Winter Wishes: A Regency Christmas Anthology

by Cheryl Bolen

  His eyes ran over her face briefly.

  “I don’t think you know how to show caution.”

  “I have promised you that I will try. Is that not enough for now?”

  “Not nearly enough.” He touched her chin, and then he was gone, leaving her wondering what had happened to her life since she’d opened her eyes that morning.

  Suddenly she felt off-balance. As if something monumental and life changing had happened.

  Shaking her head, Maddie headed up to her room, where she found her maid sobbing.

  “Penny. What has happened?” Maddie took her hands, gripping them hard.

  “My br-brother’s boy, he’s missing. James said my other nephew came to the rear entrance to tell me. He’s been gone four days now.”

  “Oh dear, that’s terrible.”

  “He’s been running with a bad crowd, Miss Spencer. My brother, Fred, has six children, and Lewis is the eldest. Fred works long hours, and his wife has the others to watch over.”

  “And Lewis cannot be watched all the time?”

  Penny nodded.

  “What do you believe has happened to him?”

  “I fear he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t and they’ve put him in prison. I worry he’ll be deported.” Penny sniffed.

  “What is being done to find him?”

  “Fred is spending his evenings searching, but so far nothing.”

  “I’m so sorry. If you need to go and be with your family, please do so.”

  Her maid sniffed. “Thank you, but there is little I can do at the moment but pray.”

  Maddie couldn’t imagine how it would feel to have a child go missing. She worried constantly for the children of Spoke House and what could happen to them, but they were not of her blood.

  “I’m sure all will go well, Penny.” Her words sounded empty, but Maddie could think of no other way to help her maid. She would give the matter some thought, but for now she had to prepare for an evening in Gabriel’s company.

  The thought should not be as pleasing as it was.

  Chapter 8

  Maddie still had not come up with a resolution for Spoke House as she readied herself for the pantomime.

  Would Gabe help? Dared she asked him to? Wouldn’t he have offered if he wanted to?

  “Oh, Miss Spencer!”

  Penny rushed in, clasping a note in her hands.

  “What have you heard? Is it about Lewis?”

  “He is in prison because he was caught stealing a fob watch. Fred tried to get him released but was informed that was impossible, and in all likelihood he would end up on a ship bound for the colonies.”

  “Your poor family, they must be distraught.”

  “Yes. B-but we have no one to turn to, no one who will help. He is a criminal, and as such he will be punished,” Penny cried.

  Maddie wasn’t sure how she could help, but knew she had to try.

  “Firstly, Penny, you must go to your brother and his family after I have left for the evening,” Maddie said. “I will not return until late as I must attend the pantomime at the Theatre Royal.”

  “Thank you, I-I would like to support them.” Penny sniffed.

  “Of course. And I will think about what can be done. I may have to rise early and go to the prison myself, before the household wakes, to see if I can secure Lewis’s release.”

  “You’re never going to the prison, Miss Spencer!” Penny looked shocked. “I could not live with myself if something happened to you.”

  “I will tell James I want the carriage early and take him with me. Surely there must be someone there I can discuss Lewis’s release with?”

  Hope flared in Penny’s eyes.

  “Once I have your nephew, I shall return him home and then be back here before anyone realizes I have left.” Hopefully. “But you must keep quiet about this, Penny. If any of my family hear, they will not be pleased.”

  “But you’ve never been to such a place! Surely it is dangerous? How will you know who to speak with?” Penny’s words echoed Maddie’s thoughts. Although she sounded confident, inside she was far from it.

  “I shall be fine with James at my side. But I cannot promise unequivocally that I will be able to get Lewis released, Penny, so do not tell your family anything yet.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you, Miss Spencer.”

  “Say nothing more. Now go and get James for me, please.”

  Penny nodded and went to summon the footman.

  He was not pleased.

  “It’s folly to go to such a place, Miss Spencer.”

  “Very likely, but a little boy is depending on me, James. We must try something.”

  “And I’ll say again, ’tis folly,” the footman muttered before walking away, leaving Maddie to wonder if indeed he was right.

  * * *

  Maddie, Verity, and their mother arrived at the Pantomime to a light flurry of snow. Verity was soon claimed by her fiancé and went off at his side giggling, which Maddie found nauseating.

  “Don’t scowl, Maddie.”

  “Sorry, Mama, but I fear my head is sore this evening.” She planted the seed that would allow her to sleep late tomorrow. Should anything go amiss at the prison and she was delayed returning, no one would bother her, especially if she locked her door. “These late nights are catching up on me.”

  “Then you must sleep late tomorrow, darling.”

  “I believe I will, Mama.”

  Of course, everything could go amiss at the prison, and she wondered what she could do to aid Lewis’s release—if anything. This was unknown territory for Maddie. The problem was, she had no one to ask for help. Her mother would be horrified, and her father was not home.

  Dare she asked Gabe?

  “If your head pain increases, Maddie, we shall leave, and Stephen will see Verity home, I am sure.”

  “Very well, thank you, Mother.” Maddie pushed down the guilt.

  “Lady Spencer, Madeline. How beautiful you both look this evening.”

  Stay calm. Maddie looked at Gabriel, who had sneaked up on her. He wore a black jacket and waistcoat teamed with the white of his shirt; it was a contrast that only added to the impact of this man.

  Before, the only emotion he’d stirred inside her had been irritation and perhaps disappointment, and yet now, since this morning, there was so much more.

  “Good evening, Gabriel,” Maddie said slowly.

  “Why are you frowning?”

  “She has a sore head, but it is not bad enough for us to return home,” Lady Spencer answered him. “Excuse me one moment, I see someone I need to speak with.”

  “Who?” Maddie looked around them, but her mother did not answer and had soon disappeared.

  “Can I get you anything, Maddie?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “I was being solicitous.”

  “And I am grateful for your solicitousness.”

  “I always find that an extremely long word and one that is hard to get your tongue around.”

  “I’m sure it is a hard word for some to say,” Maddie said.

  He placed a hand against her spine and nudged her to a wall a few feet away so they were not constantly being bumped into.

  “You really should be nicer to me, considering what I know about you, Maddie.”

  “I was teasing you, and you promised to keep my secret. You are a fiend to suggest otherwise. Now I really must return to my mother.” Maddie only managed two steps before a hand gripped her skirts, stopping further progress.

  “What are you doing?” Her whisper was furious.

  “Stopping you, as I have not finished our conversation,” he drawled.

  No one could see what he was doing, but if she tried to wrench free, they would.

  “Now turn around, Maddie.”

  “I can’t believe you did that.” She turned to face him. “Are you quite mad?”

  He looked far too happy with himself.

  “Perhaps, but then you
do bring out the worst in me.”

  Maddie laughed. He’d often said that when they were children.

  “Can I ask you a question, Gabriel?”

  “Of course. My considerable knowledge is at your service.”

  “Your arrogance is showing.”

  “Can I help that my intellect is vast?”

  Maddie didn’t reply to that.

  “If someone is restrained in an institution—”

  “Like a prison such as Newgate?”

  “Yes, exactly. How would you go about securing their release, Gabe?”

  He lost his relaxed stance and was suddenly alert.

  “Who is in prison?”

  “Oh, no one I know, it was simply a question.”

  “It’s a very strange question to simply ask. Now tell me why you really want to know.” His brows drew together as he frowned at her.

  “I like to know things,” Maddie said vaguely. “But you are right, it is a silly conversation.” She quickly skirted around him and hurried to where her mother stood before he could stop her again.

  “What were you and Gabriel discussing, Madeline?”

  “Nothing, Mama.”

  “It did not look like nothing, in fact it looked very much like something. And can I add that once I thought you and he would one day marry. Perhaps now that you seem to be talking once more, that may happen. He would make you a wonderful husband.”

  Bloody, bothering hell!

  “No, Mother, he would not. Now please do not discuss this again.”

  “And here he comes to take us to our seats. I was just saying to Maddie how wonderful it is to have you back in our lives, Gabriel. You and she were once such close friends, after all.”

  “We were.” His voice gave none of what he was feeing away.

  “I shall have to write to your mother tomorrow; she will be as happy as I when she hears you and Maddie have reconnected.”

  I am doomed.

  Chapter 9

  Why had she asked him that question? Gabe mulled it over as he watched the pantomime. It made no sense to him—unless one of her children was in trouble.

  Surely she wouldn’t be foolish enough to go anywhere near a prison? The thought of Maddie attempting to secure the release of someone from such a place made him feel ill. Was he being dramatic? Had she just asked the question out of curiosity?

  Gabe had been there and it was not suitable for gently bred ladies… in fact, any lady.

  He looked at Maddie, who was watching the performance, and apparently enjoying it if her smile and the clapping was any indication.

  Was he wrong, and she had simply been curious? Lord, he hoped so.

  Tonight’s dress was a soft rose color. Demure, without too many bows or frills, it made Gabe’s hands itch to touch her. He wanted to run them over her body and have no barrier between them. He wanted to kiss her again, had thought of little else since leaving her.

  Maddie Spencer had thrown Gabe off-balance, and that didn’t sit well. He was a man who liked to be in control at all times.

  Looking at the two curls that sat on her slender shoulder, he wondered at their texture and had to clench his fists to stop from reaching for one.

  When intermission came, she rose, stating she needed to visit Verity. Minutes later, she hadn’t made an appearance in the box two along from Gabe’s, where her sister and her fiancé sat with his family.

  Lady Spencer was busy chatting with someone to her left and hadn’t noticed, so Gabe went to find Maddie. He nodded and forced a smile onto his face, as apparently he scared people otherwise, but saw no sign of her.

  Where are you?

  He walked down the hallway, eyes searching the guests, and finally found her standing beside a painting.

  “How is your head?”

  “Gabriel!” She clutched her chest dramatically, which told him she’d been deep in thought and not heard him approaching.

  “The very one. Why are you standing here alone looking at this painting of a pantomime when the live one is about to restart?”

  “I was hoping the walk and air would ease the ache in here.” She tapped the side of her head.

  “What air? You’re inside a theatre.”

  “But it is less crowded out here.”

  “Have you looked at the many people milling at your back?”

  “I forgot that about you.”

  “What?”

  “The need to question everything. The need to point out the faults in every sentence. The need to always be right.”

  “I like things to be factually correct.” Gabe shrugged.

  “How pompous of you.”

  “Maddie. What are you up to?”

  “What?” She shot him a look. “Nothing,” she added far too quickly before returning her eyes to the painting.

  “Why did you ask me about the prison earlier? It has made me extremely nervous.”

  Her laugh was stilted.

  “There is no need, I was just curious. My maid mentioned that her nephew was in there. I just wondered what the process would be for his father to get him out.”

  It was a perfectly plausible explanation… so why then did the hair on his neck suddenly rise?

  “Maddie, I have spent time at Newgate for various reasons— ”

  “Have your nefarious activities caught up with you, Gabriel?”

  “Ha, no. It is not a place for a woman such as you... in fact, any woman.”

  “Why would I go there? Good Lord, Gabriel, have you gone mad?”

  Her eyes looked innocent, and her head hadn’t tilted, so perhaps he was wrong and her question had been innocent.

  “Excellent. And can you assure me you are not about to invade someone else’s study to rifle through their desk drawers?”

  “You know why I did that, Gabriel, and have seen Spoke House.”

  “You appear to be telling the truth. I see none of the little telltale signs you give when you are not.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! You can have no idea the person I have become. We’ve barely conversed.”

  “You’re shrieking,” he said reasonably. “And you definitely used to do that when you were cornered.”

  Her mouth closed with a snap of her teeth.

  “And we may not have conversed a great deal of late, but after what we shared today, I feel we know each other a great deal better than we did yesterday.”

  Color filled her cheeks.

  “Do not mention that kiss. It should not have happened and will not again.”

  “What upsets you the most, Maddie, that you enjoyed our kisses, or that it was with me... the man who you have lately found stuffy?”

  “Desist in this line of questioning,” she hissed, looking over her shoulder. “And I did not enjoy those kisses.”

  Gabe saw just the place to prove her wrong. Nudging her backward a few steps, he had her in the small alcove before she realized it.

  “What— ”

  He swallowed the rest of her words. He felt it again, the surge of emotion. Slipping his hand around her back, he pressed her close, loving the feel of her body against his. He wanted more of this woman. The emotion pulsing through him was nothing like he’d felt as a sixteen-year-old. This was so much more.

  “Please.” She pressed a trembling hand to his mouth when he pulled back to take a breath. “This must stop.”

  “Look up.”

  She did and saw the mistletoe.

  “We are allowed to kiss under that.” Gabe tried to lighten the mood, because he was off-balance himself. He’d disliked the woman Maddie had become, but today everything had changed, and now he wanted her desperately.

  “We cannot do this again, Gabriel.”

  He lifted her chin so he could read her expression. He saw the heat in her eyes; she wanted this as much as he did.

  “Everything changed between us today, Maddie. You know that, as I do.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.” He kissed her again, a soft brush of
his mouth over hers.

  “My m-mother, she will wonder where we are.”

  He ran his thumb down her cheek.

  “Gabe, please let me go.” She pushed against his chest. “Please, I have no wish for anyone to see us.”

  “All right, but I meant what I said. Everything has changed between us now, Maddie.”

  “I know” was all she whispered.

  He could see she was unsettled, as was he, so he took her back to the box.

  The pantomime was loud, with plenty of participation from the audience. Maddie smiled and chatted with her mother, but didn’t look at Gabe again. He spent the remainder of the evening looking at her and wondering how his feelings toward her could have changed irrevocably in the space of a day

  “That was wonderful, Gabriel.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lady Spencer.” Gabe assisted her out of her chair when the show finished.

  “I will collect Verity and meet you in the foyer.”

  “I’ll get her, Mother.”

  But Lady Spencer had already left the box. Gabe took Maddie’s arm and followed.

  “I want to call on you tomorrow, Maddie. I have some things I wish to discuss in relation to Spoke House.”

  “What things?” She looked worried.

  “Nothing bad, I assure you.”

  “Very well.”

  “I meant what I said, Maddie. I don’t want you going there without me.”

  “Gabe, we’ve discussed this, and I have no wish to do so further tonight. The day has been a long and tiring one.”

  Which did nothing to ease his mind. Maddie could be reckless, as evidenced by the fact she’d traveled to Spoke House alone many times already. He would leave it alone for now, but tomorrow they would be having a talk, and he would be telling her quite clearly what he expected.

  “Come then, I will walk you to your carriage.” He guided her down the hallway.

  “Hold on to Gabriel, darling. I would hate for you to faint on the way to the carriage because of your poor head.”

  These words came from behind them.

  “I am quite well, Mother. There is no need to fuss.”

  “But we would hate for anything to harm you, dear Madeline,” Gabe teased.