Candlelit Christmas Kisses: Captain Moorcroft's Christmas Bride / Governess Under the Mistletoe

‘Unless he was in on the scam?’

‘Yes, I suppose he might have been, since he would soon have been able to claim the land.’

‘My uncle was at fault, but his grief made him ill. I think he knew he was being cheated—which was why, at the last, he asked me to help. After his last surviving son died, he had no one else to turn to.’

‘You did not expect to inherit?’

‘How could I? When I was young, he had three sons. I enjoyed staying here then, but later, after my aunt and her two younger sons died, it became a house of sorrow. My cousin John left home as soon as he could escape—only to die in an accident—and I was glad to purchase my colours and go to war. I thought it would be glorious …’

‘I fear you found it otherwise,’ Selina said, faltering as she saw the frost in his eyes. ‘You must have been reluctant to come back to a house you remembered as being dark and empty.’

‘I was extremely reluctant,’ the earl said, and frowned. ‘I did not expect so many changes, Miss Searles.’

‘Oh … forgive me. I merely wanted to make it comfortable for you, sir.’

‘As you have. I was pleasantly surprised. And the wing you are using has never looked so well. I don’t know what you’ve done. I’m sure it did not look so comfortable before.’

‘I changed the furniture, took some pretty pieces to the wing—and of course the spinet and some of the things in my parlour are Mama’s.’

‘Ah, that explains it,’ he said. ‘My own wing needs a little more of what you have, I think.’

‘You wish me to return the furniture I have borrowed?’

‘No, not at all. I have some things of my own which will make the changes I require.’

‘Oh … I thought … Someone said they were to remain in store until you rebuild …’ Selina blushed. ‘Forgive me. I am presuming too much.’

‘It was my intention to leave the crates as they are, but now I see no reason to do so. The house has a certain appeal it formerly lacked, Miss Searles. Henry tells me it would be sacrilege if I were to tear it down—though he concedes the east wing needs some modernisation.’

‘Yes, it is not in as good a condition as the rest of the house,’ Selina said. ‘However, there is nothing that someone after the style of Mr Adam or Mr Sheraton could not put right—a designer with a delicate, modern touch, but simple rather than ornate. This house does not need all the French gilding that is becoming so popular—’ Once again she broke off as the earl’s brows rose. ‘Forgive me. It is your house, not mine.’

‘Yes, I rather fancy it is,’ he replied, giving her a brooding look that made her stomach clench. ‘However, I think I agree with you. Henry forbids me to give it the Italianate touch I first thought of …’

Seeing the glint in his eye and guessing that he was provoking her, Selina refused to rise to the bait. ‘I daresay your architect will be disappointed if you change your mind about pulling the house down.’

‘I have not yet completely decided,’ he replied, the brooding look returning to his eyes.

‘No? Well, you have plenty of time. After Christmas we shall make plans to leave as soon as we can, and you will have the house to yourself.’

‘There is no particular hurry,’ he said, surprising her. ‘I understand you mean to give a small party? I may invite a few friends myself—but it cannot be a large party, for I am still in mourning for my uncle.’

‘As we are for Mama,’ Selina assured him. ‘However, she would want us to have a small dinner party, and we shall trim the house—our wing, of course—and shall give each other presents. My sisters have been grieving for too long, sir. I wish to make this as good a Christmas for them as I can; though I cannot give them expensive gifts, they shall have something nice.’

‘It is an age since Christmas was celebrated in that way in this house.’ The earl narrowed his eyes. ‘Do you think I should bring the Yule log into the great hall? You could entertain your guests there, if you wished.’

‘I think my sisters would like to see the Yule log brought in, if you will permit? However, I shall only invite six or eight guests at most. We should get lost in your great hall, my lord.’

‘Yes, I suppose so. Unless my guests were here, too.’

‘Would it not become a large party, then?’

‘Perhaps.’ He shook his head. ‘We shall discuss this again another day, Miss Searles. If you will excuse me? There is much to do.’

‘Yes, I know.’

Selina had bitten back the words she’d longed to say. She could easily have helped him cast his accounts, for she had a talent for figures that amazed most people who were unable to see how she could simply look at a column of figures and come up with the correct answer without making notes or scribbling. Several people had challenged her totals in the past, particularly when she’d corrected their mistakes, but when they checked, they had invariably been forced to concede that she was right.

‘I shall not disturb you again, sir—but you are welcome to dine with us every night until you make your own arrangements; and I know Cook will be happy to send a light lunch to you here.’

He had thanked her, and she had left him to a task she was sure he did not wish to tackle—a task which would have been a pleasure to her. More than once she had been tempted to offer her services, but he would have thought her presumptuous, and she did not wish to try his patience, for he had been generous—almost too generous.

Had Selina not been aware that he was gaining as much from the arrangement as she, her sense of pride must have made her leave at once. It was an unusual arrangement, and one that some might think not quite proper. Yet she could see no reason why they should not live in harmony, providing both respected the invisible lines between them. They were under the same roof, and yet there were two separate households—which was quite respectable. If it were not for the library, which could be entered from either wing, they might lock their doors and be entirely shut off one from the other. She wondered if the earl had considered locking the door into his wing—or whether she ought to. However, that would mean Millie would be restricted.

Surely there was no harm in them all meeting on mutual ground?

It was no good. She must find something to fill her time—and put the earl and his affairs out of her mind. She would be here for only a few more weeks, and then she would probably never see him again.

Feeling the tightness in her chest as she realised how much pain that would cause her, Selina scolded herself for being foolish. He was not the man she had kissed in those moonlit gardens. He had been young, carefree, and on the verge of a great adventure. For some reason his life had turned sour, and he had forgotten the girl he’d promised to return to and wed one day—as she ought to have forgotten him long ago.

He had never intended to keep his promise. It had been just the foolish flirting of a young man who had drunk too much, perhaps because he was a little afraid of his future despite being on a high of excitement. Selina smiled at the memory and told herself to let it go. The Earl was a very different man. He could have no interest in a girl of her age, who had little fortune and was at the moment acting as his unpaid housekeeper.

She would take a turn in the gardens. The sun was shining, and with her fur-lined cloak about her shoulders, she would not feel the cold.

‘What are you looking at?’ Henry asked as he entered the library and saw his friend standing by the long French windows. He joined him, looked out, and saw the two young women. One had set up an easel and was sketching; the other was watching her and smiling as she encouraged her efforts. ‘Yes, they do make a pretty picture, Robert. Which do you have your eye on—Miss Searles or her charming sister?’

‘Neither,’ Robert replied, and moved away from the window. ‘I leave such things to you, Nor. Either of them would make you a comfortable wife, for they are both charming in their different ways.’

‘Miss Searles seems very capable of running a house like this. You should take advantage while you have the chance, Robert. You spoke of needing a wife, and I daresay she might be grateful for the chance to be mistress here.’

There was a teasing look in Henry’s eyes, but Robert did not reply in kind. His brow furrowed as he glanced at the accounts and wondered why he had found them so unappealing once Miss Searles had left the room.

What was it about her? He felt it was important, but the pain had crowded out all his happier memories. The men who had suffered and died—the women who had been raped, beaten and murdered by rampaging soldiers, some of them English—had filled his mind. Especially Juanita, the lovely young woman he’d tried but failed to save.

‘I keep thinking I should remember Miss Searles,’ he said. ‘There is something at the back of my mind … an elusive memory. It’s stupid, I know, but I feel it’s important.’

‘You could hardly have known her before you joined the army, Robert. It is more than seven years … she would still have been in the schoolroom.’

‘How old is she, do you think?’

‘I believe she will be four and twenty next spring.’

‘No more than three and twenty?’ Robert was surprised. ‘She seems older. I would have said six and twenty at least.’

‘It is her black gowns and the way she pulls her hair back,’ Henry said. ‘Miss Millie told me that she is thirteen next week, Amy is nearly twenty, and Selina is three and twenty. I see no reason why she should lie. I find her sometimes tactless, but always truthful. She told me my face is a bit ugly, but she thinks I was handsome once and she likes me. If I like she will marry me when she is seventeen—especially if I bring her here to live.’

‘Good grief!’ Robert shouted with laughter. ‘The chit is certainly not lost for words.’

Henry smiled. ‘I find her honesty refreshing. She has no idea of causing offence or hurt, and none is taken, I assure you.’