A Christmas Surprise (8 page)

“M’ lady,” Debbi started, stepping closer. “It’s… well,” she hemmed and hawed. “All you say is true, especially the one on talking about any topic. The problem is, so I’ve heard from others and on several occasions heard myself, you tend to be quite outspoken on some topics.”

“But, that’s what Mr…” Aleece stopped short of saying his name.

“You are, of course, referring to Mr. Thomas,” the butler said in a whisper.

She responded with a nod as a tear drifted down her cheek. With a glance at the silver pedestal clock on the mantle, she squared her shoulders.
It seems I have no choice but to
heed
to my parents’
orders, as wrong as they might be.

“Inform them I will attend them at half the hour. Did the duke say where this interview was to be conducted?” This she directed to Horsfall while reaching for her now lukewarm tea.

The butler cleared his throat. “They thought it best to inform you of their corrected decision in the duchess’s private sitting room.”

“Thank you.”

With a bow, Horsfall slipped quietly from the room.

Chapter Thirteen

“Simon, my dear,” the duchess started as her husband stepped into his wife’s private sitting room. “Are you sure this is the best course of action?”

“Eleanor, I have given the matter a great deal of thought, and we don’t have any other choice. If it was not for her tendency to be so outspoken she would have been married this last Season. Before I came down for the summer, I had a meeting with Kenneth, the Duke of Somerset, at Whites. You remember him.”

“Oh heavens, Simon! You do not mean to have my precious Aleece marry him! Is not he a year older than you?” Eleanor said with panic in her voice.

“No. Not him, but his only son, Thomas, the Marquess of Langdonly. He is next in line for the dukedom. Kenneth knows about Aleece and her outspokenness and is sure his son will be able keep her in line.”

Eleanor let her eyes travel toward the window overlooking the garden, now set to bed with straw covering the delicate plants. “That would be a good thing then. I fear she is sometimes more a hoyden than I was at her age. However, I don’t recall ever meeting the son.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “Didn’t he go into the Guards?”

“Yes, right after he came down from the university. That’s possibly the reason you do not remember him. I am sure Aleece has never met him either, which is perfect. Both will be able to start out having to learn about each other.” When he noticed his wife start to nod her understanding he continued.

“He had been wounded in Spain, not seriously, but enough where he cannot serve. When he returned, the marquess spent time at the ducal estate. From what Somerset mentioned in his last letter, Thomas did make it to London during the Season but only briefly. With the injury, the young man finds going out in the
ton
difficult, as it is almost impossible for him to dance. Now that he is more on the mend, he will be ready to make his bows to the
ton
, and with our daughter on his arm, it will help cement his position with the elite.”

“If you think this is best then let us proceed. I am positive Aleece will not be happy one bit with this decision, but that cannot be helped. I know she has her heart set on a love match like ours. As you say, her fire, which you know comes from me, will prevent any chance for what she seeks of finding a marriage of affection.”

Simon chuckled when his wife said what he’d known for years.

With a smile Eleanor returned her attention to her husband. “Since we will not be attending the Holly Hall ball, we shall have one here.” She put the right amount of force behind her words so her husband had no room for an argument.

“As you wish, my dear. I know how you do love to entertain, but please, with the holiday, try to keep the guest list small.”

He had to say that, even though, if past gatherings were any indication, the final count would be in the hundreds. And as the duchess was want to say, ‘But these are our closest and dearest friends’. Many the duke barely knew, if at all. He gave a noncommittal wave of a hand to signify she could have her wish.

A knock on the sitting room door signaled the temporary end of their discussion.

“Come,” Eleanor said in a calm voice.

****

At the appointed time, Lady Aleece stood nervously fingering the ribbon at the neckline of her peach-colored muslin morning dress. She’d chosen this particular one as she knew it was her mother’s favorite. Her hair, a deep brown like her father’s, was held at her nape with a simple twist, secured with the pin given by her father on her coming out.

With a deep breath, she waited for Horsfall to open the door and announce her.

“Your Graces, Lady Aleece.” He stepped to the side as she swept in, head held high and shoulders square like she was headed into battle. Which, to her she was, a battle of wills.

“Horsfall, we will have tea,” the duchess said.

“Very good, Your Grace,” he said, stepping from the room.

During the ensuing minutes, the three chatted about the upcoming holiday. Both parents, Aleece noted, avoided discussing the traditional Holly Hall ball, which made her nervous.

Once the tea arrived, the duchess instructed the butler to place the tray in front of Aleece. Mrs. Linna, the housekeeper, set a tray of morning sandwiches and other delectable morsels next to the tray. “Since this is only family and a casual setting, I see no need to stand on ceremony,” Eleanor conveyed to her daughter.

“I cannot help but notice the hair clip you are wearing. Is that not the one I gave you on your eighteenth birthday?” Simon uttered, as he passed a cup of tea to his wife.

“And the dress you are wearing is my favorite on you,” his wife added, glancing first at Aleece then her husband.

“Why, yes. I thought wearing these would please you both. After all, how often do we share tea this early in the day? I thought they would make the event special,” she hopefully lied. Knowing full well the reason was to gain their good graces and stop what plan they had in mind.

“Darling,” the duchess started, leaning forward to take Aleece’s hands in hers. “Normally your little ploy might have worked, but not this time. Your father and I have come to a decision. One with which I truly hope you will agree.”

“If it is about not going to Holly Hall for the annual Christmas ball, I already suspected as such,” she informed them, withdrawing her hands from her mother’s grasp.

“How do you—”

Aleece thrust herself from the couch, almost knocking the tea tray over. “It is really very simple. The trip takes two days and there is none of the usual scurrying around of the staff in preparations. I also have it on very good authority that you both,” she glanced at her mother before throwing a glare at her father, “have decided to arrange my marriage with someone.”

With hands fisted at her sides, she started for the door only to be stopped by her father standing in the way. The scowl she noticed on his face would have frozen a normal person but not her. Especially now with her life being controlled, albeit by two of the three people in the world she loved.

In her heart, she knew Mr. Thomas wasn’t like them. If anything it was her fiery stubbornness that attracted him. Now she had no choice but to go along with their wishes, or as she thought of it, the demands of her family.

“Darling,” the duchess pleaded. “Please come, sit, and let your father tell you about the man. I’m sure once you hear about him, you will agree with our decision.”

Aleece let her father guide her back to where she’d been sitting. Once resettled, she refreshed her cup and nibbled on one of Mrs. Linna’s famous coddled egg and kipper sandwiches. As she took a sip of tea, she watched as her parents sat in silence, an unusual occurrence for either when in the same room. Once her nerves were comfortably settled, she turned to her father. With a raised, questioning brow, Aleece indicated she was ready to listen.

In silence, Aleece listened first as her father painted a picture of the gentleman they planned for her to marry. In the beginning, she almost thought he was describing her Mr. Thomas, the broad shoulders seen frequently with members of the Guard. His face, even his eye and hair color seemed to resemble him, but then her father could be talking about over half of the eligible bachelors in the
ton
.

When the duke mentioned he’d been wounded in Spain fighting against France, she then knew without a doubt he was talking about someone else. Thomas had said he’d been hurt in a riding accident, giving him the slight limp, which she found quite attractive in a masculine sort of way.

The injury, plus her love had attended Cambridge, while her future husband had graduated Oxford before joining the service, convinced her Thomas wasn’t going to be her future husband.

Chapter Fourteen

Duke of
Somerset
Estate

Kenneth Heritage, the fifth Duke of Somerset fingered the invitation for a second time as a wry smile curled the corners his lips upward. “This is the perfect venue for me to return now that I’m out of mourning,” he mumbled, reaching for the silver bell on the edge of his desk. Immediately the summons was answered by his butler. Who, if the duke didn’t miss his guess, was waiting right outside the door to be called.

“You rang, Your Grace?” Osgood said just inside the doorway, as he straightened from his bow.

“Would you ask my son to attend me at his earliest convenience? I have several matters to discuss with him,” Kenneth said, as he tossed the finely penned request back on his desk.

“Certainly, Your Grace.” He slipped out on his mission.

With slow, measured purpose, the duke rose from behind his desk and started to pace his study as he waited for his only son and heir to arrive. He was glad for the invitation as this would be his first event back in society after a long year hidden away for the most part, except for the occasional but necessary trips to London, in the hills of northern England. The Duchess of Carlisle’s fêtes were known to be very popular and the accompanying note assured him this would only be a small gathering. And if things went as planned his son would be engaged to Carlisle’s daughter, even though neither knew of the other, so to speak. Thomas had played his card close to the chest in this battle of love and had found Lady Aleece not wanting but wanted.

If past experience was any indicator, her small gathering would be a hundred, a number he knew he would be able to handle. Not only that, but the matchmaking mammas would be at the Holly Hall gala in the hopes of snagging a husband for their daughters.

That, right now, was the last thing he needed. To be chased about and around the Kringle estate in the hopes of being caught in a compromising situation with some half-witted giggling ninnyhammer.

A knock on the study door interrupted his thoughts. “Come.”

The butler stepped in. “Your Grace, the Marquess of Langdonly.”

The duke looked past the butler’s shoulder. “Osgood, I can see that, why don’t you just say Thomas, or your son?”

Thomas stepped up beside the flustered butler. “That’s all right. Any time you want to announce me formally is fine. Don’t let my Da’s blustering stop you.”

“Son, do not encourage him.”

Kenneth noticed the noncommittal shrug Thomas gave as he walked in, only a slight limp was present.

“It seems all the horseback riding you have been doing is helping to strengthen the leg. I am glad to see that. For I was worried after your last venture to London. At first, I thought you might have gone against the doctor’s orders and attempted a dance or two.”

“Yes. I am pleased with the progress I’ve been able to make. The cold of winter seems to help also, and no it was the carriage ride home which stiffened the leg,” Thomas commented while he walked slowly to the tantalus. “Anything, Father?” he asked over his shoulder.

After accepting a glass of brandy from his son, Kenneth waved him to the chair in front of the desk. “Now that you are better able to get around and not so self-conscious, how do you feel about stepping out into society finally? Do not forget, you never were introduced to the
ton
as you are entitled. Maybe, if you find one that suits, a wife even.”

“Father, if you are talking about the crush at the annual holiday ball then I will have to pass. Once the women, and we both know to whom I refer, learn of my presence there, I fear I would be safer returning to Spain to fight the French. At least the frogs have a sense of honor.”

Surprised at his son’s honest answer, the duke came close to spilling his drink when he burst out in laughter. He hadn’t yet recollected himself when, through tear-filled eyes from laughing so hard, he witnessed the study door rip open and in charged Osgood and two footmen.

“Is everything all right, Your Grace?”

“Yes, thank you for responding so rapidly, Osgood, but I seem to have said something which my father thought to be entertaining,” Thomas announced to the assembled staff, having risen from his chair when the room was invaded.

Once the duke was able to get a modicum of control, he waved the staff out with his thanks for a speedy but unnecessary response.

“Well then, how about a little fête the Duchess of Carlisle is throwing together for the holiday?”

When he noticed the puzzled look on Thomas’s face, he stepped in. “Of course you might not know her or her husband, but they are dear old friends. I stood up beside Simon when he married his duchess. And when you came down from university you went right into the Guards, so you never got to spend time with the
ton
. Rest assured the affair will be just the thing for both of us.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Ah yes. I imagine you would not. You see, except for the occasional much needed visits to the City, I have stayed here while in mourning.” He raised a stilling hand when Thomas was about to interrupt.

“Yes, I know after I came out of deep mourning, if I chose to attend a ball or such I could have. Because of my love for your mother, I chose not to. More out of respect for her memory than anything.”