Something he knew from the hours they spent together in the mornings, going over and discussing whatever paperwork he needed her to deal with for that day.

  During those mornings together, Georgiana had confided that she had received replies to her initial letters to her two friends, Lily, the Duchess of St. Albans, and Chloe, the Duchess of Hellsmere. She had shared the relevant contents of those letters with Julian.

  Both those young ladies had informed her they had made extensive enquiries regarding the whereabouts of Annabel’s maid, one Mary Jones, and discovered that the young lady was not currently working in the household of any in Society. Indeed, they had not been able to find any evidence of the young maid ever having resided in London at all.

  Puzzling news, to be sure, when that young lady had supposedly been employed by Annabel.

  Julian also recalled the maid informing him that London was her intended destination when she left Norfolk.

  St. Albans and Hellsmere, on Julian’s behalf, had also looked into the whereabouts of Annabel’s aunt. What they had discovered had left Julian more disturbed than ever.

  The house in Bloomsbury had only been rented for a month before Julian and Annabel met.

  They had also confirmed that the aunt, despite Annabel telling Julian she was going to visit her only relative at her home on those afternoons she disappeared when they had resided in London during the Season, had ceased living in the rented accommodation very shortly after Annabel and Julian were married.

  He was still uncertain as to the purpose of this complicated game of seduction, but he was now certain that it had all been a ruse from the very beginning.

  St. Albans and Hellsmere had written that they would continue to make what inquiries they could into the matter, on his behalf, in London.

  All of which left Julian not knowing what to believe about Annabel or their marriage.

  Those uncertainties were not helping to foment his relationship with Georgiana.

  She was so beautiful. So passionate. So steadfast. So loyal.

  She had been all those things from their very first meeting. She remained that way still, despite Julian’s stubborn refusal to repeat their intimacy.

  A refusal which caused him so much inner turmoil that he could sometimes barely breathe from the heaviness of it in his chest.

  One way of escaping the rising sexual tension was for Julian to ride Shadow wildly across the sand and dunes for an hour or more each day. He did so come rain or shine, usually early in the mornings, when Georgiana was still in her bedchamber asleep or preparing for the day.

  Today, Julian had decided to accompany Eames on his visits to the many Moreland estate tenants. Only to have Georgiana now state she wished to accompany them.

  “We will be on horseback,” he warned her.

  “All the better. I love riding Rosebud and I am in need of fresh air. It will also be interesting to meet new people,” she added brightly.

  The latter comment wounded Julian. More deeply than he wished to reveal. It implied he was not enough company for her. Which, considering he refused to kiss or touch her again, was probably the case.

  “Surely you acquire both those things when you go to the beach in the afternoons and meet up with Meggie?”

  Georgiana sighed. “Meggie has failed to join me these past two afternoons, and I find I no longer enjoy my own company. To be truthful,” she continued as Julian winced, “I am a little concerned by Meggie’s absence and wish to see for myself that she is well. I do not believe I have done anything to offend her…” she worried. “But I can sometimes be a little…too abrasive in my speech for some people,” she allowed.

  Yes, she could, but it was a trait that Julian valued rather than criticized. “I doubt Meggie would think that. Besides, I met with Eames yesterday morning to discuss today’s visits, and he did not mention there being anything wrong with Meggie.”

  Georgiana’s brow cleared. “I am gratified to hear that. But I should still like to accompany the two of you. Primarily so that I might be of help in making any necessary notes, but also so that I might speak to Meggie myself. If that is agreeable with you?”

  “Of course,” he readily agreed.

  She blinked long lashes. “Much as I do not wish to bring up the subject I believe I must ask if you have considered—what you have decided must be done, now that my two-week trial has come to an end?”

  Yes, of course Julian had considered it!

  Indeed, he had thought of little else.

  As for a decision on the subject?

  If he told Georgiana the situation had not worked out, as had been his intention all along, then she must leave Moreland Park.

  Her absence would instantly throw him into an even darker torment than being with her and desiring her every minute of every day and night.

  If he allowed her to stay, then this current torment would continue, but at least he would still be able to see and speak to her every day.

  Days when he would also constantly curse himself for the grave mistake he had made regarding Annabel’s true nature. Because that error in judgment now meant he could not be with the woman he truly loved.

  He felt a love so deep and true for Georgiana that it had left Julian reeling from the realization he could never have truly been in love with Annabel. Rather, as he had thought might be the case when he reflected back on that time, he had been a soldier returning from the blood and gore of fighting and had become enthralled by Annabel’s innocence and beauty and the return of devotion she had claimed to feel toward him. The speed with which they had married had not allowed any time for second thoughts, or even time to question his first ones.

  He now knew, to the depths of his being, that he not only loved Georgiana, he adored and worshipped her.

  To tell Georgiana of his feelings would be unfair to her.

  At the same time as he was too selfish to give up her company completely.

  “With your agreement, I believe we might continue this arrangement for now,” he answered her evenly. “But I reserve the right to change my mind,” he added quickly when a wide smile illuminated the beauty of her face.

  “As do I,” she assured dryly.

  He nodded stiffly. “As is your prerogative.”

  “I will bring a satchel with me today in which I can keep paper and a pencil. That way, I can make any notes you might wish me to regarding the tenants or buildings,” she added briskly.

  Usually, Julian and Eames relied on their memories, but Georgiana’s suggestion would be much more efficient.

  “Do not look so surprised,” she teased. “I am the daughter of an earl, after all.”

  Of course she was, and at least this way, Julian would be able to enjoy spending time with Georgiana this morning. Hopefully, Eames’s presence would help mitigate the burning need Julian constantly felt to hold and kiss Georgiana.

  His many fantasies of doing so had included laying her down on top of his desk and making love to her. Slowly and thoroughly.

  Yes, it was better by far that they leave his study this morning to go out onto the estate in the company of a third person.

  One thing that became very apparent to Georgiana, within minutes of Julian beginning his first visit to one of his tenants, was the pleasure the family felt upon seeing him amongst them once again.

  It was heartwarming to watch Julian as he resumed his role as the Duke of Moreland while at the same time remaining open to anything his tenants might wish to say to or ask of him.

  All of them, as the morning progressed, expressed how much they were enjoying seeing him about the estate again.

  Georgiana, for her part, was still reveling in the euphoria of being allowed to continue as Julian’s secretary and to remain indefinitely in Norfolk.

  She had fallen in love with the county’s barrenness and the sea’s wild crashing onto the golden sand. Also, with the good humor and friendliness of the people she had met while out on her rides.

  But most of all, she knew herself to be falling more in love with Julian every day. Even if he continued to be the most infuriatingly stubborn gentleman she had ever met!

  He was also startlingly handsome in that toplofty way that dukes often were. Certainly, St. Albans and Hellsmere both possessed that same inherent arrogance.

  Georgiana was also witnessing firsthand this morning how much the tenants of the Moreland Park estate respected and loved him, many of them having known him since he was a child.

  The latter emotion seemed to have surprised Julian. “It would seem I have misjudged the feelings of my tenants,” he remarked ruefully as the three of them enjoyed luncheon at the local inn.

  They had left their horses with the ostlers outside and were now sitting together in a private room enjoying a cold luncheon of fresh bread, sliced meats, and cheeses. All washed down with the home-brewed ale the innkeeper was locally famous for.

  Julian’s gaze lowered. “I had thought—erroneously made the assumption—they would view me differently after my wi—the duchess’s disappearance.”

  Robert Eames grimaced. “You have always been well-liked, as was your father and grandfather before you. But I am afraid the feelings of the tenants and the people living in the village toward the duchess are very similar to those of your household staff.” He hesitated. “Do I have your permission to continue?” he prompted when Julian stiffened.

  “Of course.” Julian nodded.

  Eames released a sigh. “Then I am sorry to say the duchess was not liked at all— Are you quite well, Lady Stapleton?” the estate manager inquired after Georgiana gave a derisive snort.

  “I am very well,” she assured him. “But it would seem that the only person who did like the duchess was you,” she turned to tell Julian. “Initially, at least,” she dismissed. “I can only assume that was because you were not thinking with your brain but another part of your anatomy.”

  “Georgiana!” Julian gasped at the same time as Robert Eames almost choked on a swallow of ale.

  “Can you claim otherwise?” she challenged.

  Julian’s nostrils flared. “What I can state categorically is that your father should have spanked your bottom more when you were a child!”

  She huffed. “My father had absolutely no interest in anything to do with his three daughters, let alone the desire to correct anything as insignificant as their behavior.”

  Although, Georgiana inwardly admitted, the mere thought of having Julian spank her bottom now seemed to have created a pleasurable warmth between her thighs.

  How odd that she should find the suggestion of physical chastisement so erotic. But she could not deny the dampness soaking in the gusset of her drawers that accompanied that warmth.

  She turned toward Eames rather than continuing to look at Julian, feeling a little awkward after imagining herself draped over his muscular thighs before he threw up her skirts and spanked her bare bottom.

  “I trust Meggie is well?” she prompted the other man. “She has not joined me on the beach to collect shells these past two days.” It was the first time she’d had the opportunity to mention this to him, not having previously wished to interrupt the purpose of the day.

  A cloud seemed to pass over Eames’s features. “She sometimes has bad nightmares this time of year, followed by two or three days when she feels melancholy and prefers to stay at home with her mother.”

  “I am so sorry to hear that.” Georgiana frowned. “I would have called on her if I had known that was the reason for her not joining me.”

  Meggie’s father shrugged. “I am sure she will be feeling better soon. She talks of you often. At least, I have assumed the ‘kind, dark-haired lady’ to be you?”

  “I hope it is too.” Georgiana smiled before that humor disappeared. “The nightmares only happen this time of year, you said…?”

  His gaze no longer quite met hers. “Yes.”

  “How strange.” The end of spring and the start of summer had always been one of Georgiana’s favorite times of year.

  It was a time when she felt that the warmth of continuous days of sunshine couldn’t be far away. Although, last summer had not met those expectations. There had been very little sunshine. Many of the farmers had been unable to plant or harvest their crops due to the bad weather.

  “Meggie fell and broke her arm two years ago, and the nightmares and melancholy have happened since, and always at the same time of year,” Eames confided. “Try as we might, my wife and I do not seem to be able to convince her that the pain will not happen again.”

  “But you are sure she will recover?” Meggie was usually such a sunny child, Georgiana could not bear the thought of her being so unhappy.

  “Usually within a few days, yes,” Eames confirmed.

  “With your permission, may I visit her tomorrow?”

  “Certainly,” he assured. “I know she will appreciate—” Eames broke off to stare curiously out the open window as the sound of carriages arriving could be heard.

  Two carriages had pulled in and were now stopped in the inn’s courtyard. Distinctive coats of arms were visible on the doors.

  Ones that Georgiana had no difficulty recognizing as belonging to the Duke of St. Albans and the Duke of Hellsmere.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “I cannot tell you how gratified we are to see you looking so well.” Lily, the Duchess of St. Albans, murmured softly against Georgiana’s ear as the two friends hugged in the courtyard of the inn.

  Having recognized who owned the two newly arrived carriages, Georgiana had excused herself to the two gentlemen before hurrying outside. She was hoping that two of her closest friends had accompanied their dukes. She knew that St. Albans was reluctant to ever be parted from Lily.

  The happiness Georgiana felt as both Lily and Chloe stepped down from the respective St. Albans and Hellsmere carriages had brought the sting of tears to her eyes.

  Lily now gave her a reproving look. “We have been so worried about you since we received your letters and learned you had come to Norfolk and were not staying with Julia and Amanda, as you had previously told us was your intention.”

  “We feared the worst after we both received a letter from you, and my father and Lucien also had one from Moreland, both of you requesting answers to so many questions,” Chloe chimed in.

  “But first, my husband had to explain his part in acquiring employment for you as secretary to the Duke of Moreland,” Lily put in with a reproving glance at St. Albans.

  “I am so sorry for not telling you the truth,” Georgiana apologized. “I feared you would both object if you knew of my real intention.”

  “Well, of course we would have objected,” Lily stated. “It was very arbitrary of St. Albans to go behind our backs and do such a thing.”

  Georgiana grimaced. “He did not share those circumstances with you at my request.”

  “Then you were both guilty of the deception,” Chloe stated. “But it is one I will forgive you if your duke is very handsome,” she added mischievously.

  Georgiana gave a choked laugh. Chloe had always been incorrigible, and her recent marriage to the Duke of Hellsmere appeared to have deepened that freedom of speech rather than curbed it. Probably because Hellsmere was as besotted with Chloe as St. Albans was with Lily.

  As besotted as Georgiana hoped Julian would one day be with her. “See for yourself,” she encouraged softly upon hearing Julian being greeted by his two friends.

  Chloe turned to look at the three gentlemen. “Oh my, yes,” she admired.

  Georgiana chuckled. “When Ju— Moreland and I,” she corrected, though not quickly enough from the knowing looks Chloe and Lily were now giving her, “wrote those letters to all of you,” she continued determinedly, “I do not believe either of us expected any of you to actually travel into Norfolk.”

  Lily smiled. “My husband and Hellsmere were both hellbent on coming here to talk to Moreland in person, after they had explained to us they had not seen him for such a long time.”

  Georgiana’s brow creased. “Did they tell you why they hadn’t?”

  “Well, of course,” Lily dismissed. “Gabriel keeps nothing from me.”

  “Except that he had sent our dear friend to stay with a duke whom many in Society believe killed his wife,” Chloe pointed out bluntly.

  “A crime Gabriel believes him to be innocent of,” Lily reminded, as if they had had this conversation several times before.

  “Because he is,” Georgiana stated without hesitation.

  “You do not have to convince us, darling,” Lily assured warmly. “You would not have fallen in love with him if you believed otherwise.”

  “I have not—” Georgiana broke off the protest when Lily gave her arm a reassuring pat. “Yes, I do love him,” she admitted huskily. “I also believe him innocent of any wrongdoing in his wife’s disappearance.”

  “As do Gabriel and Hellsmere,” Lily reassured. “But we both used our so-called annoyance at St. Albans’s subterfuge as a way of persuading our husbands to bring us to Norfolk with them.”

  Georgiana glanced over to where the three dukes were deep in a conversation too quiet for her to hear. Julian’s expression, in particular, was very hard to read. “I sincerely hope that you have arrived with good news.”

  “We have lots of news,” Lily said slowly. “It will be for the two of you to decide whether you think it is good or bad.”

  Georgiana’s heart began to pound as she inwardly prayed, Please let it be good news. “Are you all coming inside for luncheon…?”

  “We had a very late breakfast two hours ago at the inn,” Lily revealed. “I believe, having suffered through the inconvenience of all of us staying at that inn overnight, Gabriel now expects your duke to invite us all to stay at Moreland Park, where he might take a bath and sleep on a comfortable bed,” she added dryly.

  “It has been a very trying journey,” Chloe agreed. “Not least because my father seems to forget I am now a married woman, and that it is perfectly natural for me to travel in the same coach and sleep in the same bedchamber as my husband. Lucien finds Papa’s growly behavior amusing,” she added affectionately.