Once Upon a Christmas Kiss (6 page)

She winced. “Before I tell you that, there is something else I must reveal to you. Something that happened just last evening.” She told him about the message on her dressing table.

Lucien swore. “Who would do such a thing? And right under my cousin’s roof?”

“It might have been anyone, really,” she said gravely, crossing her arms over her chest, and hugging herself as if trying to keep warm. “One of the ladies, thinking to frighten us away because they resent our presence here, or Leaming, or someone else that I haven’t even considered.”

“What has your sister to say about all this?” he asked, fighting the urge to grip her by the shoulders and pull her into the circle of his body. “Does she have any suggestions?”

Winnie looked pained. “I haven’t told her about the threat,” she said. “She is already upset over Mrs. Green’s demands regarding Mr. Beesley—who is hopelessly in love with Cordy, as is Cordy with him, but she will not accept his proposal for fear that Mrs. Green will ruin his reputation.”

“But it frightens you,” he said, watching her. At her slight nod, he fought the urge to punch a wall.

Taking a deep breath, he thought it over. Once he’d regained his composure, he shook his head. “Good god. No wonder you need help. Between you and your sister, you’ve a plethora of troubles.”

She smiled wryly. “Indeed. We are a great deal of trouble, the Nightingale sisters. Which is why I came to you. I have a request. Which will be a great imposition upon your good will, but will, I think inoculate me against some of the threats against me.”

Her gaze dropped, and Lucien was surprised to see her twisting her hands before her. “I was wondering,” she went on, “if you would be willing to enter into a temporary betrothal with me.”

When he didn’t speak, she continued, “It would only be for the duration of the house party. And I would not hold you to it once we left here, of course. But I simply thought knowing I’m under your protection, so to speak, would warn both Leaming and whoever left the message on my dressing table that I’m to be left alone.”

Lucien wasn’t sure what he’d expected when she said she’d like to ask a favor, but he was quite sure it hadn’t been this. It made a great deal of sense, however, and he was rather pleased that she felt sure enough of his friendship to ask it of him. He’d been rather hoping to move their relationship forward over the course of the house party, but he hadn’t wanted to rush her. Perhaps, however, there was a way to turn this pretend betrothal into a real one.

“You are offended,” Winnie said, her expression pained. “Pray forget I said anything. I thank you for hearing me out.” Before he could react, she rose and would have been gone from the room if he hadn’t stopped her with a hand on the arm.

“Miss Winifred,” he said, “Winnie, do not assume that I am offended. I was simply too stunned to speak. But offense is the furthest thing from my mind, I assure you.”

She turned and scrutinized his face, as if looking for some sort of guile. “It is?” she asked in a shy tone.

He indicated that she should resume her seat, and once she’d done so, he crouched before her. “My dear, I would be delighted to embark upon a mock betrothal with you. Only I would like to place a condition upon it.”

Relief evident in her face, she nodded. “Anything, Sir Lucien. Whatever you wish I will do. You cannot know how grateful I am.”

“Do not assent too readily,” he said wryly. “For my condition is this: I would like your promise that you will consider making this betrothal between us a real one once the house party is ended.”

Her blue eyes widened. “You can’t be serious,” she said. “There is no possible need for such a thing, I assure you. I am quite able to take care of myself in the general course of things.”

“I am quite sure that you are,” Lucien said plainly, “but this has nothing to do with your ability to care for yourself. Or even with a desire on my part to rescue you.”

“What then?”

In for a penny, in for a pound.

“I find that over the past several months I’ve come to feel more than simple friendship for you, Winnie,” he said, not bothering to couch his declaration in anything but the truth. Rising, he thrust a hand into his hair. “I am not sure that it’s love,” he admitted, “but I am quite sure that I would like very much to have you as my wife.”

Turning to see her reaction, he was disappointed to find her shaking her head. “Oh, Sir Lucien,” she said sadly. “I would not saddle you with me as a wife for the wide world.”

“Don’t you think that is for me to decide?” he asked. “After all, I am a grown man and quite capable of making my own choices.”

“It’s not that, Sir Lucien,” she began.

“Do you not think that since I’ve just asked you to marry me that we might dispense with titles?”

Winnie sighed. “I suppose you are right—Lucien, then. I do not question your wishes, of course. But I’m not sure you realize just how difficult things would be for you if you were to marry me.”

“If you mean that some of society’s doors would close to me, or that I will face snobbery from my fellow peers,” he said firmly, “I have little use for such people anyway. And I know that those I count as true friends, like Ormond and Hurst, would welcome you on the basis of my having chosen you. The others, pardon my language, can go to hell.”

“It is so much more complicated than that,” Winnie argued. “Even if you were madly in love with me.”

“And who is to say I’m not?” he countered, stepping forward to pull her to her feet so that they could stand facing one another. “What I feel for you, Winnie, is much stronger than anything I’ve ever experienced before. And I flatter myself to think that you could feel the same way in time.”

“I cannot do that to you.” Winnie’s eyes were troubled. “It will never work. My parents had just such an unequal match, and my mother resented my father for the entirety of their marriage because of it. I cannot risk that you will loathe me someday.”

Taking her hand, he kissed her palm and closed her fingers over it, holding it to his heart. “Though I do not discount the unhappiness you witnessed between your parents, I cannot make decisions about my future—our future—based on the experience of one couple. Times have changed. And it’s hardly as if you are a parlor maid or a tavern wench. Your birth is as good as any lady here. But for the circumstance of your parents’ deaths you’d not be employed as a governess at all.”

“But they
did
die,” she insisted. “And I
am
a governess. Goodness, what would the Duke and Duchess of Ormond think? Likely that I’ve been trying to seduce you into marriage the whole time I’ve been in their employ!”

“No they would not,” he chided. “Of course they would not. Trevor and Isabella are quite sensible. They would be nothing but happy. Though I suppose unhappy that they’d need to find another governess.”

“I …—” she seemed at a loss for words “—I don’t know what to say.”

“You needn’t say anything just yet,” he said firmly. “For now, let us embark upon this pretend engagement you’ve requested. All I ask is that you give my proposal some thought over the next few days. And if by the end of the house party you find that you cannot stomach the idea of being married to me, then I will let you go.”

“But it’s so unfair,” Winnie said with regret. “You have been so kind to me, and I have responded to your single request of me with shock.”

“Let me worry about what is fair and what is not,” he said. “Though there is one way that you can make it up to me.”

Her eyes narrowed. As well they should, he thought. “You can let me kiss you.”

He was standing close enough that he could see her pupils dilate. Clearly she didn’t find the notion too off-putting.

At her nod, he leaned forward and gently took her mouth. Her untutored kiss was as intoxicating as the headiest wine. And when she opened her lips beneath his, it was all Lucien could do to stop himself from groaning aloud. Before he got carried away and took more than she was willing to give, he pulled away.

Leaning his forehead to touch hers, he said, “That, if nothing else, should tell you that there is the promise of passion between us. Which is something that few married couples can boast of.”

A little breathless, she smiled. “I never said that I had no feelings for you. Certainly physical attraction is one of them.”

Telling his insistent body to calm down, he stepped back, grateful that his coat hid his arousal from her knowing gaze. “On that note,” he said wryly, “I think we should go down to breakfast before I decide to lock the door and explore those ‘feelings’ of yours.”

Taking his arm, Winnie allowed him to lead her from the room. “I do appreciate your agreeing to my plan,” she said as he closed the door behind them. “More than I can possibly say.”

“So long as you agree to
my
plan,” he returned, “I am content.”

And as they made their way to the breakfast room, he couldn’t help feeling a surge of triumph. If nothing else, he’d convinced her to consider marriage to him. Which was more than he’d imagined possible at the start of the party.

Chapter Six

It was difficult to sit through breakfast with the memory of Lucien’s kiss fresh in her mind, but Winnie managed it. Fortunately, not long after she’d finished, Lord Hurst entered the breakfast room with an announcement.

“Since the sky is clear today,” he said to the room at large, “I thought it might be a good day for us to make our way to the frozen pond and skate.”

His words were met with a chorus of cheers, though there were also a few groans.

“I will remain here with a book,” Lord Fowlkes declared baldly. “For sliding about in circles for hours holds little enjoyment for me.”

“Suit yourself, Fowlkes,” shrugged Hurst. “It’s not mandatory, you know.”

“However,” he continued, “while I have your attention, there’s another declaration I’d like to make. And quite a happy one, as it happens.”

Looking across the table at Lucien, Winnie’s eyes widened in question. But Lucien shrugged a little as if to say he was as surprised as she was.

“My cousin, Sir Lucien Blakemore,” Hurst said grinning, “just informed me that Miss Winifred Nightingale has accepted his proposal of marriage.”

An eerie silence fell over the room. Then, almost as quickly, it erupted with chatter.

“What?” Mrs. Green almost shrieked. “Impossible!”

“Congratulations, old fellow,” Lord Stannis said to Lucien, clapping him heartily on the back.

“Winnie!” Cordelia cried, throwing her arms around her sister. Though she must know the engagement was fake, given their conversation last night, Winnie still felt a pang of remorse at her sister’s evident pleasure. For she wasn’t sure Cordelia was so great an actress as all that. “How wonderful!”

With a few exceptions, the reaction was positive. Lord Leaming, Winnie noted, seemed neither piqued nor pleased by the news, but continued to shovel eggs into his mouth. Considering he’d been part of the reason for the betrothal, it was anticlimactic to say the least.

“It was h-her s-singing that ch-ch-armed h-him, I’ll w-wager,” Miss Hawthorne said with a grin. “B-Best w-wishes to y-you b-both.”

“One might almost think she sang with that very goal in mind,” Mrs. Cowper purred poisonously. “Well done, my dear Miss Winifred.”

“I had decided upon my course long before last night’s magnificent performance,” Lucien said dryly. “Even if Miss Winifred had planned beforehand to induce the crowd to urge her to sing, I was already planning my proposal. Fortunately for me, she said yes so I might look forward to many years of such beautiful songs.”

“We shall celebrate tonight,” Lord Hurst said heartily. “But we should leave soon if we’re to get some skating in while the weather holds.”

Grateful to have the focus of attention off her, Winnie rose to find a sheepish Lucien at her side. “I had no notion he’d do the thing this morning,” he said ruefully. “I said sometime today, but apparently Hurst thought it best to have the thing out of the way.”

“Welcome to the family,” said Cordelia, who was more pleased than Winnie could ever have imagined. “I look forward to getting to know my future brother-in-law better,” she told Lucien brightly. Then, in an undertone, she added, “And I am grateful to you.”

If Lucien was surprised by Cordelia’s knowledge of the true nature of the betrothal, he didn’t say so. “And I you, Miss Nightingale. Indeed, I am quite happy to lend my assistance, should it be required—as a member of the family, of course.”

It was a veiled assurance, but no one seemed to notice. Much to Winnie’s relief.

“That was exciting,” Lucien said as he led Winnie upstairs so she could change into warmer clothing. “I had no notion that becoming engaged would cause such a fuss.”

“Mostly because many of the ladies were astonished that I managed to hook such a catch,” Winnie said wryly. “I thought Mrs. Green was going to leap across the table and gouge my eyes out.”

“She did seem upset about the matter,” Lucien said. “Likely because she wants me for herself.”

Winnie laughed. “You are absurd.”

“Can I help it if my good looks inspire violence?”

They’d reached her bedchamber door by now, and before she could go inside, Lucien stopped her. “Since part of this arrangement between us stems from the possibility that you are in real danger, I’d like to request that you do not go anywhere alone for the duration of the party.”

Though she wished to object, being used to making her own decisions, Winnie knew that his words made sense. “I suppose I can do that,” she said with a sigh. “Though it will be a bit of a bother. I would be foolish to make myself vulnerable, however, so I will do it.”

Drawing her hand to his lips, Lucien kissed it. “Thank you, my dear. I’ll return in fifteen minutes or so. We can walk down to the lake together.”

“You needn’t live in my pocket, you know,” she told him. “I won’t be offended if you wish to go with your cousin or one of the other gentlemen and watch over me from a distance.”

“Don’t be mad,” he told her with a grin. “I’ve got a beautiful fiancée now, and I’d be silly not to spend as much time with her as possible.”