Juliana (48 page)

FIVE HOURS
later, James found himself confronted by the most daunting column of buttons he’d ever seen.

During the last month—seemingly the longest month of his life—he’d imagined this night a hundred times, if not a thousand. And up until now, it had gone more or less as he’d planned.

He’d closed them both into this room—the Gold Chamber, Juliana had called it—and proceeded to kiss her senseless while faint snatches of romantic music drifted in from the great hall far down the corridor.

He’d been quite proud of himself, really, because he’d been determined to take his time. If anyone deserved a wedding night that was slow and tender and sweet, a wedding night she’d remember forever, it was his treasured Juliana. And so far, despite the fact that he’d been all but shaking with anticipation, he’d managed to go slowly.

But then he turned her around and saw all those tiny, fabric-covered buttons.

“What in heaven’s name possessed you to order a dress with so many buttons?” he muttered through gritted teeth, more frustrated than he remembered ever being—ever. If he continued as planned, if he continued going slowly, unbuttoning this blasted dress was going to take
all night
. “There must be at least a hundred buttons.”

Juliana laughed, a low, wicked laugh that rippled across every nerve in his body. “I thought you liked buttons, James,” she chided softly over her shoulder. “For some reason, I’ve come to believe you like buttons. I instructed the seamstress to put so many buttons on my dress because I had the impression you’d enjoy unbuttoning all of them.”

And he did, in a sense. Slowly he swept the hair off the nape of her neck, slowly he placed a soft kiss on the sensitive, warm bit of skin above her top button. An adoring kiss, drawing in her scent, that irresistible scent of flowers and sunshine and Juliana. And then slowly he began unbuttoning the buttons, the never-ending column of buttons. And in a sense, he did enjoy it. But in another sense, the agony of anticipation seemed to be more, much more, than any fellow should have to bear.

It didn’t take all night, but it took much, much longer than he wanted. Going slowly proved to be much, much harder than he’d hoped. Juliana sighed, and she caught her breath, and each of her sweet little sounds seemed to crawl into him and lodge someplace in his heart. It seemed forever by the time he managed to unbutton all the buttons. It seemed longer than the longest month of his life.

After all the waiting, after all the torturous unbuttoning of buttons, he finally stood back, for what seemed like one everlasting moment, the first time he saw Juliana just as she was, in all her glory.

And she
was
glorious.

It was a moment he’d always remember, a scene forever imprinted in his mind.

True to its name, the Gold Room was decked out with gilt furniture, all the walls and the four-poster bed draped with heavy golden fabrics. Everything seemed to shimmer. Juliana’s skin seemed to shimmer, beckoning him. Juliana’s eyes shimmered, a deep, deep blue gleam that entranced him. Her hair seemed to shimmer. No sooner had they entered the Gold Room than he’d released it from its pins, and now all the shining straight tresses were shimmering over her shoulders, glittering in the golden light.

“Your chest
is
all ridged like the centaur’s,” she whispered, sounding fascinated.

“What?” he whispered back, and then, “Never mind.” With a low laugh, he went to kiss her. He didn't ask her this time. He knew what her answer would be, and he didn't want to hear any more words.

He wanted only to hear her soft sighs as he finally made her his.

Juliana had dreamed of this night, but nothing had ever seemed so beautiful, nothing had ever felt so right. Nothing had ever felt so perfect as the two of them together.

Now that all the waiting she’d endured these past months—waiting to meet the right gentleman, to make certain she’d fallen in love, to be truly alone with James—was over, she could finally say with certainty: Love
was
worth waiting for.

Of course it was. Hadn’t she always said so?

But still and all, as James kissed her, his lips a warm promise on hers, she couldn’t help being thankful that she’d never have to wait again.

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Juliana
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If you'd like to learn more about the history and real places in
Juliana
, read on for Lauren’s Author's Note...

Author's Note
Books by Lauren & Devon Royal
Regency Chase Family Tree
Contest
Excerpt from CORINNA
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
Contact Information

Dear Readers,

In April 1815, Mount Tambora erupted on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, sending more ash into the air than any volcano in the last ten thousand years. Over the next year, the dust rose into the upper atmosphere and spread slowly across the planet, obscuring the sunlight to such an extent that extreme weather conditions prevailed in places halfway around the world. The growing season was plagued by a series of devastating cold waves that destroyed crops, greatly reducing the food supply and causing widespread famine. Snow fell in June, and 1816 came to be known as "The Year Without a Summer."

The people of the time hadn't the knowledge of our modern meteorologists, so they didn't know why the weather was so cold. Countless absurd theories were proposed, including those expounded by the guests at the balls in
Juliana
. Although some people did indeed blame Benjamin Franklin's lightning rods, had Franklin still been alive, he might have guessed the real reason. During a similar cold spell in 1784 caused by the great eruption of Mount Asama in Japan, Franklin wrote of a "constant fog over all Europe and a great part of North America," speculating that the dust he observed in the sky might be due to volcanic explosions or the breakup of meteorites.

In James's time, smallpox was sometimes called the Speckled Monster. Throughout recorded history, it killed ten percent of the population. As a youngster, before being variolated (intentionally infected with smallpox as a preventative measure), Edward Jenner was "prepared" by being starved, purged, and bled, and afterward he was locked in a stable with other ailing boys until the disease had run its course. All in all, it was an experience he would never forget—one that later inspired him to experiment and discover that immunization with cowpox prevented smallpox.

In 1801, after he pioneered vaccination, Jenner issued a pamphlet that ended with these words: "…the annihilation of the Small Pox, the most dreadful scourge of the human species, must be the final result of this practice." Unfortunately, almost 180 years went by before his prophecy came to pass.

In
Juliana
, James was too optimistic in hoping smallpox vaccinations would soon be made compulsory. England didn't pass such a law until 1853, and the World Health Organization (WHO) didn't launch its campaign to conquer smallpox until 1967. At that time, there were fifteen million cases of smallpox each year. The WHO's plan was to vaccinate everyone everywhere. Teams of vaccinators traveled the world to the remotest of communities.

The last documented case of smallpox occurred just eight years later, in 1975. After an anxious period of watching for new cases, in 1980 the WHO formally declared, "Smallpox is Dead!" Jenner's dream had come true: The most feared disease of all time had been eradicated.

The Foundling Hospital was established in 1739 by Captain Thomas Coram, a childless shipwright concerned about the plight of unwanted babies in London. In his time, seventy-four percent of the poor children born in London died before they turned five, and the death rate for children put in workhouses was more than ninety percent. In contrast, the Foundling Hospital's mortality rate was under thirty percent. If that sounds high, remember that smallpox, measles, tuberculosis (consumption), and other diseases were endemic during this period. Most people did not reach old age.