Page 59 of An Earl's Christmas Seduction
“And the same to you, Miss,” he replied.
Amelia did not know what time it was. The dawn was breaking, and the snow clouds had dissipated, leaving a clear sky, and the promise of a brighter day. The wind had died down, and now Amelia made her way cautiously across the gardens towards the house. She could hardly bear to think of the terrible events of the night before. The betrayal of Nicholas, and the cruelty of Constance.
Amelia thought it could be an act and that Constance would feign and fawn over Nicholas in a desperate attempt to prove what she was saying. But to Amelia’s horror, it had been Nicholas who had kissed her, Nicholas who had made no attempt to reject her, and Nicholas who had played Amelia for a fool.
“And that’s what I am. Nothing but a fool,”she told herself.
Nicholas had used her for his own ends…for his pleasure, and for the secret her mother was carrying. He had charmed her, drawing her into his web, but not anymore. She knew the truth now, and she was not about to play his games any longer.
“I’ll show him. I’ll ruin his Christmas. Let him ruin himself. I hope the truth does comes out. I hope it brings scandal down on him. I’ll be the first to delight in it,”she said to herself, marching around the outside of the house to the door leading onto the library corridor.
It was still locked, but she banged hard on it loud enough to bring footsteps hurrying along the corridor. The bolt was drawn back, and the door was opened by the butler, who stared at Amelia in astonishment.
“Branston, isn’t it? Go and fetch my maid from the servant’s hall. Tell her to come upstairs at once to my bedroom,” Amelia said, pushing past him into the corridor.
“At once… my Lady,” the astonished butler replied, and Amelia now hurried upstairs, hoping she would not meet any of the guests coming down for breakfast.
But the hour was still early, and Christmas Day was to be a day of leisure. They were snowed in, and it had already been decided not to attempt the moorland traverse to the nearest church, some three miles away. Amelia met no one on the stairs or on the landing, and arriving at her bedroom door, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“My Lady?” a voice behind her said, and turning, she found Elsie staring at her in astonishment.
Amelia blushed. She could only imagine what she looked like after a night spent in the stables, another dress ruined thanks to Constance.
“Elsie, I… oh…” Amelia said, gasping, as she burst into tears.
It was all too much, and now she sobbed in Elsie’s arms, the maid leading her hurriedly into her bedroom and closing the door behind them.
“What happened, my Lady?” she exclaimed, and through her sobs and tears, Amelia recounted the sorry tale of the previous night. The torn dress, Constance’s challenge, the terrible scene she witnessed through the library window, and the long hours she had endured in the stables.
Elsie shook her head in astonishment.
“It’s wicked, my Lady. Absolutely wicked. How could he do such a thing? How could he make you believe he was in love with you and all the while be carrying on with her? None of the other servants like her. Even her maid says she’s a cruel and heartless woman. I don’t know what he sees in her,” Elsie said, shaking her head.
Amelia had not told the maid the full extent of her seduction at the hands of Nicholas. But if word got out, she would be ruined. She had given herself to him trusting his feelings towards her were authentic. But all of it had been for his own pleasure, even sanctioned by Constance herself.
It made her shudder, the fear of the reprisals far worse than that of any ghost story told by Lord Thornton. This Christmas Day, Amelia was far from being filled with festive joy. She felt sadder than she had ever felt before, even after Rupert’s death. In losing him, she had been surrounded by sympathy and an outpouring of love, but in this, she was alone, trapped by a scandal of her own making.
“I’ll have to go down, Elsie. They’ll be expecting me. But I don’t want to stay here any longer. I want to go back to London. Today,” Amelia said, for she could not bear the thought of remaining at Ashworth House a moment longer.
“But they say the roads are impassable, my Lady. No one’s going anywhere,” Elsie replied.
Amelia sighed. She knew she would have to face Nicholas eventually, and so, for now, it seemed she had to pretend all was well. Unless Constance had told him differently, he would still believe he had power over her, a power she had every intention of using to her own advantage.
She did not care if his secret was exposed, if his reputation was ruined, and if he and Constance lived a life ostracized from society. She would delight in it, even as it broke her heart to admit it.
“Then I’ll put on Rupert’s locket and make the best of what I’ve got left, which are my memories,” Amelia replied, taking a deep breath, and knowing she was doing the right thing in her defiance.
***
“She said what?” Harry exclaimed.
“She said she had proof of a damning secret she found in correspondence between my father and her father pertaining to my mother. And if I don’t announce our betrothal today, she’ll expose my secret and ruin me. She threatened to do it last night and rouse the house from slumber and reveal the secret if I didn’t kiss her,” Nicholas replied, shuddering at the thought of what he had been forced to do under duress.
Harry cursed under his breath.
“She’s a wicked, scheming woman. What does she expect to gain? A loveless marriage? A life of misery?” he said, and Nicholas sighed.
“An eminent title, a considerable allowance, and the prestige of being a leading member of the aristocracy. That’s what. She doesn’t care about being in love and be loved. She cares about money and power. And she’s about to force her way to both,” Nicholas replied.
