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"Bells?" She s"
A nervous laugh rattled free of his chest "I doubt that"
Her brow creased orry, and Julian scrubbed his face with his pale to the newspapers yesterday, thinking it best to get it over with before the gossips did it for the the shocked reaction of their friends and peers They’d even devised an iinary screed from Aunt Beatrice Despite all their concerted effort at levity, however, Julian worried that she worried about public reaction Hell, he orried about it hi heart
"A bad dream," he admitted "That’s all"
She laid her cheek to his chest "It’s Leo, isn’t it? Are you thinking of him? It’s five months today"
"Oh, sweetheart" Evidently it wasn’t scandal weighing her brow this ainst the headboard, he pulled her to his chest and hugged her close, wrapping his ar, dark hair
"I know it’s hard for you," she said "Giving up the search But just because you haven’t found theo unpunished Men who are bad will end badly I have to believe in that"
Julian understood why that thought , since he knew he fell into the "ory hi rhyth You believe in that Just don’t stop to ask yourself why it is I’m here with you, and not jailed or worse
Holy Christ
Jailed
The as a blow to his skull, and his wholeHow stupid he’d been How utterly, unbelievably dim Where had Julian himself been, the one time in his life his friends and family had searched for him with no success? He’d been jailed, of course Forced to spend a putrid, shivering month in Bridewell Prison, with all the other bad men--and boys--who had ended badly Perhaps this was the reason his hunt for Leo’s killers remained fruitless all these months, even after an exhaustive search of London’s streets Because they weren’t on the streets They’d been incarcerated for some other crime
God, it was all so clear to him now So bloody obvious
He would write to Levi Harris, reopen the investigation Tell hi in England, and quickly They alloho could say?
The prospect of answers dangled before hi and seductive
But he’d pro He’d done more than promise He’d made vows
"Justice is in God’s hands now," she said, petting the line of dark hair down the center of his chest, "as it should be We shall find retribution in sheer happiness Don’t ever lose sleep over those ed her from his chest and sat up
"What is it?" she asked
"Those bells," he said, frowning at the low, e It’s been minutes now, and they haven’t stopped"
With those bells, married life was off to a rather unusual start
Lily had steeled herself for a certain e Had either one of thereat exciteossip within the ton For Lily and Julian to have married each other--and in such hasty, unexpected fashion--well, this would be a story responsible forover , when the bells roused her husband fro even after soate and returned with shocking news
Princess Charlotte had died in the night, so birth to a stillborn babe
With that, all England plunged into deep, for The papers were filled with news of funeral arrangements and the relayed condolences of the world’s royalty Parties were canceled, theaters closed London ehter No one paid any attention to the nuptials of a gently bred lady and an infamous rake
It was all so very ironic The world was too busyto care about them, and behind the drawn shades of Harcliffe House, Lily and Julian were celebrating life
Naturally, Lily shared the country’s shock and grief at Princess Charlotte’s untiedy, she spent a stunned uely connected relation of the royal family, she would of course attend the funeral But she’d spent the past fivefor Leo, and she seemed to have exhausted her reserve of melancholy This was her honeymoon, and happiness would not be held at bay
With every day--every hour--that passed, their bond strengthened They talked of nothing new Most of their conversations were reminiscences of old events, or a reprisal of some topic they’d discussed years before But they went over theain with new perspective and a sense of serendipitous wonder Like thieves who’d dug up a treasure chest by night and were only now exaers worked constantly as they spoke, sifting through the precious geold
Theydownstairs Julian’s valet had delivered his full wardrobe to Harcliffe House, but the dozens of topcoats and felted hats reed about in a silk banyan and loose trousers, when he dressed at all No shirt beneath, to Lily’s infinite delight She loved sitting across the breakfast table froaze stray to his unshaven throat and studying the muscular definition of his bared chest