Page 79 of A Winter Scandal

“But—”

“It is Boxing Day. You give presents on Boxing Day.”

“To the grocer and the man who delivers the coal and such.”

“Well.” He shrugged. “I did not have it yesterday or I would have given it to you. I saw a shop in Bynford the other day, and I rode over there this morning to get you something.”

“But I—I have nothing for you.”

“You have already given me a far better gift than I deserve.” He jiggled the box in front of her face. “Open it. I know your curiosity is too great to leave it alone.”

Thea laughed and picked up the box to open it. Inside lay a set of filigreed gold earrings, each centered by a bloodred oval stone. Thea drew in her breath sharply. “Gabriel!” She cast an amazed look up at him. “You should not.”

“Do you not like them?”

“Of course I like them. They are beautiful!” Thea traced her forefinger over one of the stones. “But they are too much.”

“Nonsense. ’Tis only garnets. Mere fripperies, really. I would have gotten rubies, but this was the best they had. The jeweler in Bynford hasn’t a very large stock. Indeed, I was lucky to find these; they were the only red stone he had, and I wanted something to match that touch of red in your hair.”

“But, Gabriel, I cannot accept them!” Thea’s hand clenched more tightly on the box even as she said the words. “A gift of jewelry? I could not accept jewelry from a man—well, obviously, a man other than my brother or—well, someone in my family.” She had started to say ‘other than a fiancé,’ but had swallowed her words at the last moment. She certainly did not want him thinking she was hinting at marriage. “It isn’t proper.”

He laughed. “And when have we done anything that is ‘proper’?”

“Well, I should at least appear to make an effort to do so.” Thea looked back down at the earrings, her finger unconsciously caressing the garnets. Finally, she closed the box and held it out to Gabriel. “No. I cannot accept them.”

“What would I do with them? If you do not want them, then toss them aside.”

“No!” Thea’s hand clenched around the little box, and she pulled it back to her chest. “They are far too lovely to throw away. Return them to the jeweler.”

“And look like a proper muttonhead? I think not. No one but a spurned suitor would return a set of earrings. I have a reputation to uphold, you know.”

She gave him an exasperated look and started to speak, but he laid his forefinger against her lips, silencing her. “No. Whatever you were about to say, please do not. Tell everyone they came from someone else—perhaps your grandmother left them to you. If you feel you cannot wear them, then do not. Hide them away in a drawer. But I want you to have them. Even if you never wear them, ’twill be enough to know that you have them, that they please you.”

Thea had built up the fortitude to give the gift back to him once. She hadn’t the strength to do so again. She wanted the earrings, even if she never once put them on. It was enough to know, as Gabriel said, that he had given them to her. That he had chosen them because they reminded him of the highlights in her hair.

“Very well.” Thea slipped the small box into the pocket of her dress beneath her cloak. “I will keep them. Thank you.” She could feel tears threatening, but she pushed them back. “I will treasure your gift. Always.” She went up on tiptoe and kissed him.

His arms went around her tightly. They kissed again and again, hungry after the separation of the past two days. Thea strained up against him, frustrated by the thick layers of clothing between them. Obviously feeling the same way, Gabriel slid his hands beneath her cloak, moving them over her body.

With an oath, he lifted his mouth from hers. “If only there were a roof.” He kissed her cheek, her ear, her neck, interspersing the kisses between his words. “And a door. Just a bit more warmth.”

“I feel rather warm right now.”

“Sweet heavens, I would kill to get your clothes off right now,” he growled, digging his hands into the soft flesh of her buttocks and moving her hips against him. Thea could feel the stiff length of his manhood pressing into her flesh, and an answering heat started deep inside her. “There are the storerooms below here,” she suggested. “They were in the cellars, so, at least where the roofs haven’t fallen in, they are intact.”

“Really?” He raised his head in interest. “Where?”

She let out a little laugh and took his hand, leading him out of the room and down the stone walkway. At the end of the columns, a set of weathered stone steps led downward. Part of the cellar roof had collapsed, letting in enough light to see dimly. The corridor was small and musty. They peeked into the ruins of the first room, then moved down the hallway to the next opening.

“You see? It’s a room—and comparatively warm since we are belowground. It’s almost livable. Now, if only there were—” Thea stopped abruptly and turned to him as a sudden thought entered her head. She could see the same idea dawning in his eyes. “Do you think—”

“That someone could have taken shelter down here?” he finished.

Thea nodded, and they stared down the corridor. There was light at the other end, where much of the ruins had collapsed into the rooms below, creating an effective end to the cellars and lighting the nearby portions. But in the middle of the corridor between the two cave-ins, where the roof was still intact, it was quite gloomy. They would need more light if they were to see anything.

“There’s an old lantern in the back room of the church,” Thea offered.

It did not take them long to go to the church and return with a lamp. They walked down the old corridor, holding the lantern high and peering into each doorway they passed. In the third doorway, their light at last revealed something other than an empty earthen room.