Czytaj książkę: «His Mistletoe Marchioness»

Chapter One

Kent, England—December 20th, 1806

‘I still can’t believe you talked me into coming back to Stonedown Manor for Christmas,’ Lady Clara Kingston complained to Lady Anne Exton, her sister-in-law, for the second time during their journey. The first had been when they’d set out two hours ago from their estate, Winsome Manor. Conversation with Anne had eased Clara’s initial misgivings and for a while the carriage ride through the snow-covered countryside had been soothing. But as the rolling hills of Surrey had changed to the flatter lands on the edges of the Weald in Kent and the familiar landscape surrounding Stonedown Manor, Clara’s apprehension had returned. With Stonedown looming on a nearby rise, the creamy stone front of it fading into the stark and leafless trees and frost-covered hills behind it, Clara’s unease increased.

‘You’re too young to cloister yourself at Winsome,’ Anne said. ‘And what better way to return to society than surrounded by people you know who will be glad to see you? It’s been ages since you’ve attended one of Lord and Lady Tillman’s annual Christmas house parties.’

‘For good reason.’ It’d been six years since the last time Clara had travelled this road. Back then she’d been heading home with the disappointment and embarrassment that had marred the remaining days of that Christmas visit accompanying her. It had been one of the worst Christmases that she’d ever endured and one of the best and most memorable.

‘That was a long time ago, Clara, and far behind you. Think of the better times,’ Anne encouraged.

‘I’m trying.’ Clara traced the outline of her wedding ring beneath her glove. She’d been unable to take it off despite the two years that had come and gone since Alfred’s passing. With him beside her, she could have returned to Stonedown without the regrets and doubts weighing her down, laughing at the less-than-pleasant memories of her last visit instead of allowing them to torture her as much as his loss. The surety of his love and protection was no longer there to help her and never would be again. Whatever waited for her at Stonedown, she must face it alone, as she had the humiliation that had marked that Christmas morning six years ago before Alfred’s caring had driven it away.

Clara nearly rapped on the roof of the coach to tell the driver to turn around and take her back to Winsome, but instead she clasped her hands tight together in her lap, her wedding ring pushing into the crook of her fingers. She couldn’t run away from this like a scared spinster or that was exactly what she would become. She was tired of being the widowed aunt, of living through Anne’s and Adam’s lives while hers remained mired by a loss of love and purpose. This more than all of Anne’s urgings had brought her to Stonedown. After two years secluded in the country, even she could see how the isolation and loneliness weren’t good for her.

Anne leaned across the carriage and clasped Clara’s hands, giving them a reassuring squeeze. ‘Don’t worry, Clara. Everything will be all right. You’ll enjoy yourself and who knows what might happen. You met Alfred here. There might be someone equally special waiting for you this time.’

The light of hope in Anne’s pale green eyes surprised Clara as much as the sensation rising in her heart. Hoping for such a thing felt like a betrayal of Alfred’s memory, but she needed to believe that there was something more waiting for her than the endless lonely days at Winsome Manor, many of which she spent lamenting what hadn’t been. Alfred wouldn’t want her to stop living, but the chance of lightning striking twice at Stonedown was remote, as was the possibility that she and others would not recall that her biggest embarrassment had also happened here. ‘Assuming people can see me as I am and not always think of me the way I was and what happened before.’

‘Few people will be so bored during their time here as to dwell on that unfortunate incident. There’s no reason for anyone to remember or to bring it up.’

‘I pray you’re right.’ Clara didn’t wish for people to view her as the simple girl who’d allowed herself to be duped by a fortune hunter, but as the poised Marchioness of Kingston that she’d become in the years since. It was the other reason she’d decided to come here, to prove to herself and everyone how much she’d changed. As for love finding her twice at Stonedown, she wasn’t that hopeful. ‘I doubt there will be anyone waiting at the house party for me. Most of the guests our age are married and the rest are old enough to be our parents. But you’re right, this is a good chance for me to venture out again and remember what it’s like.’

‘Don’t be too safe,’ Anne suggested with a mischievous smile as she sat back against the squabs. ‘An innocent risk every now and then is good for a woman.’

The plotting look in Anne’s eyes made Clara wonder if Anne knew something about Lady Tillman’s guest list that she didn’t. There wasn’t time to ask as the carriage made the turn on to the main drive leading to the massive front staircase.

A number of other carriages stood before the entrance, disgorging their passengers who strode up the numerous steps to the house. Spying the carriages and all the familiar faces, the excitement and anticipation that used to seize Clara when she and Adam were children and their parents would bring them here for the week before Christmas swept her again. Yes, she would enjoy herself in a way she hadn’t done in years and perhaps for a little while forget the lingering sadness that had been draping her for far too long.

A footman opened the carriage door and a gust of cool air with a hint of snow rushed in. Clara stepped out and peered up at the tall façade and the wide columns stretching up to support the triangle-shaped entrance giving Stonedown Manor the appearance of a Greek temple. It had seemed so much taller when she’d been a child holding on tight to her mother’s hand while they’d climbed these same steps. Coming to Stonedown had been as much a family tradition as Christmas pudding or carols. After their parents’ passing eight years ago, Clara and Adam had continued to come to Stonedown, to keep the tradition and their memory alive until that awful Christmas six years ago.

With a sigh, she started her ascent, but Anne took her by the arm, giggling like a new maid. ‘Do you remember how old Lady Pariston used to pinch the footmen on the cheeks?’

Clara tossed back her head and laughed, having quite forgotten. ‘I do. Didn’t she catch one on the bottom once?’

‘She said her shoulder hurt too much for her to reach the higher cheek. She will be here.’

‘Then no footman is safe.’

They almost doubled over in laughter when they reached the top, the old memory and the chance to see the charming Dowager again giving new life to the prospect of being here. It didn’t have to be all pain and regret, and Anne was right, Clara must think about the happy memories instead of dwelling on the unfortunate ones.

She and Anne stepped into the main entrance hall and craned their necks to take in the tall-ceilinged room with wide-eyed wonder. Despite the marble floors, the stone and iron of the curving front stairs and the high plastered ceilings and stark white moulding, there was a cosiness to Stonedown, an air of family and comfortable living one often didn’t find in estates this grand. This was the seat of the Earls of Tillman, but also their true home and, where it once rang with the noise of their five children, it now echoed with the sound of their grandchildren and the children of the guests and all the people gathered to celebrate Christmas. Fresh boughs of holly adorned every table and garlands of evergreens draped the long banister of the wide staircase leading up to the first floor. The crisp and spicy scent of cinnamon and nutmeg mingled with the earthy aroma of pine while the tinkling notes of someone playing Christmas carols on the piano in the music room drifted through the air. Clara took it all in, allowing the many happy memories of Christmases with her family here to fill her and make her doubts about coming fade. This delight was exactly what her tired soul needed.

‘There’s Lady Tillman. She will be so happy to see you.’ Anne guided her to where their stately hostess stood beneath a magnificent painting of the Italian countryside.

Lady Tillman, with her grey hair done up and decorated with a sprig of holly, and her thick figure regal in a dark green velvet frock with long sleeves and fur cuffs, reminded Clara of her mother and the way she used to appear whenever she’d greeted house party guest at Winsome Manor. The Countess smiled while she watched a group of children race past her. One of the little boys bumped into a half-pillar and made the vase on top of it rattle, causing the footman near it to leap at the ceramic to make sure it didn’t fall. Lady Tillman uttered not one word of reprimand, the near loss of a vase a worthy price to pay to have this much joy echoing off the overhead frescos.

Clara watched the children dart between the guests, the ribbons of the little girls’ dresses fluttering while the shoes of their brothers and cousins and friends slapped against the stone. Clara smiled at the sight, but it slowly faded as the familiar sadness she’d endured too many times in the past six years dropped over her like a blanket. At one time she’d dreamed of returning here for Christmas with a son or daughter who could play with her niece and nephew and enjoy the festive season the same way she had as a child but it hadn’t been. As with his first wife, she and Alfred had had no children. With Alfred gone, her dreams of having a family of her own were in danger of never coming true and it left a hole in her heart that made her want to weep.

‘Lady Kingston, Lady Exton, how magnificent to see you both.’ Lady Tillman strode up to Anne and Clara. Clara struggled to push aside her melancholy and greet their hostess. This wasn’t the time to cry and lament. She’d done enough of that at Winsome and there would be plenty of opportunities when she was alone in her room at night, but no matter how much she smiled, she couldn’t shake off the sadness completely. Alfred wasn’t even here to comfort her. ‘Lady Kingston, you don’t know how thrilled I was when Lady Exton told me you were coming. You’ve been away from my parties for far too long.’

She wagged a reprimanding finger at Clara before clasping Clara’s hands, her gracious and heartfelt greeting soothing Clara’s sadness. ‘You’re right, Lady Tillman, and it’s a mistake I intend to rectify.’

‘You already have.’ Lady Tillman patted her hand, then let go. ‘You both must go on through to the dining room and have your tea before the children eat all the tarts. The little cherubs, how I adore having them here.’

‘Are my children somewhere in this crush?’ Anne glanced about to see if she could spy the tow-haired heads of James and Lillie.

‘Oh, yes, they went running through here some time ago and your husband is in the billiards room with Lord Tillman and many of the other men.’

There hadn’t been enough room in the carriage for them all so Adam and the children had gone on ahead while Anne had ridden with Clara. Clara felt sure she’d done it to offer her support and she was thankful for the company, especially as they waded through the guests on their way to the dining room. Clara gave and accepted greetings from many old acquaintances, all the while enduring their consolations. It made her feel loved and wanted, but even these kind words reminded her of the loss of Alfred and how grief had made her stay away. It was a bittersweet arrival.

‘Lady Kingston, is that you?’ Lady Pariston stopped them. Wisps of her grey hair stuck out from beneath her white lace mobcap and she stooped a bit where she gripped a walking stick in her frail hands. Clara had never remembered her as robust or young, but she seemed even older today, but no less cheerful than she’d been before. Nothing ever appeared to dampen the Dowager Countess’s delight in everything. Lady Pariston leaned forward on her stick with a little too much amusement and no small amount of mirth. ‘What trouble do you intend to get up to this time, Lady Kingston? Plan to get jilted by another marquess while you’re here? I don’t think there are any in attendance, and if there happens to be more than one then you must share. It was awful of you to keep both of them to yourself last time, even if you did land the better of the two.’

Clara stiffened, struggling to maintain her smile. ‘I’ll be sure to share this time if there’s more than one marquess.’

‘Good. I know you won’t believe it to look at me, but I used to have to fend off marquesses, and even a duke, with a stick.’ While Lady Pariston waxed on about her past, Clara glanced around to see if any footmen stood in danger of her fingers, but none was so close. ‘If I hadn’t loved Charles so much I never would have consented to becoming a mere countess, but he more than made up for the step down by the size of his manor.’

She nudged Clara with her elbow and Clara laughed.

‘A sizeable manor does make a great deal of difference, doesn’t it?’ Clara could enjoy Lady Pariston’s jokes because they were not cruelly meant. She spoke plainly and frankly and expected everyone around her to do the same.

‘I’ll say. Now go on through to your tea and pick out the man you want to catch this time.’

Lady Pariston strolled off, her gait, despite the walking stick, as spry as her laugh.

Clara crossed her arms and trilled her fingers on them as she turned to Anne. ‘So much for no one remembering that unfortunate incident from the last time I was here.’

‘Well, if anyone was going to bring up what happened, you know it would be Lady Pariston.’

‘I doubt she’ll be the only one.’ Clara nodded to where Lady Fulton in her lace-cuffed dress that did little to contain her large chest and slender Lord Westbook with his sharp nose and slicked-back dark hair stood whispering together, each of them throwing Clara sidelong glances and then casually strolling away when it was clear that they’d been seen. Clara was certain they were not discussing the size of her diamond earrings. ‘What was it that Lady Fulton called me? A plain country mouse?’

‘And you are no longer that any more. Chin up, my dear Marchioness. There are tarts to eat.’

They strolled to the dining room, their progress slowed by more greetings, and Clara tried to shake her irritation at Lady Fulton and Lord Westbook. Their catty remarks had made a bad situation much worse six years ago and, unlike Lady Pariston’s silly and innocent reminder of Clara’s past, she knew anything they said was designed to inflict the most damage. The two of them were notorious gossips and Clara’s story must have greatly amused them, and who knew how many other country families six years ago.

As if to add insult to injury, it was then that she and Anne passed the small hallway leading to the ballroom. A sprig of mistletoe hung from the chandelier in the centre of the hallway, just as it did every year. Clara paused, noticing the white berries adorning the branch, and the memory of that Christmas Eve six years rushed back to her...

‘We should probably return to the ballroom,’ Hugh had suggested, rocking back on his heels before planting himself firmly in front of her.

‘Yes, we wouldn’t want people to notice our absence and talk.’

She didn’t care if they did. She yearned to stay there in the hallway beneath the mistletoe alone with him. He must desire it, too, for neither of them made a move to return to the dancing and she enjoyed this rush of boldness, the first one she’d ever experienced in a man’s presence.

He stepped forward and clasped her hands in his.

She straightened, struggling to stand still against the excitement coursing through her at the press of his fingers against hers.

His pulse flickered beneath her grasp and a shiver of excitement made her tremble. She wished to feel not just his fingertips against her skin but the entirety of him and everything promised by the longing in his eyes.

He wanted her as much as she wanted him, not in the sordid way spoken of in gossip, but in a deep and binding union of their lives...

Until the next morning, Clara thought wryly, the memory of crushing the berry he’d plucked for her from the mistletoe beneath her boot heel in the drive the next morning equally potent. Hugh might not have asked for her hand in so many words, but it had been there in every look he’d cast her that night and across the table and sitting rooms of the days before. The ones everyone in the house had seen, too. How people like Lady Fulton had sneered at her when Hugh had left to marry another. Despite his kiss and everything they’d shared that week, she’d been nothing more to him than a way to pass the time until someone more lucrative had come along and she’d been too much of a simple country girl to see it.

Clara swept off to follow Anne into the dining room. I’m not that naïve girl any more.

And she would make sure that people like Lady Fulton recognised it.

‘Oh, Clara, Lady Tillman has set out her mincemeat tarts.’ Anne eyed Lady Worth’s small china plate as she passed them. ‘I must have one before they’re all gone for it isn’t the start of the Christmas season until I’ve eaten one.’

‘Don’t you wish to greet your husband?’ Clara was somewhat curious to venture into the billiards room and see what men were in attendance, almost ashamed to admit she did hold out some hope for this party. After all, it was the season of miracles and she could do with one.

‘Adam can wait. The tarts will not.’ Anne took a tart from the magnificent selection of treats arranged on the long table and enjoyed a large bite, sighing at the sweet taste and the aromatic holiday spices.

‘You’re right.’ Clara took a bite of her selection, savouring the cinnamon-laced confection. ‘It isn’t Christmas until I’ve had one of these.’

Anne dabbed the sides of her mouth with a small napkin, then set it on the tray of a passing footman. ‘No, it isn’t. Oh, there’s Adam. I must tell him that I brought his cufflinks and will have my maid send them to his valet. I’ll be right back.’

She rushed off to take care of this domestic matter, leaving Clara to enjoy more tarts. While she finished her last treat, her stays already growing tight from the bounty of delights, she noticed the open door to Lord Tillman’s library across the hall from the dining room. Through the white-corniced frame, she could see the warm fire burning in the grate, its light glistening off the many gold-tooled titles of the books lining the walls. If there was one other Christmas tradition she could not do without, it was perusing Lord Tillman’s illuminated manuscript outlining the Nativity, the one he set out every year for his guests to enjoy. The last time she’d admired the Nativity had been six years ago when Hugh had glanced at her from across the wide pages, his fingers brushing hers when he’d turned the aged parchment. It had been the place where Hugh had first become more to her than her elder brother’s long-time friend and sometime houseguest at Winsome Manor and everything between them had changed.

No, I will not think about that, but of better times.

She left the bright dining room and crossed the hall to the library. It was just as she remembered it, with the shelves filled with antique manuscripts and more recent novels. The heaviness of the wood bookshelves and mouldings and the dark leather of the furniture made the room much darker than any of the others in the house, but with a large fire burning in the grate and the medieval illuminated manuscript perched on the tall bookstand by the window, it was one of the cosiest places in Stonedown. Lord Tillman was generous with his collection, making everything in it available to his guests. She’d spent many hours in this room with her father during the Christmases when he’d been alive, with him helping her to puzzle through the Latin text of the manuscript or to select a novel to read while she was here. She would take the book up to her room and every night before falling asleep she’d devour a few pages, relaxing after the excitement of the festive days. The next day at breakfast, she and her father would discuss the story, for he always urged her to choose ones he’d already read and he would make her guess how it might end. She used to beg him to tell her, but he never would spoil the story no matter how well he knew it or whether or not it was one of his favourites.

Taking a deep breath of the smoke-tinged air flavoured with the faint must of old paper, she closed her eyes and almost forgot for a moment that her father and mother were gone, and that she’d spent too many of the last eight years missing people the most at this time of year.

She opened her eyes and crossed the room to the illuminated manuscript. The sunlight coming in from outside, despite being muted by passing clouds, still sparkled in the glittering gold of the chorus of singing angels’ halos and in the fine calligraphy of the first letter of the page. The book was in Latin and she peered at it, trying to make out what words she could remember from her lessons with Adam and their father so long ago. Unlike her brother, she’d never mastered the old language, but a few words and phrases were familiar and she worked them out in a whisper, her effort making the noise and chatter in the hallway and rooms outside fade away until one voice rang out above them, stopping her cold in her reading.

‘Lady Kingston, it’s a pleasure to see you again.’

Clara’s finger froze over the red calligraphy, her pulse pounding in her ears. She took a deep breath and turned slowly around to find Hugh Almstead, Fifth Marquess of Delamare, standing at the bookshelf in the corner holding an open book. He didn’t flinch at the sight of her, but his confidence was betrayed by the subtle shifting of his weight on his feet. In her eagerness to view the manuscript and to remember everything she used to love about being in this room with her father, she’d walked right past him, unaware this entire time that he’d been watching her from the shadows.

He closed the book and stood up a touch straighter. He’d gained some height and his chest had grown wider along with his shoulders since the last time she’d seen him. His dark blue coat highlighted the darker strands in his sandy brown hair and made the copper flecks in his light brown eyes stand out. He appeared more like a man than the boy who’d courted her six years ago before abandoning her for a richer woman.

She worked hard to swallow down the old anger while she straightened the line of brass buttons on the front of the spencer covering the top of her London-made mauve dress. The entire time she prayed that the shock and agitation of seeing him again didn’t show on her face. No one had thought to tell her that he would be here. With so many other memories and feelings already leaving her raw, she didn’t need his presence conjuring up more for her to struggle with. ‘Lord Delamare, what a surprise to see you.’

If he was shocked by her presence, he hid it well, his piercing brown eyes taking her in with an earnestness she couldn’t read. ‘I find myself in need of some Christmas joy. I always remembered finding it here at Stonedown, especially in the people.’

He traced the leather corner of the book with a weariness she knew well. She’d lost interest in so many things after Alfred’s death and now faced the challenge of rediscovering life instead of wallowing in sorrow. Then, when she was on the verge of reclaiming the simple pleasures of a house party at Christmas, here was Lord Delamare to remind her of more unpleasant times and the awkward young woman she’d once been who’d fallen for his deceptive charms.

She ceased her fiddling with the buttons and dropped her hands to her sides, striking as confident and regal a pose as she could muster. ‘One would think London would hold more joy for a lord of your reputation than the woodlands of Kent.’

She tried to sound light, but the remark came off as sharp as the pop of sap on the logs in the fire. Given the tales she’d heard of him and his preference for London actresses in the last three years since his wife’s death, he’d appeared more bent on emulating his grandfather’s vices than his level-headed father’s virtues.

‘Not any more.’ He slapped the book against his palm, chafing at the remark before regaining his former composure. ‘My condolences on the passing of Lord Kingston. I met him a number of times in the House of Lords. He was one of the few men there who kept his word. He gained an admirable reputation because of it.’