Julianne. He was clearly a little ruffled by her behavior and John watched sardonically as she expertly set out to pacify him. The young man was obviously clay in her hands. After a minute she took him off to dance, leaving John on the edge of the crowd, his eyes following her proud golden head and slim white shoulders. Then Lord Castlereagh came up beside him and asked him a question. In a few minutes the two men retired to a private room and weren’t seen for over an hour.
In the meantime Julianne was having a perfectly wretched time. She danced with a great number of men, all of whom were extremely pleasant, and all of whom she found it difficult to talk to. After having had a real exchange with someone, it was hard to go back to mouthing polite, meaningless platitudes.
When John came back into the ballroom, the whole room came alive again. She watched as he talked with first one person and then another; watched how everyone watched him; watched as he danced with one or two women and watched their obvious attraction to him. He had tremendous power over people, she thought. Her father had had that quality as well. It did not stem from their remarkable good looks but from the strength of their personalities. They were both overwhelming and extremely forceful men—men whose mere presence made an impact on even the most grudging observer.
He was a dangerous man, John Champernoun. Dangerous to her. The surface veil of convention had been ripped away between them; they had shared too much with each other. She had told him things she would never tell anyone else. She had not seen him for eight months, yet she had felt more instantly at home with him than she felt with people who were far more intimately connected to her. They knew each other too well.
That was why he was dangerous. She had chosen her life and she was happy in that choice. She must not allow this intensely forceful man to come into that life and smash it. It was not as if she really liked him, she told herself. She could never like a man who was so like her father.
Chapter Thirteen
But all things are composed here
Like Nature, orderly and near....
—Andrew Marvell
The final month of the season came to a close at last and the ton prepared to desert London for the pleasures of the country. Julianne and the dowager duchess were to spend the month of August at Minton. The earl and countess had assembled a house party of friends and relatives who were anxious to meet the future Lady Rutherford—indeed, the future Lady Minton. In September the dowager duchess and her granddaughter would return home and in October there would be a house party at Crewe, hosted by the duke and duchess in honor of Lord Rutherford and his parents. In November the young people would finally be allowed to get married.
Julianne was very glad to return to Minton. The tranquillity of the house would soothe away her restlessness. She was pleased also to see Lord Minton again. He was everything she admired in a man: so good-humored, so intelligent, so utterly pleasant.
The Mintons had gathered a house party of some twenty people to meet Julianne and the dowager duchess. There were two of William’s aunts with their husbands, three of his uncles with their wives and six cousins. The others were close friends of the family—Mr. and Mrs. Lewis and Lord and Lady Boldock. At first Julianne had been disconcerted by the number of people; she had counted on Minton for tranquility. But the house party was very easygoing and all the people so comfortable with each other that she was soon reassured. The atmosphere was as pleasant and serene as she remembered.
In the mornings the guests pretty much did as they pleased. Breakfast was set out in the breakfast room to be partaken of whenever one should happen to arise. Or one could breakfast in bed if one chose. The gentlemen usually spent the morning reading in the library or riding out on one of the earl’s well-conditioned
In the meantime Julianne was having a perfectly wretched time. She danced with a great number of men, all of whom were extremely pleasant, and all of whom she found it difficult to talk to. After having had a real exchange with someone, it was hard to go back to mouthing polite, meaningless platitudes.
When John came back into the ballroom, the whole room came alive again. She watched as he talked with first one person and then another; watched how everyone watched him; watched as he danced with one or two women and watched their obvious attraction to him. He had tremendous power over people, she thought. Her father had had that quality as well. It did not stem from their remarkable good looks but from the strength of their personalities. They were both overwhelming and extremely forceful men—men whose mere presence made an impact on even the most grudging observer.
He was a dangerous man, John Champernoun. Dangerous to her. The surface veil of convention had been ripped away between them; they had shared too much with each other. She had told him things she would never tell anyone else. She had not seen him for eight months, yet she had felt more instantly at home with him than she felt with people who were far more intimately connected to her. They knew each other too well.
That was why he was dangerous. She had chosen her life and she was happy in that choice. She must not allow this intensely forceful man to come into that life and smash it. It was not as if she really liked him, she told herself. She could never like a man who was so like her father.
Chapter Thirteen
But all things are composed here
Like Nature, orderly and near....
—Andrew Marvell
The final month of the season came to a close at last and the ton prepared to desert London for the pleasures of the country. Julianne and the dowager duchess were to spend the month of August at Minton. The earl and countess had assembled a house party of friends and relatives who were anxious to meet the future Lady Rutherford—indeed, the future Lady Minton. In September the dowager duchess and her granddaughter would return home and in October there would be a house party at Crewe, hosted by the duke and duchess in honor of Lord Rutherford and his parents. In November the young people would finally be allowed to get married.
Julianne was very glad to return to Minton. The tranquillity of the house would soothe away her restlessness. She was pleased also to see Lord Minton again. He was everything she admired in a man: so good-humored, so intelligent, so utterly pleasant.
The Mintons had gathered a house party of some twenty people to meet Julianne and the dowager duchess. There were two of William’s aunts with their husbands, three of his uncles with their wives and six cousins. The others were close friends of the family—Mr. and Mrs. Lewis and Lord and Lady Boldock. At first Julianne had been disconcerted by the number of people; she had counted on Minton for tranquility. But the house party was very easygoing and all the people so comfortable with each other that she was soon reassured. The atmosphere was as pleasant and serene as she remembered.
In the mornings the guests pretty much did as they pleased. Breakfast was set out in the breakfast room to be partaken of whenever one should happen to arise. Or one could breakfast in bed if one chose. The gentlemen usually spent the morning reading in the library or riding out on one of the earl’s well-conditioned
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