The Bachelor Earl

by Burke, Darcy

  Abernathy blushed. “I’m going to my sister’s house.”

  Simon reached into his pocket. “Now that I’ve found the ring, I must compensate you for it, Mr. Abernathy.”

  Holding up his hand, Abernathy shook his head. “You already have, sir.”

  “Nonsense. That was just a deposit.

  “Let the difference be my gift to you, for your kind understanding when I thought it was gone.”

  Simon pressed the money into his hand, knowing it would go to good use for this man and his sister’s family. “I insist. Happy Christmas, Mr. Abernathy.”

  The man beamed. “Happy Christmas, Your Grace!”

  Simon offered his arm to Diana and they started back toward the inn.

  “Let me understand,” she said. “You paid Mr. Abernathy even though he’d lost the ring?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you bought a ring from Owen that you’d already paid for—at least partially?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you didn’t tell Mr. Abernathy that his nephew had taken the ring and tried to profit from it?”

  “Heavens no.”

  She stopped and turned, putting her gloved hand against his cheek. “I have nothing to give you on this Christmas Eve, while you have this lovely ring and your amazing generosity.”

  “You gave me the greatest gift of all, Diana. You’ve given me hope for a future I never would have imagined. Not after all that’s happened.” He pushed the familiar pain of loss away and clung to this joyous moment, to this woman standing before him.

  “Happy Christmas, Simon.”

  “Happy Christmas, Diana. Shall we pretend there’s mistletoe?”

  She curled her hand around his nape and stood on her toes. “Yes, let’s.”

  The Yule Log Hunt

  This story features characters from The Duke of Desire, The Duke of Danger, The Duke of Kisses, and Never Have I Ever with a Duke. If you haven’t read them, click on the title to grab your copy now!

  Christmas Eve 1822

  Stour’s Edge, Suffolk, England

  Part One

  Sebastian Westgate, Duke of Clare, was outnumbered. How had he managed to be left alone with five children, only two of whom were his? “Don’t you have nurses?” he mused aloud.

  “Papa, they are busy,” his daughter Leah, all of five and a half years, said with far more authority than she ought to have. “With the other children.”

  Yes, the younger ones. “What about their mothers?”

  Before Leah could answer, three small boys aged three and four began to wrestle in the middle of the floor. She turned her head, pursing her lips in a way that brought her mother to West’s mind, and charged toward the melee. “Stop that!”

  None of them listened to her, so she raised her voice and tried again. When one of the boys yelled, “Ow!” West resigned himself to intervene. He tried to take a step but realized there was a small body clinging to his leg.

  Wee Jasper Kinsley, Earl of Wethersfield and heir to the Duke of Halstead, stared up at West with wide green eyes. “Up, please?” When West didn’t immediately sweep him into his arms, Jasper added, “I wanta see.”

  Ah, the lad wanted to watch the tussle. West couldn’t blame him for that. He plucked the boy up and carried him closer to the tangle of bodies thrashing about on the floor. “Better?” West asked.

  Jasper nodded. Leah had continued to admonish the wrestling boys, telling them they would be in grave trouble when their mothers arrived. It wasn’t lost on West that mothers were the greater threat. He was nothing more than a soft-hearted jelly when it came to his three children, and it was to his wife, Ivy, that they listened. Which was for the best because West could think of no one worth listening to more, no one who could care for them—or him—better.

  “What on earth is going on here?” Ivy’s voice carried through the room like a captain addressing her troops. She carried their youngest, Julia, who was not yet two.

  “Benedict!” Emmaline Maitland, Marchioness of Axbridge, barked at the wrestling boys. The one with the bright blond hair extricated himself—or tried to, but Sebastian, West’s son, grabbed his ankle and pulled him back down.

  “Sebastian, stop that!” Ivy said crisply. Sebastian promptly let Benedict go and blinked up at his mother. He and the remaining boy, Gray, which was short for Graham for he was named after his father’s best friend, the Duke of Halstead, ceased their sport, and all three scrambled to their feet.

  Gray swept his hair from his forehead and cast a worried glance toward his mother, Fanny, who was also Ivy’s younger sister.

  Fanny narrowed her eyes at her son. “Apologize to Aunt Ivy and Uncle West for causing a ruckus in their house.”

  Emmaline inclined her head toward her son. “You too, Benedict.”

  “Sorry,” they chimed in unison.

  “Sebastian, apologize to your mother,” West said.

  “Sorry, Mama.” Sebastian went to take his mother’s hand, and West saw the precise moment when his wife melted on the inside. Her green eyes took on that warm, maternal sheen that never failed to make his heart feel as if it might burst. That he’d found a love so strong and so pure would humble him until his dying breath and likely beyond.

  “Why is everyone apologizing?” Lionel, Marquess of Axbridge and one of West’s closest friends, asked as he entered the drawing room. He carried their youngest, Caroline, who was the same age as Julia and was followed by West’s brother-in-law, David Langley, Earl of St. Ives whose arms were full with his youngest, Mary.

  “The boys were wrestling,” Emmaline explained to her husband.

  “Who was winning?” Lionel asked, and West couldn’t help but laugh. But then all the women either frowned or glared at him and Lionel, and they quickly sobered.

  “What happened?” Fanny asked.

  “There was only Papa here,” Leah answered, as if that response perfectly summed up why a fracas would break out. And West supposed it did.

  “I shouldn’t have been left alone with them,” he said in meager self-defense.

  Leah came to him and touched his hand. “It’s all right, Papa. I was here to help.”

  West stifled a smile and caressed her cheek. “Thank goodness for that.” He winked at her then transferred his attention to the other adults. “Are we ready for the Yule log hunt?”

  This provoked a chorus of excitement from the children, followed by laughter from the adults.

  “I think that’s a yes,” Lionel said with a wry grin.

  Graham and Arabella Kinsley, Duke and Duchess of Halstead, entered then. Graham carried their youngest, Charlotte, who was just a year old. “Did we hear that it’s time to leave for the hunt?”

  Jasper wriggled in West’s arms as he reached for his mother. Arabella strode toward them and embraced him with a smile. “Thank you for watching Jasper while we tended to Charlotte. The nurses are ready to take charge of the small ones while we go on the hunt.”

  As if on cue, three nurses entered the drawing room and went about taking the smallest of the children.

  “Should we bring Mary?” David asked his wife, Fanny. “Or is she still too young?”

  “We’re bringing Julia,” West said. She and Mary were only a month apart in age.

  “I would, but she’s practically falling asleep,” Fanny said. “Next year.” She transferred the toddler to the nurse.

  Everyone set to bundling up the children and themselves. West indicated the others should precede them outside while he and his family brought up the rear. There were two carts to convey them to the forest, plus a third that would transport the log back to the house.

  “You really couldn’t keep them from wrestling?” Ivy murmured. She carried Julia while West shepherded Leah and Sebastian toward the waiting cart.

  “They’re children,” West said. “They move too quickly. And there was Jasper. Hell, there were far too many of them. It was me against a rabid army.” He caught the slight upturning of his wife’
s lush mouth.

  “Yes, three and four-year-olds are so treacherous. I daresay you’re lucky to have escaped unscathed.” She slid him a sarcastic glance, a single red-gold brow arching high on her forehead.

  “Indeed.” He flashed her a grin before lifting their children into the cart. Once they were all settled, the grooms driving the carts set them in motion.

  “I wish it was snowing,” Leah said wistfully, her head cast back as she looked up at the gray sky.

  “That would make our hunt a bit more difficult,” Ivy said, stroking Leah’s back.

  “I suppose.” Leah didn’t sound convinced.

  They dipped through a large rut, and Emmaline, who was seated across the cart from West and Ivy, winced. She clasped her round belly.

  “Everything all right?” Ivy asked with concern. “Perhaps you should have stayed at the house?”

  “Nonsense. The babe won’t come for another month. I wouldn’t have missed this.” She glanced toward her two children, her features softening. “Or them.”

  West understood. The joy he once gleaned from finding the Yule log was nothing compared to the joy of watching his children go on the hunt. This was Julia’s first, and it would be no less thrilling than Leah’s or Sebastian’s.

  “Perhaps Ivy’s right,” Lionel said, watching Emmaline with a puckered brow. “Should you really be out here in the cold jostling about?”

  “I’m going to jostle home before Epiphany. Both Benedict and Caroline were past when we expected them. I can’t imagine this babe will be any different.”

  Lionel’s features relaxed in a half-smile, and he leaned over to kiss his wife’s brow. “Forgive me if I worry. I can’t help myself where you’re concerned.”

  The children chattered nonstop as they rode to the forest. By the time they reached the wood, the energy in the cart was high enough to set a town ablaze, or so it seemed to West. He eagerly helped them all down, where they joined the children from the other cart.

  “Now, everyone knows to stay together, right?” West announced.

  “They’re not listening,” Ivy said, gazing over the raucous group. “Children!”

  Their conversation dried up like a stream in late summer as they pivoted to face her.

  “A captain indeed,” West murmured.

  Ivy snapped her gaze to his. “What?”

  “Nothing.” He cleared his throat and addressed the children. “You are to stay together. No one wanders off alone. Understand?”

  Most of them nodded.

  Ivy shook her head. “Not good enough. We need a roll call. When Fanny says your name, say, ‘I understand’.”

  Fanny began calling out the children’s names, and each one dutifully responded. West leaned close to Ivy and whispered, “You are an inspiring force.”

  She looked at him askance, her eyes sparkling. “Don’t you mean terrifying?”

  “In the best possible way.” He kissed her cheek and lightly squeezed her waist. Suddenly, he was overcome with thoughts of her pressed against a tree in the forest, the Yule log hunt be damned.

  “Can we go look now, Papa?” Leah asked, her gaze fairly teeming with excitement.

  West grinned at her enthusiasm. “Yes, go find us the best Yule log!”

  The children instantly scattered, and the adults called out to each other to follow them in various directions. West and Ivy stuck close to Julia since she was so small. She wasn’t looking at the trees at all. She was simply trying to keep up with her big brother Sebastian as he raced off in search of the perfect log.

  “This one, Papa!” Sebastian called.

  “No, that’s not nearly big enough,” Leah said. She looked about and pointed at another tree. “That one is better.”

  “Is not,” Sebastian argued, his lips forming a pout. He stalked in the opposite direction while Leah marched toward the tree she’d indicated.

  Julia followed Sebastian, and West was torn as to which way to go. Ivy was already going after Sebastian and Julia, so West turned to trail behind Leah. Except she was with several of the others, so he opted to stay with his wife, lest she end up having to tend Julia.

  “Look, Mama, toadstools!” Sebastian declared as he squatted down next to a cluster of woodland fungus.

  “We look but never touch, dear,” Ivy said to him with a smile.

  Julia squatted down next to him and reached her hand out, but Sebastian gently took it in his. “No, Julia, don’t touch.” He looked around then guided her to a moss-covered rock. “Touch this instead. It’s soft.” He removed his mitten and showed her. He then helped her to take off her mitten so she could feel it. Her giggle filled the air and warmed West’s heart.

  “If someone had told me I could love someone more than you...” He shook his head as he glanced toward Ivy. “I would have said they were mad.”

  “And I would have said the same.” She moved close to his side, sliding her arm around his waist. “But the way I love you is quite different than the way I love them.” She narrowed her eyes slightly as she pressed against him.

  He turned, taking her in his arms. “I should hope so.” His lips descended on hers, and their kiss ignited his desire.

  “Disgusting!”

  West and Ivy pulled apart, laughing at their son’s horrified outburst.

  “West!” David called from several yards away.

  Ivy went to take Julia’s hand. “Come, let us see what Uncle David wants.”

  Instead, Julia held up her arms. Ivy lifted her and settled the toddler on her hip.

  West clasped his son’s hand. “Do you suppose they found a tree?”

  “But I want to pick the log, Papa.”

  “We must all agree on one.” West began to question the wisdom in bringing eight children into the forest and expecting them to agree on the same Yule log. It had been hard enough before the children. Everyone had their own opinion on what constituted the perfect log.

  They joined the others who stood around a fairly sizeable tree.

  “It’s too big,” Fanny said, her mouth tipped into a slight frown.

  “Is not,” Benedict said.

  Gray nodded in agreement. “This one.”

  “Yes, this one,” Sebastian said.

  “This seems almost unanimous,” David said. “At least among the older children. I daresay the others won’t care.” He grinned.

  “What does Leah say?” West asked, looking about for his daughter, who was the oldest child. When he didn’t immediately see her, he called out her name.

  “Oh!” Emmaline’s knees buckled, and her eyes rounded.

  Lionel rushed to her side, catching her before she fell to the ground. He swept her into his arms as if she were a feather and not a woman far along with child. “You’re going back to the house.”

  “I think that’s best.” She winced. “My waters have broken.”

  Lionel swore softly as he hurried to the cart. West followed him. “I’ll go with you.”

  “West!” His name came as a panicked plea from his wife. “Leah isn’t here.”

  West spun about as ice plucked at his heart.

  “Neither is Jasper.” This dark pronouncement came from the boy’s father, Graham.

  Lionel settled Emmaline into the cart and handed her a blanket before turning to West. “Stay. I’ll take Emmaline back.”

  Fear tripped along West’s spine, but he tamped it down. Leah and Jasper couldn’t have gone far. But Emmaline and Lionel needed to return to the house immediately.

  “We’ll go too and take the children so you can focus on finding Leah and Jasper,” Fanny said, nodding toward her husband, who set to gathering them. He and Lionel began loading them into the second cart. Emmaline let out a gasp and gritted her teeth.

  “Go,” David said to Lionel. “We’ll be right behind you.”

  Lionel thanked him, then climbed into the cart with his wife. The groom steered the horses back toward the house.

  Julia began to cry as Ivy handed her to Fan
ny. “Don’t cry, love,” Ivy said softly, patting Julia’s back. “Aunt Fanny will be with you, and I’ll be home before you know it.” She smiled warmly, but West saw the unease in her eyes.

  West picked up Sebastian and set him in the cart. “Look after your sister.”

  “You’ll find Leah?” The boy’s dark eyes were wide with worry. “She can pick whatever log she likes.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find her in a trice,” West said as much to alleviate his own concern as his son’s. He kissed the boy’s forehead and told the groom to drive.

  When he turned, Ivy, Graham, and Arabella were already striding through the trees calling for Leah and Jasper.

  But with each call that went unanswered and each minute that passed, West felt as if he’d swallowed lead. His unease became fear, and soon his fear would become panic. If anything happened to them, he didn’t know what he would do. His gaze strayed to the pale face of his wife, and he refused to give in to dread.

  West reached for her hand and squeezed her tightly. “We’ll find them.”

  She looked at him with determination, the steel in her eyes tempered by an edge of alarm. “We have to.”

  * * *

  Ivy tried to use logic to banish the panic that threatened. She would have expected Sebastian to be the one to run off and not answer when called, not Leah. That fact made Ivy wonder if she’d done so because of Jasper. Or if something terrible had happened...

  No. She refused to think such a thing.

  Had Leah followed Jasper to keep an eye on him? Though she was only five and a half, she had the natural instinct of a caregiver, probably because she had two younger siblings.

  “Jasper!” The agitated sound of Arabella’s voice drove Ivy to the younger woman.

  Ivy touched her arm soothingly, despite her own apprehension. “We’ll find him.”

  “We should have left him at the house with Charlotte.” Arabella looked positively ashen. Even her lips were a faint gray. “I think I’m going to be ill.” She turned and rushed away, but the distinct sound of her tossing up her accounts was unmistakable.