Eleven

The next morning was bright and sunny. Almost everyone in Malbury seemed to be outdoors, walking their dogs, playing with their children, or just strolling about for exercise.

It was a day that should have brightened everyone’s mood. But as Christina stared glumly out her window, she could not drum up so much as a smile, her spirits were so low.

She’d already made the decision to stay home today and not go on her daily visit to Kenswick Hall. How could she face him after behaving so boldly? What must he think of her?

She took her eyes from the window and looked down at the figurine in her hand. As her fingers caressed the smoothly carved wood, she marveled again at how much care had gone into the figurine.

Why did he make it? Did she mean something to him? Did he think of her as a cousin or friend?

With a sigh of frustration, she went over to her nightstand and put the figurine back into its glass container. Spending all her time having romantic thoughts about the Earl of Kenswick was not doing her any good.

“Miss Christina!” Mrs. Hopkins called through her door, knocking gently. Glad to have a diversion from her troubles, she called for the housekeeper to come in.

Excitement flushed her plump cheeks and her hands fluttered around nervously. “Oh, Miss! I’ve never seen the like. Gentlemen such as these, and here in your father’s cottage!”

Christina went quickly to her. “Take a calming breath, Mrs. Hopkins. I’m afraid I do not follow. What gentlemen are here?”

“Lord Thornton and another gentleman. A tall man with fancy clothes and almost as handsome as the earl himself. They are something to behold, I’m telling you, Miss. Quite takes the breath clear out of me!”

Christina was having trouble breathing herself at the news. “Lord Thornton? Here?” When Mrs. Hopkins nodded, Christina let go of her hands and whirled to face her large oval mirror. “He must have the Duke of Northingshire with him!”

“A duke, did you say?” the housekeeper gasped. “Oh, dear, and with no warning too! I still haven’t done the dusting!”

Christina tried to tidy her hair, but the curls kept springing out everywhere. Giving up, she grabbed a ribbon and tied it back in a ponytail. “It’s all right, Mrs. Hopkins. I’m sure they won’t notice,” she said, though her thoughts were on other things than the dusting.

What did he want? Was he here to see her?

“Mrs. Hopkins, I believe there’s someone at the door!” her father’s voice called from downstairs, startling both women.

“Oh, dear, oh, my! I hope I can remember the proper etiquette for handling one of the ton!” the elder woman fretted as she scurried to the door.

Christina turned back to the mirror and wished, as she had a thousand times before, that she was more sophisticated in appearance, more dainty and elegant. Her gown was a recent style, but with her height and lack of grace, she would never be mistaken for a peer.

Wishing, however, would get her nowhere. She was who she was and no amount of wishing would make her something she was not. And, besides, she’d always liked who she was. Why should she suddenly want to change everything about herself just because she’d become acquainted with a nobleman?

Maybe because you want him to like you, a voice whispered in her head.

Angry with herself for having such vain thoughts, she turned away from the mirror and waited by her door to see if the earl had, indeed, come to see her.

❧

“Tell me again why we have come to the vicar’s house,” North whispered to Nicholas as they sat in the parlor where the housekeeper had sent them. It had been quite an amusing welcome, as the woman greeted them both with such a deep curtsy, the men thought they were going to have to help her up.

“Because I want to ask Reverend Wakelin’s permission to see his daughter today.”

“Hmm,” North grunted with a puzzled frown. “And why could you not just wait until she came to Kenswick Hall? Doesn’t she visit your nephew every day?”

“Because I felt I needed to make an apology to both Miss Wakelin and her father for my bad behavior yesterday,” he explained evenly while keeping an eye on the door, waiting for the vicar to come into the room.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t follow,” his friend replied.

Nicholas let out a nervous breath. “I asked Miss Wakelin to meet me in the gazebo alone so I might give her a gift.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I almost kissed her!” he blurted out in a harsh whisper.

North stared at him as if he were speaking a language he could not understand. “I beg your pardon. You almost kissed her? That’s what this whole thing is about?”

“Yes.”

“Did she protest?”

“No.”

“Slap you?”

“Of course not.”

“Call you a cad and a rake?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

North scratched his head. “Did she act as though she wanted to kiss you, then?”

“I thought she did, because she kissed me on my cheek, and it compelled me to take her arms and bring her closer. But she was only thanking me for the gift I gave her. I realized in the nick of time.”

“Sooo, let me understand this,” North stated slowly. “You are upset because Miss Wakelin kissed you, and you thought it an invitation to take it a step further and kiss her back. Do I have that right?”

Nicholas threw up his hands. “Yes, except I had promised her father I would stay away from her. Instead, I encouraged her to meet me without her chaperone and all but embraced her! I also promised her that if she’d meet me, I would do nothing improper.”

North shook his head. “Really, Man, you’re being too hard on yourself. What is a kiss after all? I daresay it wouldn’t be the first lips you’ve kissed.”

“You are thinking about London society, where flirtations are a way of life. This is the country, where even a kiss could cause a scandal.”

North was about to comment when they heard the door to the parlor open, and in walked the Reverend Wakelin. “Well, Lord Thornton, so good to see you again. And I see you’ve brought a friend.”

Nicholas made a quick introduction of North and got right to the matter at hand. “Reverend, I came today because—”

“Because you have decided to join us tomorrow for Sunday service! How lovely of you to come by and let us know,” Christina said as she breezed through the doorway, putting herself between the vicar and Nicholas.

Nicholas stared at her with surprise, not understanding the warning look she flashed him with her bright eyes. “Uh. . .I’m not sure. . . ,” he stammered.

Christina was mouthing something, but he couldn’t quite make it out.

She turned to North with a big smile and said, “And you, Lord Kent, will you be joining us also?”

Nicholas should have known North would find the whole conversation amusing. His friend smiled back at her. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Miss Wakelin.”

“Excellent!” she cried as she whirled around to face her father.

“If you don’t mind, Papa, I will walk with the gentlemen back to Kenswick Hall. I need to check on little Ty as well as feed the pups Lord Thornton has been boarding for me in his stables.”

Nicholas watched as her father gave her a shrewd look that told everyone he wasn’t fooled by her act for a moment. His eyes swept past his daughter to give Nicholas a questioning stare.

“We would be happy to escort your daughter, Sir,” Nicholas told him.

The vicar nodded but glanced back at Christina. “I don’t know what you are up to, Daughter, but be assured I will find out.” He sighed and patted her on the cheek. “And please try to be on your best behavior. I would have Lord Thornton believe you have matured since the time you were a little girl and pushed his female friend into the lake!”

“Papa!” Christina gasped with embarrassment, as both Nicholas and the duke burst out in laughter.

“Good day, my lord, your grace,” he told them both with a nod before he exited the room.

On the walk to Kenswick Hall, Nicholas stopped her and demanded, “Can you tell me what that was all about?”

Christina looked up at him. “I heard you!”

“You heard what?”

“I heard you two talking about what you were planning to do! My room is directly above the parlor and the sound carries.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you were going to tell my father about our meeting in the gazebo and about the kiss I gave you!”

“Miss Wakelin, I was just going to apologize for my own bad behavior,” Nicholas tried to explain.

“I was the one who kissed you, my lord. I could not sleep all night for wondering what you must think of me.”

Nicholas couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Miss Wakelin, you are not to blame, and I was flattered by your kiss. It’s just that I promised your father I would not be alone with you. I felt ashamed that I’d gone back on my promise and then almost kissed you.”

Christina frowned. “There, you see, it is all my fault. My kiss caused you to get carried away on the wings of romantic emotions.”

Nicholas stared at her blankly. “On the wings of what?”

She sighed with forbearance as if she were dealing with a child. “On the wings of romantic emotion. Helen told me that in her gothic romance books, this often happens to men when a woman gets too close.”

A loud blast of laughter startled them both. They turned to see North shaking his head as he tried to curb his mirth. “I’m sorry, but you two are more entertaining than the comedy I saw last month in a London theatre.”

Christina covered her mouth in horror. “Oh, dear. I forgot you were there, your grace.”

This time it was Nicholas who laughed, especially at the bemused expression on North’s face. “I daresay he hasn’t heard that many times in his life.”

North grinned. “Indeed. I believe I’ve changed my mind about going back to the hall and favor a walk in the country instead. Miss Wakelin, would you please excuse me if I cannot help Nick escort you the rest of the way?”

She smiled back at him. “Of course.”

North had the audacity to wink at them both before walking away. Subtlety was not one of his virtues.

Taking Christina by the arm, Nicholas turned her toward him. “Miss Wakelin, before we come to Kenswick, I want to be sure everything is all right between us—that you are not upset at me.”

Her smile was so breathtaking, he wished he could kiss her. Perhaps Helen’s books were not too far from the truth where “romantic emotions” were concerned. But a kiss was not the most important thing he desired. No, he wanted to put his arms around her and just hold her—to claim to the world that she was his.

He wanted her to return those romantic feelings.

She liked him, he could tell. But he could not tell if that liking ended at friendship or not. Perhaps she was after her first objective where he was concerned, to help him find God again.

If he told her he had begun to pray again, would she feel her duty was done and stop coming to his home?

He wasn’t going to take that chance. Not yet.

“Of course I am not upset! The figurine you made me was the most beautiful gift anyone has ever given me. I shall treasure it always. But you must forgive me for being so bold, my lord. I reacted before I thought about it.”

Her words filled him with hope. “If you were not so bold, you would not be the Christina Wakelin I have come to know since childhood. You are the most unique woman I have ever met, and you constantly keep me on my toes!”

“I can’t tell if that was a complaint or a compliment,” Christina said.

He laughed. “Most definitely a compliment.”

Nicholas held out his arm. “Now that we’ve cleared the air, shall we continue on to Kenswick Hall?”

She placed her hand in the crook of his arm, and it felt so right to be by his side—like she truly belonged there.

As they walked, Nicholas dared to ask one more thing. “Do you suppose now that we’ve become such good friends, you can call me Nicholas?”

“Thank you!” she cried out with relief. “We have so few neighbors with titles that it has been hard to remember to refer to you as ‘my lord.’ ”

“I’ve been acknowledged by some sort of title or other since birth. I suppose I don’t even notice it.”

“I think it would be very hard to get used to, all that bowing and scraping people do just because of some exalted title you had nothing to do with!”

An enigmatic smile crept over his face. “I think you could get used to almost anything, Christina. Even an exalted title.”

She shrugged. “There’s no point in arguing, since I shall never be in such a position anyway.”

Never say never, dear Christina, Nicholas thought to himself, determination strengthening his resolve to be the kind of man she could love.

Never say never.