Page 22 of The Earl's Christmas Deal
Yet flicker out at break of day.
What am I?”
“A candle!”
Adam stared at Emilia in amazement, and she grinned at him. The expression utterly transformed her face, and he foundhimself captivated by it. He laughed as there were prolonged groans from everyone else in the room.
“You must give people a chance tothink, my love,” her mother admonished her.
“My apologies, Mama, but I will not delay my guessing for another to snatch the win.”
Lady Sternwood rolled her eyesbut said nothing more, and Adam had to hide his own smile.
Emilia placed her hands in her lap and watched the game continue, feeling a little on edge. She wasn’t sure if she should hold back and allow others to guess more quickly, but she wanted to impress Lord Bellebrook. The feeling was so strong it had startled her but she had not considered what he might think of her competitive side. She hoped he would be thankful for it, given that he was part of her pair.
As the other riddles were read, each one became progressively more difficult. Lord Bellebrook’s head was repeatedly bowed toward her as they considered their answers, their voices whispering intimately together.
Yet even with the innocent nature of the game, Emilia was acutely aware of how precarious her situation was. She could not afford to outwardly give the wrong impression or hint at her interest in the earl.
She ensured that there was always a reasonable distance between them, constantly flicking glances across the room, aware of the duke’s presence and the continual scrutiny of society.
She had believed the feelings stirring within her long buried. Resigned as she was to a life of spinsterhood, she had not expected to meet anyone at the party that was to her liking. The only thing of which she was certain, however, was that the duke wasnot.
Lord Bellebrook had an interesting face. Where his cousin was dark in his features and looked many years younger than Lord Bellebrook, the earl was rugged and devilishly handsome. She rather felt he wore it with unknown grace and seemed oblivious to his own charms.
She glanced at him furtively throughout the evening, and the more she observed him, the more she liked what she saw.
The next riddle had the theme of cold, and he turned to her with his head cocked to one side.
“My first is a posture, unmoving and still,” Adam whispered. His head was lowered to hers again and she felt the heat of his body as she leaned toward him.
“A statue, perhaps?” she asked.
“Indeed, that was my feeling, and then ‘my second you might see on stage in a play’.’”
There was a short pause as they deliberated and then they both looked up in enthusiastic surprise, and Emilia saw him grin for the first time. It caught her breath, and for a moment, she could not speak.
“Unmoving and still—perhaps to stall!”
“And then the second verse was ‘caverns of ice’.”
“Stalactite!” they both said it at once, far louder than they had intended, in mutual excitement. As Lady Sternwood bowed her head to let them know their answer was correct, Emilia was thrilled to find that they had won the game.
Frederick watched Adam and Emilia together and clapped along with the rest of the room as their answer was announced as the right one. He could feel sweat on his forehead at the sight of the two of them.Thick as thieves already.
He swallowed around the lump that threatened to rise in his throat. It was ridiculous that his miserable hermit of a cousin had found an attachment within hours of attending the only social function he had been to in years.
Frederick leaned across to converse with Lady Pinkerton beside him, keeping up appearances and speaking of howvery goodLord Bellebrook and Lady Emilia were as a pair.
He would not be able to allow this to continue. His thoughts at the ball had been preliminary at best, but now he realised that their connection was a true possibility. Anyone with half a wit could see how much they enjoyed each other’s company. They were minutes from finishing each other’s sentences—it was utterly intolerable.
Frederick kept his smile in place, even yelling out ‘bravo’ to the companyto ensure he looked as enthusiastic as possible. He would find a way to drive a wedge between them—he had to. There was no alternative. He could not afford to lose the fortune he deserved, and by God, Emilia Sterling was not going to take it from him.
***
Emilia’s eyes skittered around the room uncertainly as the applause rang out all around them. There were many polite smiles in the throng, but when her gaze alighted on Penelope Easton, all her happiness drained away. Penelope’s look was just like the one she had seen from Henrietta all those years ago.
She moved away from Lord Bellebrook, suddenly painfully aware of how close they had become. It was like she was living the nightmare of the scandal for a second time—she could already imagine the gossip spreading.“She could not get her hooks into a married man, so she has set her sights on a wealthy widower”.
