“Are you ready to discuss this?” Richard said with some amused exasperation. “You"ve put it off and put it off, but you really can"t put it off any longer.” It annoyed her that he seemed to be treating this like a lark. Was he really this adventurous?

He should be as nervous as she was!

It was brave of him to do this, after what his father had just tried to do to him—and could well do again. Her father had pointed that out when she had taken Richard home with her to tell Gerald about their plan.

Richard had been respectful during that meeting. She had told him on the ship about Gerald"s accident, but she hadn"t mentioned the ramifications of it. Until that meeting with her father, Richard hadn"t known that she had pretty much been overseeing the family businesses for the last five years. He"d given her quite a few odd looks that night, as if he couldn"t believe it. But convincing Gerald of the necessity of their plan had taken all evening because he kept insisting the better solution was for him to pay Milton more money than he could ever refuse.

But money wasn"t always the answer, and Richard had balked at that idea.

“Then he wins? And I"ve exiled myself from England for nine years for nothing? Please don"t do that. He doesn"t deserved it.”

Reward the wicked? She"d agreed with Richard on that point wholeheartedly. Milton should be brought to account, not paid off.

James had actually offered to instigate proceedings against him. He"d already promised to see that the Cantel brothers got their just deserts as soon as the contract was destroyed. He was going to wait until Richard"s plan succeeded to avoid tipping off the earl about how angry they were over what he"d tried to do to Richard. Neither Cantel brother was ever going to hold a position of authority again after James was done with them. But a lord of the realm couldn"t be dealt with as easily, and Richard had refused Malory"s help in that, pointing out that the scandal would also affect Richard"s brother and nephew, who were both innocent in all this.

Julia had ended up telling her father, “The scandal, even if it dies down eventually, is still going to prevent me from getting on with my life as we previously discussed.” She wasn"t about to tell him she was trying to protect him from it until he was fully recovered since he would consider any sort of protecting to be his duty, not hers. “But this plan will put this whole thing behind us. It will break all ties without a scandal, so I can get on with my life.” Gerald had finally agreed with the stipulation that he send an escort of eight armed guards with them. Witnesses and muscle if needed. Richard had concurred, though he planned to leave that small army in the hamlet nearby under Ohr"s direction. They would keep an eye on the house day and night, but showing up with that army would just point out to the earl that they were worried about something. And that wouldn"t support the lie.

Julia glanced at Richard now. He"d dressed well for the occasion and looked like a typical young lord today. He even had a cravat tied neatly at his neck. He hadn"t cut his hair, but at least it was tightly queued.

They were alone in the coach on this last leg of the journey. They"d needed two coaches for all her baggage, and Richard had insisted her maid ride in the second one with Ohr, so they could talk privately. The weather was warm, the sky cloudless—a nice day for a charade.

“What is there to discuss?” she said to Richard. “You confront him, I agree with you, we settle in for the search. Quite simple.”

“Then stop gritting your teeth as if they"re about to be pulled. You"re going to have to do some lying yourself. Are you up to it?”

“You ask that because I wouldn"t lie to my father? I love him. There"s a big difference in that.”

“Shielding someone you love is sometimes preferable.”

“And if your father hies off to London to confront my father about it?” He sighed. “Point taken.”

“Besides, I"m simply going to follow your lead and improvise as needed.”

“Then be warned. My father told me once that bedding you would change your attitude.

Don"t blush too much when I tell him he was right.”

“Why must you even mention that?!” She was already blushing.

“He"s not stupid. He"s not going to believe that out of the blue, for no good reason, we"ve suddenly changed our minds and want to get married.”

She was hoping they"d get lucky and find the contract sometime today. The less time she had to spend under the earl"s roof, the better. But there was no way to avoid the initial confrontation that would get them under that roof to stay for however long it took to find the contract and destroy it. The pretense of being a happy couple was going to give them full access to the house, the only viable excuse to be there.

She still found it odd that Richard would even come up with this particular idea. Nor could she forget her father"s bittersweet comment about it: “I"d always hoped to see the day when my daughter and the earl"s son would be planning their wedding. How ironic to see it happen, but have it only be a charade.”

Julia gave a start when Richard suddenly touched her check. He tsked and said, “You can"t flinch when I caress you. You"re supposed to be in love.”

She stiffly disagreed, “That doesn"t include carte blanche in public. Such demonstrations are quite frowned upon, you know.”

“By whom?” He laughed. “Old dames who come from the last century when most marriages were still arranged? Besides, our situation is unique in that it"s purely a performance, and performances need those extra little touches to be convincing. We may even need to do this more"n a few times—just for effect.”

 This was his kissing her, and he did it so suddenly she had no chance to protest. He swept her close, his hand cupping her cheek, and his lips moved over hers with gentle pressure that quickly wasn"t gentle at all, got quite out of hand on his part. She was a bit stiff. They shouldn"t be doing this again! There was really no need! But her will wasn"t powerful enough to ignore something this tempting. Just when she started to melt completely, he pushed her back to where she"d been sitting, a foot away from him.

“I think you get the idea.”

Was his voice a little breathless? She had to take a deep breath herself before she leaned her head back against the seat, closed her eyes, and said as calmly as she could, “You will resist giving that good a performance, if you please.”

“Do you need more practice?”

Her eyes snapped back to his. “I got the idea! Now give me some peace for what"s left of this ride so I can compose myself.”

“Don"t let me down, Jewels. I"m only doing this for you, you know. I"d as soon never clap eyes on the tyrant again in this lifetime.”

Chapter Thirty-four

AS JULIA STEPPED OUT of the coach, she was reminded of her very first visit to Willow Woods.

Her trepidation was the same as it had been on that day so long ago. She was terrified, really, yet she had to hide it. She wasn"t a little girl who hoped so much that her fiancé would like her.

She was a grown woman who had to pretend that he did.

They weren"t announced. Richard didn"t even knock on the front door. He just walked in as if he had never left—as if it were still his home. No servants were in the hall to stop them.

Willow Woods had never had a great many servants despite the manor"s impressive size.

Julia"s mother had once remarked, rather cattily, that the Millers must have twice as many, and for a home that wasn"t nearly as big. Gerald, frowning at her attitude, reminded her that they didn"t need all the servants she frivolously employed.

Julia was glad that she remembered her mother"s remark today. It was, in essence, the main reason the earl refused to relinquish the contract. His lack of wealth forced him to live so frugally compared to other lords of his stature. It was also the main reason why he might believe them today … because he"d want to.

They went straight to the earl"s study and entered, Richard"s arm tightly about her waist. For effect? Or because he thought she might bolt? But she felt more confident and in control now.

She could do this.

Milton was sitting at his desk. He didn"t glance up immediately probably because he thought it was a servant who had come to bother him about something. When he did look up, he just stared at them. He didn"t move, didn"t blink. Apparently, he was shocked to the point of being speechless.

Which allowed Richard to announce, “We"re getting married, Father. I won"t say you win”—he paused to glance down at Julia with a loving smile—“when I"m the one winning here.”

The earl displayed no sense of triumph, but some color was mounting his cheeks, and his icy blue eyes narrowed on his son. Julia began to wonder if he"d even heard what Richard had said, or if he couldn"t get past Richard"s no longer being on a ship to hell—where he"d put him.

In fact, that was all he seemed interested in, finally saying, “How is it possible you"re here?”

“That was my bride"s doing.”

“Your—bride?”

Milton"s eyes landed on Julia as if seeing her there for the first time. He was still frowning as he said to her, “You lied to me?”

“About what? That your son and I were in agreement not to marry? No, that was quite true at the time. When I met him in London recently and we began to get acquainted, we didn"t recognize each other. When we did, it was quite a rude awakening that brought back all the old animosity, so all we parted with were some very angry words. I was convinced he hadn"t changed a"tall.”

“I thought the same about her,” Richard added with a grin.

“But when you told me where you were sending him, you remember asking me if I was pleased?” Her eyes narrowed on Milton now. “I wasn"t, not in the least! And before I even returned home, I knew I had to get him out of that horrid situation. I couldn"t stand the thought of him suffering. That"s when I knew that what I"d felt as a child was gone.”

“She"s still a little spitfire,” Richard interjected, giving her a tender look. “But when she stands in your corner, it"s rather endearing.”

Julia nearly lost her train of thought over that remark because Richard sounded so proud of her, but she managed to continue, “I went straight to the docks and found the convict ship before it sailed. I found Richard"s friend there. He was searching for him as well—”

“Someone else knows about this?” Milton interrupted sharply.

Richard lifted a brow. “Did you really think I would approach the lion"s den alone? A friend was traveling with me, he just wasn"t in the room when your lackeys pulled me out of it. He knew exactly where to look for me, though. He just had no opportunity to free me from the guards who escorted me to London. And a week was wasted because he thought I was being detained at the docks in a building it would take a small army to break into. He didn"t see me taken out the back way and dragged directly onto the ship.” They had agreed to give a completely different account of the rescue for three good reasons.

Mainly, Richard didn"t want his father thinking only he and Julia knew about his stepping outside the law to have his son imprisoned. Someone else, and a friend in particular, being aware of it would make the earl think twice about trying it again. But mentioning James Malory"s involvement could have the opposite effect, causing Milton to panic that another lord knew of his transgression, so this simplified version allowed them to leave James"s help out of it. And lastly, the quicker rescue gave them nearly a week to “fall in love” rather than the few days aboard The Maiden George.

Julia felt confident enough to finish the tale. “His friend had only just found out where Richard had actually been taken and was intent on getting him off that ship just as I was, though he was going to do it aggressively. I gave him enough money to do it the easy way instead. Guards are so easy to bribe. They couldn"t hand Richard over fast enough, for what they were promised.”

Milton guarded his emotions as he assimilated how his plan had been thwarted. “And now?” he asked tightly.

Richard actually laughed. “I guess you didn"t hear me, Father. Julia and I are getting married, not because of that silly contract, but because we want to. An amazing thing, love. It actually encourages you to forgive people who don"t deserve forgiveness.” Richard"s tone had turned distinctly cold. Julia began to panic. Was he talking about her? Or his father? But of course that was meant for his father. She realized it wouldn"t be at all natural for Richard to pretend to not be bitter over his father"s transgressions. His performance would be all the more believable, too, with the addition of those little touches of rancor.

To distract from the sudden tension between father and son, she said to Milton, “I"m sure you won"t mind if I redecorate one of the larger rooms downstairs. Perhaps the music room?” The earl"s gaze swung back to her with a frown. “Whatever for?”

“She actually wants to be married here, of all places,” Richard answered. “She fell in love with Willow Woods as a child, despite the fact that I lived here,” he added with a chuckle.

Before the earl could refuse, Julia went on, “I"ll be turning the room into a lovely chapel.

The workers and all the material will be arriving in the next few days. You do have a pastor on the estate? If not, I can arrange for a bishop from London to—”

“Yes, I have a pastor,” Milton cut in.