Author's note:
Best if read in order so that all the characters and events make sense. Enjoy!
The day after Kit and Violet's wedding, Juliet found herself in the carriage with no one for company but her unconscious sister. Violet had climbed wearily up the steps and had, with a yawning apology of not having got much sleep, dropped into slumber almost immediately. Kit, on the other hand, looked all invigorating male as he rode beside the carriage on horseback. He had a smug look of satisfaction on his face, and Juliet was only too aware of what had put it there.
The weather was fair and sunny, the roads in good condition, and they made excellent time, only stopping once to rest the horses. During that break, Juliet had taken a quick walk in the sunshine around the coaching inn's grounds, but hadn't wanted to wake her sister.
Now, as they turned up the drive to Blackburn Cottage, Juliet shook Violet awake. It was just before noon and Juliet was looking forward to refreshing herself before partaking of luncheon. "Look, Violet! Your new home!" The thought of her younger sister being mistress of her own house gave Juliet a slight pang of longing, but she ruthlessly stifled it. She had always been adept at hiding or ignoring her feelings, but seeing Violet's happiness made her feel things with a strength she had never had to contend with before. She tried to squash her own bitterness and found it was not too hard to do in the face of Violet's enthusiasm.
Violet rubbed her eyes sleepily before perking up and gazing out of the window. "Oh, Jules! It's so beautiful and quaint!"
Quaint was a funny way to describe a rather large country house with lovely green ivy crawling over its facade, the mullioned windows twinkling in the sunshine. Despite its size, Blackburn Cottage did have a comfortable air about it, as if it was well lived-in and well-loved. Violet had told her that a duke had built it for his mistress long ago, and the mistress had lived in it until she died, happily and financially secure her whole life, it would seem. The house had changed hands a few times since then, and now Kit and Violet would start their own happy and comfortable lives in it. It was difficult for Juliet not to wonder what was in store for her own future, which seemed as bleak and lonely as ever.
They climbed out and greeted the line of servants waiting in front of the grand entrance. Violet blushed when she recognized Alice among the chambermaids, who curtsied with a bright smile. Tom was also there, now promoted to butler in this new household. He didn't quite fit the mold of haughty upper servant, but he had a confident, capable air about him, and Juliet thought he would probably excel in his new role.
After taking some time to change out of her traveling dress, with the aid of her lady's maid, Susie, and to splash some water on her face from the water pitcher in her room, Juliet made her way down to the terrace. A delicious repast of meats, cheeses, sweetmeats, and pastries were laid out on several tables. It seemed that Kit had also had the good luck of finding an excellent cook, judging from the lightness of the pastry.
It felt heavenly to sit there among the rose trellises, finally out of the confines of the carriage, enjoying the scent of flowers in the air as she basked in the warm rays of the sun. Juliet was famished and she didn't think Kit and Violet would mind if she started without them, so she loaded a plate and began to eat. Footsteps sounded on the stone terrace floors and a strange man rounded the corner, walking quickly. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her sitting alone, but then started purposefully towards her again after only a moment.
He was tall and handsome, with a thick thatch of golden hair glinting in the sunlight. There was a hint of gray at his temples. The line of his jaw was straight and firm, and he looked as if he had seen a great deal of the world. He walked with an almost unnoticeable limp, but this did not detract from the strength and masculinity that he exuded. As he drew closer, Juliet could see his eyes were green, but not of a bright emerald like her sister's. More of the green of a dense forest after the rain.
He smiled engagingly as he came up to her and held out his hand. "You must be Lady Juliet. Welcome to Blackburn Cottage. I'm Peter Galway, Captain Olmdale's steward."
Juliet smiled back and shook his hand. Her heart was thumping for a reason she could not define. "How do you do, Mr. Galway?" she managed to say.
"Have you settled in? Do you have everything you need?" he asked as he took a seat beside her and helped himself to a vol-au-vent. Juliet should have been taken aback by his forwardness, but she instead relaxed into the friendly atmosphere his carefree presence created.
"Yes, thank you. My room is really very beautifully decorated. Did the house come with the furniture?"
"Some, but it was a bit of a hodgepodge." Mr. Galway shrugged. "I was able to bring the Captain's, Lady Violet's, and your own rooms up to scratch before the wedding, but I'm afraid the rest of the house is a bit lacking. I believe Ki--the Captain wanted to be somewhat involved in the planning of their new house."
Juliet caught Mr. Galway's slip of the tongue, but decided to think on it later. A soldier addressing his Captain by first name! They must have been friends as well as fellow army men.
They talked easily about the house for the next fifteen minutes and Mr. Galway offered to take Juliet for a tour after luncheon.
"I would like that," she said frankly. "But shouldn't we wait for Violet? She has yet to see the whole house, I believe."
As if summoned, Violet's voice could suddenly be heard very clearly. It was not, however, the commonplace greeting that Juliet would have expected to hear coming from the terrace doors behind her. Instead, it was a loud cry of "Yes, Kit! Fuck me!" followed by a long moan, a sound so full of erotic delight that it made Juliet's ears burn. She could do nothing but sit in astonishment, listening to the sighs and grunts that followed.
Juliet later learned that Kit and Violet's bedrooms were situated right above the terrace, for the best view of the gardens. Their windows were most likely open, just as her own had been earlier, to let in the fresh breezes and scents of the July summer.
Mr. Galway cleared his throat. "It sounds as if the Captain is taking care of his wife's needs--that is, he is seeing to her entertainment at the moment--" He turned slightly pink, and for the first time since Juliet had met him, he seemed slightly discomfited. "Err, shall we take that tour now, my lady?" he finally suggested, standing.
Nodding energetically, Juliet followed. "Yes, of course!" Their unnaturally loud voices were poor attempts at hiding the lustful sounds coming from above, getting increasingly louder and explicit. Juliet thought she might have even heard Kit call out, "Your pussy is so tight, Vi!" as they hurriedly left the terrace. She could feel her cheeks heat and thought that she had blushed more in the past three weeks than she ever had before in her life.
Nevertheless, much to her surprise, she greatly enjoyed the tour, considering its inauspicious beginning. She and Mr. Galway walked through the house and he showed her the rooms and halls, which were all in good condition but, as he had noted earlier, a bit old-fashioned or dated in their furnishings. Juliet mentally began making a list of improvements she would later note down and share with Violet.
Mr. Galway was a charming and witty guide, and she found herself laughing with him often as they roamed the house and grounds, although she noted that he was very careful to avoid a certain corridor and the terrace. The house was constructed in the shape of a rectangular C, with Kit and Violet's rooms in the center, and two wings extending out to frame the terrace and gardens. A sitting room on the second floor was placed at the very end of one of these wings, and Juliet shamefacedly noted that it had an excellent view into the main bedchambers, although nothing could be seen at the moment through the afternoon glare on the windows.
She did, however, also make a mental note of it, and the thought of what she might see from that vantage point at night burned like a guilty secret in the back of her mind for the rest of the day.
Juliet finally saw Violet when she came down for dinner. Her sister sat through dinner with an expression like a cat that got the cream, and Juliet found herself again contending with that hot sting of jealousy. It wasn't that she didn't want Violet to be happy; she just wanted some happiness of her own. Was that too much to ask?
To her surprise, Mr. Galway joined them for dinner, and it was very obvious that he and Kit were great friends, despite their differences in rank and title. She learned that Mr. Galway was the fourth son of the brother of a baron. "Too far out of the line of succession to do me any good, and not nearly rich enough to provide me with any semblance of a living," he said with a laugh. It explained why he had joined the army.
He and Kit told many amusing stories of their time during the war, although she could sense the danger and filth and sorrow just behind their wry descriptions of life at camp. The two men were naturally cheerful and practical, and Juliet wondered if their close brushes with injury and death had given them their appetite and zest for life, or if it had been there all along, too strong to be dampened by the horrors of battle.
