“It’s nothing, Mother. Truly. There is nothing to tell at this point. He is a very kind gentleman who asked me to go riding with him. Because of the weather, we have postponed our outing. That’s all there is to tell.”
“I do not believe you. However if what you say is true, then you are a bigger fool than you think I am.” Genevieve laughed. “You will tell me before long! Mark my words. J’ai raison. J’en suis certaine.”
Yvette was grateful when they finally arrived at the pretty townhouse where Lisette lived with Quinton Roxbury, her architect husband. The footman helped her mother into the house just as the autumn rain began to fall in earnest. Yvette hurried up the steps behind them, managing to escape most of the rain.
“Oh, such a downpour! It is lucky I am not drowned. Je déteste Londres. Je n’en peux plus de toute cette pluie. If y fait si froid et si humide,” Genevieve exclaimed bitterly as Lisette rushed to greet them in the wide entry hall.
Their mother was in one of her dramatic moods, as always, and Yvette was fast losing patience with her. Luckily, her sister Lisette was there to take over. With her caring nature and calm sweetness, Lisette was the only one of all the Hamilton daughters who had the power to soothe their fractious mother when she was in one of her disagreeable dispositions.
“Oh, Maman, come sit by the fire and dry off,” Lisette exclaimed with worry, fussing over Genevieve and taking her cloak and handing it to her butler. “At least you aren’t too wet.”
“Ah, ma petite fille,” Genevieve murmured. “You look so well, so healthy, so beautiful. How is my newest little granddaughter, the sweet baby?”
Lisette beamed with pride. “Oh, Mother, she is absolutely perfect!”
Yvette hugged her sister, whispering low, “It hasn’t even been a week yet and Mother is quite literally driving me mad.”
“Of course she is,” Lisette whispered back with a secretive laugh. “What did you expect?”
“How shall I ever survive this?” The months until Christmas yawned before Yvette much like a prison sentence.
“You will survive though.” Lisette smiled at her in sympathy. Then she said loudly, “Come, both of you, and have some tea and visit with my daughter and me. Oh, and we have a surprise guest today too!” Lisette took Genevieve’s arm in hers and led her into the drawing room.
“A surprise guest?” Yvette wondered aloud as she followed her mother and sister into the Roxburys’ tastefully decorated parlor. A warm fire glowed in the grate to ward off the fall dampness, candles flickered brightly in the sconces against the rose-patterned wall paper, and an elegant table was set for tea with the finest china. It was a welcoming scene typical of Lisette.
Except for the sight of Jeffrey Eddington standing in the center of the room, with a baby sleeping peacefully in his arms.
She hadn’t expected to see Jeffrey at Lisette’s house today any more than she had at the ball the night before last. The memory of what he’d overheard her saying caused her cheeks to flush slightly. She still felt the shame of her words, even if she hadn’t meant them the way they must have sounded to him.
Now, here he was, with his dark black hair brushed back from his clean-shaven and impossibly handsome face and his sky blue eyes dancing with merriment. He looked quite at home holding Lisette’s infant daughter. In fact, he looked remarkably comfortable with a baby in his arms. The image stunned Yvette.
Surely she had seen him holding one of her nieces or nephews before! Hadn’t he held Phillip or Simon or Sara when they were babies? Or Thomas or one of Lisette’s twins? Why could she not recall a clear memory of that? Why did this scene, of Jeffrey holding baby Elizabeth so sweetly, unsettle her so much?
“Good afternoon, ladies,” he whispered, as he continued to gently rock Elizabeth in his strong arms.
“Ah, monsieur, what a sight for sore eyes you are! Je suis toujours contente de vous voir. Vous êtes un beau scélérat, Lord Eddington, c’est bien pour cela que je vous adore.” Genevieve grinned broadly at Jeffrey, who had always been a favorite of hers.
Lisette escorted their mother to a comfortable chair near the fire and covered her lap with a blanket.
“I told you we had a surprise guest,” Lisette explained, clearly delighted by the turn of events.
“What are you doing here, Jeffrey?” Yvette could not help but ask. She still had not moved from the doorway. At the sharp glance Lisette gave her, Yvette stammered, “What I meant was it’s such a surprise to see you here. We weren’t expecting you.”
Jeffrey flashed her one of his best grins. “I’ve been away so long that I hadn’t seen Quinton and Lisette’s newest addition. I didn’t know that you were going to be here today either, Yvette. Or you, Mrs. Hamilton. But I was delighted when Lisette said you would be joining us.” He walked over to her mother and handed her baby Elizabeth.
Slowly, Yvette took a seat on the sofa across from her mother. Such a goose she was being! She had never felt uncomfortable with Jeffrey Eddington before. He was family. Surely it was because he had seen her with Lord Shelley the night before last. Jeffrey was not stupid. He must have noticed her interest in Lord Shelley.
She had hoped to keep her interest in him a secret until they were more definite, when she was sure of his intentions and she could present him to her family as a fait accompli. How surprised they all would be when the baby of the Hamilton family became a duchess! They would finally see that she had grown up. How she longed for the day when everyone in her family could see that she was just as important as they were.
However, at this point it was still quite tenuous with Lord Shelley, and if things did not end well, she could not bear for her family to think she had somehow lost the chance for a duke.
With things going so well, now she only hoped Jeffrey wouldn’t give her away too soon. She wasn’t quite ready to reveal the wonderful news that a duke was interested in her. Silently, she pleaded with Jeffrey not to mention a word.
Giving her a curious look, Jeffrey took a seat beside her on the small sofa. Had his eyes always been so blue?
“Oh, my granddaughter is beautiful! Quite beautiful!” Genevieve exclaimed with pride, looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms. “Ma petite-fille est belle.”
“I think she looks like Yvette.”
All three women stared at Jeffrey in surprise.
Genevieve looked down at the baby and then looked slowly back up at Jeffrey in astonishment. “Quelle surprise! I think you are right.”
“Elizabeth has Yvette’s fair coloring and blond hair,” Jeffrey continued. “Look, especially around the eyes.”
Yvette stared blankly at Jeffrey, then giggled. “That’s ridiculous. All I’ve heard my whole life is how alike all we Hamilton sisters look. Of course Elizabeth looks like me! She’s Lisette’s daughter and I look like Lisette and Lisette looks like me. And we both look like Colette, Juliette, and Paulette too. We’re all related.”
Jeffrey, shaking his head, continued to press his point. “You all look alike undoubtedly. But each of you has something special about her that sets her apart from the others. Something unique. You have that too, Yvette. I see it in little Elizabeth too.”
Genevieve smiled in delight. “You are a wise man, Lord Eddington, our darling Jeffrey. A most discerning gentleman . Vous avez vraiment raison. Vous remarquez des choses que les autres ne voient pas. Vous êtes un homme sage. He is right. Elizabeth favors her tante Yvette.” She placed a kiss on the baby’s forehead. “Yes, he is quite right. But then handsome gentlemen are usually right about matters concerning beautiful women.”
“Mother!” Lisette scolded lightly. “What a silly thing to say.”
Genevieve was insistent. “But it is true. Ma petite-fille est belle. Quel beau bébé. Elizabeth ressemble vraiment à Yvette. Elizabeth does look like Yvette! Our Jeffrey is quite correct.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Hamilton.” Jeffrey bowed his head gallantly toward Genevieve. He obviously loved being right.
Lisette was
about to reply when she was distracted by the arrival of her towheaded twin boys. Accompanied by their nurse, the tiny duo toddled into the parlor and scampered to the sofa where Yvette and Jeffrey were seated.
“The boys are here!” Yvette exclaimed with gladness. She took a nearly two-year-old Christopher in her arms and pulled him up to her lap. She only knew it was him because his name was embroidered on his little blue jumper. “Hello, sweet boy! Oh my, Lisette, they get bigger every time I see them!” She rained kisses on the boy’s little face, delighting in cries of “Auntie ’Vette.”
It was quite remarkable that Lisette had once been worried that she wouldn’t have any children and now she had three! In total Yvette was currently aunt to eight nieces and nephews. It would be great fun at Christmas when everyone arrived home again and all the children were together!
Smiling broadly, Jeffrey lifted Charles, the other twin, high up into the air, making the boy squeal with laughter. “What a little man you’ve become, Charlie!” He looked over at Lisette as he sat back on the sofa with Charles on his lap. “Now these two boys both favor Quinton, most definitely. But how you ever manage to tell either of them apart is beyond me. They truly are identical!”
Glowing with pride at her handsome little boys, Lisette admitted, “It hasn’t been easy. I’ve started to let Christopher’s hair grow a little longer so it’s easier to identify who is who. I must admit that I live in dread of mixing them up.”
“What does it matter if you mix them up?” Genevieve observed from her chair, airily dismissing her daughter’s fear. “They know who they are. Quelle importance si vous les confondez? Les jumeaux savent qui ils sont eux. Les garçons restent des garçons. Ils n’ont pas tant d’importance .”
“Mother!” Lisette gave Genevieve a hard look of disbelief, her delicate brows furrowed in consternation. “How would you like it if someone always called you by the wrong name?”
Genevieve threw up her hand and waved it in the air. “Eh. I would not care. What does it matter? Boys are boys! Je ne m’en inquièterais pas.”
Lisette frowned in consternation. “Maman, you are being impossible.”
Yvette tried to contain her laughter. Genevieve was in rare form today. Lisette, usually the picture of serenity, was already losing patience with their mother and they had only just arrived. Yvette fervently wished she could leave her mother here with Lisette for a few days.
Just then, Lisette’s husband, Quinton Roxbury, entered the room. Quinton was tall with golden blond hair and most handsome. Yvette thought he was smart, funny, and kind too. As far as brothers-in-law went, she had acquired four good ones over the years. She wondered idly how Lord Shelley would fit in with her sisters’ husbands. She tried to imagine him sitting here with her family and playing with the children, and she had a bit of difficulty doing so.
“Well, look who’s here!” Quinton made a fuss over Genevieve, making her flush with happiness. He gave her a kiss on the cheek in greeting. “Hello, Maman. It’s good to see you.”
Quinton laughed when he saw Yvette and Jeffrey cuddled together on the small sofa with Charles and Christopher in their arms. “And don’t you two look like a happy little family with my twin sons on your laps!”
Yvette caught Jeffrey’s gaze at that moment and she held her breath. A dark intensity in his blue eyes held her spell-bound. She blinked rapidly.
“They look adorable!” Lisette agreed, smiling at Yvette and Jeffrey with an amused expression on her face.
Genevieve joined in. “They do! How wonderful! They look like a lovely family. Oh, ils forment une belle famille.”
With her cheeks warming inexplicably, Yvette gave a nervous laugh and avoided Jeffrey’s eyes. “As if the infamous Lord Eddington would ever settle down and raise a family!”
“You never know. I might.” Jeffrey winked mischievously at them. “If I found the right woman.”
“That’s right,” Lisette pointed out with her usual optimism. “Jeffrey will make a wonderful husband and father someday. I’m quite positive of that. He just hasn’t met the right woman for him yet.”
“Run while you can, old fellow. They’re plotting your future,” Quinton cautioned in a joking manner.
“If I recall correctly, you started this whole line of conversation, my friend.” Jeffrey laughed as he handed little Charlie to his father.
Later that afternoon, after the children had been returned to the nursery and the adults had enjoyed their tea, Yvette noticed that the sky had cleared up considerably and the sun sparkled through the windows of Lisette’s parlor. She frowned at the sudden change of weather, which had ruined her original plans with Lord Shelley.
“Why the sad face, Yvette?” Jeffrey asked, eyeing her intently.
Before she could respond, her mother answered for her. “She is disappointed because the rain ruined her plans for riding in the park this afternoon. And now the sun has come out. Elle est déçue parce que la pluie l’a empéchée de voir un certain monsieur.”
“Oh, who were you to go riding with, Yvette?” Her sister’s face suddenly lit up with interest.
“Oh, no one you know. It really doesn’t matter,” Yvette said hurriedly, eager to change the subject. She was simply not ready to discuss it with them now, and she wished her mother had kept her mouth closed. It was entirely too soon. Yvette was still not sure of Lord Shelley’s intentions. “Would anyone care for more tea?”
Jeffrey eyed her with an amused expression, his blue eyes dancing. Yvette blinked.
“Are you keeping company with someone?” Lisette asked, her tone curious.
“No, I’m not keeping anyone’s company at the moment,” Yvette said through gritted teeth. “I assure you that when I am, I will let you know.”
“Come, Yvette. I can take you riding now if you like,” Jeffrey suggested brightly. “It’s cleared enough and the sunshine might cheer you up a bit.”
“Oh, yes! Thank you, Jeffrey. That would be lovely.” Yvette rose from the sofa in eagerness to leave. Jeffrey. He understood how she needed to escape her mother and sister’s prying. He was such a dear at times!
“Well, that might be just the thing she needs, Jeffrey. C’est une idée merveilleuse, mon garcon! Emmenez-la se promener en voiture. Vous savez comment lui remonter le moral. Good luck with her.” Genevieve waved them off with a smile.
Oddly enough, it struck Yvette as quite humorous that she had begun the day thinking she would be riding with Lord Shelley and she was ending up in a carriage with Jeffrey Eddington instead!
5
Secrets
Once settled in his elegant black carriage, Jeffrey looked at Yvette with sympathy. “Where would you like to go, my girl?”
“Anywhere.” She sighed heavily, resting her head against the cushioned leather seat. “Thank you for rescuing me from them.”
“My pleasure.” He gave instructions to the driver and sat back beside Yvette.
The carriage slowly made its way down the puddle-strewn cobblestone lane, toward the park, while the sun, hanging low in the September sky, peeked between gray clouds.
Jeffrey looked at Yvette, her cheeks flushed with a mixture of frustration and embarrassment. There was no need to pretend with her. She knew that he knew. “You shall have to tell them all eventually.”
“I realize that and I can’t wait to tell them,” she said, sounding somewhat weary. “I truly wish to tell them. I do. But I need to be certain I have something definite to share with them first.”
“Something definite?”
She hesitated. “Yes . . .”
“You mean a proposal?” he asked, not really surprised.
“From Lord Shelley?”
Yvette’s soft cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink as she admitted, “Well . . . yes. Or at least close to a proposal.”
“Do you think that is a possibility in your immediate future?”
She nodded firmly, her dainty chin resolute. “I have every indication that it is.”
“Then why not tell them now? They are your family. Your mother. Your sister. They love you and only want the best for you. May I ask why you are keeping your interest in Lord Shelley such a big secret?”
Yvette’s robin’s-egg-blue eyes looked up at him, and for the first time, Jeffrey saw something in them he had not expected to see. They fairly glittered with determination, and something in his chest tightened at the sight.
She said, “I’ve had marriage proposals before and turned them down because I simply was not interested. This time is different. It may sound silly to you, but I don’t wish to spoil anything by mentioning him too soon.”
“But are you not completely certain of him?” He watched her carefully.
She grudgingly admitted, “There is one obstacle.” After a moment of silence, Jeffrey prompted her. “And who would that be?”
“Miss Jane Fairmont.”
“Ah, so you do have some competition. . . .” He liked the sound of that, although for the life of him, he couldn’t imagine any man choosing another woman when he could have Yvette Hamilton.
“It seems that way, yes.” Her tone was depressed.
“I’ve met Miss Fairmont before. She’s a very pretty girl. Good family.”
Sounding a bit deflated, Yvette agreed with his compliment. “Yes. I know.”
“Are you in love with him?” Surprising himself with the question, Jeffrey could not stop the words from escaping his mouth.
Yvette turned her gaze to the window. “I’m not sure yet.” Relief washed over him. She wasn’t in love with Lord Shelley! This fact only hardened his resolve to dissuade her from marrying the man. “You don’t love him, yet you wish to be his wife.” He paused before pointedly adding, “His duchess.”
She did not hesitate in her firm reply. “Yes.”
“I see.” But Jeffrey didn’t see. He couldn’t believe that his sweet little Yvette, now a grown woman sitting beside him, could be so deluded.
“Well then,” he said. “It seems your mind is made up. Is there anything I can do to help?”
His By Christmas (Hamilton Sisters) Page 4