His sharp response cut through her words, but Julia was not about to let him speak, so taking a step forward, she sliced the air between them with her hand.
“I know we are not impoverished Kingston - for you, yourself, have only just purchased a beautiful new pair of greys. There are stables at your estate, are there not, full of the best horses. If we were struggling so much with our coin, then you certainly would not have spent so much money on a pair of horses that you do not require. A sudden realization struck her, and her mouth swung ajar, a pale coolness spreading across her chest as she studied him. “I realize now what it is.” Her voice softened, horror wrapping itself around her and squeezing tight. “When I say that you have changed, it has only been since you have taken on the title. I realize now why you wish to marry me off this Season. Finally, you have access to our family fortune. You are the sole owner of every single coin in our coffers. And I see, brother, that you want them all for yourself. You have no wish to spend a single penny on someone such as I, your own flesh and blood. Finally, I realize. You wish to marry me off so that you may keep your money for yourself. Is that not so?”
Her brother opened and closed his mouth, but no response was given. Julia folded her arms across her chest, confident in herself that she had found the reason for her brother’s determination to remove her from his household as soon as possible. Her anger and upset were so great that she could not speak for some minutes, and thus a furious silence hovered between them. Viscount Kingston, it seemed, could find no words to come to his own defense, which left the truth sitting on Julia’s heart all the more heavily.
“My reasons are entirely my own, Julia,” he eventually spat, turning briskly away from her as though he wished to end the conversation on that note. “Find yourself a husband.”
“Our father would be ashamed of you for what you are doing.” Julia strode after him, one hand reaching out to grab her brother’s arm. “He treated me with care and consideration, whilst you treat me with contempt. You have no thought for me, save for what hold I have on your precious coffers. You do not see me as your sister, someone you need to care for, someone you need to show love to. Instead, you see me as a leech, draining the life from you and stealing from your great heap of coins. That is not the responsibility father laid on your shoulders on the day of his passing!”
Her brother shook her off fiercely. His face had gone a dreadful white, but his lips were a slash of red.
“Do not speak of our father to me. I have spent years bearing the title and, little by little, have seen how foolish he was in spending money where he did not need to do so. He gave you and mother so much that he was not required to - mother especially. What he gave her was utter extravagance, nothing more.”
At this, Julia fell back, unable to say anything further. The mention of their mother had shaken her to her core. Viscountess Kingston had been the most gentle and beautiful creature that Julia had ever known, who had never had a harsh word for anyone. Julia had never doubted just how much her mother loved her, nor how much she loved her son. To hear her brother speak so harshly of her now was horrifying indeed.
“Our father and mother cared for each other deeply, brother.” Her voice was hoarse and shaken. “How can you look back at the memory of them so pitifully now?”
“You think of them much too fondly,” he returned, waving one hand as if dismissing her. “My reasons for encouraging you to find a husband are entirely my own. But as I have said, you will no longer be a burden, either financially or otherwise, and that, I can see, will be of great benefit to me, which is my only priority. So either you will wed, or you will be sent to a situation where I need not deal with you any longer… and where you are no longer dependent on my finances in the same way as you are at present. And that, mydearsister, is my final word on the matter.”
He swept out, slamming the door behind him, and Julia was left staring at it, filled with shock and disgust at her brother’s cruelty and selfishness. It had crept up on him slowly, so that she had not recognized the hold it had on his character until this very moment. But now it seemed that, once her brother had taken on the title, the prospect of being in sole control of a vast fortune and having such singular power had quite ruined his character. There wasn’t kindness there anymore. The money he had, he wanted to keep for himself, fully ignoring the fact that he had a sister to care for, to the point that he was now willing to dispose of her in any way he could.
Sitting down carefully. Julia put her face in her hands. She did not want to weep, however, and forced the hot tears back from her burning eyes. The idea which had come to her at the ball where she had met Lord Wiltsham came back to her at once.
I have to find a way to run from my brother, to hide from his cruel demands.
She had no desire to find out which gentleman her brother would choose for her if she did not herself find a match within the next three weeks. If she wed a gentleman of his choice, Julia had no doubt that her life would be one of misery, married to a gentleman she knew very little about. At the same time, she had no desire to become a spinster either. That would be even worse for, no doubt, her brother would send her to a situation where she would spend the rest of her days without comfort and very little company, likely as a drudge of a companion for someone just as demanding as her brother was.
Dropping her hands to her lap, Julia spoke aloud.
“Why should he get to determine my future according to his terms?”
Her voice was quiet but determined, the tears were now gone. Lifting her chin, she rose from her chair and strode towards the window, looking out at the quiet London street.
This was her life. To permit her brother to dictate it would bring her naught but misery. She was strong with a determined spirit that she wascertaincould prevail if only she had the courage to do as she now planned. Speaking to herself again, Julia cried out in the empty room, her shock fading as fire replaced it, building up within her.
“Then if I must find a way to escape, that is precisely what I will do, whether my brother likes it or not.”
Chapter Five
“And thus, your improvements are completed.”
Benjamin chuckled.
“Yes, it seems so. I am grateful to you for your quick thinking when it came to that particular explanation in conversation with Lady Steerford.”
“But of course.” Lord Foster grinned and Benjamin could not help but chuckle. Lord Foster’s devious plans seemed to have worked in Benjamin’s favor for, over the last sennight, there had been nothing but talk of Benjamin’s improvements to his townhouse amongst theton. “In a way, I think I shall miss having you about the place.” Sighing heavily, Lord Foster shook his head, in a most dramatic fashion. “Whatever am I going to do without your excellent company?”
“I am sure that you will do very well indeed, given that you will soon have Miss Lawrence as your wife,” Benjamin pointed out, making Lord Foster grin. “I am very pleased for you, my friend.”
“I am certain that you shall have as much success as I, in time. I know you have only been in London for a few weeks, and it has been something of a whirlwind sorting out my own situation, but what is your plan? Do you have any intention of pursuing matters?”
He nodded.
“I have every intention of pursuing matters. I just do not know where to begin.” Sighing, he shrugged his shoulders. “Everything is so very vague. My memory of that night is very poor indeed.”
“No doubt because you were given something to impair your mind, just as I was,” Lord Foster put in, his smile no longer present and a heavy frown replacing it instead. “When I determined that Lord Montague was the man who had stolen my wealth, I cannot tell you the relief that filled me. You will feel the same when the time comes. I do not think that he is responsible for your loss of fortune, however, but there will be a connection between him and whoever is responsible. Perhaps in pursuing that, you will be able to find the truth.”
Benjamin sighed but allowed a small smile to grace his lips.
