Read Loving Julia for Free Online

bloody cold, whose knees wouldn’t shake like jelly?—she stood her ground, chin up, expression determined. When the door swung open, a black-clad personage with a dignity to rival God’s stood staring down at her with an expression of disbelief.
    “Y-e-s?”
    “Yer lordship?”
    The personage’s nostrils distended. “Certainly not.”
    “I got somethin’ to show the Earl o’ Moorland.” Despite her best efforts to be ladylike, the personage was looking at her like she had just crawled out from under a rock.
    “Indeed. I am afraid that his lordship is not at home. Good day.”
    And before Jewel could say anything more, the door was shut resoundingly in her face.
    “Well, bloody ’ell!” She stared at the closed door for a fulminating instant as indignation began to simmer. Bloody rude bugger, he was! Lifting the knocker’s handle, she let it fall again. It hit the lion squarely in the nose with a resounding boom. This time the door opened only a few inches.
    “Get away from here, you, or I’ll have the watch called.” The personage was frowning down his long nose at her.
    “I tell ya, I got somethin’ to show the earl!”
    “And I tell you that the earl is not at home.”
    “Well, then, when will ’e be ’ome?”
    “Never, for the likes of you. Now, be off!”
    And he closed the door again. Jewel clenched her jaw, and banged the lion’s head with such force that the handle bounced.
    The magnificent personage jerked open the door this time and practically hissed at her. “Will you go away?”
    Dander up, Jewel scowled ferociously back at him. “Yer bloody rude, did ya know that? I ask ya a civil question, and …”
    “George, have Rudy run for the watch.” The personage spoke with icy control over his shoulder, before turning back to Jewel with a glacial glare. “You heard, girl? You’d best be gone, or it will be the worse for you.”
    “Yer the one t’will be the worse for, ya slimy fat slug,” Jewel spat.
    The door was closing in her face again. Bloody insufferable idiot! She had a right to her say just like anyone else! Furious, she threw herself against the swirls of intricately carved oak.
    The personage, obviously not expecting a direct attack, was caught by surprise. The door swung open, Jewel stumbled into a great hall ablaze with candles, her feet slipping and sliding on the highly polished marble floor before coming to rest on a creamy carpet patterned with peach flowers. Her wet feet made dirty marks on the pristine wool and she quickly stepped back onto the marble, her eyes wide as she looked around her at the soaring entryway.
    “Here now, you little slut, get out of here! George, lend a hand here!” The personage came up behind her, grabbing her by her upper arm.
    “Ya take yer damned hands offa me, ya bloody old fart!” Jewel screeched, scrambling to regain her balance as the man swung her around. He thrust her toward the door, which another, younger man in an equally magnificent suit held open. Jewel felt herself being propelled over the slippery floor, then drew back her foot and kicked the personage in the shin with all her might.
    “Bitch!” he yelled, dropping his hold on her arm and dancing on one leg. “You’ll pay for this, you little … Henry, Thomas!”
    He was obviously summoning reinforcements. He snatched at Jewel, but caught only her shawl, which he regarded with horror and immediately dropped to lie in a soggy puddle on the floor. Meanwhile, Jewel darted away, her wet feet sliding on the marble so that she had to save herself from falling by catching the curved arm of an elegant gilt chair. She took refuge behind it as two other finely dressed men ran into the hall from different directions.
    “Get her!” the personage directed, and the four men converged on the chair. Shifting from foot to foot so as to be ready for whatever mayhem ensued, she glared at them over the chair’s striped silk back. The personage was limping slightly as he closed in on