Page 41 of The Lion Duke's Proposal
“Thank you for listening. I haven’t ever told that story to anyone other than Anthony. With you, I feel as though I can say it,” he admitted. “Something about your presence is very comforting, Julia .”
“It’s my pleasure,” she answered, hating her own weakness.
But the line of text in her father’s letter was there in her mind like a barrier.Do not tell anyone else where I am, especially not your betrothed.
She thought about telling Leander. She had been turning it over since the letter had arrived, picking it up and putting it down again, the way one manages something that might be hot. He deserved to know — she understood that. They had an arrangement built on a specific kind of trust, and withholding information that was directly relevant to his plan was not nothing.
But she also knew Leander well enough by now to know that the moment she handed him her father's location, the situation would leave her hands entirely. He would act decisively, and whatever form that took would be his decision rather than hers. He had promised her legal consequences only, and she believed he meant it when he said it. But belief and certainty were different things, and her father, for all his failures, was still her father. If something went wrong — if Leander moved too quickly, or her father panicked, or the whole arrangement collapsed before the dowries were secured — there would be no recovery.
She needed to be sure first. She needed to handle the initial contact herself, understand what her father actually wanted, and establish enough ground before she brought Leander into the matter.
Then she would tell him everything. She would tell him the moment she was certain it would help rather than detonate.
It is not a betrayal, she told herself.It is a precaution.
She was not entirely convinced, but it was the best she had.
“We’ll find my father one day soon and get back your friend’s heirloom. I’m sure of it.”
Chapter Twelve
The following day was the much-anticipated final day of the event. Julia had gone to bed the previous night with images of the Duke and her father swimming around her head, making it impossible to relax. She still couldn’t make up her mind about what to do, and she was aware that after today, she had nowhere to go. Unless she and Poppy turned up at their father’s room at the Tavistock Inn with all their cases, they would be sleeping in a park. The thought was daunting, and she knew that by the end of today, she would have to choose with whom her loyalty lay.
For now, though, there was something else to focus on. The Duke had prepared another game for the final day, with a modest prize for the winner. It took place in the hedge maze where she’d found Benjamin playing yesterday, which it turned out had been prepared with a treasure trail and a series of riddles that would make up today’s game. This time, Poppy wanted to participate, and she had teamed up with Lord Blackwell now that Miss Burbank wasn’t there to terrorize either of them, so Julia was currently partnerless. She knew she shouldprobably team up with the Duke this time, but she wanted to wait and at least make him ask her.
As it turned out, he was taking no chances on her finding a different partner this time. He approached her before breakfast, already in a crisp waistcoat and jacket, as she sat with her sister and aunt.
“Miss Norish,” he said with a bow. “Will you do me the honor of partnering with me for the labyrinth puzzle today?”
“Why, of course, Your Grace,” she said. Lady Bendon beamed at the two of them, no doubt already planning the wedding in her head and thrilled to tell her husband he’d been wrong about Julia’s prospects all along. Poppy sipped her tea quietly, keeping her eyes down. She’d always been a terrible secret-keeper, so Julia didn’t blame her.
“Excellent. Then I shall see you out there.”
The game was divided into three sections, each of which would take place in a different part of the maze. The first part, based on the outer edge, was a riddle that had to be solved to reach a checkpoint with the first clue. After the checkpoint, they would advance further into the maze, repeating the process, and the third riddle would lead to a challenge at the center that had to be completed as a team, revealing the third clue. All three clues put together would be the solution to winning the prize. It called for intellect, coordination, instinct, and teamwork. Honestly, as a lover of games and competition, Julia was really rather excited.
It seemed that most of the guests felt the same way, as the atmosphere was abuzz on the lawn outside the orangery. Julia spotted Poppy and Lord Blackwell getting ready; the poor man’s hat was too large for him today, and it kept slipping over his eyes. The Marquess of Thynne was also participating, accompanied by a woman Julia didn’t know, but who seemed to be far more interested in standing as close to him as she could physically get than in preparing for the game. Finally, she found the Duke of Pridewell waiting for her at the far side of the crowd.
“Are you ready?” she asked. “I suppose you don’t know anything about what’s waiting for us in there?”
“Nothing at all,” he promised. “Anthony came up with the idea for the game and outsourced the creation of the puzzles to a company in Bath, which is apparently known for such things. The gardeners have even changed the maze’s layout, so I don’t even know the way. Regrettably, we have no unfair advantages whatsoever.”
She laughed. “You really spared no expense on this event.”
He shrugged. “I don’t throw parties often. It was actually all Anthony’s idea, if you’d believe it. I’m not fond of having this many people in my house, but he insisted on my having a party for my thirtieth birthday.”
Julia was shocked. “When was your birthday? I’m so sorry. I had no idea! Should we have brought you a gift?”
“It was last month,” he reassured her. “I didn’t make it known. I preferred not to center things on myself. But I did let Anthony have as much fun as he liked with the preparations, hence the extravagance and, well, this.” He gestured at the hedge maze.
“He’s a good friend,” Julia noted the reluctant smile on his face.
“The best.”
Just then, the game master stepped forward.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the game begins!"
Mr. Finch's voice cut across the lawn with the authority of a man who had spent years making himself heard above crowds. He was a compact figure in a bottle-green coat, and he held a brass horn aloft with the satisfaction of someone who had been waiting all morning to use it.
