Page 21 of An Earl's Christmas Seduction
“Oh, daenae dampen the spirits,” the viscount said, shaking his head.
Constance fixed him with a disdainful look, waving her hand dismissively.
“It’snonsense counting sparks, telling fortunes, and foolish rhymes. I’ve heard quite enough,” she said, marching over to Nicholas’ side and taking his arm.
Amelia felt terribly sorry for him. The earl looked embarrassed. She was humiliating him in front of his guests, challenging him to agree with her, even as Amelia knew he did not.
“It’s just a bit of fun,” Hugh said, and the others nodded.
“Superstitious nonsense. You’ll be telling ghost stories next. Can’t we eat?” she asked, turning to Nicholas, who nodded.
“Yes…” he stammered, and it seemed Constance would get her way.
The butler was summoned, and instructions were given for the hot food to be brought to the dining room and laid out on the sideboards. Constance was complaining at the lack of formality, but it seemed the rest of the party was only too pleased to help themselves from a selection of dishes, including pheasant and grouse, smoked fish, raised game pies, and a magnificent side of beef, sliced from the bone.
“Delicious!” Lord Thornton said, and the company tucked in heartily to the feast.
As they ate, Amelia sat at a low table with Clara and Isobel. Amelia noticed her mother once again in conversation with Lady Turner and the Thorntons. It struck her as odd. She knew it was none of her business who her mother spoke to. But when the time came for the puddings to be served, Amelia excused herself from the company of Clara and Isobel. She approached her mother with what she hoped was a casual air.
“I was worried you’d catch your death of cold out there. I don’t know what the earl was thinking, dragging you all out into the snow like that,” the baroness said, shaking her head.
“We were quite all right, Mother. I was well wrapped up. It was fun. I see you’ve made some new acquaintances,” Amelia replied.
Her mother looked at her in surprise.
“New? Oh. New, yes.” she said, though she offered no further word of explanation.
“I’m glad. I was worried you’d be bored, or feel out of place,” Amelia said.
“I can find things in common with others easily enough, Amelia. We all know the same people, after all, don’t we?” she said.
Amelia nodded. Perhaps she was reading too much into her mother’s whispered conversations. It was perfectly possible for affinities to be discovered and friendships formed, whether one was old or young. It had not taken Amelia long to feel at ease, and already she counted Clara and Isobel as dear friends, not to mention the earl himself, who had already proved himself to be a friend.
“Yes. I’m sorry, mother,” she said, and her mother smiled.
“I’m glad to see you enjoying yourself, Amelia. Your father and I have been so worried about you. Why don’t you take the locket off tomorrow? Leave Rupert’s memory where it belongs,” she said.
Amelia’s heart skipped a beat, her hand going instinctively to the locket around her neck. To take it off and deliberately discard it filled her with dread. It would be a betrayal, and she was already feeling guilty for her unexpected feelings towards Nicholas.
As long as she kept the locket on, she would be reminded of her loyalties, even as she knew her mother would never agree to her owing them. In her mother’s eyes, Rupert was gone, and Amelia owed him nothing.
“I… I’m not ready to do that, Mother. Not yet,” Amelia said, and her mother sighed.
“You’ve got to leave the past behind you, Amelia. You can’t live there forever. That’s what coming here was supposed to change. I wish you’d let it,” the baroness said, glancing over to where Nicholas was being accosted by Constance.
Amelia looked over, too, wondering if her mother had the same thoughts as she did about the earl.
“I like him,” Amelia said, and her mother smiled.
“He’d make a good match for you, Amelia. A very good match. But there’s the question of his legitimacy. You know the rumors by now. Is he really the Earl of Amhurst? I suppose he is, if his father’s his father. But there’s a scandal in it. Be wary, Amelia,” she said, patting Amelia on the arm, before turning to help herself to a large portion of Charlotte Russe from the sideboard.
Amelia sighed, glancing in the direction of Nicholas and Constance. Life was never simple, and even something as natural as making a match was fraught with difficulties. She was berating him over something, but Amelia could not hear what she was saying to him. He looked uncomfortable, like a rabbit caught in the lamp of a poacher.
Amelia wondered if she might help him, even though she knew she would only incur the wrath of Constance if she tried to do so. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. It seemed Miss Kent was intent on doing all she could to win the prize or force it for herself.
“Lady Amelia, I haven’t had much of a chance to speak to you yet,” a voice to her side said. Amelia turned to find Harry, the earl’s friend, standing next to her.
He was a handsome man with boyish looks and tousled blonde hair. He was holding a glass of mulled wine out to her, his own half finished, and she took it, smiling at him and thanking him.
