Tempted by a Scoundrel

Chapter 6

When Michael was at White's the next morning, he discovered that he wanted to murder several of the gentlemen there. More than half a dozen of his acquaintances had requested him to impart some information regarding Miss Julia. And the rest were busy placing bets as to who would kiss her first.

It wasn't uncommon for these men to take interest in a debutante but their intentions regarding Julia were not of the savoury nature.

"What the hell is happening, Reading?" He asked his friend with no small amount of frustration.

"Miss Julia caused quite a stir in the last two balls she attended this past week," Reading replied, taking great pleasure in sharing the gossip.

"What sort of stir? Because of her beauty alone?"

"She is beautiful. But not every beautiful woman has gentlemen placing bets to gain her er...favour."

"What did she do?" He asked again, wanting to strangle Reading as well for being so damned mysterious.

"To start with, she danced with Lord Bradon who is a more legendary rake than you are. After that, she allowed Summers to take her for a walk all alone, sans chaperone. Although Summers admitted that they hadn't kissed, he'd said that if he'd wished it, Miss Andrews would have encouraged him. No one would have believed any of this of course but Miss Andrews went on to further the impression that she was lose with her affections."

Michael unconsciously made a sound of disbelief.

"Oh but these are only the events on one ball, my friend. During the next, she flirted outrageously with all and sundry. There are rumours that she had a illicit rendezvous with Lord Bradon after nightfall," Reading finished with great flourish. "It's not everyday that such a debutante comes to take London by storm. It is only natural that the men would want a shot."

Michael's head was reeling at these revelations. He knew Reading was an idiot. But he was honest to a fault...idiotically so. So Michael did place some stock on the man's words.

"Marriage isn't on their mind, is it?" He growled.

"I'm afraid not. These aren't the qualities one would want in his future wife."

At this rate, Julia's reputation would be in tatters, Michael thought grimly.

It seemed extremely unlikely that a sensible woman like her would behave this way. He wasn't inclined to believe Reading but he could hardly ignore the way the gentlemen were talking of her.

Michael was all for shunning convention. But this wasn't a luxury Julia could afford. She must marry and settle in England with a respectable gentleman or her entire future would be ruined. Hell he'd promised Howard that he would look after his granddaughter.

Michael was tempted to rush to Howard's residence immediately and berate Julia for her behaviour. But he didn't want to jump to conclusions without seeing any evidence of her misbehaviour first.

There was a ball that very evening and Michael was to take her. Tonight would give him an opportunity to see if Reading was only exaggerating.

*********************
"Good evening, Lord Adlington," Julia smiled serenely at the Duke when he made an appearance that evening to take her to the Marsden's ball.

He looked splendid, she thought wistfully. She desperately wanted to converse with him the way they had that night but Poppy had instructed her that she had to treat all the gentlemen the same way. And that included Michael.

"You look well, Miss Julia," he smiled and offered her his arm.

"I'm glad that I please you," she smiled coyly. Although on the inside she was humiliated to behave this way before him.

His expression immediately changed and Julia knew that he'd heard of her escapades.

He lead her to the carriage and helped her up and then Miss Wood. He took the seat opposite her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked in a low voice so her chaperone didn't hear their conversation.

"Of course not, your grace. I couldn't have asked for a better companion," she said, pretending to misunderstand his question.

"You seem different," he persisted.

"You've met me but once, your grace. I failed to see how you can judge that," she replied, gritting her teeth.

"Yes but in that one conversation I'd been able to deduce that you were an intelligent young lady. Now however, you're sounding like every other lady in London," he grumbled.

"Are you implying that I'm not very bright?" she asked, offended.

"No, only that you're pretending to be," he said bluntly.

"Oh I give up," she muttered under her breath.

"What is the cause for this deception?"

"Only that I wish to catch a husband. And I've noticed that men are more amenable when I display a lack of intellect and an abundance of boldness," she replied stiffly.

"Those are the few qualities men look for," he agreed. "But not in a wife."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you're developing a bad reputation amongst the gentlemen," he said angrily.

Julia almost jumped with joy. She would've kissed Poppy if she was here. She had been extremely skeptical about Poppy's plans but she'd hardly had any other recourse. And behaving this way was against her nature. But she'd desperately wanted to go back home and not marrying was the only solution to her problem. Her parents and Fred could hardly blame her if none of the gentlemen wanted to marry her, she thought happily.

"I don't care about any of that, your grace. You might think me a little forward for this but I haven't lead the sheltered life that you think I have...if you take my meaning. So if some harmless flirting is making me happy, I'm not going let propriety get in the way," she replied breezily.

"It can hardly be called harmless if it will make you into a pariah," he growled.

Julia felt the stirrings of guilt but then she remembered why she was doing this.

"I respect you, your grace. But I would like for you to stop interfering with my life."

Michael muttered something but Julia didn't quite hear it.

                ********************

After that, Michael and Julia began to detest each other. He saw first hand how she was ruining her reputation and Julia was annoyed by his repeated interference. In the coming month, all traces of the friendship they'd shared disappeared.

They were civil to each other to keep up appearances but in private, Michael left no opportunity to advise her against her actions. He hadn't wanted any part in her life but because of Howard he felt obligated to help Julia.

He somehow couldn't accept that a person could be so wonderful at one time and so unpleasant at another. He could feel that her behaviour was just a facade. There were times he would see glimpses of her true nature when she conversed with his sister or his mother. But she wouldn't tell him anything and even his sister Poppy was tight lipped in the matter.

And then, one evening, he decided just what he was going to do to Miss Julia Andrews to save her from herself.