The Wrong Earl For Christmas
Page 5
“There you are!” said her mother. “I was wondering if you would ever come down.”
“I had to see the celebration in all its wonder, didn’t I?”
“You have the entire night for that. Come meet your future husband. He is speaking with your father. They are getting along splendidly even though I had my doubts about that. But I am not trying to make a match for him, after all.”
Elizabeth didn’t smile at the joke. “Mother, please. May I just enjoy this for a little while?”
“Listen to me, dear…”
“No. You listen to me, for once. I do not want to meet the man you have chosen. I have spent many hours lately deciding whether I love or hate Gareth. The only conclusion I could reach is that love is the one emotion that would drive me to consider it so thoroughly. The one that might make me feel like I am being torn apart to not be with him. If he asked me to run away again today, I would gladly do it.”
“Let us not go so far with words we may never take back.”
“I do not wish to take any of them back.”
“Do not make a row today, of all days.”
“If a row is what it will take then I will continue to fight for my happiness. What else can I do?”
Mrs. Harris’s face looked almost amused. “You never did listen very closely. Will you just look at the man your father is speaking to?”
“I refuse.”
“If you were to be truly unhappy do you think I could bear it?”
Elizabeth sighed. She saw no reason to fight with her mother any further about simply looking in the man’s direction. It was all she had to do. She prepared herself for someone who would be round, bald, sloppy, and wine drunk. Her potential husband. She prepared for the most depressing point of her life.
“There is nothing to do but look quickly,” said her mother. “A moment of courage buys a lifetime of bliss.”
As Elizabeth thought of using that moment to strangle the woman, she turned to look across the room at the man her father was speaking to instead. Her knees went weak. His face, his hair, his hands, were all beautiful. The black tailcoat he wore was tailored perfectly and created quite the dashing image with khaki pantaloons and tall boots. Gareth caught her eye and smiled. It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her as she faced her mother again.
“I would say that look is thanks enough, but I am not at all sure it is a friendly one,” said Mrs. Harris.
“Was it to be Gareth all along?”
“Of course. You have been having secret meetings with him since you were children. Lord Bainford is the obvious choice. Some might say the only choice.”
“Why would you put me through all this?”
“All what, dear?”
“Why play all these games?” said Elizabeth.
“I take matchmaking seriously. None of it was ever a game.”
“What would you call telling me it was a man from Lortan, of all places?”
“I call it a piece of information you should have accepted and left it at that. If I had wanted you to know more, I would have told you.”
“And giving Melony fake names to search for?”
“They certainly were not names to search for,” said Mrs. Harris. “I suspected you might pull any number of details out of her. Though it pained me to fib, I could hardly speak plainly about any real plans.”
“But why would you let it go on? Gareth went to Lortan chasing shadows. I was going insane thinking you wanted to send me off to marry a despicable man.”
“All I asked my daughter to do was to trust me. To know I always have her best interests at heart and that I had chosen who I wanted her to marry. I cannot control your actions or the mischief you dragged Lord Bainford into.”
“But how can I trust anything amid this infuriating secrecy? What was the point of it all?”
Mrs. Harris looked at the tree. The colored candles on it flickered a warm symphony of light through the room. When she turned back to her daughter, there were tears in her eyes.
“Happy Christmas, my dear child.”
Elizabeth felt a rush of emotion as she hugged her mother, surprising the woman with the sudden embrace.
“Thank you,” she said.
Mrs. Harris rubbed her daughter’s back. “Now you go speak with your future husband.”
Elizabeth could not smile more brightly as she walked toward Gareth. Her body was shaking more than she had expected. It was only her childhood friend. But right then, he was so much more. Her father met her halfway.
“Are you pleased?” said Mr. Harris.
“Pleased? It is like a miracle.”
“It’s a fine season for miracles. Now the Christmas tree has saved your life as well.”
He smiled as he made his way through the crowd. Elizabeth watched as Gareth moved toward the door to the next room. She joined him at the entrance. They stared into each other’s eyes for several moments, neither knowing how to start.
“Are you running away from me?” she finally said.
“Not in the least. I was only finding a comfortable place to stand. Are you still angry with me?”
“I have not decided yet. When did you know this was happening?”
“Certainly not when I was walking around Lortan. I felt like a buffoon the whole time. It was not until your parents paid me a visit that I was apprised of your mother’s true intentions.”
“And how did you feel about them?”
“The same way I felt when I came to your window,” he said.
“What did you do with everything in our library? Some of those mementos meant the world to me.”
“That is why an abandoned library was no place for them. I moved everything to my home.”
“That was very presumptuous of you, Lord Bainford.”
“Perhaps it was wishful, Miss Harris. A man is allowed to dream.”
“This entire thing feels like a crazy dream. As if it is a story from one of the books we read as children.”
“That was a long time ago. Now we are adults. We have big things to decide. What is to be our forever?”
“I am going to marry my best friend,” she said.
“Am I more agreeable than an earl from Lortan?”
“You are the most agreeable earl I know.”
“I am glad you said that. This would be awkward if you hadn’t.”
“What would?”
Lord Bainford smirked as he nodded toward something hanging over their heads. Elizabeth glanced up then blushed. Mistletoe and evergreens were bunched together in a sphere.
“That was your nefarious scheme when you strolled over here?” she said. “To lure me underneath the kissing bough?”
“You followed quite readily. And you are the one who put it there.”
“So we must do what we must do, I’m afraid. Anything else would bring us bad luck.”
“I have always been in love with you.”
“You took long enough to say it.”
“Sometimes the fondest desires of our hearts are the most difficult to chase.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Happy Christmas.”
She leaned into him and closed her eyes. Gareth held her around the waist as he kissed her. The violin played on in the background. Pleasant chatter went throughout the room. Snowflakes fell gently against the windows. The tree glowed softly. Life was beautiful.
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