Page 5 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
“Oh!” Alison’s eyes widened and she pointed back into the markets. “A goose has gotten loose!”
What? Even I am not sure what that is supposed to mean.
Not that it mattered. The obstinate man frowned and turned around to see what she was pointing out and then, without so much as a moment of hesitation, Alison snatched the music box and threw down the two pounds for purchase.
“Thank you!” she cried at the old lady, tucking the box under her arm and ducking away, head down, darting into the crowd and scampering for all she was worth as she prayed the man would not follow her.
It wasn’t until she was on the other side of the markets that she dared to slow down. She did so by ducking behind a large tree, back pressed against the cold timber, breathing heavy and body running so warm that she could not feel the cold.
What was that? I had no choice! And I paid for it! Really, it was his fault! Yes… he is to blame, not me.
She repeated this mantra as she peeked around the tree and through the crowds, all but certain she would spy the man lumbering down the street and coming after her. Thank God he was nowhere to be seen, but that did not stop her from hiding for another five minutes. Just in case.
Alison loved the Christmastide Season, and she loved giving gifts and seeing those she cared for happy. But this little incident was enough to make her question just how far she was willing to go for such things, and if her family would do the same for her.
That, she knew, was highly unlikely.
It was thirty minutes later that Alison was sitting in the carriage with her family, staring out the window as their estate appeared in the distance. She had the music box and the other gifts hidden away in a chest with the wares purchased by Mr. Burrows, and she was beyond satisfied with herself for a job well done.
They are sure to be thrilled when they see what I bought them.Oh, I cannot wait to see their faces!
The only mark against this feeling of relief was what she had gone through today… the incident with the music box which she could still not scrub from her mind. She had done nothing wrong, she knew it, but that didn’t make her feel any better.
“Get off me!” Felix cried as Winnie climbed about the carriage. “Winnie!”
“Perhaps you can walk the rest of the way,” Nerissa said dryly. “Good one, Winnie. Do not stop.”
“Please…” Their mother groaned, massaging her head. “I have a most terrible headache.”
Alison sat by the window, watching the estate and trying her best to ignore her family. The grounds were covered in snow, and with the clouds finally parting it glowed white and shone in a way that made Alison’s heart swell. Oh, how she loved this time of year.
It was then that she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye…
She frowned to herself as she peered further out the window, turning her head back and looking down the road from the direction they had just come. What she saw behind themstunned her so greatly that she stared at the spectacle and experienced both shock and fear.
Oh no…
It was a single rider on a horse, and the second that Alison saw him she recognized who it was. Her stomach dropped, her mouth turned dry, and she wondered what her mother would say if she started to scream for the carriage to move faster.
It was the man from the markets! The same who she had stolen the music box from – no! She did not steal it. She bought it and it was hers by right.
But then what was he doing here? She watched him through the window, her heart thumping faster as he pushed his horse quickly along the road. It looked as if he was chasing them down. Which he must have been doing.
Who is he? And why is he so darn determined to buy that music box?
Alison watched as the horse trotted up to the side of the carriage. She found the man’s eyes, he saw her through the window, and a knowing smile reached his face because he seemed to take delight in her terror. Alison wanted to look away, but she could not. Instead, she fixed on the man as if to look away would see the end of her.
It was just he and her. Eyes locked. The world faded away as he continued to watch her knowingly, his smile growing, a sense of triumph exploding from him as if this was his plan all along.
And then, just as he reached the carriage… he pushed the horse onwards, tore his eyes away, and overtook them before continuing on his way.
Alison breathed a sigh of relief. But she continued to watch him as they reached the front of their estate, seeing now that he turned his horse down the road to approach the neighboring estate. And that was when she realized who he was.
He was her neighbor. He lived less than half a mile away. And somehow, Alison just knew that the incident with the music box would not be the last time that she heard from him. This notion terrified her… but it also excited her, even if she could not and would not admit to why such a thing might be.
Chapter Two
Alison woke the following morning to a sound that startled her. She couldn’t quite fathom what it was or where it came from.
