Deck The Halls With Love: Lost Lords Of Pembrook Novella

Deck The Halls With Love: Lost Lords Of Pembrook Novella Read Free Page B

Book: Deck The Halls With Love: Lost Lords Of Pembrook Novella Read Free
Author: Lorraine Heath
Tags: Romance, England, Historical Romance, Love Story, Regency Romance
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luck with your endeavors here.”
    As she wandered away, Chetwyn decided that his best course for the moment was to enjoy another glass of Scotch. He was heading toward the doorway when Wexford stepped into his path, his nose red, his cheeks flushed, his eyes radiating panic.
    “Who the devil was she?” he asked. “I never saw anyone. She’s no doubt wandered off and is in danger of freezing to death by now. We must cease the music, form search parties, call out the hounds.”
    “Steady, old chap,” Chetwyn commanded, placing his hands on Wexford’s shoulders, attempting to calm him before damage was done. “There was no woman.”
    Wexford blinked and stared at him as though he’d spoken in Mandarin. “Whatever do you mean?”
    Obviously the man’s ability to reason had frozen while he was outside. “I wrote the note. The entire thing was a ruse as I wished to dance that particular dance with Lady Meredith.”
    “You sent me out in the cold? For a dance? Why didn’t you just ask, man?”
    “Would you have stepped aside?”
    “That is beside the point.” Wexford held up a finger. “I shan’t soon forget this, Chetwyn.” With that ominous warning, he stormed off.
    Considering Wexford had once shot a rhinoceros, Chetwyn considered himself fortunate that the veiled threat was quite mild. Then he saw a young lady grinning in the doorway. “I don’t suppose it would be my good fortune to discover you’re deaf.”
    With a giggle, she shook her head and disappeared into the hallway. Lovely. More fodder for the gossip mill.
    “H e sent Lord Wexford out into the storm so he could dance with you,” Lady Sophia said.
    Meredith had come to the retiring room to regain her calm because it was too early to retire to her chambers. She found herself surrounded by Ladies Sophia, Beatrix, and Violet.
    “Terribly romantic,” Lady Violet said.
    “Terribly selfish,” Lady Beatrix insisted. “Wexford could have died.”
    Meredith wondered if she was hoping for more than a dance from the fellow. She wondered if she should tell Lady Beatrix that she shouldn’t strive so hard to impress men with her litany of accomplishments, then wondered if things might have been different if she, herself, had tried harder with Chetwyn—if she had thrown a fit in the garden instead of giving the impression that she could hardly be bothered by his change of heart. Was she as much to blame for their diverging paths as he?
    “Perhaps we shall have a duel at dawn,” Lady Sophia said, her voice rife with excitement.
    “Between Chetwyn and Wexford?” Meredith asked.
    “I was thinking more along the lines of Chetwyn and Litton. I daresay it is one thing to dance with a lady, an entirely different matter to go to such great lengths to do so.”
    “My dance card was filled. He wanted a dance. Make no more of it than that.” Even now she should be in the ballroom fulfilling her obligations. Perhaps she would claim a headache.
    “It’s no secret his family coffers suffer for want of coin. His father made some ghastly investments, from what I hear. He needs an heiress with a substantial dowry. He lost Lady Anne—”
    “You say that as though he misplaced her,” Meredith interrupted, impatient with the conversation. Standing quickly, she shook out her skirts. She wanted to be more than her dowry to some man. Was she to Litton? She was no longer as sure. “I’m returning to the ballroom.”
    It was nearing midnight, the last dance would be soon, and she was anxious to see Litton, to have him wash away any lingering evidence that Chetwyn had danced with her. But she waited for him in vain, stood among the older matrons whose hips no longer allowed them the luxury of dance. Her only consolation was that Chetwyn wasn’t about to witness her disappointment. She wondered if he’d taken his leave. She could only hope.

 

C HAPTER T HREE
----
    T he residence had grown quiet, the only sound the wind howling beyond the windows. Sitting alone

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