“Wait, before you go.” Garrett rose and handed one of the packages he had brought to Chatwyn. “I have something for you, too. These arrived on one of my ships today. Open it.”
Chatwyn tore off the lid of the wooden box. His eyes widened. “It’s an elephant, and a tiger. This is a lion, and there’s a giraffe in here, too.”
“Your own menagerie of wooden animals to play with.” Garrett glanced at Julia for approval.
She gave him an indulgent smile.
“What sound does a lion make?” Garrett asked Chatwyn.
“Roooar!” Chatwyn yelled.
Garrett laughed and looked at Julia again. “He needs a little practice. Perhaps he should hear a real lion roar some time.”
“No promises,” she answered in the same light tone.
“I’m in no hurry.”
“Take your menagerie upstairs,” she said to Chatwyn. “Have Miss Periwinkle re-comb your hair and change your waistcoat. Our guests will be arriving any minute now and they’ll all want to say hello to you before you’re put to bed.”
Chatwyn stomped up the stairs with his gifts. York turned and started down the corridor. Bear followed him.
Julia turned to Garrett. “You have very little time to dress before dinner.”
“I’ll make it,” he said. “First I have something for you.” He picked up the other package he’d brought in with him and handed it to her.
Julia smiled, knowing it was a book, but with the wide dark blue ribbon she couldn’t see the title. She untied the bow and read, “Quick and Easy Recipes for the Novice Cook.”
“You’ll note there are two pages bookmarked,” he said with amusement in his eyes. “One is on the page that has a recipe for bread, and the other for soup. Just in case you want to try making them a second time.”
Julia laughed. “You are terrible. You know Brina and I vowed never to try to cook again.”
“I’m not so sure about that. You never cease to amaze me with all you do and try to do.”
“That was very sweet of you. I would like to read through this and find out what we did wrong.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his mouth. “Now I’m the one wishing we were going to be alone all night.”
“Can we ask our guests to leave early?” he questioned.
“No, but we can hurry them along by asking Mrs. Lawton to skip the meat course.”
He studied on that a second and said, “No.”
Julia laughed. “I didn’t think so.” She gave him another quick kiss and said, “Now off you go or I’ll be receiving our guests alone.”
“One more thing, my love. How did it go when you went to see the duke today?”
Some of Julia’s merriment faded. “He still can’t speak or get out of bed. Mrs. Desford said the doctor doesn’t have much hope he’ll ever recover.”
“And how are you feeling?”
“Sorry for him. Chatwyn has asked about him and I think I’ll take him over to see the duke after Christmas.”
Garrett smiled. “Every day you make me happy that you fell in love with me.”
Julia felt a deep abiding love for Garrett. “You make me happy every day, too.”
Half an hour later the drawing room was filled with music and soft chatter. Brina arrived late and Julia met her in the vestibule. She looked happier than Julia had seen her in a long time. “I’ve been waiting for you to arrive,” Julia said, “and you look so lovely. Come have a glass of champagne.”
“I will, but before we join the others I wanted to tell you that I’ve decided I’m not going to join the Sisters of Pilwillow Crossings or any other abbey.”
“I suppose it sounds heartless of me, but I’m glad to hear that.”
“You are the least heartless person I know,” Brina answered. “I think I could eventually learn to do the work that would be required of me but decided I would be of more help to them if I started a society of ladies who, like me, want to help in other ways. We could roll bandages for wounds, knit scarves and mittens. That sort of thing for the sisters to hand out to those who come. At first it seemed like such a small thing to do, but a scarf handed to someone who doesn’t have one is not a small thing, is it?”
“No, it’s a worthy thing to do. I’ll be the first one to join your society.”
Brina nodded. “I knew you would, but it will have to wait for a while and that’s because I’m leaving for Paris after Boxing Day.”
Julia held her breath. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve written to my Aunt Josette and asked if I could come for a visit, and I’ve heard back from her that she’d be delighted for me to come and stay as long as I wished.”
“You know I’ll miss you, but I understand. It will probably be good for you to leave London for a while and see her and Paris. I’m going to believe you’ll be back in time for the Season.”
“We shall see. Now, I’m going to take some fruit tarts up to Chatwyn before he falls asleep.”
“Really, Brina. He doesn’t need anything to eat this close to bedtime.”
“I know, but I don’t know when I’ll see him again, so let me spoil him with a treat tonight.”
“Of course, but you are coming back, aren’t you? I mean we—the school needs you. The sisters need you.”
“I’ll be back. I simply don’t know when.”
Julia watched Brina go up the stairs and felt an arm slide around her waist. She turned and faced Garrett. “Is Brina all right?”
“Yes. She wanted to see Chatwyn. She’ll be leaving for Paris in a few days.”
His gazed lovingly caressed Julia’s face. “I think that will be good for her.”
“It will. I think she is finally ready to put the past behind her.”
Garrett reached down and gave Julia a quick kiss. “It takes some of us longer to do that than it does others.”
“Yes,” she answered.
“I love you, Julia. I’m glad she is the one going to Paris and not me. My journeys have come to an end.”
“Yes,” she said. “You have come home.”
“Merry Christmas, my love,” Garrett said, and kissed Julia on the lips.
She thrilled to his touch.
Author’s Notes
I hope you have enjoyed Garrett and Julia’s story. It’s always a joy for me to share the stories I create with you.
The Prince’s role in wanting to bring animals from Africa to help aid and develop the Royal Zoological Society wasn’t actually formed until a few years after the Regency in 1826 and it didn’t receive its Royal charter until 1829.
During the Regency, ladies of Society had little to no knowledge of a kitchen or how to cook. Something as simple as making a cup of tea was always prepared by a member of the staff. Kitchens were still quite primitive and it didn’t take much to make an oven fill the kitchen with smoke. It’s safe to assume that most ladies of Julia’s and Brina’s status in Society probably had no practical knowledge of how to make bread or soup. Their lifestyles were lavish. They had maids and footmen to carry out all personal and household duties.