Page 31 of An Earl's Christmas Seduction
“I don’t understand it at all, no. It’s a mystery to me,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.
Amelia was disappointed. She thought he might have known the answer, and that some memory from his past would be connected to the secret of the child and all would be revealed. But it seemed the earl was just as confused as she was as to what she had overheard her mother and the others talking about.
“Oh, well, what are we to do about it?” Amelia replied.
The earl smiled.
“Why don’t you ask your mother?” he said.
Amelia was somewhat taken aback. She could hardly admit to her mother she had been eavesdropping on her and the others in the forest. Even though her mother’s strange behavior had given her every right to be suspicious, she would not admit to that. She thought back to the arrival of the earl’s invitation, and how her mother had been reluctant to accept it.
But now, finding herself in the midst of the house party, it had not taken her long to establish a connection between herself and two of the principal players in the mystery. Had it been expected?
“I can’t do that, can I?” Amelia replied, and Nicholas shrugged.
“Why not? There’s no harm in it. Ask her to tell you outright what she was talking about. You don’t need to mention me. You could say you overheard something strange this morning on your walk, and were curious to know more about it,” he said.
But it was madness to suggest such a thing, and Amelia knew her mother well enough to know what she would say if such a question was asked. She would tell Amelia it was rude to listen at keyholes and to repeat overheard conversations. There would be an argument, and the two of them would end up not speaking. It had been that way before, and Amelia did not wish for a repeat.
“I can’t. You don’t know my mother. She’s difficult,” she said, and the earl smiled.
“Perhaps I know her better than you think,” he said, and Amelia’s eyes grew wide at the suggestion.
“But you don’t think…no, she couldn’t have. I’d know if you were…” she stammered, and Nicholas laughed.
“I don’t think you’re my sister, don’t worry. We couldn’t have kissed if you were. Something would’ve stopped us. I couldn’t have found you attractive if the same blood flowed in our veins. Whether we knew of it or not,” he replied.
Amelia blushed. She hoped his reasoning was correct, but her instinct told her it was. Her mother had always appeared to her as being thoroughly dull. That was not to say she did not have fun, but as for harboring scandal, her mother had always appeared as a model of virtue, and the thought of her existing in a double life of illegitimate children and aristocratic affairs was simply unbelievable.
“No. I don’t think we could, could we?” Amelia asked, and the earl shook his head.
“No, I don’t think we could. But it certainly deepens the mystery,” he replied.
Amelia had been so caught up in her embarrassment, she had only just realized what else the earl had said. He had called her attractive and caused her to blush.
“Attractive?” she said, repeating his words, and he smiled.
“Isn’t it allowed?” he asked, taking a sip of brandy.
He had come to sit on the arm of the chair she was occupying. The same position as the previous evening, his arm across the back of the chair. She smiled at him, still blushing, even as she had no reason to do so. He was paying her a compliment. She was unattached. There was nothing to hold her back. She was flattered by his words, and there was no doubting she felt the same for him as he felt for her.
“Yes. It’s just… it’s all so sudden,” she said, and the earl laughed.
“But anything of this nature has to start somewhere,” he replied, drawing a little closer to her.
Her heart skipped a beat, and she looked up at him, their eyes meeting in a gaze they held. The earl’s eyes filled with suggestion as to what might be. Without the locket, Amelia could feel no inhibition, and she dismissed her immediate thought of Rupert, reminding herself it was her own feelings, and no one else’s, that mattered.
She was not betraying a lover or a betrothed. She was free to do as she pleased, and now Nicholas brushed back the hair from her cheek, his lingering touch sending a shiver running through her.
“You’re right,” she said, her heart still beating fast, for she was not used to the touch of a man.
She and Rupert had kissed. There had been passion, of sorts. But Amelia had never been so caught up in the possibility of passion as she was now. She desired his lips against hers, his hands grasping at her, pulling her into his embrace.
She knew the dangers. A mere door separated them from the rest of the house, and at any moment, a servant, or one of the house guests, could interrupt them. But somehow, the thought of being caught made the whole thing more exciting, and as he continued to play with her hair, Amelia moved closer towards him, placing her hand on his leg, and smiling at him.
“Don’t worry about the others,” he said, glancing at the door, as though realizing her fears.
“I’m not,” she said, for though she could only imagine the trouble she would be in if they were caught, her passions were taking over.
