Lord Love a Duke by Renee Reynolds Page B

at that time, the Earl of Middlesex, was eighteen,
a prime specimen of a young man in Juliet's eyes. He had joined her
brothers to fish, and she had sneaked into the trees to spy on the
trio. Her memory demanded honesty so she acknowledged to herself
that only Jonas commanded her attention. His manner was much more
carefree then, these years before his father's death, and he
laughed with ease and frequency as the friends joked more than
fished. As Juliet's thoughts wove girlish fantasies in her mind,
she became distracted, initially failing to notice that the angling
had finished and the swimming begun. Her attention was first drawn
to the pile of clothes on the bank, and then to
the sounds coming from the pond.

    Juliet flushed at the memory of her reaction
to seeing the wet Duke roughhousing with her brothers in the water.
The sight was impressive; she could even admit now that her
brothers would draw an appreciative eye. As a twelve year old girl
hanging precariously in a tree, she did not fully understand her
interest in the Duke's body; she knew enough to admire all that she
could see, however. She found herself daydreaming again, this time
of Jonas fishing, riding, and fencing, all activities she had
watched him do many times. This time, she realized, she pictured
him without his shirt. Shaking her head to gather her wayward
thoughts, she became aware of the lack of noise in the pond and the
approaching sounds of the trio's voices. She started suddenly and
her perch became unstable, and she knew in an instant she would
fall.

    This time, Juliet grimaced as she relived
her graceless fall to the earth. Time had seemed to move so slowly
as she dropped, then all too fast she landed. The two feelings she
retained from her disgrace complemented each other well: pain and
mortification. The pain she could blame on her sprained ankle and
wrist. The mortification came from being discovered in such a
state. She was equally embarrassed from lacking the skills to
maintain her perch as from being caught spying. While her brothers
laughed and jeered, Jonas checked her for broken bones, brushed the
leaves and other wooded detritus from her person, then picked her
up to carry her all the way back to Belle Rêverie. It was a trip
that gave her much to dream on for months.

    She yawned once more and stretched her tall
frame like a cat, shaking the silly memories off as a knock sounded
on her door. Her maid, Lily, entered with a steaming cup of
chocolate and began to prepare her toilette. Together they selected
a day gown of coral with a shimmering overlay of similarly-colored
gauze. A cream colored ribbon was tied around the empire waist, the
tails of the bow falling nearly to the floor in back. Juliet
finished her chocolate as Lily then gathered her mistress' long
tresses in a loose coil on the top of her head. Another cream
ribbon was interwoven within the coil, with several long tendrils
of hair allowed to escape down the center of her back. Satisfied
with her appearance, she slipped on cream slippers and padded down
the hall to see if Miranda still remained. Just as she began to
knock, the door was thrown open.

    "Oh! You nearly scared me to death!" Miranda
laughed breathlessly. "My nerves are a little jumpy this morning. I
confess I am anxious to get this over with now that we have
begun."

    "I am the same. I slept well, but
immediately awoke with a sense of anticipation laced with dread. I
do hope your brother has difficulty ascertaining from the outset
the culprit of this prank."

    They linked arms and went down the stairs,
picking up the company of Miss Shaw and Lady Temperance on the way.
They waited, allowing the other ladies to enter the morning room
first, then gave each other a reassuring glance. Jonas was already
at the head of the table, his paper covering the lower half of his
face. He raised his cup of coffee for a drink but their view was
still obscured by the news sheets.

    "I will ask him how he slept after I get