“He might as well be the bane of my existence.” Juliet replied.
“My mother is mine. She had always been pressuring me to enter matrimony posthaste.”
“Parents.” Juliet responded. “Whatever shall we do without them?”
“Everything.”
Juliet laughed. Not the kind of pretentious lady-like laugh he'd seen over the years at several courts. She laughed heartily, without a single care in the world. He watched her and felt a grin creep up his face.
“I apologise.” Juliet said as soon as she stopped laughing.
“You have a joyous laugh. You do not need to apologise for it.”
Juliet nodded and threw him a slight smile. He was glad she was comfortable enough to take his word for it.
“So you haven't gotten engaged before?” Juliet asked.
“I have. Once. It seems so long ago now, in hindsight.”
“May I ask what happened?” Juliet asked.
Weston looked into her eyes. At that moment, he wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her about Eliza and how she had been the one thing that brought light to his life. He wanted to tell her about how miserable he had been ever since she died. He wanted to say to her about the fall he had witnessed and how she wasn't able to survive it. He felt safe with her and wanted her to know all about him.
“My lord?” Juliet said, shaking him out of his reverie.
“I do not want to bore you with ancient history.”
“The boredom might be precisely what might save me this night, Lord Weston.”
It was Weston's turn to laugh. And he did, just like her.
As he opened his mouth to speak, a voice behind them froze him into one spot.
“Good heavens!” Lady Violet Northam squealed like a cat being strangled.
Juliet turned to look at her, sheer terror written on her face.
Oh, Lord.
Instinctively, she reached for her mask and placed it on her face. This was not good.
“This is impossible.” Lady Violet's voice rang out again.
“This is not what you think.” Weston started, but he might as well be speaking to the wind.
Lady Violet had disappeared just as soon as she'd come.
The terror in Juliet's eyes multiplied as she watched the determined gossip monger scramble towards the hall.
Her life was about to take a turn for the worse.
Chapter Five
Weston could see the freedom he once envisioned slowly slipping from his grasp. Life was about to deal him another pain, and he was going to take it.
“This is terrible.” He heard Juliet say. He didn't need to listen hard before picking up the desperation in her voice. She knew trouble was looming, too. It was only a matter of time. “No, this is more than terrible. This is a catastrophe. A plague. Oh dear lord, my father is going to feed me to his horses.”
“Lady Juliet—”
