Free Susan Spencer Paul - [Enchanter 01] by Touch of Night Page A

do with it,” Lady Eunice said insistently, using a pair of delicate silver tongs to place a sugared tartlet on her plate. “Niclas Seymour may have the great calamity to be born of an unfortunate family, but he understands full well what society requires of him. If he didn’t, your parents and I should never let you go for so much as a drive in the park in his company. Now,” she poured a teaspoon of sugar into her cup, “you set your mind to the task ahead and let me take care of the arrangements. I promised your parents that all would be well, and that no reproach should come of the venture. Ah, here’s Puckett. Very good.”
    All was silent while Lady Eunice wrote a reply to Niclas Seymour, save for Julia’s absent stirring of her tea.
    Her thoughts began to wander, in the quietness, as they had continuously done since the Dubrow ball. It seemed impossible to stop thinking of him, remembering his beautiful, expressive eyes and his wonderful face, the power of his arms as he’d gracefully moved her about the dance floor, the warm and subtle scent of the cologne he had worn. She had spent years wondering what it would be like to dance with him. Now she knew, and the reality made all her imaginings insipid by comparison.
    “There,” Lady Eunice said with satisfaction, drawing Julia out of her reverie. “This will suffice. He’ll understand me perfectly.” She folded the brief message and gave it into her butler’s care. “Have it taken at once, Puckett. I shall expect a reply from Mister Seymour within the hour.”
    Julia sighed and tried to imagine how Niclas Seymour would receive yet another message from Lady Eunice. There had been so many over the past two days, since theDubrow ball, back and forth. He could scarce give answer to one of her aunt’s demands before receiving another. She wondered if he wasn’t now regretting his offer to accompany her to Wales, and wouldn’t blame him in the least if he was.
    For her own part, Julia could scarce wait to be away from London and her family’s control. She had always believed that by the time she reached so advanced an age as five and twenty she would be allowed some small measure of freedom, but it wasn’t so. Marriage might have afforded her greater independence, at least so far as a husband would allow, but spinsterhood, she had discovered, was a benign prison. Now, instead of pleasing a husband, her duty was to serve her family, and they were proving to be a demanding master. Julia was beginning to understand why her Aunt Alice had decided to remain in Wales following her husband’s death. She was safe there from the intrusion of Linleys. Or had been until now.
    Poor Aunt Alice, Julia thought. She had no expectation that family duty was about to be thrust on her, too.
    “I’ve instructed Jane to pack your warmest garments,” Lady Eunice said. “The weather is always uncertain in that heathen country—”
    “It’s beautiful there,” Julia murmured, turning her teacup about in its saucer.
    “—and you’ll need to be prepared for any eventuality. How Alice has survived in that uncivilized wilderness all these years I simply can’t imagine.”
    Julia smiled wistfully. “I should love to live in such a place. It’s so peaceful.”
    “Don’t be foolish,” Lady Eunice chided. “You’ve notime for jests. Now, you know what you must do, Julia. Your aunt will resist obedience, as she has ever done, but you must be quite firm.”
    “Yes, Aunt,” Julia murmured obediently.
    “I would have undertaken the task myself,” Lady Eunice said, “but my sister has never been given to listening to me. Or to anyone in the family, for that matter. She’s obstinate beyond all measure. Even as a child it was so.”
    “She’s a Linley,” Julia reminded.
    Lady Eunice gave a shake of her head. “No, it’s more than that. Linleys may be stubborn, but they are always loyal to family. Alice,” she said tautly, “set all loyalty aside when she wed Hueil