First Christmas at Pemberley

by Grace Sellers

  Where was he? Where was the kitten?

  She heard a sound and looked toward the side of Pemberley’s stone facade. She took a few steps forward, the wind biting her skin.

  Finally she saw Adam crouched next to a shrub near the wall.

  “Adam,” she said as she scurried to him. Her slippers sank into the wet snow.

  He looked up and blinked at her. “What are you doing out here?”

  “Trying to find you. And Muffin.”

  “Muffin’s in the shrub,” he gestured to the thick, squat bush next to the facade. “I’m trying to catch her.” Even now, he seemed unruffled and calm, almost as if he were enjoying this. She had never seen a man this way in a crisis. Her brother was all dark moods and terse comments.

  Georgiana pushed past him and bent down, sure she would have better luck catching her.

  “Muffin, come out, little girl,” she coaxed. She looked and saw no sign of the kitten. “Are you sure she’s there?”

  “Indeed, she’s there,” Adam said, the wind whipping his hair around his face. “She gave me a good scratch as she leapt into it,” he said dramatically and looked at his arm.

  Despite the prickling, scratching branches, she moved her hand under the brush, feeling for the fluff of fur. “Muffin?”

  She thought she heard a tiny squeak.

  “Muffin…”

  She heard it again. A sad, pathetic little squeak of a cry. She took a step toward the sound, her feet nearly catching on the bush. She stumbled, but Adam's hand darted out and righted at her at the last moment.

  “Thank you.”

  Maybe it wasn’t so bad to have him around.

  Georgiana turned her head to listen to again. The squeak came from a small space between the walls of Pemberley and the bush. She squeezed into the space, crouching down, her hands skimming the snow and branches on the ground.

  Fur.

  She felt felt soft, warm, wonderful fur. Her heart leapt.

  She reached farther and managed to grasp the tiny body, plucking the kitten to her chest inside the coat. Muffin squeaked again.

  “I have her!” Georgiana called back to Adam triumphantly, cradling the kitten to her chest.

  “Oh, that’s wonderful!” He leaned toward her, craning his long neck to see the tiny kitten, and gently bumped her head with his. “Ouch!” He touched where his head met hers, and they both laughed.

  “We need to get inside immediately,” he said over the wind.

  Georgiana nodded and pulled the coat more tightly over the kitten, feeling her shiver.

  Chapter 3

  Elizabeth woke with a start, but couldn’t identify what woke her.

  She glanced around the dark room and immediately put a hand to her rounded stomach. She felt well, more tired and slower than usual, but it wasn’t the baby that roused her.

  She had the distinct impression she had been woken by a sound.

  She listened to the sleeting rain tap the windows. Darcy snored gently next to her, and she heard the faint tick of the grandfather clock in the hall, but nothing else.

  She was wide awake.

  Silently, she rose from the bed and wrapped her robe around her, careful not to wake her husband. Fortunately, he was a sound sleeper. He rolled over and snored harder.

  In the hall, she lit a taper for light and decided to seek some water.

  She sighed, feeling especially big right now as she tried to pull her robe around her stomach. Unfortunately, it didn’t fit anymore. Nothing fit anymore. She felt like a colossus. Hopefully, she wouldn’t encounter any guests at this hour.

  She padded down the hall and toward Georgiana’s room. Oddly, the door was slightly open and a dim candle burned low on the table. Georgiana was not in her bed, and it was still made. One of the kittens curled on the bed raised its head when it saw Elizabeth and meowed at her.

  That’s odd. Why would Georgiana be out of bed? Elizabeth stood in the doorway, wondering what to do. She didn’t want to rouse Darcy and make him worry, but she also felt unease roil through her. It was unlike Georgiana to do anything untoward.

  Then she remembered Wickham.

  Elizabeth walked to the other end of the hall, but saw no hint of Georgiana. She stepped down the stairs and went to the next floor where most of male guests slept. The room she had assigned for Adam Merriweather was slightly open as well. She pushed the wood door open a few more inches.

  His bed was unmade and his room was empty too.

  Elizabeth felt a wave of worry. Georgiana and Adam both not in their rooms? Could she and Adam Merriweather be hidden away somewhere, talking or more? She swallowed uneasily.

  She knew Georgiana had been deeply hurt by Wickham’s fickle attentions and then reinjured when he’d eloped with her sister Lydia last year, but she didn’t think she could be vulnerable to a young man again so easily.

  Elizabeth stepped carefully down the stairs as quickly as she could. She had to find Georgiana and separate her from Mr. Merriweather before Darcy could find out.

  If they were together.

  Oh, she was foolish. Of course they were together, somewhere in the house. What else would two young people be doing together? She held her arm around her belly and did her best to hurry down the hall.

  Georgiana held the kitten close and waited for Adam to open the front door. He stood in front of her, playing with the doorknob as she grew impatient. Sleet stung her face, and she pulled the coat up so the kitten was covered.

  “Oh, please open the door,” she said, shivering.

  Adam fumbled for a moment longer. “Blimey! I can’t. It’s locked.”

  “Locked? How can it be locked? We just came through it!”

  He turned to her, and his shoulders slumped dejectedly. “It’s locked. Someone locked the door.”

  Georgiana stepped up and tried to turn the door knob. Indeed, it would not turn. She could not turn the doorknob well and hold the kitten at the same time. She passed the kitten to Adam.

  “Who would have locked it?”

  “The housekeeper?” Adam said and breathed on the kitten to warm it. He looked up at Pemberley’s imposing facade. Then he handed it back to Georgiana.

  “Stay here, out of the wind,” he said and walked out, away from the house, looking up at the windows as snow pelted him. He wasn’t even wearing a coat.

  “Is there anyone’s window at which we could lob pebbles?” Adam asked as he jogged back to her.

  “Lob pebbles?”

  “To wake them. Have you never snuck outside before? No, I suppose you haven’t. Is there someone you can trust to let us in quietly without waking everyone else?”

  Elizabeth was the first name that came to her.

  “Mrs. Darcy,” she said. “But of course Mr. Darcy’s there too.”

  Adam shook his head. “Anyone else?”

  Georgiana tried to think, but she felt as though each flake of snow froze her brain and eroded her intellect. It was too cold to think.

  “A trusted cousin? Anyone?” Adam asked.

  Georgiana felt the kitten’s body shiver, and tears of frustration pricked her eyes. “I’m not even sure who is in which room.” She hugged the kitten to herself. “What about your father?”

  Adam shook his head. “They put us in separate rooms. I’m not sure which window is his. That’s not something I want to guess at.”

  Georgiana nodded. If they were caught outside in their nightclothes, even with the excuse of the kitten, both their families would be scandalized. Particularly hers. She couldn’t do that to her brother after all he’d done to help her after Wickham.

  She felt the kitten shiver against her chest.

  “Oh, the kitten is shivering!” The dam of frustration within her burst, and hot tears fell down her face, mixing with the snow.

  Adam turned back and saw her tears.

  “No, don’t cry. It will be all right.” He rubbed his warm hands on her shoulders. “How is the tiny runaway?”

  Georgiana ch
oked out a sob. “We have to get her inside.”

  “May I see her?” Adam looked at her seriously.

  Georgiana nodded, noticing how dark his eyes were, and opened the top of her coat so the kitten’s orange head barely peeked out. He gently stroked her head twice and carefully closed up her coat. He was surprisingly gentle for such a large man.

  “We have two choices,” he said. “We can knock on the door and allow the repercussions, or stand here and hope the door opens soon. What will your brother do to me if we are caught?”

  Georgiana pictured Darcy’s unsmiling face. “If you’re lucky, he might only chase you away with a rifle.”

  He nodded as if considering it. “That’s not too bad.”

  “You’ll have to walk back to your home. In the blizzard. In your nightclothes. And I shall never be let out of my bedroom again.”

  Adam smiled. He actually seemed to find this all amusing. “Is he a good shot?”

  “One of the best.”

  “Then I am doomed, aren’t I? Well, at least I died heroically. Saving a kitten. And a damsel in distress.”

  Georgiana’s lips curved up in a smile. Their situation was humorous. Or it would be if it weren’t real. She was going to tell him she didn’t need saving, but she realized quite how ridiculous that sounded in her position. She did need saving. Immediately. They both did.

  “Your death wouldn’t entirely be in vain,” she said.

  “That is a relief.” He moved closer to her and looked at her again.

  “What about the other girls at the dinner party?” Adam asked. “Do you think one of them would let us in?”

  She immediately pictured Fiona giggling with Hugh and frowned. “Perhaps, but not without telling everyone.”

  Adam pushed back his hair in the wind and frowned. “I thought they were your friends.”

  Georgiana shrugged. It was the only way she could think to describe her relationship to the other girls. Georgiana was one of the richest girl in the county and sometimes other girls were envious of her new dresses and pianofortes. Also she never felt smart enough for London society.

  Adam cleared his throat.

  “How is she?”

  Georgiana looked up into his dark eyes and, suddenly shy, glanced down.

  “Still shivering, I’m afraid.”

  Adam glanced around, as if to make sure no one else was around.

  “There is one solution, but…” He stopped there.

  “But what?”

  “It will seem improper.”

  She looked at him, waiting for him to finish. He cleared his throat. Again.

  “We could huddle together to stay warm.”

  Something exciting surged through Georgiana’s veins. She took in Adam’s tall, broad frame. He did look like he’d be warm.

  “How do you mean?”

  He looked very serious. “I read an account of mountain climbers who were trapped in a storm. They were able to stay alive because they huddled together. It kept their bodies warm.”

  “But they were all men,” she said.

  “Yes,” Adam said, as though that were obvious.

  Georgiana considered standing and freezing or waking up the entire house to get in. The kitten’s small body shivered again. She had no choice.

  “Very well,” she said. “How do we proceed?”

  Adam stepped to her. “We need to get close. I apologize in advance for any appearance of impropriety.”

  Georgiana shook her head. “This is a matter of feline life or death.”

  Adam nodded and took another step until he was close enough to touch. She hadn’t been this close to a man since Wickham. He smelled fresh and warm, like spice and leather, whereas Wickham had often smelled a bit pickled, like old wine.

  Adam was looking anywhere but Georgiana’s face. “I’m going to put my arms around your arms to warm you.”

  Georgiana nodded, and her heart beat faster. She was glad she had put on Mrs. Reynolds’s coat and that it provided a layer between him and her thin nightdress. His arms, warm and big, curled around her. Good lord, he was warm. Heat radiated off him like a blazing hearth. It felt wonderful. She leaned into the warmth tumbling off him and breathed him in.

  “Is this all right?” Adam asked.

  Georgiana paused, thought for a moment, and nodded. It was actually quite nice.

  Georgiana pulled back the opening of her coat so that she could see the kitten, whose green eyes blinked at her.

  “Still shivering.”

  Adam nodded and moved a few inches closer.

  His eyes met hers before they both looked away. She wondered what he was feeling toward her. Did his heart skip forward, too, at being this close to her? He was always amiable, and she tried to remember why she’d ever found him annoying. Was it because he was friendly and she had compared him to Hugh, who was both proud and moody?

  She was pelted by sleet and stood in her nightclothes improperly close to Adam Merriweather. And worse yet, she enjoyed it.

  Hugh was probably asleep upstairs in one of the guestrooms. Not long ago, she would have wished she was trapped outside with Hugh. She wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore.

  Adam’s arm brushed something in her coat pocket that clinked.

  “What is that?”

  Adam stretched his arm into the pocket of the coat Georgiana wore and pulled out a small silver flask.

  “This is the housekeeper’s coat?”

  Georgiana nodded.

  Adam unscrewed the top and sniffed it, his eyes widening. “Brandy!” His lips curled up in a half smile. “Good quality too.”

  “In Mrs. Reynolds’s coat?”

  “Can’t really blame her in this weather. Especially if she has to go outside.”

  The flask flashed in the dim light as he turned it to sip.

  “What are you doing?”

  He wiped his mouth. “Taking a dram. If ever there were a time for it....”

  He had a point, she supposed.

  He offered her the flask. “It will warm you.”

  Georgiana stood still. She hadn’t drank brandy before. But she was terribly cold. She also didn’t want to seem to be missish. She took the flask and put it to her lips. It smelled strong and foreign. Frankly, it smelled like a man. The liquid burned down her throat, but settled into a warm ball in her center.

  She swallowed more, hoping the warmth would grow.

  Georgiana handed the flask back to Adam, who took another sip.

  After a moment, an ease slipped into her limbs. It was as though the cold was muted somehow. She could still feel it, but it was further away. Or maybe it was Adam’s warm body. She leaned into the warmth and looked up at him.

  He was looking down at her uncertainly. He did have soft-looking lips. She realized she couldn’t remember what Hugh’s lips were like. But Adam’s looked sweet, as though they may taste like cake.

  That’s ridiculous. No one tasted like cake.

  Georgiana had the crazy notion to taste his lips.

  It was the brandy. It was making her bold and adventurous. She felt very clever and pleased with herself. She could quickly kiss him and see if he tasted like cake. Who would know? Except him.

  Despite his height, she could tell he was waiting for her. He exhaled, and she noticed his breath trembled.

  Was he nervous?

  A part of her wanted to laugh that someone so tall and masculine could be scared of her.

  “Why don’t I take the kitten? I think I must give off more heat than your small frame.”

  Georgiana hesitated, embarrassed by his comment about her body. But he did have a point. She pulled the kitten from her chest, and Adam gingerly took her and stuck her in his shirt.

  He had to remove his arms from her to take the kitten, and Georgiana missed the warmth. However, it was quite charming to see a large man nestling a small cat under his chin. The kitten turned to his face and playfully swiped his chin with her paw.

  “Miss, I must pro
test this behavior,” Adam said. Georgiana couldn’t help but smile along with him.

  The kitten squirmed and turned its head to try to bite Adam’s chin, but its jaws wouldn’t open that widely.

  “I know your ways: look innocent yet attempt murder,” he said to the kitten and opened and closed his jaw quickly so the kitten was mesmerized. “I shall rechristen you Miss Murderbritches.”

  Georgiana couldn’t help but laugh. She had never seen someone, let alone a man, make such effort to engage a kitten. She had also never seen someone stay so pleasant and calm during an otherwise terrible experience. Even being trapped outside was enjoyable with Adam.

  The kitten gave up and hung on his shirt, her front legs dangling out but most of her body tucked inside Adam’s nightshirt.

  “Have you had enough? Are you finally fatigued?” Georgiana realized he wasn’t playing with the kitten simply to please her. He genuinely enjoyed the little creature. He was a kind man to stand outside in the snow to warm a kitten and not being vexed about it. She wondered how many other men would do likewise.

  “Sorry, little one, must go back to warming the lady,” Adam said, and his arms eased back around her. “Have you frozen yet?”

  His eyes met hers and held them. Another wave of warmth swept through her. He gently tipped the flask to his lips and passed it to her.

  She sipped and took the flask from her lips.

  “You’ve spilled,” Adam said quietly, raising his large hand to wipe the amber liquid from her chin. She froze when he touched her. Their mouths were inches apart. She leaned toward him, closing her eyes.

  His lips touched hers. Warm and soft. Sweet.

  Better than cake.

  Their lips parted, but their foreheads touched. His lips trembled.

  “Why are you shaking? Are you cold?”

  He smiled and placed a warm hand on her face. “No, I’m pleased,” he said.

  Just below them, the kitten squeaked.

  Adam smiled at Georgiana. “Muffin seems to disapprove.”

  “Perhaps she’s a spy hired by my brother,” Georgiana said.

  “Don’t say that. Now I’m worried.”

  Adam looked down at her. “I do have something to confess,” he said. “Before going to dinner last night, I moved your name card so you’d be next to me at the dinner table.”