Christmas Brides (Three Regency Novellas) (15 page)

Had he told his mother he intended to marry Elizabeth?

The dinner she had just consumed squirmed in Cathy's now-upset stomach as she, too, watched her lovely sister standing beside David as he played the pianoforte. What a beautiful couple they made, Elizabeth all delicate fairness and David so large and dark and powerful. She thought of tales of yore with knights rescuing fair maidens. What a perfect fair maiden Elizabeth would have made. And no man could improve upon David as a knight who gallantly rescued maidens in distress.

Even if Cathy was at this moment jealous of her sister, she had to admit she was possessed of a nightingale's lovely voice. Everyone in the chamber was mesmerized by the incredible beauty they saw and heard.

Most especially Lord Neely.

With her flirty ways at dinner, Elizabeth had won the viscount's admiration, now she appeared to have made a complete conquest of the titled visitor.

Would David also worship at Elizabeth's shrine? Cathy pulled her gaze away from the beautiful singer and watched him. It was difficult to tell how he felt about Elizabeth because his reading of the music required his full attention.

Cathy was compelled to stare at her sister. Elizabeth shone like diamond. She would peer into his lordship's eyes when words of love fell from her lips, then she would completely ignore him in order to flutter her lashes at David while smiling down at him.

Which of the two men did her sister favor?

It was impossible to tell. One moment every person in the chamber would swear she had fallen for Lord Neely; the next, one would be convinced marriage to David was imminent.

Elizabeth was also a consummate actress. Cathy folded her arms across her chest and glared.

Mrs. St. Vincent would know if David hoped to marry Elizabeth. Her heart thudding, her insides trembling with dread, Cathy's gaze shifted to David's mother. And her heart sank. Mrs. St. Vincent smiled happily on her son and Elizabeth.

Until now, it had never occurred to Cathy that her sister could be in love with David. How could she have been so completely stupid?

Cathy studied her sister, trying to determine if Elizabeth had, indeed, fallen in love with David. The very thought caused the contents of her stomach to flip. Yet she was powerless to look away from the beautiful couple. When Elizabeth's sparkling sapphire eyes caressed David, Cathy thought she would burst into tears.

Both of us are in love with the same man.

Cathy knew the secret of her own heart must lie buried.

When the song was finished, Elizabeth and David drew great applause.

“Now you, my dear,” Mrs. St. Vincent said to Cathy, “you must honor us with a song.”

Cathy prayed her voice would not quiver when she spoke, prayed she would not burst into tears. “Perhaps next time. We really must go before the snow begins to fall any heavier. And, I must confess, I'm not feeling quite the thing.”

David's brows lowered, and he moved to her. “Allow me to fetch your cloak.”

After he procured her cloak and they faced each other in the entry hall, he said, “You can't go to the Williamson cottage in the morning if you're ill.”

She was thankful he was giving her the perfect excuse to cancel the morning's outing. Knowing that Elizabeth might be in love with him—and he might return that love—Cathy would never be comfortable planning anything with him that would exclude her sister. Her heart aching, she looked up into his earnest face. “I don't suppose I can go.” She offered him a wan smile. “You, my dear captain, will now be free to enjoy your visitor tomorrow.”

He shrugged. “I shall be uneasy about you.”

Before she could respond, Elizabeth came up to them. “I declare, pet, you are never ill. I shall be quite worried about you.”

“A day's rest and I daresay I'll be back to my meddling self.”

Elizabeth looked up at David. “I just cannot credit it. I am the one with the delicate constitution. I shall be vexed to no end with worry for my little sister.”

Elizabeth began to assist David with helping Cathy don her pelisse and heavy woolen cloak, then met David's gaze. “I have neglected to tell you, Captain, how appreciative I am of your accompaniment.”

His black eyes shimmered as he gazed affectionately at her. “It is I who should be thanking you—as should everyone in that chamber—for singing so beautifully for all of us.”

“Indeed,” Lord Neely added as he strolled up to Elizabeth as the servant was bringing her cloak. The viscount took it and draped it over Elizabeth's milky bare shoulders. “You sing like an angel.”

She thanked him, curtseying. “Will we see you at the Christmas Eve Assembly?”

“I daresay I shall see you before that. Will you do me the goodness of allowing me to call on you?”

Her gaze skipped from him, to David, then back to him. “I adore having callers.”

During the jostling carriage ride home, Cathy felt even sicker. She refrained from engaging her sister in conversation but listened to her prattle on about how delightful was Lord Neely, how handsome was David.

Prattling along as rapidly as Elizabeth, Aunt Kate was over the moon, singing the praises of the young,
bachelor
viscount.

Nothing in Elizabeth's responses, though, provided any enlightenment about her preference between the two men.

If Elizabeth should be in love with David, Cathy knew she would have to step aside and bless the union. She loved both of them most dearly.

Why had it never occurred to her that Elizabeth, too, could be in love with the irresistibly handsome Captain David St. Vincent? She supposed Aunt Kate had done a thorough job all these years of convincing her that Elizabeth would wed a title.

But surely no one could prefer the dandyish Lord Neely over the supremely masculine Captain David St. Vincent.

When they reached Stoneyway, Cathy went straight to the bedchamber she shared with her sister—and Fluffs, who always slept with Cathy. Elizabeth made a great fuss over her. She personally stoked the fire, and she took one of the blankets off her bed to spread over Cathy, who was now shivering. “Oh, my dearest,” she murmured sweetly, “I shall be prostrate if my little lamb of a sister is not completely well come morning.”

It was at times like this Cathy recalled her childhood, when Elizabeth had always been her staunchest champion. In recent years, their rolls had rather reversed, owing to Elizabeth's dependent personality—and Cathy's greater maturity.

When Elizabeth's tenderness shone through as it did tonight, Cathy knew she would do anything in her power to see to it her sister married the man of her dreams.

Even if that man were David.

* * *

Faint sunlight filtered into her bedchamber the following morning. Even though the fire had died, she was warm beneath a mountain of blankets. And she felt good.

Until she clearly recalled that her sister might also be in love with the man she loved. Then, with a woefully sinking feeling returning to the pit of her stomach, she recalled, too, that David's mother must be privy to the information that her son wished to settle down with the beautiful Balfour sister.

Cathy could not allow herself to continue lying in bed, dwelling on her melancholy thoughts. Especially not when Mrs. Williamson might need her. She left her bed and quickly threw the woolen cloak about her to protect her from the room's chill as she hurried to the window and fully opened the curtains. A smile crossed her face. The sporadic snow had stopped, and the sun was straining to gain strength in the eastern sky. She would go to Mrs. Williamson's.

How low it made her to think that she could have ridden to Mrs. Williamson's in a warm carriage with the dashing captain. Except she could not. Not if Elizabeth loved him. Not if he were in love with Elizabeth.

As she stood there on the cold stone floors peering out the frosty window, Elizabeth brought her a cup of hot tea. “I heard you stirring, love. How are you feeling this morning?”

Cathy turned to gaze at the sister who had spoken so tenderly to her. Elizabeth was fully dressed—to Cathy's surprise in a warm, woolen frock of deep green. “I am back to normal. Thank you for the tea.”

“Why do you not climb back into bed? You must be freezing in your bare feet.”

Cathy shook her head. “I hope to be on the road by the time the sun is fully up.”

“You cannot be serious! You're planning to walk all that way to the Williamson cottage?”

“I am.”

“My dear sister, are you aware that it is winter? And this happens to be one of the coldest days of the year?”

Cathy giggled. “I am aware.”

“I don't think Papa will approve.”

“Papa will approve. It's exactly the kind of thing Mama would have done, and you know Papa thinks Mama was completely without fault.”

Elizabeth frowned. “I haven't worried so about you since you were a girl.”

“Because I've developed into a competent, pragmatic woman who does not do foolish things.”
Except for falling in love with a man who was probably in love with her sister.

“In most respects, that is true. But I cannot say my competent sister never does foolish things when she insists upon sacrificing her own good health in service to others.”

Cathy was unbelievably moved by her sister's concern. “Don't worry so. I'm leaving early in the day so I can return well before the late afternoon chill bears down on us.”

“It's a pity we have no carriage.”

“Not having ever had one, it's not something I miss.” She found herself wondering if David's newly found fortune would extend to the purchase of a carriage. What was it to her? He was sure to declare himself to the loveliest girl in all the shire.

* * *

David did not like it at all. Lord Neely was besotted over the woman David had loved most of his life. Because he had neither declared himself nor had any understanding with the young lady, David could hardly have objected when his lordship insisted on paying a call at Stoneyway.

His brother and sister-in-law had begged off that afternoon. He appreciated that they did so to allow room in the sleigh for the bachelors to take the Balfour sisters on a sleigh ride.

During many a broiling day in the West Indies, he had imagined himself galloping through the snow with the beautiful Miss Balfour beside him.

The notion of bundling beneath a rug with Miss Elizabeth Balfour as they sped across the snow held great appeal, but he would rather not go at all than to see her seated beside the viscount.

It was a pity that being in love could make a perfectly rational man take a dislike to another man he had previously found to be amiable.

Save for his new-found obsession over Elizabeth Balfour, Lord Neely was a man David admired. He neither flaunted his aristocratic lineage nor boasted on his vast land holdings. He was kindly, generous, and intelligent. He was dashed good at whist—and an even better a shot than David, who was acknowledged to be uncommonly skilled with a musket.

As they raced across the icy fields, Lord Neely at the ribbons, David had to begrudgingly credit the viscount with being a notable whip.

Were it not for Elizabeth Balfour—who had admitted she wished to marry a titled gentleman—David would have been proud to count the viscount as his friend.

“It's a pity for Miss Balfour she's hidden away in Cumbria,” Lord Neely said. “Were she to have a Season in Town, I daresay she would outshine every lady in London.”

“You refer, then, to Miss Elizabeth Balfour?” David knew very well the viscount was speaking of the prettier sister. His arms folded stiffly across his chest, his mouth clamped into a firm line, David stared ahead at the powdery white snow that carpeted this countryside he loved so thoroughly.

“Yes, of course. I say, St. Vincent, is there an understanding between you and Miss Catherine Balfour?”

Cathy?
“Of course not! Why would you think such a thing?”

The viscount shrugged. “It just seemed to me the girl was excessively fond of you, and I thought you might feel the same.”

“She's little more than a child! Of course I hold her in great affection since I've known her since she was born, but it's an altogether different affection than. . . “ He almost said
than I
feel for Elizabeth
. “Than I would feel for one with whom I had an understanding.”

He wanted to warn Lord Neely away from Elizabeth. All he had to say was that he planned to ask for her hand, and as a gentleman, Lord Neely would back away. But David was incapable of sharing something so intimate with another man.

He had no assurances Elizabeth would even accept his suit. And what if she had fallen for the viscount? As difficult as it would be, he wanted her to have a clear choice between the two men. And he wanted her to be happy.

If he was going to spend the rest of his life with one woman, it must be with a woman who wanted to spend the rest of her life with him—and no other.

Once they arrived at Stoneyway, Elizabeth and her aunt joined them in the drawing room. It was the first time she had not worn a dress that displayed her creamy shoulders and the sweet way her breasts separated just above the bodice. It was actually the first time he had seen her dress sensibly. Like Cathy.

It struck him that the sister who was three years younger was by far the more mature. “Where is Miss Catherine?” he asked.

Elizabeth elegantly lowered herself onto the sofa, rolling her eyes. “My sister insisted on visiting that poor Williamson widow.”

It was far too cold for a lone girl to go off on foot like that! “Then I trust she has recovered fully from last night's indisposition?”

“Apparently so.” Elizabeth turned to address Lord Neely. “How did you find today's weather, my lord?”

“It's cold, but if one is properly covered, it's pleasant enough. We came in the sleigh.”

Her eyes shimmered. “That sounds delightful.”

David tried to determine if she was attracted to the viscount. The way she smiled at him was full of affection, but it was the same when she smiled at David.

“Perhaps when your sister returns we could take a sleigh ride,” Lord Neely said.