Page 63 of Discovering Her Earl

Yes. It had been splendid, indeed.

*

Julian received a note from Lainey a few days after he arrived home from Scotland. He’d used his hasty escape to stop and visit Hale and his family. But now he was back in London and so was Lainey.

Lord Melville,

I’m sorry you were pulled away to London so abruptly. I wanted to let you know I arrived home yesterday evening. Your box of tools was left behind. If you have a need for them, please come by at your convenience.

All the best,

E. L. Bantham

If his guilt for running away literally in the middle of the night, wasn’t bad enough, now he felt worse for not asking after her to make sure she’d arrived home safely. Had she traveled alone? He’d abandoned her without a word, and yet she was inviting him to come by to pick up his tools.

They both knew he had no need of tools anymore. He wouldn’t be going to Egypt.

Ben hadn’t said much since they arrived home. While Julian’s father had been very vocal in his displeasure with his only son, Ben’s silence weighed on him. It seemed disapproval dug deeper when expressed without words. Or possibly it mattered more because Ben mattered more to him than his father ever had.

“I know you’re angry with me,” Julian said as Ben helped him dress the next morning.

“Who am I to be angry with an earl?” he said with a tight smile.

“You know I am not one to be coddled because of a silly title. If you have something to say, you should just say it.”

“Oh, I can assure ye, you’ll not want me to speak.”

Julian let out a breath and nodded.

“You’re right. I probably don’t want to hear what you have to say, but I’m guessing I need to because you plan to point out how ridiculous I was for leaving the way I did. And you probably think it was ungentlemanly of me not to check to make sure she arrived home safely. I can tell you, she did. She wrote to me to let me know, and to mention I’d left my tools behind. As if I would have a need for tools.” He held up his hand before continuing.

“But, of course, you would say I don’t know that for sure, and running away certainly didn’t help my cause to win her approval. But really, Ben. How could she possibly want me to spend even another minute in her sight after what I’ve done?”

Julian’s shoulders slumped.

“You probably think I should have stayed and begged for her forgiveness and I did think of that briefly, but I worried that she might think the two things related. My begging forgiveness while also wanting her to include me in the trip to Egypt. It would rather make any apology seem insincere. And isn’t acting better than words? I must find a way to make this right not just apologize with words for what I’ve done to hurt her.”

He rubbed his temple.

“I hurt her terribly. I didn’t even know it. All this time, I’d hurt someone as lovely as Miss Bantham and just went about my life thinking I was a kind person whom everyone should like. But no. I’m a monster, Ben. A selfish cad who laughs cruelly at young women and then arrogantly expects them to do what I want. Go on, say it.”

“I think you’ve covered it and then some. Is it possible you’re being a bit dramatic?”

“When have I ever been dramatic?”

“Well…” Ben paused a minute, but then seemed to decide to go down a different path. “You won’t feel better until you’ve fixed this. How do you intend to do so?”

“I haven’t a clue.”

“Apologize to the girl, Julian. Look the lass in the eye and tell her sincerely how terrible you feel and she will have no choice but to believe you. For it is quite clear to anyone who looks at you that you feel terrible, indeed.”

Ben left the room and Julian went down to his study to start his work on the books. A stack of mail awaited him as well. He flipped through the invitations to dinner parties and balls. Most of Society was in the country as they headed into late September, but the few who remained enjoyed hosting events.

He doubted Elaina would be at any of these functions. But then he paused on the one invitation he was certain she’d accept.

The Aubrey Ball. Lord and Lady Aubrey were huge donors to Lord Darlington’s expeditions. This ball would be where the official announcement of the journey to Egypt would be announced to entice attendees to contribute funds to the expedition. Julian knew the Darlington’s could well afford their own expenses, but the team needed to launch such an undertaking year after year. The ship and crew and equipment were a great expense to find treasure in the desert.

And no doubt Elaina would be there to charm the men out of every shilling without realizing it.