"I scarcely think so. The first time we met, I was too busy fending off your cousin's claws."
Dare's eyes kindled with what appeared to be fond memory. "Do you remember the blistering set down you gave her?"
She did indeed. Dare had come to Kent in June for his beautiful young cousin's wedding and, in a moment of ennui, had escorted the haughty Miss Emerson into the millinery. Julienne had waited on them patiently while the spoiled young lady disparaged both the quality and quantity of the merchandise.
"I believe I was entirely justified," Julienne replied wryly. "I held my tongue until she scorned my accent and derided my origins, and then I finally lost my temper."
Her response had enraged the arrogant Miss Emerson but set amusement dancing in the earl's eyes. He had returned alone the next day, bent on seducing her.
"I thought you were magnificent," Dare said, his voice a heated murmur. "I still think you magnificent. Why don't we slip away from here and find a bed upstairs?"
Bending to place his lips near her ear, he breathed in a husky, intimate tone exactly what he would like to do to her if he had her alone.
Julienne found herself shivering in response. Even though she now understood the purpose of Dare's public game of seduction, it was more difficult than she expected to keep up the charade, for she couldn't deny the fevered undercurrents of passion that still simmered between them.
But she refused to give Dare the satisfaction of thinking her affected.
Julienne returned a coy smile and whispered sweetly in his own ear. "Do, by all means, go upstairs and undress and wait for me."
"And will you follow me, my lovely Jewel?"
"Indeed, as soon as I can assemble enough of your guests to accompany me. I want witnesses to observe the spectacle of you dancing to my tune."
Her offer earned a bark of laughter from the Marquess of Wolverton and had countless heads turning in their direction.
She should have known, however, that Dare would not allow her the last word. That night after the ball ended, Julienne had just prepared for bed and settled beneath the covers when she heard strains of a violin coming from outside her bedchamber window.
Quickly drawing on a dressing gown over her nightdress, she went to the window and opened it-and found herself staring at the sight below. Multicolored lanterns cast a romantic glow over the gardens, while the musicians played softly to one side.
Directly beneath her window, Dare stood posed on the flagstones, dressed in Elizabethan costume, a rose clenched between this teeth. Romeo, if she wasn't mistaken.
When he spied her overhead, he offered her the rose with a gallant flourish and bowed deeply.
"Ah, fair Juliet," he expounded in a passionate stage voice, "come away with me and be my love."
Julienne was hard-pressed to stifle a laugh at his charming absurdity, but she schooled her features to haughtiness. "I regret, my lord, that I have a great disdain for presumptuous noblemen who mangle Shakespeare. If this is your best effort, I am not impressed."
His smile was part wolfish and part enticing. "You have yet to see my best efforts. Come down here, my darling, and I will proceed to show you."
Several of his other houseguests
were leaning out their widows, gaping, Julienne noted, including Solange.
"You are either dreadfully foxed," she declared tartly, "or you've taken leave of your senses."
"Both, I should imagine. You intoxicate me and drive me to madness. You are temptation incarnate…"
He turned his face up to Solange at the next window. "Will you not help me, Madame Brogard? The cruel, fair Juliet is determined to spurn my advances."
"Wicked man," Solange admonished, her tone laced with delighted amusement. "I should say you are doing well enough on your own. A woman cannot resist roses and moonlight and a handsome chevalier."
"Alas, it seems Miss Laurent is able to resist me too well." He clasped his hand over his breast. "I vow my heart is breaking."
Julienne answered this time. "Then I suggest you summon the doctor to patch it up, my lord, and allow me to get some sleep."
When Dare staggered back as if he'd received a lethal blow, Solange laughed out loud.
Quelling her own laughter, Julienne shut the window and returned to bed, but she lay there, finding it impossible to sleep.