The Lady's Second-Chance Suitor by Scott, Regina (christmas read aloud txt) 📗

“Furthering my acquaintance?” She was surprised how inadequatethat sounded. “Then we remain merely friends.”

He leaned closer, hazel eyes darkening. “Oh, Hester, I wouldlike us to be so much more than friends, but I don’t think now is the best timeto discuss it.”

With him looking at her that way, her standing in nothingbut his sister’s nightgown, most likely not. Yet she needed to know.

“Now seems perfect to me,” she informed him. “There’s no oneabout to overhear. And neither of us appears to be sleeping.”

Below them came a crash that rattled against her toes.

She gasped. “What was that?”

His arms tightened just the slightest. “Have no concerns,Hester. I’ll see to the matter.”

He sounded so noble. It wasn’t hard to imagine him a valiantknight marching the halls to keep them all safe. But her hands reached out andclung to his arm.

“You promised not to leave me,” she reminded him.

He regarded her a moment, then nodded. “Come along, then.Let’s see what we can learn.”

“Let me fetch a blanket,” Hester said.

The few moments it took to find one of the extra blanketshis staff had left her and her mother was enough forher to argue with herself. Walking the house in a nightgown with a gentleman?What was she thinking?

Well, she wasn’t likely to fall asleep for a while, andmaking sure the house was safe was at least a useful way to occupy her time andcalm some of her fears.

And it wasn’t really a nightgown any longer. The thick woolblanket hid her curves as effectively as a winter cloak.

And it wasn’t a gentleman. It was Rob.

That alone made her consider staying in the room.

In the end, she joined him in the corridor in her stockingedfeet, and they set out to the tune of snoring so fierce it almost drowned outthe wind. She would not have thought it of the thoroughly refined LordFeatherstone.

The air swirling down the corridor set the lamps tosputtering against the dark-paneled walls, and the carpet was cold against hertoes. Hester tucked the blanket closer. For once, Rob did not seem disposed totalk.

“You haven’t answered my question,” she pointed out.

He shot her a quick smile. “Sorry. I find myself thinkingabout the east wing. I can barely manage my staff. How am I to choosefurnishings, wallpaper?”

“That shouldn’t be so hard,” Hester said. “Your mother’swithdrawing room is beautiful. She obviously had excellent taste. Copy it, andperhaps add a special touch to each room to make it unique—an inlaid chessboard like the one in your father’s room, one of Abigail Bennett’s landscapes.”

Again he glanced her way. “Perhaps you could advise me.”

Pleasure warmed her more than the blanket. “I’d bedelighted.”

They were nearing the end of the corridor and the windowoverlooking the Channel. Hester became aware of another noise—a rhythmic crashand roar.

“Is that the waves?” she asked.

Rob nodded. “The storm must be forcing them against thecliff.”

She could only hope they would not reach so high as thehouse.

Just then, something flashed from the window. Thunderfollowed—deep and long—until the house reverberated with it.

“Nothing like a good lightning storm,” Rob said rathergleefully when it quieted again.

“If you say it’s exciting, I will scream,” Hester vowed.

He chuckled. “Very well. I won’t say it. But we both knowI’m thinking it.”

The lightning flashed again. This time she saw the zaggedbolt plunge for the sea, illuminating all around it. As the light faded, Robfrowned.

“Was that a ship off the promontory?” Hester asked, blinkingaway the brightness.

“If it was, it won’t come in,” he predicted. “Such a drivingtide would force any ship against the cliff. But at least the light showed methe reason for the crash we heard. A tree’s come down near the entrance to theballroom. We’ll see to it in the morning. Let’s get you back to bed.”

It was an abrupt end to their walk, but he was right. Theyhad solved the mystery of the crash. Still, she stayed close to his side as theystarted back to her room. The thunder rumbled through the house again, setting herto shivering. She clutched the blanket tight.

“Rebecca hates thunder,” she said as they neared her door. “Shesays it makes her feel small.”

“It makes all of us feel small,” Rob said, stopping beforeher door. “I had no idea this storm was coming, but I’m sorry for separatingyou from your daughter at a time like this, Hester. I promise you, we’ll go to her as soon as the roads allow in themorning.”

She would have to take solace in that.

He glanced both ways along the corridor as she put her handon the door.

“I’m not sure this walk was any help,” he said. “A nocturnalstroll through haunted corridors isn’t conducive to a good night’s sleep.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts,” she teased.

He snorted. “Only the ghosts of my past, which seemdetermined to sneak up on me.”

“They have no call,” she said. “You’ve changed, Rob. I cansee it. You’re steadier now, more dependable. You have proven others can counton you, that you will be there, come what may.”

His gaze fell on her, full and sure. “I left you before, Hester,without a backward glance. But I promise you, I’ve thought on that summer somany times over the years, wishing things had ended differently. Thank you forthis second chance.”

A second chance. A hope for a future. “I’m glad you wantedto further my acquaintance,” she murmured.

Once more he bent and brushed her cheek with his lips. Itwas far from the first time he’d stolen a kiss, but the touch shook her.

“Good night, Hester,” he said as he straightened.

Heart full, she nodded. “Good night, Rob.”

~~~

As soon as the door shut behind Hester, Rob turned andstrode across the corridor to rap on the door of the room Donner and LordFeatherstone were sharing. The snoring shut off immediately. A moment later,and Donner answered his knock.

“My lord?” he asked with a frown.

“There’s a ship off the headland,” Rob said. “The captainmay be the fellow you’ve been seeking. I don’t know whether he’ll attempt tocome in when the storm has passed, but get dressed, and keep watch with me.”

“At once,” Donner promised.

Rob paced up and down, pausing only a moment to