Teresa paled and looked away. “I thought you said you would be out, Val.”
“Change of plans.” He stood, apparently unaffected by the interruption. “What brings you back?”
“I was worried about where Melanie had gone. She’s not returned to the hotel.”
“She’s upstairs, in her room I believe. Let me go and fetch her.” He hurried out, taking the stairs two at a time by the sound of it.
Teresa’s glance in her direction was cold. “Well, if you would excuse me.”
“Teresa, wait.” Julia scrambled to her feet, straightening her gown as she went. Valentine’s lovemaking had managed to twist it around her body.
Teresa looked her up and down scornfully. “I don’t believe I have anything to say to you. How cunning you are to appeal to his base instincts as a means to better yourself.”
“We are to be married,” Julia insisted.
“Are you foolish enough to think so?” Teresa sniffed. “You don’t know Valentine like I do, or the family. You don’t understand what drives him. What is best for him.”
She turned on her heel and disappeared upstairs, leaving Julia alone. Julia did know what Valentine wanted for his life and from her.
She lowered herself to her chair, picked up her teacup and eagerly awaited Melanie’s return. The first time she’d ever done so.
Ten
Mr. Faraday grimaced. “I’ve had a very interesting day, sir.”
“Oh?” Valentine glanced around the immaculate shop front of Faraday Clockworks, a premises he’d hoped to continue his own business in after Mr. Faraday retired. “What made it so?”
Faraday set aside a coil of fine wire. “I met with your father today. Quite by accident, he said it was.”
Valentine’s stomach lurched. “Is that so?”
“It is indeed.” Faraday squinted at him, a sign his vision was growing worse. “You failed to mention your family disapproved of your chosen profession.”
He sighed. What was the point of evasion when there was little chance of a good outcome? “My father prefers that I follow in his footsteps and return to Oxford to teach.”
“But you don’t want that? How strange.” Faraday rubbed at the nicks and scars on his fingers. Signs he’d toiled at labor all his life. “It would be an easier employment than mine. A life of comfort and instant respect.”
“I never have wanted an Oxford profession but he refuses to listen.” Valentine replied bitterly. “The pompous idleness of academia disgusts me. I’d rather be useful than imagining I’m bettering young minds by bellowing at them every day for the rest of my life.”
Faraday’s mouth curved upward at his ferocity. “Have you been holding that in for a while?”
“Not exactly.” He grinned sheepishly. “My sister has always known my feelings on the subject. It was she who suggested clock-making as an alternative career when you professed me so good at it.”
Faraday nodded. “And your friends? What do they know of your grand plans?”
“My friends were the first admirers of my creations and they know I prefer a life in Brighton.”
Mr. Faraday squinted at him. “And what does Miss Julia Radley have to say, now that her future position in society will be reduced by your going into trade? Surely she must want the better life afforded by a position in Oxford.”
“She was not in the least bothered by the drop in status. In fact, she asked a great many questions about how the business would be run yesterday. I had not expected her intimate involvement but she seemed open to the idea. I explained about the long hours each day and the uncertainty of my income. I believe she understands the challenges ahead.”
Faraday nodded slowly. “There’s a lot of talk about Miss Radley.”
“I’m sure there has been, but I have spoken to the vicar and the banns will be read on Sunday. We will be married as soon as we possibly can.”
Faraday shuffled a crate back under the bench. “That’s not the talk to which I was referring. Word has it she’s come into some money and most likely will cry off before the banns are read.”
Valentine frowned. “Who on earth told you that?”