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Chapter Five
December 24, 1818
For the bulkof the day, Noelle couldn’t concentrate on the tasks she needed to perform, most importantly the food preparations for tomorrow’s meal. All her mind would rest upon was Trey and how she felt alive in his company, and that hadn’t happened in a few years.
She did have enough presence of mind to decorate the mantle with fir boughs that she enhanced with a few apples and clove-studded oranges. Into the low fire that was burning in the parlor, she tossed a few orange peels and cinnamon sticks which would lend the house a homey feeling and smell.
And still the captain flitted through her mind, digging up happy memories from childhood as well as urging her to build exciting new dreams for the future.
Do stop, Noelle. Trey isn’t the man for you. He’s of thetonand could have his pick of any woman he wants. Why would he want the daughter of a man-of-business?
Despite the self-recrimination, she persisted in giving life to those fantasies as she tidied the house and met with Mrs. Watson—the housekeeper—before she left Evergreen House for her own cottage to celebrate with her family.
“You should eat something, Miss Gedney. I’ve noticed you’ve hardly touched your meals these last two days,” the woman had said in passing around noon. “I’d hate for you to faint dead away from hunger during church tonight.”
Noelle had smiled. “I’ll see if I can manage it a bit later. Thank you for your concern.” But how could she eat when her stomach was full of butterflies and her head stuffed with possibilities? Then she’d thrown herself into helping the cook with dinner preparations, for after the meal, they would attend a service, just as they’d done for all the years they were in Cambridgeshire.
Except all her plans for the evening were sent askew when Trey arrived at Evergreen House an hour before dinner was to be served.
“Oh, dear heavens!” Noelle pressed a hand to her cheek while glancing about the modest drawing room. She must look a fright. “What is he doing here?” she asked in a low voice, seconds after the butler announced the captain had arrived and her father said to show Trey in.
“If I had to guess, he’s paying a social call on you.” Her father chuckled and tamped more tobacco into his pipe, which he only smoked on special occasions. “That’s what men do when they’re romantically interested in a woman.” He gestured with his pipe, the one with the ivory mouthpiece. “In the event you’d forgotten how society worked,” he finished with a wink.
The heat in her cheeks deepened. Was that true? Did two kisses and a handful of candid words mean he wished for a courtship? “I haven’t forgotten. I merely didn’t think it might be true of him,” she responded in a whisper with a frantic glance at the door as if the captain would appear from thin air. “He’s not exactly the marriage-minded sort.”
Or so she assumed. His attentions were better spent at his clinic in London, weren’t they?
Her father snorted as if she’d told the grandest joke. “That’s what they all want you to believe, but deep down, every man wants the comfort of hearth and home, and a wife to love at the end of the day.”
“Goodness, I don’t know what to do.” Noelle wiped her hands on the pinafore she wore to protect her dress, and even then, that wasn’t a garment that showed her to best advantage. “He’s here. The captain is here.” Her heart beat frantically. “What to do?”
“Be the lady you are and introduce him to me,” her father said. Humor clung to his voice. “Ah, there he is now.”
I’m not ready for this!
But she turned, and when their gazes connected, shivery sensation danced down her spine. “Good evening, Captain Marsden,” she managed to squeeze out from her tight throat.Dear heavens, he’s so handsome!In the dark evening clothes that werede rigueurfor evening parties within theton, and with his red hair combed into place with light pomade, he was the hero of every dream she’d ever had when she’d imagined entering high society. “You are quite splendid this evening.” His red satin waistcoat was embroidered with silver stars and snowflakes, and it drew her attention to the lean planes of his abdomen.
The grin he bestowed upon her threatened to make her knees weak. “I would tell you the same, but you’ve got a smear of what looks like flour on your cheek and gravy on your chin.”
“Oh!” The heat of embarrassment engulfed her entire body as she scrubbed at her face with a corner of the apron’s hem. As the captain came further into the room, the clean, Alpine scent of his shaving soap wafted to her nose and worked at her undoing. How unfair was it that he appeared as if he’d stepped from shops on Brook Street while she apparently looked as if she’d been laboring in the kitchen all afternoon? “What are you doing here?”
“Besides dropping in to see the prettiest miss in all of Cambridgeshire?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m hardly that, especially right now.” So saying, she blew out a breath that moved a lock of hair from her face.
Trey exchanged an amused glance with her father. When he rested his gaze on her again, she trembled with anticipation. “Squire Aberdeen, who has a modest manor a couple of miles from here, is hosting a small ball this Christmas Eve. Would you like to attend?”
What was he on about?
“I haven’t been invited.” Cold disappointment snaked through her insides. “Have you?”
“No.” He waggled his eyebrows. “However, if I’ve learned anything from my brother, it’s that at times you have to use the circumstances and let them work for you.” With a grin, he rubbed his gloved hand along the side of his face. “Besides, I have a feeling you haven’t attended many such offerings. Perhaps you might wish to start.”
“You mean to burst into the squire’s event even though you weren’t invited?”
“I’m sure if the man knew me, he would have invited me. After all, Iamone of the Earl of Worchester’s sons. And though I’m supposed to be in mourning for my father, I wanted a bit of fun tonight.” One of his red eyebrows rose in challenge. “Do you?”
“Now that is a splendid idea.” After resting his pipe on the mantel, her father crossed the room to join them. “In fact, I wholeheartedly endorse that plan. Noelle could use some time away from this house. She fusses entirely too much and works as hard at Mrs. Watson.”
