Juliana Read Free Page B

opportunity for renewing a number of neglected acquaintances. Among these was Griffin Chase, now the Marquess of Cainewood.
    But his old schoolmate was looking rather sullen. James approached with caution.
    “At whom are you glaring, Cainewood?”
    “My sister.” Cainewood’s frown deepened. “She’s not dancing.”
    James’s gaze followed his across the ballroom. He lifted his quizzing glass and squinted through it. “The little blond one?”
    “The girl in yellow, yes. That would be Juliana, wasting precious time.”
    “She appears to be agreeably engaged.”
    “With our sister. But Juliana is supposed to be meeting gentlemen. I despair of ever finding her a husband.”
    James chuckled at that. Lowering the quizzing glass to dangle on its long silver chain, he refocused on Cainewood. He hadn’t seen his old friend since their time at Oxford, and he’d never met his family, but still he sensed an easy familiarity between them. He felt well within his rights to laugh at the fellow’s consternation.
    “Juliana is seventeen,” Cainewood added as though that explained everything.
    “That doesn’t sound particularly old.”
    “No, but I’ll still have Corinna to settle after her.” He gestured toward his other sister, a pretty brown-haired girl. “I’d hoped to get them both married off this season, but Juliana is overparticular. And unfortunately, I believe she’s already met everyone here…” His green gaze narrowed on James. “Except, perhaps, you.”
    “Me?”
    “You. Won’t you at least suffer an introduction? You’re an earl now, are you not?” He flashed a crooked grin. “An earl in need of a wife.”
    An earl in need of a wife—the exact same words James’s mother had used to describe him earlier this evening as she’d all but dragged him from the carriage into this house.
    But although James had inherited the title more than two years ago, he still had a hard time thinking of himself as an earl, let alone an earl in need of a wife .
    His older brother was supposed to have been the Earl of Stafford.
    Straight out of Oxford, James had been perfectly content with his parents’ plan for him to be a captain in the cavalry. Good-natured as he was, contentment was his natural state, and, in fact, he’d been pleased when his father bought him the commission. Unfortunately, less than a week into active duty, a wound ended his laughably short stint in the army.
    He shifted and flexed his left knee, which always ached in this type of cold, wet weather. On days of this sort he still walked with a slight limp, which made him feel conspicuous and much older than twenty-five. But he was profoundly grateful the army surgeons had managed to save his leg rather than amputating it. So grateful that, needing a new occupation after his recovery, he’d decided to become a physician.
    He hadn’t been long in medical school before he’d realized he’d found his calling. For the first time in his memory, James had been more than just content with his life—he’d been truly happy. Especially after he fell in love.
    Then everything fell apart.
    His brother had died first, leaving James shaken by grief and the realization that he’d someday inherit. He didn’t want to be an earl—he liked being a physician. He liked helping people, and he liked feeling that he made a difference. Every day was surprising and challenging, and there were always successes to balance the disappointments. Managing an earldom seemed tedious and superficial in comparison.
    Then, while he was still reeling from the loss of his brother, his father’s heart had stopped, and suddenly James was the earl.
    After that came a dark, miserable blur. It was some time—he knew not how long—before the cloud began to dissipate. He simply found himself awakened one morning, not by the paralysis of grief or the weight of obligation, but by the sun. Gradually he began to feel that his despair was subsiding—by, say, a thimbleful per