Harry Douglas turned to a side table, picked up a small package, and gave it to her. Julia unwrapped it slowly and found herself looking at a book. It was La Passerelle.
“Oh no!” She could not stop the expression escaping her lips. “That belongs to Kit.”
Aunt Lucy looked at her with concern, as did Harry Douglas, but before either of them could say anything, Julia smiled at them tearfully.
“It is just—oh, it is the most wonderful present that anyone could have given to me, but I really cannot accept it.”
“Why not, Julia? What is it?” said her aunt.
“You will know, Aunt, if I tell you that this book is the real La Passerelle!”
Mr. Douglas still looked confused, but Aunt Lucy visibly relaxed at her recognition of the name.
“Mr. Douglas,” she said, “perhaps Julia would like to go and sit for a while to examine the book in your library. There is something that I wish to discuss with you.”
Julia was inclined to rebel at this explicit instruction, but decided that it was best to do as she was asked. Fully fifteen minutes then passed before her host came to the door and asked her to rejoin them in the drawing room.
“Please take the book home with you, Miss Maitland. You can look after it for Kit until he is next back here at Norton Place. I have had a very useful conversation with Mrs. Harrison, and hope that she can come here again before she returns home to Bath.”
On the way home in the carriage, Aunt Lucy said, with a half smile, “Am I the only person who thinks that Mr. Douglas might have been getting his elder son out of your way?”
Julia looked puzzled for a moment, then said slowly, “Do you mean that Harry Douglas has deliberately sent Jack away so that my mother, or even my father, can’t pursue the idea of his being a suitor for me?”
“Or perhaps Kit Hatton asked him to consider the matter. It would certainly be a good idea from his point of view?”
Julia blushed, considered, and then replied, “I certainly was very surprised to hear that Jack had been sent to Leeds, for Mr. Douglas once told me that his late wife did not wish either of their sons to work in trade.”
“Perhaps Mr. Douglas has decided that Jack is better suited to that than any other occupation. For the moment, I suggest that we do not tell your mama that Jack is no longer living at Norton Place.”
“Aunt Lucy, I do believe that you have missed your true vocation as a matchmaker!”
“No, my dear, I just wish you to be happy, and I have been receiving some good advice this afternoon!”
Julia’s cheerful frame of mind on returning to Banford Hall did not last long, for Emily had called in their absence, to say Julia was invited to visit there on the following day.
“On my own?” said Julia, dismayed at the thought of another visit.
“No,” said Mama in a disapproving tone. “Emily has told us that her aunt and uncle insist that your Aunt Lucy should accompany you on this occasion.”
Her elder daughter stared at her in amazement.
“But—”
“Yes, I know, the Earl and Countess have never met Lucy, but I did not feel that I could insist that I should go with you instead. I suppose that I am not grand enough for them!”
And with that, her mother swept out of the room, leaving Julia and her aunt looking at Harriet, who had been standing quietly by during this conversation.
“Did Emily say anything else to you that she did not tell Mama?”
“Only one brief message for you, Julia. She said to tell you that the Jepson link had been established. She told me that you would understand what that meant.”
Aunt Lucy seemed about to ask a question, but then said, “One day, Julia, you must tell me the whole story, not just part of it.” And with that, she left the room, leaving the two sisters together.
“I suppose that you can’t tell me, either?” said her younger sister.
“For the moment, no, but I will one day, I promise. It must be good news, or I hope it is, for, if not, I might be about to receive an unwelcome marriage proposal that I would find very difficult to refuse.”
During the drive to Cressborough Castle the next day, Julia could sense that her aunt was bursting with curiosity about the relevance of the Jepson connection and Emily Brandon. But instead she remarked on how fine they both looked, wearing their most stylish dresses at Mama’s insistence.
“Do you think, dear aunt, that one should dress in one’s best finery just because one is to visit an earl and countess?”
Aunt Lucy looked at her for a moment, thinking how well the blue dress fitted her slim figure and suited her colouring.
“No, my dear. But you have told me that they have both always been very pleasant to you, so perhaps we would have worn the same clothes even if your ambitious mama had not intervened.”
Aunt Lucy was very taken with the imposing entrance to the castle, though she said quietly to her niece that she was beginning to sound too much like her sister, Olivia. They were received with the usual formalities, and found Emily with her uncle and aunt in the drawing room.
Julia introduced her aunt, and the Earl said, “You are most welcome, Mrs. Harrison. We are very grateful for your kindness to Emily in Bath a few weeks ago.”
“It was a pleasure,” she replied, smiling at Emily as she took a seat opposite her hosts.
The Countess did not waste any time in coming to the point. “Julia, first of all, we owe you a most sincere apology. As you know, we had been encouraging you to believe that Dominic would be willing to marry you—an alliance that both the Earl and I favoured, as we had explained to you previously. Instead, we have discovered this week that Dominic was married a few days ago in London without our consent—to a young woman whose past history has been far from blameless, and who will not be a welcome addition to our family.”
Julia glanced at Emily before the Countess continued. “Emily has told me that you know that Dominic had been seeing this young woman in London, contrary to our express instructions and wishes. We have also discovered from Freddie that Dominic had been getting deeper and deeper into debt.”
Julia nodded, as some sort of acknowledgement was apparently expected.
“Mrs. Harrison, we asked you to escort Julia today rather than her mother because Emily has told us that we can rely entirely on your discretion. You can understand that we are not anxious for all the details of this matter to get around society here in Derbyshire.”
“I understand, Lady Brandon,” said Aunt Lucy.
“But Julia, we wish to ask you something further. Emily has told us that Dominic may have got into seriously bad company. That he may, unbelievable as it seems, have taken it upon himself, together with a London acquaintance, Mr. Jepson, to sell contra band goods to his society friends, to make money to pay his gambling debts. Is there any truth in that, to your knowledge?”
Julia took a deep breath and glanced quickly at her aunt, who was observing her with a certain amount of relish.
“My lord, Emily may have told you that Mr. Hatton was our host in Dorset. Various events occurred whilst I was staying there with Mrs. Harrison that indicated that unauthorised activities might be taking place in the buildings at Morancourt. I have heard since from Mr. Hatton through—through a friend—that a close relative of Mr. Jepson was involved in smuggling various valuable goods from France despite the blockade in the English Channel.”
Julia had to feel sorry for the Earl and Countess, who looked so stricken at this confirmation of the news they had dreaded.
The Earl explained, “Emily has found out that Dominic was drawn into this illegal trade by one of our own employees, who has a connection with this fellow Jepson. We are both leaving for town tomorrow, to bring Dominic and his—his new bride—back to Cressborough to make their home here, since he clearly cannot be trusted to live sensibly in London.”