“You say that as if I rarely laugh,” she said.
“More rarely when Lucas is away,” Father said.
She turned up her rouged cheek to Father. He kissed it, then moved to sit in his usual armchair near the fire.
“It is good to have you back, son. Your Grand Tour ended precisely when it ought.”
Lucas hadn’t given a great deal of thought to it. He supposed traveling in the winter would have been more complicated. Journeying home in the late summer had been a boon.
“Returning in time for Mother’s ball. That was very fortuitous timing. Without my influence, she would have served a stargazy pie, and that would have been a disaster.”
Father’s nostrils flared, and his lips curled. “Stargazy pie? We aren’t actually serving that, are we?”
“Of course not,” Mother said.
“By the by,” Lucas said, “I have gifts for the two of you, little offerings from my time on the Continent.”
“Have you?” Mother clicked her tongue. “You’ve been home for two days and haven’t yet presented these tokens of your affection.”
Lucas grinned unrepentantly. “I was saving them in case I found myself in your black books.”
“A bribe?” Father tutted. “You could simply decide to be well-behaved and obedient and forego the need for bribery.”
“Where would be the adventure in that?”
Father smiled. “That’s our Lucas. Always on the hunt for an adventure.”
“Life is meant to be lived.”
“Did you bring a gift for Julia as well?” Mother asked.
“Of course I did.”
Mother bent over her paper once more, apparently satisfied that he’d shown his old friend sufficient thoughtfulness.
“I have been attempting to sort out the change I see in her,” he said. “The Julia I knew was not so . . . I suppose angry is the closest word I can find, though it doesn’t feel quite right.”
Father rubbed at his chin, thinking. “I would say she is more unreachable than angry. She keeps herself at a distance from everyone.”
“That’s entirely unlike her.” Lucas couldn’t reconcile any of this. “She used to run unencumbered all over the neighborhood, fast friends with anyone willing to accept her.”
“And now she spends most of her time alone,” Mother said. “She seems to prefer isolation.”
“I do hope she attends the ball,” he mused aloud. “The social interaction would do her good, I daresay.”
“Speaking of which,” Mother said, “do you suppose any of the Gents would be able to reach Lampton Park in time for the ball? I imagine you would enjoy having your particular friends here.”
“Only Kes. The others will be scattered a bit too far afield for dropping by on such short notice.” Mother and Father seemed particularly disappointed by that. They had, of course, met each of his six closest friends. They had been a group of seven before Stanley’s death. “Kes and Julia will have to suffice from my circle of friends,” he said.
“Farland will make certain she attends.” Father spoke with complete certainty.
A bit of worry tiptoed over Lucas’s mind. “He’ll not be unkind, I hope.”
Both his parents shook their heads. That was a relief.
“I’ve made a wager with her.” Lucas smiled inwardly.
Amusement danced in Mother’s eyes. “What is this wager?”
“That if she enjoys herself at the ball, despite her current belief in her inevitable misery, I will give her the present I bought for her in Paris.” He leaned back in his chair. “She will receive it either way, of course. I simply hoped she would agree to attend if I attached a challenge to it.”
Father nodded. “Obstinacy was once one of her more defining character traits. As a child, she never could resist a dare.”
Oh, he’d adored the tiny Julia he’d watched as a child. “I hope she enjoys herself at the ball.”
“Oh, she will.” Mother spoke quite firmly, with a surprising degree of conviction. “How could she not be entirely pleased with this ball when we have been planning it for ever so long? The evening will be precisely what any young lady would hope for.”
Though Lucas had known his mother to be confident in her abilities as a hostess, he’d not heard her speak with quite this level of conviction. Was she truly so sure of her plans, or was she attempting to convince herself?
“All will be well,” Father said. “Now that you are here.”
“Here for a time.” He didn’t wish to cause them grief, but they needed to remember that he was not remaining. Brier Hill was his home, and it needed his attention before he took his next travels.
He would see to it Julia enjoyed the ball, he and his parents were granted ample time together, and Kes experienced the joy that was Lampton Park. Then he would return to his most important pursuit: living the life his siblings and his best friend had been denied, having enough adventures, thrills, and joys for all of them.
He owed them that much.
Chapter Five
Julia did not often venture from the immediate vicinity of Farland Meadows, but she knew if she remained at home, her father would continue pressing the matter of the Lampton Park ball. She had agreed to attend—she wouldn’t wish to cause Lady Lampton any distress—but continuing to discuss the matter would not improve her outlook on her social obligations.
And so, three days after Lucas Jonquil’s return to the neighborhood, she took an overly long walk around the neighborhood, delaying the necessity of returning home.
She loved her father, and she knew he loved her, but they saw so differently on these matters. He viewed her tendency toward isolation as a hindrance to her happiness. She knew it to be a necessity. They’d debated the matter many times. While they had never come to be in agreement, she had attended the occasional gathering and he had kindly indulged her preferences. They’d found a peaceful existence at Farland Meadows. Then Lucas had returned and tossed it all into confusion.
Behind her on the road, she could hear the clop of hooves. She stepped onto the grass, allowing room to pass. A pony cart came to a stop beside her. She looked up at the driver. “Why, Mr. Barrington. Are you without your companion?”
“As you see.” He was a very direct sort of person. “What brings you out on the road?”
“I was taking a restorative walk,” she said. “My wanderings are, it seems, taking me the long way home.”