To Catch A Duke by Bethany Sefchick Read Free Book Online

accomplish.   She would also like to take a carriage ride
with a man, presumably Benjamin, along Rotten Row at the fashionable hour, but
that might be hoping for too much.   Still, if things went well, she might be able ask him for the favor and
see if he responded favorably.
    She also wanted to attend the
theater, something that she hadn't done thus far.   And dance two dances at a ball.   That was also a must.   There were
other things as well, but for the moment, she would be content with those
four.   She would also like to be kissed
but that would, of course, be going too far and hoping for too much.   She could never ask that of Benjamin, no
matter how much she might desire to do so.
    She was so lost in thought that she
didn't hear the butler, Cosgrove, approach.   When he cleared his throat, she looked up to find him holding a silver
tray that contained a letter.   "For
you, my lady."
    Julia reached up to pluck the
letter from the tray, unable to contain her excitement.   No one sent her letters.   Ever.   Breaking the seal, she quickly scanned the note.   It was from Benjamin, asking her to
accompany him on a drive that afternoon.   Excellent.   That was one of the
items on her list.   Hastily, she
scribbled a reply and gave Cosgrove instructions to have the note delivered.
    The previous night, she had sworn
to herself that she would make these last few weeks of the season count.   There was no time like the present to get
started.
     
    "You seem to be enjoying
yourself."   It was such an obvious
comment, but one that Benjamin couldn't help but make.   He'd arrived at Julia's Mayfair townhouse
fully expecting her to make him wait, as most young ladies of his acquaintance
would have.   Or perhaps simply refuse to
accompany him at all, despite her note of acceptance earlier in the day.   Instead, he'd found her ready to depart,
dressed in a lovely carriage gown of light green and bedecked with pale yellow
ribbons.   It was an eye-catching frock,
and he'd been more than a little surprised at her choice.
    He'd assumed that, given what had
transpired the night before, Julia would eventually decide against the drive
through the park and along Rotten Row.   He'd been observing her quietly off and on throughout the season and,
thus far, he'd noticed her preference to sink into the shadows in an attempt to
hide.   She had made it abundantly clear
that she really did not wish to be seen.   Yet today, there was no way to avoid seeing her.   She glowed so brightly and seemed so full of
life that, had he not known better, he would have thought his long time friend
had been replaced by an identical twin.
    "I am," she said simply,
and then sighed in what he could only describe as contentedness, if not sheer
bliss.   "This is lovely.   I had not quite anticipated how much I would
enjoy myself.   Or how lovely the fresh
air would be."   She seemed
completely unaware that the sun shone down on her skin, making it fairly glow,
and, though she wore a hat, it was rather small and not at all the proper thing
to wear for a day out in the elements.   Oddly, she did not seem to care, even though that meant that her scars
were in full view for anyone who looked at them.
    And people were looking.   Some, in fact, were downright staring.
    Benjamin wanted to scream at them
to stop that nonsense.   Or behead
them.   That would have been the
preferable, but undoubtedly a bit extreme, choice.   On the other hand, Julia was happy and if she was enjoying
herself, then he was as well.   In the
end, it really was that simple.
    "I would have suggested this
before had I known you would enjoy it so," he finally replied feeling more
than a little off balance.   This new
Julia both surprised him and delighted him at the same time.   She was more like the girl he had once
known, and at the same time, an altogether different, and potentially
dangerous, creature.   "All I want
is for you to be happy, Jules.   That's
all