Page 29 of An Earl's Christmas Seduction
Some went to admire the earl’s hothouse, and others went to walk in the woodlands where the yule log had been found the previous evening. Amelia decided to make her way back through the trees, where the drifts were less, and she could pick her way along a path leading along the edge in the direction of the house.
“Perhaps I should lie down and wait to be rescued,”she thought to herself, smiling to think of Nicholas striding out to save her.
There was no one else in the trees though Amelia could see the viscount, Edgar, and Hugh over by the hothouse. They were shouting excitedly to one another, pointing to the large palm fronds visible through the glass. Amelia wondered what any of them could have to do with Nicholas’ birth, if anything. As she walked through the trees, all manner of fantastical ideas entered her head.
“He could be the son of the Bennetts, or perhaps he and Edmund were swapped at birth. He might even be Constance’s brother, or the missing triplet to Edgar and Hugh,”she thought to herself.
But every idea seemed more ridiculous than the last, and Amelia simply could not imagine how these people might be connected, if at all. Many years had passed since the event in question. If the earl was illegitimate, his mother would be long gone, maybe even dead.
If that were the case, what would be the point of digging up the past except to simply to satisfy a curiosity? But that was what it was; a question without an answer. Amelia knew she would feel the same.
“Well, for everyone’s sake, we can’t say anything about the child,” a voice sounded to Amelia’s left, and pausing, she peered cautiously through the bows of a large holly tree, realizing it was her mother who was speaking.
“Oh, really, Beryl, you can’t possibly mean that. How can it be kept a secret?” Lady Turner asked.
Amelia’s heart skipped a beat. She did not know what child it was her mother was speaking of, nor why it should be kept a secret, either. Her mother, Lady Turner, and Lady Thornton were standing with their backs to her on the far side of the holly tree.
It seemed they had hidden themselves away purposefully, and there could be no doubt in Amelia’s mind as to their intention to remain hidden. But what were they saying? And what did they mean by it?
“Edmund can’t know of it,” Lady Thornton said, and Amelia’s mother nodded.
“No…quite so. You won’t convince us, Margaret,” she said, and Lady Turner sighed.
“I’m not trying to convince you of anything. Secrets have a nasty way of being found out. Don’t you agree? Wouldn’t it be awful if…” she began, but Amelia’s mother interrupted her.
“It would be awful for each of our families. No, it can’t be discovered. I won’t hear of it, and I can’t believe you mean it when you say it would be better for the secret to be revealed,” she said.
Lady Turner sighed.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right. I’ve got to think of Clara and Isobel,” she said.
“Then it’s agreed. We’ll keep the secret, and that’s final,” Amelia’s mother said.
All three of them nodded, and Amelia shrank back, hiding in the bough of the holly bush as the three women hurried past. She was none the wiser, but certainly all the more curious about what she had heard. There was no doubting there was a connection between her mother and the other two women now.
But as to the nature of their connection, Amelia could only begin to wonder. She watched as they made their way across the lawn in the direction of the house, only following when it appeared safe to do so. Her mind was filled with possibility as to what she had heard, even as she knew she had but only a small portion of the facts.
“I need to tell Nicholas,”she thought to herself, and letting herself in through a side door, Amelia went straight to the earl’s library.
Chapter 10
“I don’t know why you invited them all, Nicholas. They’re simply ghastly,” Constance said, shaking her head.
Nicholas looked up at her and smiled.
“In your opinion, perhaps,” he replied, and she raised her eyebrows, glaring at him as she replied.
“And it should be your opinion. Nicholas, as for that awful Amelia Fairchild…” she said.
Nicholas shook his head. He was of a very different opinion about Amelia to Constance. He could tell she saw her as a love rival, and while he had no intention of playing them off against one another, it pleased him to think Constance considered Amelia a threat.
If Constance intended to continue her foolish campaign, assuming the prospect of marriage for herself, so be it, but Nicholas had no intention of giving in to it. He was growing fond of Amelia, and despite his reticence in matters of romance, there was no doubting his growing feelings for her.
“What don’t you like about her?” he asked. He could see no reason why anyone should dislike Amelia. Except for the fact she presented herself as a rival for his affections.
“What don’t I like about her? Everything. She’s common,” Constance replied, folding her arms.
Again, Nicholas smiled. Amelia was the daughter of a baron, she was not “common,” and certainly not in the sense Constance used the term. If anything, Amelia had better breeding to her than Constance herself, and Nicholas had no qualms as to the thought of telling her so.
