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“I am still not certain,” Juliana replied with a smile “I do not see the bonfire you promised”
A pyre had been set up at the center of the town square, an enor straw erously to one side, threatening that it would take a light breeze rather than a blazing fire to bring hi in circles around the unlit bonfire, singing and chanting, and a fat baby sat off to one side, covered in sticky toffee
Juliana turned to her sister-in-laith a s”
“Just wait until the children have eaten their fill of sweets, and there is a great inferno fro” Isabel peered through the crowd of people, searching “Most of the girls should be here already The house was ehton e left”
Theof hi reasons to s from near the nursery and visit her brother in his study, all to no avail
He’d all but disappeared
She knew she should be happy that he was keeping his distance Knew she should not tempt fate He had made his choice, after all—it was only a matter of time before he returned to London and married another
Sohly of
Someone who matched him in name and station
And now, instead of doing her best to forget hilish that he was here
Wondering why he wasn’t here
Even as she kneas not for her
It should be easier—here in the country, protected fro es of convenience and betrothal balls and whispers and gossip
And still, she thought of him Of his future
Of her own
And of how they would differ
She had to leave
She could not stay Not if he was here
Isabel lifted her nose to the air “Oohdo you smell apple tarts?”
The question shook Juliana from her reverie This was a carnival, and all of Yorkshire was in celebration, and she would not let the future change the now There was enough time to worry about it tomorrow
“Shall we have one?” she asked her sister-in-laith a smile
They set off down the long line of stalls in search of pastry, as Isabel said, “You are warned, once I start, it is possible I shan’t stop until I have turned into an apple tart”
Juliana laughed “It is a risk I shall take”
They found the stall and purchased tarts before a young wo about uniforms for the Townsend Park servants Juliana wandered slowly, lingering in the stalls nearby as she waited for the conversation to finish, watching as the greensward grew dark, the only light at the center of the square co frohbors and waited, presumably, for the bonfire to be lit
Everything in this little village had been distilled to this simple moment of conversation and celebration The air was crisp with the sreensere falling on the breeze, and there was no worry in this momentno sadness No loneliness
Here she was in the country, where life was ruht and children’s rhy, she would have it
She would not let him stop her
She paused outside a booth filled with dried herbs and flowers, and the large wo “What’s your pleasure, milady?”
“My pleasure?”
The woh table where Juliana stood “Children? Money? Happiness?”
Juliana ss?”
“You doubt it?”
She gave a little laugh “Yes”
The wo moment “I see what you want”
“Oh?”
I want one evening of simplicity
“Love,” pronounced the shopkeeper
Far too complicated “What about it?”
“That’s what you want” The woman’s hands flew over the collection of herbs and flowers, faster than someone of her size should be able toof roses that Juliana could not identify She placed theth of twine in a knot Odysseus himself would not be able to undo She handed the pouch to Juliana then “Sleep with it under your pillow”
Juliana stared at the little sachet “And then what?”
The wo teeth “He will come”
“Who will co deliberately obstinate
The woman did not seem to mind “Your love” She put out a wide hand, palic, milady”
Juliana raised a brow “I will adic” She dropped the herbs into her reticule and fished out a coin
“It ork”
“Oh, yes, I’m sure it will”
She turned away resolutely and froze
There, propped against the post at the corner of the stall, ar as little like a duke as the Duke of Leighton could look
Which was still extraordinarily ducal
He wore buckskin breeches and tall, brown riding boots, a white linen shirt, and a green topcoat, but there was nothing elaborate about the clothes—his cravat was unco A cap rather than a hat was pulled down over his brow and, while he earing gloves, he did not carry the cane that was required in town
This was Simon with a nod to the country
A Simon she could love
Then she would give him up To his reputation and his propriety and his responsibility and all the things she had come to love about him
But tonight, they were in the country And things were simpler
Perhaps she could convince him of it
The thought unstuck her She began to move
Toward him
He straightened “Are you buying ic potions?”
“Yes” She tossed a look over her shoulder at the wo just outside the stall
She srin “You see how quickly it works, milady?”
Juliana could not help but smile “Indeed Thank you”
Simon looked uncomfortable “What did she sell you?”
Shemoment
It was now or never
“What if I said she sold ?”
His brow furrowed “One evening of what?”
She gave a little shrug “Simplicity Ease Peace”
One side of his mouth lifted in a half smile “I would say, let’s buy a lifetime of it”
Juliana thought about the conversation long ago, when they had discussed the perfect Leighton lineage—the reputation he protected, the honor he valued She recalled the pride in his voice, the heavy responsibility that was understood
What must it be like to bear such a burden?
Difficult enough to be teht of freedom
Juliana shook her head “We can’t have a lifeti”
He watched her for a long ht, in this siossip or scandal A bonfire and a fair and a few hours of ease
Tomorrow, next week, next month m
ight all be horrible Would likely be horrible
But she would have now
With him
All she had to do was reach out and take it
“I’ve enough for both of us, Siht?”
Please
He hovered on the brink of answering, and she wondered if he would turn her away—knew he should turn her away Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched thefor speech
But before he could answer, the church bells on the far side of the square began to chime—an explosion of sound Her eyes ide as the people around the?” she asked