Page 17 of An Earl's Christmas Seduction
Chapter 7
Amelia sipped her mulled wine, and the viscount continued to regale them with song. He really was a very good singer, and Mrs. Bennett proved herself to be an adequate accompaniment. The other guests sang along, clapping in time to the music, and a merry atmosphere pervaded.
But the fire was burning low, its embers red and glowing, and the night was drawing on. Nicholas was trapped in a corner of the room with Constance, her attentions incessant, and Amelia wondered if there might be a way to help him escape.
“Though I don’t want Constance to think we’re in competition,”Amelia thought to herself.
But as the next song came to a close, a call came from the far side of the room, and the guests turned, finding Lord Thornton calling for attention.
“Far be it from me to tell our host his own traditions. But a yule log was always burned at Ashworth Hall on Christmas Eve,” he said.
Amelia glanced at Nicholas, and it seemed the earl was mightily relieved to have an excuse to extract himself from Constance’s attentions.
“Ah, yes, you’re right, Lord Thornton. My father, my grandfather, and presumably my ancestors kept that proud tradition alive each year. But with the snow falling so thickly, it was almost impossible to find one. We usually burned it Christmas Eve,” Nicholas said.
But Lord Thornton shook his head.
“I agree. It’s getting stuffy in here. A little winter air will do us good; those willing, of course. Aren’t the young ones eager to see the yule log burning in the hearth this night?” he asked, glancing around the room.
Several others nodded.
“Tis’ an excellent idea, Lord Thornton,” the viscount said.
“We’re game,” the twins replied, and Edmund, perhaps not wishing to appear reticent, agreed, too.
The thought of a walk in the snow to find the fabled yule log that was to burn each night for twelve days of festivity was exciting. Amelia asked to accompany them, despite a look from her mother.
“We’ll come, too,” Clara said, glancing at Isobel, who nodded.
“It’ll be fun. Nicholas, you’ll lead us, won’t you?” Isobel said, and the earl nodded.
Constance looked disapproving, and she refused to go, sitting a chill from her earlier ordeal in the snow.
“We older ones will stay,” Lord Thornton said, helping himself from one of the earl’s decanters of brandy on the sideboard.
The party was assembled and warmly dressed. Nicholas, Amelia, Clara, Isobel, the twins, the viscount, and Edmund. The butler brought lamps, and it was agreed they would set off as a party into the woods surrounding Ashworth House. Amelia was bundled up tightly against the cold.
“It’s a good thing we brought so many winter clothes, Lady Amelia,” Elsie had said, as she had helped Amelia into her red traveling cloak and bonnet.
“It’s stopped snowing now,” Hugh said, peering out of the hallway window.
“It won’t take us long to find a suitable log. Don’t forget, whoever touches it first receives the luck of the season,” Nicholas said, glancing at Amelia and smiling.
As he opened the door, a blast of cold air whipped into the hallway, and Amelia shivered, pulling her cloak tightly around her.
“Be careful, Lady Amelia,” Elsie said, and Amelia smiled.
“I’ll be alright. It’s fun. It’s just what I need,” she said, and together, the party trooped out into the night, carrying the lamps to light their way.
The snowhadstopped falling, and the clouds had cleared, revealing a starry night. The moon was almost full, hanging low and waxy over the sea. The air was still, and Amelia could hear the crashing of waves on the rocks below. Nicholas was waiting at the bottom of the steps, and he smiled at her, offering her his arm.
“Will you let me show you the way, Lady Amelia? The others know it well enough, even in the dark, but I don’t want you getting lost,” he said.
Amelia blushed, but she was only too pleased to accompany him, the two of them now following the rest of the party across the lawn. She wanted to ask him about Constance, and about the rumors surrounding his birth, even as she knew she could not possibly ask about either in good taste.
The snow was thick, lying in great drifts across the lawns, and the house, with its lamp lit windows, stood imposingly above them, a beacon amid the bleak midwinter.
“It’s been a wonderful evening, it really has,” Amelia said, as they came to the tree line, where ancient boughs rose into the night sky, overhanging them with sharp fingers, looking like great beasts waiting to devour them.
