Julian straightened his back and cleared his throat. His head throbbed from a deserved hangover, while his stomach made its own protests at having been so badly abused. But new guests were arriving, and he willed himself to rise above his physical discomforts.
As the carriage drew closer, he noted it was not a large one. Nor was it a formal travel coach. It would hold two to three people at best. But its arrival gave him hope. If one guest could make it up from London, then perhaps others were also coming not far behind.
The carriage stopped, and a footman stepped forward to open the door. Julian gave one final look at Caroline standing beside him, and after receiving an encouraging nod from her, he broke ranks and went to greet his guests.
A tall black hat appeared in the doorway, followed by a pair of long dark trousers. A hand came up and quickly removed the hat, revealing a dark brown head of hair. Julian held out his hand in welcome, but it was not accepted.
“Well this is all very formal, but welcoming. If I had known you were so eager for my arrival, I would have pressed on from Leicester last night and been here earlier.”
Julian blinked. The man standing before him was from Caroline’s court of admirers an odd chap who tended to stand at the back of proceedings and come to her rescue when needed. Harry Menzies.
“Harry, what on earth are you doing here?” Francis asked.
A smiling Harry stepped forward and greeted Francis with a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Coming to save you and my dearest Caroline.” He looked at Julian and gave a brief, barely respectable nod. “Newhall.”
Julian clenched his left hand and withdrew his offered right. He turned and looked back to where Caroline was standing. She had a deep-set frown on her face.
Harry brushed past him and went to her. “My precious Caroline, it has been almost a week since last I set my gaze on you. I hope your time here has not been too trying, all things considered. Never fear, I am here to help set things to right.” He leaned forward and placed a kiss on Caroline’s cheek. She stiffened noticeably at his touch.
Francis hurried to his sister’s side, forcing Harry to take an awkward step back. “What do you mean you have come to save us?”
With a loud, inelegant sigh, Harry turned his gaze to Julian. “Newhall cancelled the house party, or didn’t he bother to tell you? Damn rude thing to do after you had already set out for Derbyshire. After much discussion, I had finally convinced my sister to attend and was going to accompany her. Fortunately, we received word from the Countess of Lienz’s household in time.”
“That’s not true,” said Caroline, stirring to life.
Harry gave her a condescending smile. “You poor thing. I know this trip was supposed to be good for you, but this blackguard has lied to you all.”
Julian gritted his teeth. If this was how Harry Menzies conducted himself, then he could get straight back into his carriage and leave.
It was James who stepped in as peacemaker. “Now then, Harry, I think you may not have the right of it. While there have been some misunderstandings with invitations, we are Newhall’s invited guests and intend to stay on at the castle.”
Julian nodded to James with gratitude. His words took the wind out of the sails of self-important Harry and he mumbled something, which Julian took to be a half-apology.
The castle footmen were gathered around the rear of the carriage, still waiting on instructions. Julian nodded in their direction. It was late, and no matter how he felt about Harry Menzies, he could not bring himself to send the man back out onto the road.
Harry was also the one person at Newhall Castle who had any idea as to what the countess had done in London. Julian was keen to know exactly the extent of the damage to his reputation.
“You had better come in. We shall have a room made up for you,” he said.
Caroline followed the men inside, reluctantly taking Harry’s offered arm. He was behaving very oddly. If she didn’t know better, she would have said he’d had one too many sips of brandy on the road and his mind had become addled.
“If you take Harry up to the drawing room, I shall have a word with Caroline,” said Francis quietly to James. Their cousin nodded and hurried to catch up with the new guest.
Francis steered Caroline into the downstairs sitting room and closed the door behind them. “Have you and Harry come to some private understanding? I know he has always carried a torch for you, but I didn’t think you felt anything in that way toward him. I am wracking my brains to find any reason other than that for him having made the journey up from London. He did just call you precious and then kissed your cheek.”
She met his worried gaze. “No. I have no idea why he is here. But he is acting most peculiar. I suggest you ask him to stay for a couple of days, just to be polite, but that you make it clear he should return to London as soon as possible,” she replied.
“Agreed. Just promise me that you will let me handle Harry. I don’t know what he is playing at, but until I can figure it out, just try and stay clear of him,” he said.
The last thing she needed was for Harry to appoint himself as yet another knight in shining armor ready to defend her honor. She already had an overabundance of protective men in her life.
If she was ever to find love, she had to break free from those chains.