A Valentine For Christmas - A Regency Novella Read Online Free Page B

rather fine with his dark eyes and dark brown hair (cut a la Brutus if the periodicals she read were to be believed). She had just finished Scott’s The Bride of Lammermoor and was still inclined to dwell on Lucy’s tragic ending and her love for Edgar. Lord Valentine’s dark good looks, she decided, would not be out of place in such a setting although she had no doubt Anne would disagree and make him into Valancourt. They frequently argued the merits of their favorite characters. Never the less, Charlie could see the man before her wandering around some dank Scottish castle. So appealing was the idea that she did not immediately notice when he started looking back at her until suddenly she found herself staring into a pair of fathomless dark eyes. For a long moment, their gaze held and locked. Remarkably, it was Charlie who looked away first, dropping her eyes to stare at the hands she had folded neatly in her lap, disconcerted by the unexpected intensity of that brief glance.
    Well… really. What in the world?
    What in the world indeed. She felt unexpectedly flushed, far more so than the warmth of the room was responsible for. She did not look up again until her mother spoke, her tone gently enquiring. It was what all five of the Weathering children who were present had been waiting for; their mother to commence her delicate investigation into the business of the new arrivals. She did it with such gentle charm that the person being quizzed rarely knew that they were being thoroughly examined.
    ‘So, my lord,’ she began, giving him a smiling glance over the winking silver needle that darted in and out of the fine lawn cloth in her hand, ‘are you both travelling to join your family for the holidays?’
    ‘In a manner of speaking,’ his lordship admitted, ‘we are going to spend a few weeks at my place in Norfolk.’
    ‘With your family?’
    ‘I am afraid I don’t possess a great deal of family,’ Lord Valentine admitted. ‘This year it is just Madeleine and myself.’
    This made Mrs. Weathering pause. The embroidery settled slowly into her lap as she regarded him, blue eyes soft and enquiring as she glanced at Miss du Pont. ‘Oh, dear. It is a tragedy, not to have the comfort of a large family at this time of year, my dear.’
    Madeleine du Pont looked at her rather blankly. ‘I suppose… I am spending it with mon cousin. We shall do well enough.’
    ‘You are from France?’ Mrs. Weathering said, surprised.
    ‘From Paris,’ Madeleine replied, shaking out her bright golden ringlets. ‘I have come to stay with Lord Valentine for the holiday.’
    ‘How delightful. It must be of great comfort to him.’
    ‘ Naturellement .’
    ‘And are you the only family his lordship possesses?’ The sympathy in their hostesses’ tone was redolent. Charlie watched his lordship shift uncomfortably in his chair. It was he who replied.
    ‘We have an uncle and an aunt. And Madeleine herself has family back in France. But I am not overly fond of the Christmas season and find it more enjoyable to spend it quietly. We shall do very well in Norfolk.’
    Charlie could only wonder at this. Miss du Pont looked as if a quiet life might be as alien to her as humility.
    A small silence had fallen as all of the Weatherings absorbed the astonishing piece of news that some people preferred to spend the holiday in relative solitude. To not want to spend time with ones family in what had always been a particularly festive time of the year was incomprehensible to all of them. Their festivities at this time of year were boisterous, to say the least. Charlie stared at his lordship and knew that Fate had indeed taken a hand in things and had given her a hero in need. She wondered what great tragedy had occurred to cause such a terrible wound on his spirit that he did not want to spend Christmas with friends and whatever family he had. Although he did have Miss du Pont. Charlie regarded the girl with doubtful eyes. It was dreadfully sad