Page 82 of A Lovely White Christmastide
“Til death do us part?”
Carswell guffawed.
Both ladies turned at his loud laughter. He tried to choke down his amusement, but the image of him and Kaye also needing to pledge devotion to one another for the sake of their wives was excessively diverting. Curious amusement from the sisters led Kaye to repeat his question for them.
On its second recital, an unexpected joy settled into Carswell’s chest and he took in each one of them in turn, marveling at his good fortune.
His life before the Royal Army had been a lonely solitary existence, his family cold and unwelcoming. Now he found himself surrounded by people who truly cared about him. His physical imperfections and his eccentricities meant nothing to them and for the first time he felt… loved.
“Are you well?” Beth asked at his sudden seriousness.
“I have never been better.” He held an arm out and she tucked herself under it. Glancing at Kaye he asked, “By the by, what brings the two of you out of doors?”
Miss Julianna and Kaye looked at one another and then back at him, brows furrowed. Then Kaye asked, “Did you not witness what just transpired in the ballroom?”
“I am afraid we did not,” Carswell said. Beth snickered and a smile forced its way onto his face. “We chose to take a stroll when we arrived and have beenpleasantly engagedsince.”
Miss Julianna’s amusement came out in a snort. “Pleasantly engaged, indeed.”
“What happened?” Beth rushed to say. Carswell did not blame her. They needed to sidestep any more discussion of the intimate embrace if either of them wished to keep their composure.
Kaye began detailing the incident. It would have been distressing had he and Miss Julianna not kept adding what Carswell was certain was a ridiculous amount of hyperbole.
“And the way Daniel kept mimicking Mr. Caleb Waverly.” Miss Julianna chuckled. “He might as well have been a puppet on strings but with eyes that actually move. Which made it even more entertaining when the pretend Daniel announced he had a special license.”
“A special license?” Beth exclaimed. “But how?”
“It was a fake,” Kaye said flatly. He broke off a small twig from a nearby bush and started snapping little bits off.
Carswell had seen that particular nervous habit many times in their years on the continent. It seemed Kaye was not nearly as at ease as he’d let on.
“How did you know it was a fake?” Beth asked.
Kaye’s brow pinched and he turned to Miss Julianna. “Yes, how did you know?”
Miss Julianna grinned. “My friend Olivia showed me one earlier this year when her mother, the dowager Lady Caraway, remarried. The one that Caleb had did not have the same signature, nor had the names been filled out—which is a necessity. I am surprised he missed that detail.”
A cold breeze nipped at Carswell’s nose and both ladies shivered. Instinctively he pulled Beth closer, then cleared his throat. “He could lose his position as a barrister for such a forgery.”
Kaye shook his head. “It was the duke who did it. I told you he was here to create chaos. It seems ruining my life was his only purpose for coming.”
“Or Mr. Caleb Waverly’s.” Beth glanced between them. “While he did work on the case for His Grace, the man he worked under lost the suit and the duke had to pay a great deal of money. It is possible the duke blames Caleb along with the man who he apprentices under.”
“I had not thought of that,” Miss Julianna said.
Kaye rubbed the back of his neck. “Perhaps both were his motive. Why else would he brave a two-day journey from Northumberland?”
“He could be on his way to London for the season,” Carswell said. “Adding a slight detour for a double dose of revenge does not sound terribly out of character from what you have said.”
“Now that sounds like something he might do.”
Beth snuggled closer and Carswell tightened his hold on her. Silence settled between them as each person became lost in their thoughts.
Kaye grasped Miss Julianna’s hand and pulled her close. “If only the special license had been real.”
“Oh?” Miss Julianna and Beth said in unison.
Kaye grinned. “Yes. Then Julianna and I might have confiscated it and put in our own names. That way we could have married tonight.”
