Page 36 of An Earl's Christmas Seduction
“That’s right. Don’t you go in there yourself?” she asked, and Constance shook her head.
“Nicholas doesn’t normally allow it,” she said, and Amelia smiled.
“I must be highly favored. Goodnight, Constance,” she said, turning and leaving the drawing room before Constance had a chance to reply.
It pleased her to think she had gained the upper hand, even as she had no real desire to anger Constance or make an enemy of her. But Constance had brought the matter on herself, and if she was jealous, it was her own fault. Elsie was waiting for Amelia upstairs, and had laid out her nightgown on the bed.
“Goodness me, Lady Amelia. I must’ve been half asleep this morning when I helped you with your dress. Everything’s out of place. I’m so sorry,” the maid said, as she undid Amelia’s feeble attempts at dressing herself in haste after her encounter with Nicholas in the library.
“I had to adjust it myself. It was all rather uncomfortable. Don’t worry about it, Elsie,” Amelia said, glad to have the maid standing behind her so as not to see the blush on her cheeks.
After helping her get ready for bed, Elsie said goodnight, promising to bring Amelia a cup of tea early the next morning.
“Christmas Eve. I’m sure we’ll be blessed by it,” she said, before taking her leave.
Amelia pulled back the blankets, getting into bed and closing her eyes. A fire had been kindled in the hearth, and the room was warm. She listened, straining her ears to hear a footfall in the corridor, or the turning of a door handle. She wanted to think the earl would come to her, and she imagined the bedroom door opening, and the padding of his feet across the floor.
He would slip between the sheets, taking her in his arms, kissing her, before making love to her. She thought back to the sensation of his touch, to the heat rising in her loins, to the feel of his lips against hers. A shiver of desire ran through her; would he come?
She wanted him to, even as she knew he would not be allowed out of Constance’s sight. Amelia felt sorry for the earl being trapped in the expectations of Constance, and the judgment of society.
Perhaps that was why he had done as he had done, for there was such freedom at the thought of their encounter. In his arms, Amelia had felt nothing but freedom, and the freedom to give into her desires, to no longer be encumbered by the past, and to feel herself able to live again, after the hurt she had so long endured.
“But does he truly want me?”she asked herself, fearing the answer was more complicated than she desired it to be.
But as the fire burned low, it seemed Nicholas was not coming, and her burning desires were replaced by the desire to sleep, her eyes heavy, the blankets warm, and the sound of the whistling wind outside making her glad to be safe and warm.
With Nicholas on her mind, Amelia fell asleep, wondering what the following day would bring, and whether there could be anything more between her and Nicholas than the flame of passion ignited so unexpectedly.
Chapter 12
“Come on Amelia, keep up,” Isobel called out, as they ran together across the gardens.
It was a beautiful day, the sun high in the sky, its warmth on Amelia’s skin as she hurried after her friends, the three of them making their way in the direction of the beach.
“Are we really going to swim?” Amelia called out, and the other two laughed.
“Yes, of course. We don’t need to worry. There’s no one else around. You can only get to the beach through the gardens here. We won’t be seen. Are you worried about not being ladylike?” Clara said, turning to Amelia and smiling.
But Amelia was not worried about that. She wanted to swim, and she was excited at the prospect of cooling off in the sea on a hot day. It felt like she had been at Ashworth House for weeks, the summer stretching out long and dreamy before her, but it had only been a few days since she had made the journey from London, greeted by Clara and Isobel, who were spending the summer season with their cousin in Devonshire.
“Not at all. I’ve been longing to swim. It’s so freeing,” Amelia replied, as they reached the headland, looking out over the sea below.
The waves were breaking gently on the shore, crested white amid the azure blue. The water was crystal clear, lapping at the white sand stretching half a mile to east and west.
The beach was secluded, reached only by a steep, narrow path from the gardens, and lush, verdant greenery grew along the edge of the sand, the chalk path picking its way between the trees. It was idyllic, and Amelia had dreamed of nothing else since the arrival of Isobel’s invitation at the start of July.
“Isn’t it just…no petticoats, no endless skirts, no corset,” Clara said, as they picked their way down the path to the sands.
It was a paradise, like a lost world, hidden from the ages, unchanged and untouched, and as the three women stripped down to their underclothes, Amelia breathed a deep sigh of satisfaction at the feel of the warm sand beneath her feet, and the breeze against her skin.
“Come on, I’ll race you,” Isobel said, taking hold of Amelia’s hand.
They hurried across the sand, making for the waves, laughing with one another, and shrieking as the water broke over their feet. Despite the warmth of the day, it was icy cold, and Clara held back, even as Isobel and Amelia struck out into the waves.
“Oh, it’s like ice,” Isobel cried out, shrieking as a large wave broke over her.
Amelia was delighting in it, striking out into the water, swimming as she had been taught to do in her youth when her father had taught her to swim in the boating pond on their country estate. It was so freeing to be immersed in the water, and she dives beneath the waves, swimming out strongly against the current.
