Five Golden Rings: A Christmas Collection

by Sophie Barnes

  But she’d been wrong. In the very next moment, he’d taken a step back. The heat in his gaze diminished in a blink, making her realize it had only been a trick of the moonlight. Everything was the same as it had always been.

  It was maddening.

  Once, just once, she’d like to see him ruffled. Or at the very least, unsettled. Because that’s how he made her feel. And after so many years, Penelope Alexia Rutledge was tired of it.

  The truth was—a truth she never admitted aloud—he was the reason she hadn’t accepted the proposals she’d received. Of course, she hadn’t known it at the time. Not entirely.

  She’d had her first inkling after she’d danced with Ethan’s brother at her debut. She feared that her clumsy, gangly limbs would return. Yet, for some reason, dancing with Edmund was simple. It was nearly like dancing with her instructor. Or like dancing with a brother. Since their families were so closely knit, it had always been easy to imagine Edmund as an older brother.

  For years, she’d tried to think of Ethan as a brother, too.

  She’d tried . . . and she’d failed.

  Especially last night.

  For a moment, she’d thought for sure he felt it too, but she was wrong. Now, she couldn’t help but wonder if, all this time, Ethan thought of her merely as a sister.

  She sighed, trying not to dwell on it. Instead, she focused on her reason for being here.

  “I think I’ll take the deep green, the peacock blue, and the black,” she told the clerk before she turned toward a selection of ribbons.

  “I thought I’d find you here,” said a familiar voice.

  Standing beside the display was none other than the source of all her angst and frustration. As usual, Ethan looked perfectly groomed, his cravat perfectly pleated, his shoulders perfectly straight. His unruly curls were tamed into submission. His pale camel coat made his features appear darker and accentuated the color of his eyes. This morning, she noted how they were an interesting mix of tea and firelit copper.

  However, she was sure it was simply another trick of the light coming through the shop’s window. “Good morning, Ethan.”

  “Good morning, Pen.” He grinned, flashing his pointed teeth as if laughing at his own private joke.

  She didn’t know what to make of that grin and didn’t particularly like the way it made her aware of how her heart fluttered. “Surely, you haven’t run out of handkerchiefs and are here for a fresh supply.”

  His grin remained. “Surely not. I have an entire drawer dedicated to the handkerchiefs you’ve given me over the years.”

  Ah yes. He would like that she’d given him the same gift each year. If she didn’t already know his middle name was Holbrook, she’d almost believe it was Same. Ethan Same Weatherstone. “Then why are you here?”

  He blinked at her terseness. “As I said, I knew you would be here.”

  She saw her own sameness as a mark of failure. When was she going to branch out? When was she going to alter her routine?

  Soon, she promised. Very soon. “Yes, of course.”

  As a matter of fact, she was one step closer. After hailing a hansom cab for this morning’s excursion, she proceeded to ask the driver a few important questions. She soon discovered that her idea of a private coach would be far too costly. However, the helpful driver made a quick suggestion of traveling by mail coach and offered to take her to the nearest posting station. Now, she had a new plan and the list of stops along the mail coach’s route tucked inside her reticule.

  “I knew you would want plenty of supplies for your needlework before we left for Surrey the day after tomorrow,” he supplied, as if this somehow made her predictability more acceptable. One of her regrets would be missing their combined families’ Christmas and the winter months in the country. When it snowed, their neighboring estates shared an expanse of land that resembled what she imagined heaven would look like if it drifted down to the earth.

  “I’m out running errands as well,” he continued.

  This was her cue to ask even though she already knew. His mother had spoken of the jewelry last night at dinner. “Oh?”

  “Mother is giving Edmund’s wife a portion of my grandmother’s jewelry for Christmas. She’s asked that I take it to the jewelers to have it cleaned and polished. I thought you would accompany me.” He gave her a look of uncertainty, as if this was the first time he thought of her not agreeing. “Unless you have another engagement.”

  If only. “No, of course not. I’d be happy to accompany you.”

  Ethan approached the clerk at the counter, asking to settle her full account. He knew her father would have seen to it, yet each year he paid for her needlework supplies. There was no use trying to talk him out of it. She’d tried before without any success.

  She would almost say he was generous to a fault, but she could find no fault in this particularity of his. Years ago, he’d explained that this was his gift to her. That, because she enjoyed her needlework so much, he could think of nothing better to give her.

  Her heart had tripped at the time, or perhaps even still.

  Foolish, foolish heart.

  Most likely, he did it because it was easier than shopping for her. Their families always celebrated Christmas together, and they exchanged small trifles. By doing this, Ethan didn’t have to worry about wrapping anything for her. Each year, he merely held her gaze for a moment and gave her a nod before he proceeded to unwrap his embroidered handkerchiefs.

  For him, it was probably simpler this way.

  Yet for her and her foolish heart, it made her think of him each time she held her needle and thread. With each stitch, she knew she was holding his gift in her hands. His thoughtfulness. His generosity. Perhaps even his regard for her, little though it might be.

  They left the shop and strolled together down the damp walk. The air was misty and cold, but not so much that it would force them to take his carriage. He told his driver to go on ahead and wait for them at the jeweler’s a few doors down.

  Outside the shop ahead of them, stood a mother with her two children, and another woman a step apart, who Penelope surmised was the nurse. The two little boys in their caps and coats beamed up at their mother with cherubic grins as they each twisted a peppermint stick in their mouths.

  “A treat, indeed,” Ethan murmured quietly, bending his head so that his comment was only heard by her. “No wonder they’re behaving.”

  She looked up at him from under the brim of her hat, a smile tugging at her lips. “Is that all it took for you when you were young?”

  “Sometimes, but not as often as mother would have liked, I’m sure.” He chuckled and touched her elbow, guiding her steps around a puddle. “Unfortunately, Edmund and I were very good at discovering trouble. I’d even go so far as to say we were scholars of mischief.”

  As much as she liked the thought of his younger self, she laughed and shook her head. “You? Abandoning yourself to chaos? I can hardly believe that.”

  His grin faded, and his eyes were suddenly cast in a far-off look. “Yes, well, those were the follies of youth.”

  He said it in such a resolved way that it caused her to understand immediately. He’d been a hellion, but only before his father had died. After that, and since she’d known him, he’d left behind his scholarly endeavors.

  Penelope had gone through a similar transformation, choosing to leave behind her childhood rather abruptly when her mother had died. This was why she understood Ethan. She knew he liked order and structure because he could count on it. He liked the control it gave him.

  Until recently, she’d looked to Ethan for her structure. He was so regimented that it was comforting for her to know that she could count on him always staying the same.

  Only now . . . she’d changed.

  It wasn’t his fault. It was hers. She didn’t want same any longer. She wanted more.

  “We are fortunate in that regard,” he said, breaking into her thoughts. After a curious glance from her, he conti
nued with an absent gesture to the children as they passed. “We don’t have to worry about mischievous children, tears, or sticky hands. We can spoil our nieces and nephews with peppermint sticks to curb errant behavior, then hand them over to their parents.”

  She nodded thoughtfully, realizing that a few years ago she would have agreed with him without question. However, since her sister’s last visit, she wasn’t entirely sure.

  In fact, she believed that her uncertainty was one of the reasons behind her restlessness and her need to get away. She was sure that if she had a moment to look at these feelings, from a distance, she could begin to understand and overcome this terrible disquiet.

  “Yes, in a few years, when my sister’s children are older, I may offer them a sweet to earn a plump-cheeked grin,” she said, as they neared the jeweler’s shop window. “However, I can tell you this with certainty, when my nephew scraped his knee last week and ran crying into the room, it wasn’t into my arms but into his mother’s. There is a profound difference in that, I’m afraid.”

  Ethan opened the door for her but stared at her quizzically as if her response was something he’d never considered. In a sense, she’d just spooned cream into his marmalade again.

  However, their conversation ended abruptly as they entered the jeweler’s. Wearing an apron over his waistcoat and shirtsleeves, the bearded shopkeeper greeted them. Ethan went straight to the business at hand, asking if his grandmother’s jewelry could be cleaned tomorrow since they were leaving for the country at the week’s end.

  The shopkeeper looked at Ethan, then pointedly down to his wares beneath the glass, a gesture that even Penelope recognized as a request for a favor in turn.

  “We are so fortunate to find such a lovely selection and so close to Christmas,” she said, coming forward and placing her gloved hands on the glass, her face crafted in a mask of delight. “I daresay, Mr. Weatherstone, your mother would love a pair of these emerald earbobs.”

  Ethan caught her eye and nodded in understanding, transforming his brusque business manner into one of cordiality. “I do believe emeralds are her favorite. Might I see the pair?”

  “Yes, of course,” the shopkeeper said with grin, and chafed his hands together. “These are very special. Not another pair like it. All my jewelry is one of a kind.”

  She’d heard those words before at other jeweler’s shops, each one vying to appeal to a woman’s vanity and desire to stand out from the crowd. However, it would hardly serve Ethan’s cause to point out that she’d seen similar pieces on her friends. “These are lovely, as well.” She pointed to a pair of pink coral clusters suspended from an inverted silver urn.

  “One of my particularly favorite pairs. They would complement your coloring—”

  “Miss Rutledge doesn’t have pierced ears,” Ethan interrupted.

  She never knew he’d noticed. Self-consciously, she reached up to touch one bare lobe and realized he was watching her. “Do you think I should?”

  His wolfish grin came out to play again, as if he was enjoying his own private joke. Surely, there must be something different with the light this morning to cause his eyes to smolder like copper over a fire?

  Leisurely, his gaze seemed to take in every detail of her face, sweeping over her lashes, down the bridge of her nose—slowly as if cataloging every freckle—and then to her mouth. Here, she could almost feel his gaze on her flesh, like a phantom kiss. A kiss they’d never shared.

  Finally, he looked from one bare lobe to the other. He pursed his lips slightly as he swallowed. “No,” was the only answer he gave, but something in the way he said it made her feel quite warm.

  She averted her face to hide her blush.

  “Perhaps she would prefer a beautiful brooch?” The shopkeeper eagerly reached into the next case and produced a jade tortoise accented with cabochon garnets. “This came from the farthest reaches of the Orient.”

  “No doubt,” Ethan said convincingly, as if equally certain. Yet she knew him better than that and wondered what game he was playing. “And perhaps all manner of reptiles make for fashionable jewelry in the farthest reaches of the Orient, as well. What say you, Miss Rutledge,” he asked without turning away from the shopkeeper. “Do you prefer one reptile over another? Snakes, perhaps?”

  She pressed her lips together in an effort to hide her smile. “I cannot say I’m overly fond of any type of reptile, Mr. Weatherstone.”

  “Miss Rutledge does not care for tortoises,” Ethan said, matter-of-fact, causing the shopkeeper to snatch away the brooch.

  “Yes, of course,” he stammered apologetically, as he found yet another brooch, this one even larger than the tortoise. “Perhaps a young woman of her refined taste would prefer something more like this bird of paradise.”

  The bird was truly hideous. Nearly the size of her hand, the brooch was a garish conglomeration of multicolored gemstones, so bright it nearly hurt her eyes to look at it. In an effort to save her vision, she looked up to study Ethan’s profile.

  “One of a kind?” he asked.

  “Yes, of course,” the shopkeeper stated proudly. “It comes from the farthest reaches of Africa.”

  He tapped his index finger against his lip as if truly considering it. She was about to balk, but then noticed the faintest smile curve the corner of his mouth. “Do you have anything that doesn’t reach quite so far?”

  A laugh escaped her, the sound coming out like a strangled hiccup. She pressed her fingertips to her mouth to stifle any more sudden bursts of joviality. Neither of the gentlemen regarded her, but she was certain that Ethan was also fighting to control his amusement in the way he scrubbed his hand over his mouth as if smoothing his nonexistent mustachios.

  The shopkeeper put the enormous bird brooch back in the case. “Perhaps if I knew her favorite gemstone, I might be of greater assistance.”

  “Miss Rutledge prefers sapphires.”

  Her gaze turned sharply to his. “I do?”

  Smug as ever, he grinned, practically daring her to deny it. Of course, the smile was most likely left over from a moment ago. After all, how could he know such a thing? She was sure they’d never spoken of gemstones before.

  “I have just the thing,” the shopkeeper announced with excitement, as if this were a scavenger hunt, and he was determined to win the parlor game. “Wait a moment. I keep my most prized possessions in the safe.”

  In the next instant, he disappeared behind a curtained doorway.

  Penelope studied Ethan. She was used to his teasing, but this . . . this was something different. Truthfully, she didn’t know what to make of it. “I do believe that all you had to do to get your mother’s jewelry cleaned was to buy the emerald earbobs.”

  “I know.” He chuckled and reached his hand up as if to touch her face but then lowered it instead and shrugged. “I wanted to give you an adventure. You are having fun, are you not?”

  She blinked in wide-eyed awe. “This diversion is for me?”

  He looked away as if embarrassed by the admission. “A small morning adventure.”

  It was probably the sweetest thing he’d ever done. If she hadn’t always loved him, she would definitely have fallen in love with him in this moment.

  Oh, how she hated him for surprising her and making her love him all over again. It made being close to him all the more confusing.

  “Ethan, I—” She was about to tell him that this didn’t change anything, that especially now she needed to put some distance between them, but at that precise moment the shopkeeper came back in, holding a small, blue velvet box.

  “Now this is truly unique. Very special,” he announced with a flourish as he set the box down and opened the lid.

  This time he did not exaggerate. The ring was like nothing she’d ever seen. She gasped, because that was what one did when confronted with such brilliance and beauty. The ring was a masterpiece of artistry with a single center diamond surrounded by six dark blue sapphires the color of midnight.

  “Se
e how they catch the light?”

  She nodded. It was impossible that stones so dark could give off such radiance, but they did.

  “And the filigree work in gold. See how the artist filled the swirls with blue enamel?”

  Penelope couldn’t speak. She could only stare. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she’d ever seen.

  “Surely, it was crafted for royalty.” Even Ethan sounded awestruck.

  “You have a discerning eye, sir.” He carefully adjusted his glove before he picked the ring from the box, enticing them by turning it in the light. “Yes, indeed, it was a betrothal present for an Egyptian princess. Her young man commissioned this ring to be made for their wedding, but when word reached him that her father was not going to approve the match, the young man took matters into his own hands. He stole away with the princess in the middle of the night. Fearing capture if they returned, the ring stayed at the jeweler’s for decades until finally it ended up here.”

  Ethan had the strength to look away, apparently not as captivated by the ring and its history as she. “With a story like that, you’ll be sure to sell this ring in no time. And to think, the earbobs took no story at all for the sale.”

  The shopkeeper smiled pleasantly, taking the news without argument. He set the ring back inside the box and closed the lid without warning. She watched the velvet box disappear behind the counter as Ethan drew the pouch of his mother’s jewelry from his inner coat pocket.

  The men completed their transaction with few words, and, before she knew it, she and Ethan were climbing into his carriage.

  Ethan settled himself across from her, eyeing her with curiosity as the driver returned them to Danbury Lane.

  Since he’d tried so hard to give her an adventure, even a small one of silliness, she didn’t want him to think her silence was because she was displeased. “I feel sad for the ring.”

  He chuckled. “Whatever for?”

  “Because it was left behind,” she said simply. “It’s been sitting in a box all this time, just waiting for something monumental to happen.”

  In an instant, Ethan’s gaze turned from amusement to disapproval. “You’re still talking about adventures, I see.”