He still could not believe that she had accepted so quickly, yet it worked in his favor that she had. His heart jostled behind his ribs again as he thought of the shocked look in her eyes. She had seemed shocked but not scared when he had looked into her eyes. Those beautiful eyes.
His reservations against the institution of marriage still stood, yet he had to admit that marrying Lily stirred a long-forgotten excitement deep inside of him. If anything, they would be the best of friends, which would make life a lot easier for them both.
Turning back to the dilapidated house behind him, he rested his arm on the top of his bow with the other end in the grass. Soon, the old house would be restored to its former glory, and he and his bride would live here.
Because of Lily.
His breathing quickened slightly as he thought of her as his bride. It seemed surreal to him that it had only been two weeks since his proposal, yet there he was standing on the doorstep of his wedding.
“Great shot!” Benedict called out as he began to clap, striding confidently toward Julian. “I saw the arrow from the house. You must have been practicing quite a bit to hit your mark every time.”
Julian greeted him with a stiff smile. “There is not much else to do on the estate once all of the orders have been given.” He lifted his bow and tapped it back down in the grass in an attempt to dislodge some dirt. “My new butler managed to find these old bows and targets in the attic. He said that it would be good for me to practice some of the finer points of being a gentleman while my home is restored.”
His tone was almost begrudging as he glanced over Benedict’s shoulder at the men in the distance who were hammering away at the side of Redding Hall.
“The new butler?” Benedict asked with a raised eyebrow. “I was surprised to hear that you were here, but I am even more shocked to see that the house is already under construction. Has Miss Prescott’s father given you an advance on her dowry?” He stopped beside Julian.
Shaking his head, Julian ran his tongue over his lips before turning back to the target. “I figured that the deal is done, I may as well use the last of my savings to fix the house, then we can move in a few months after the wedding, and the dowry can be used to fix everything else.”
Nodding slowly, Benedict looked from the construction on the house to the untidy garden around them, where the targets had been set up. Weeds as tall as a grown man choked out shrubbery, while the grass was higher than their ankles. “You seem awfully confident that Miss Prescott will go through with the wedding,” he carefully remarked.
Julian paused, mulling over the mark in his mind before answering. “I trust her, Benedict. I cannot explain why, but I do. She has as much to lose from this arrangement falling through as I do. While I do not have the full story, her mother is eager for matters to be settled so that she may return to her husband in the colonies.”
Benedict nodded this time, cheering up considerably as he smiled. “It is all good and well. At least with you marrying Miss Prescott, I will be able to see a lot more of Miss Arabella Tremaine.”
“I did not know that the two of you were acquainted. Have you been courting her?” Benedict asked, feeling as if he had missed a great deal through his troubles.
Chuckling, Benedict walked over to the stack of bows and arrows and lifted one to inspect. “You have been so caught up in your pursuit of marriage that you hardly noticed my attention has been placed on her since the masked ball. She is a wonder to chat with, and I can see myself settling down with someone like her sooner rather than later.”
“Someone like her, or Arabella in particular?” Julian teased.
“Someone exactly like her and possibly her. That is all that I am willing to say on the matter. Now, shall we have a bit of competition? I should very much like to see just how much you have been practicing.” Benedict walked toward him again with his bow in hand.
“It seems a shame to come all of this way just to be shamed, but as you wish.” Julian smirked as he turned toward the targets again and walked a few steps to a new one that had not been peppered with arrows. Allowing Benedict to go first, he watched as the arrow zipped through the air and hit the edge of the target.
“That does not count; it was just a warm-up,” Benedict grumbled and stepped back.
“Of course not,” Julian mused and took up his stance once again. His arrow zinged through the air in a straight line, hitting the target just off center.
“Good shot,” Benedict clapped again before taking up his stance.
“That one was also just practice. I wanted to give you a chance to catch up.” Julian watched as his friend chuckled and made his way back to the line that had been dug in the grass with the tip of Julian’s boot.
Stopping for a moment, Benedict lowered his bow and turned to Julian. “How are you feeling about tomorrow? If anything, you should be glad that you will finally be rid of Miss Everet. The wedding should stop her from causing any more trouble.” His remark caused Julian to frown again.
“I do not think that Miss Everet deliberately, or even knowingly, caused any trouble, Benedict. I'm certain that whatever has been said was done so innocently and more than likely mistakenly. I have always known that she has had a soft spot for me, but I never made her believe that there was ever a chance.”
“I am certain that you never led her on, but mark my words, Miss Everet is so infatuated with you that she would have gone to any lengths to make you see her. I do not believe that her remarks were innocent. On the contrary, I believe that they were very much thought through.” Benedict turned back to the targets and readied a shot, loosing his arrow after a deep breath.
The arrow hit its mark this time, nearly entering the red dot in the middle with perfect accuracy.
Julian raised his brows as the corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk. “It would seem that I am not the only one who has been practicing. Have you been spending more time with your father at the family estate?”
“I have. It would seem that my father is beginning to come around on the idea of me owning my own fleet of ships. We talk business while shooting, hunting, fencing, and riding. It was a bore at first, but I am beginning to like the time we spend together.
But let us not change the subject, Julian. Mark my words, Miss Everet is more troublesome than you are willing to concede. Keep a close eye on her when it comes to your marriage. Miss Prescott, should I say soon-to-be Lady Barnard, will do well to stay away from her. She has concocted a love story in her mind, and someone like that is dangerous.”
Waving the idea away, Julian stepped up to the mark, positioning his body for the shot before splitting Benedict’s arrow in two. “You are overthinking the matter, Benedict. Miss Everet would never harm a fly. She may be disappointed, but that does not mean that she will cause trouble in my marriage.”