliet beamed at the group. Apparently something Lord Watson droned on about had stuck in her brain. Unfortunately, she really didn’t know if they were passing fauna or flora, or if they were one in the same. But her siblings didn’t need to know that. Instead, she regaled them with her knowledge of the greenery they were passing, only fibbing or throwing in what she knew to be blatantly unrelated information occasionally.

“
What’s that?” Jane asked, her brows puckering together.

“
I have no idea,” Juliet admitted, all thoughts of fauna, or flora, or whatever it was they were passing vanished as her attention was caught by an onslaught of noise that could rouse the dead.

“
It sounds like a buncha banshees to me,” Lucas said, his eyes growing wide with wonder.

Peter puffed out his chest. “You don’t worry, Juliet. Us menfolk will go take care of it. Come on, Lucas, Samuel, Joseph we gots to go protect the helpless lasses.”

Juliet fought the urge to laugh. Leave it to Peter to try to act defensive. He was only trying to get out of doing lessons. Besides, those screams sounded like squeals of joy and giggles, not blood curdling screams of terror and death. Taking note of the four boys’ looks of determination to “protect the helpless lasses” she smiled and said, “All right, run along.”

A second later all four boys scampered down the road at a hell-for-hide speed, disappearing just beyond the bend.

Juliet chuckled at their chivalrous streak as Jane and Dara each grabbed one of her hands. “Y-you don’t th-think they’re going to g-get h-hurt, d-do you?” Jane asked, her lower lip quivering.

Bending at her knees, Juliet looked into Jane’s blue eyes and squeezed her hand. “They’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about. If I had to guess, I’d say that noise is just a group of―”

“
Girls!
” Peter wailed from down the lane. There was no denying the disappointment and disgust filling his tone.

Juliet grinned and her sisters both giggled. “See, nothing to worry about,” she said, choking on a giggle of her own.

The three walked down the road and around the bend only to find Peter, Samuel, Joseph and Lucas standing in a row with their arms across their chests, sneering at the trio of frolicking girls. “You four look like a mighty line of defense,” she teased, roughing up each one of their scalps as she walked past.

She halted and watched as three young girls ran and screamed and giggled, carelessly running all over the road.

“
I bet you can’t catch me,” a girl wearing an atrociously dirty, but pretty pale pink dress hollered before running away from her companions and closer to where Juliet stood by her siblings.

Not to be put off, the girl’s two younger companions chased after her, and together the three of them created a huge plume of brown dust that filled the air and Juliet’s lungs.

Hack! Hack! Hack!
Juliet coughed violently as she used the palm of her hand to smack her chest in a fruitless effort to dispel some of the dust that was invading her lungs and taking up what she was sure would be permanent residence there.

Beside her, Lucas, Joseph, Jane, and Dara copied her actions with only minimal embellishments added. Not much really, just enough that the four of them would probably be sporting bruises on their chests for the next month and sipping heated lemonade with honey for a week before being able to talk. Peter and Samuel, however, were employing the most logical reaction, they stood with their feet shoulder-width apart one arm across their chest while the other held the top of their shirts up over their noses, scowling darkly at the three oblivious girls.

“
Excuse me,” Juliet wheezed.

The three girls didn’t seem to notice her.

Swallowing convulsively, Juliet tried in vain to clear her throat enough to be able to speak in a tone they’d hear. Eyes stinging from the dirt, she jammed her fingers under her thick spectacles and rubbed her eyelids to relieve the discomfort. Feeling slightly better, Juliet put her thumb and forefinger of her right hand into her mouth and let out a whistle that only a deaf man could ignore.

All three girls came to an abrupt halt and stared at her. As the dust settled down a bit, Juliet noticed two men coming from the side of the carriage, one of them looking much worse for the wear. “Excuse me,” she croaked before clearing her throat. “Sir, is it common practice for you to let your children run in the road unattended?”

The man who looked far more dirty and worn out looked at her with eyes so dark brown they almost looked black. “That is none of your concern, madam.” His tone cold and hard, decidedly unfriendly.

Undeterred, Juliet put her hands on her hips. “You cannot just let your children run rampant, sir. A carriage could just whip around that corner and run right over them.”

The rude man snorted. “Doubtful,” he muttered. “Anyway, we’d hear them.”

Now she snorted. “No you wouldn’t have. You couldn’t possibly hear anything over all the melee they were making.”

The girls’ father crossed his arms and stared at Juliet in a way that made her feel vulnerable and naked beneath his gaze. “Is that so?”

“
Yes, sir,” she said firmly.

His eyes never left hers. “Since you think you can supervise them better are you volunteering for the post?”

Juliet stared blankly at him. “No, sir.”

“
Very interesting, and what if Viscount Drakley asked you, would you do it then?”

Juliet’s blood drained from her face and nearly turned to ice. She’d never actually met Viscount Drakely before, but she knew enough about him and his position over her family that if he asked her to jump over the moon, she’d better find a way to do it. “Well then, if Lord Drakely asked me to watch his children, I would.” She cautiously eyed his dirty disheveled clothes and his mussed hair. “However,” she continued, her voice returning to its regular strength, “since you are not Viscount Drakely, I have no reason to agree to watch your children, sir.”

Rocking back on his heels, he drawled, “Allow me to inform you that you are in the presence of K. Patrick Ludwig Ramsey, Viscount Drakely.”

The breath caught in Juliet’s throat. This was not a good sign. Viscount Drakely was rumored to be a very nice, but stern man. As a child she’d always wondered how he could possibly be both. But as an adult she knew. He was nice as long as your rents were paid on time and you weren’t known for causing trouble. But for those who caused trouble in the viscountcy or fell behind on their rents, he was not so friendly. Not that she’d heard of him throwing people out on their ears for missing a month or being late, but he made it known he ruled his lands with a firm hand and wasn’t afraid to confront anyone.

“
It’s seldom I render anyone speechless,” Lord Drakely drawled again, staring at her in a way that made her wish the ground would open in front of her and swallow her whole.