The carriage ride seemed endless. Along the way, she mentally rehearsed what she would say to Phillip. “I’m so sorry to keep you waiting, Your Grace.” No, that wouldn’t do. What if he hadn’t been waiting for her? Hopefully he wouldn’t have found it odd that Edward arrived before her. Perhaps she could simply say, “How lovely to see you again, Your Grace.”
The carriage drew up before the Kringle mansion, and the door opened. A gold-braided cuff decorated the wrist of the hand extended to her.
She took a deep breath and descended the steps. “Please be there,” she whispered.
She would surely be one of the last to arrive at the party. Would Phillip still be waiting for her? A servant took her cloak, and she braced herself. Another servant waited at the ballroom’s entrance. When he saw her, he reached for her card.
She shook her head. “I — I need a moment.”
The man nodded and stepped back.
A bank of potted pear trees festively decorated with ribbons and ornaments for the holiday graced each side of the wide arch leading to the ballroom. Amelia decided to look for Phillip through the branches of the trees so she could go to him immediately.
She leaned forward, trying to see the partygoers through the boughs. But it was nearly impossible to make out any one figure through the sea of humanity. She should have known. The Kringles’ party was the prime event of the holiday season. Lord and Lady Kringle held court in one corner of the room, greeting their guests. She took another step but froze when she realized her hair had caught in one of the ornaments on the pear tree. She tried to disengage herself but managed only to get herself more firmly entangled. Embarrassingly, the skirt of her dress, in her twisting and turning, had caught on some lower branches and was pulled up into the tree, exposing a shocking amount of her legs.
Goodness! How ever would she get out of this? Absently, she recalled a song she’d heard about a partridge in a pear tree. She wasn’t sure whether to giggle at being part of a Christmas carol or sob at her dilemma. Should she call out to one of the servants in the foyer? Would they even hear her?
Suddenly, her skirt fell back in place. A second later, the ornaments released her hair. A deep voice behind her murmured, “There you are, Lady Amelia. I trust you and your lovely gown have not suffered any ill effects from your mishap.”
“Phil— Your Grace!” She dampened her excitement and cleared her throat, dipping into a deep curtsey. “Again, you have rescued me. Thank you.”
He executed a formal bow. “It was my pleasure. Your brother told me that you were ill, and I feared you would not be here tonight.” He extended his elbow. “Shall we join the ball?”
“I would love to, but first I need to tell you something. I tried to tell you earlier, in your library, but I’m afraid you might not have heard me.”
“I apologize. I’m listening now.”
She faced him directly so he could see her lips and understand what she said. “I — I write books. Love stories. I like to write them, and my publisher says they are becoming quite popular. I don’t want to stop writing them. I have a pen name, so no one needs to know, but I wanted to tell you. Would that bother you, knowing what I do?”
“I have already read some of your stories. They’re quite wonderful.”
Her jaw dropped. “You — you knew?”
“Yes. A few weeks ago, when you read aloud to the students, you hardly looked at the page. You didn’t have to, because they were your words. The next day I went to the bookstore and purchased every available title by A. P. Worthington.”
“And… the idea doesn’t repulse you?”
“I shall be proud to be associated with the author of such tomes as The Demure Duchess and The Tempestuous Ton. He sobered. “Would it repulse you to be associated with a disfigured, hard-of-hearing duke who must work like a common laborer to restore his crumbling estate?”
Amelia held her hand to her heart. This must be the kind of love she’d read about, even written about, but never experienced.
“I would be honored at such an association, Your Grace.”
He stepped closer, wrapping his arms around her. “Shall we seal this agreement with a kiss?”