Have Yourself a Merry Little Secret : a Christmas collection of historical romance (Have Yourself a Merry Little... Book 2)

by Collette Cameron

  But he was not just someone she had met. He was a Czar, and telling her anything could not just reveal his secret, but perhaps put her in the most dangerous of plots.

  “If you do not wish to speak of it,” Anne’s voice cut through his thoughts, “you do not have to.”

  Maxim glanced over and saw her smile gently. There was surely no danger in telling the truth here. While Éduard would surely tell him to beware any woman – he had been caught that way before – Anne’s enquiry was innocent.

  “I certainly miss the winters,” he said, his throat feeling strangely dry as they turned and started making their way back to St. James’ Court. “You do not have real winter here in England, I think. No icicles hanging from your nose when you step outside, no mountains.”

  “Icicles on your nose?”

  “In the depths of winter, you would be lucky to get away with that,” Maxim said with a wry smile. “And in the palace I grew up in, the winter palace, we would have fires in every room just to keep out the chill.”

  Just one glance told him all he needed to know.

  “It really is disgraceful, you know,” he quipped. “My own future bride not believing me.”

  Anne laughed in turn. “You do not actually think we will get married, do you?”

  The words ‘of course not’ were on the tip of his tongue when a cloud moved and sunlight lit up Anne’s entire face. Maxim’s breath caught in his throat. She was perfection, and she had been handed to him on a plate. He would be mad to walk away from her – mad!

  “Are you quite well, Maxim?” Anne’s voice was close by and he blinked. She had moved closer, halting her mare beside his horse. “You look very strange.”

  Maxim looked around them. They were alone.

  Dropping his reins, he reached out and caressed Anne’s cheek before pulling her face towards him. She did not resist, her lips meeting his with just as much passion as that which he poured down upon them.

  If they had not been mounted on different horses, it could have been different. As it was, Maxim was unable to pull her into his arms, but if anything that just made the kiss more tender.

  Eventually, they broke apart.

  “I must not get accustomed to this treatment,” Anne breathed, her blue eyes searching his. “When we announce the end of our engagement on Christmas Day, I may end up missing you.”

  Maxim swallowed. “I know I will miss you even if we decided to end the engagement now.”

  She stared, as though attempting to decipher any secret meaning in his words, and then she chuckled gently and moved her horse forwards.

  “Your Czar charm won’t fool me.”

  Maxim watched her back as she rode ahead of him, and then remembered he needed to be moving too and touched Thunder into action.

  “Yes,” he said, awkwardly. “Czar charm.”

  Chapter 6

  “Absolutely not.”

  “But – ”

  “No buts,” Anne said firmly. “I promised one more story, and how many more did I read?”

  Meredith, eyelids drooping with tiredness, muttered, “Two.”

  “Two,” repeated Anne, unable to keep the smile from her face. “And now you have to go to sleep.”

  Meredith’s bed chamber was dark, with a single candle lit on her bedside table, but it was enough to make every pearl on Anne’s court gown shimmer.

  “It is not fair,” pouted Meredith, a small frown puckering her forehead. “Why can you go to balls, and parties, and see princes and kings, and I have to go to bed?”

  Anne smiled this time. “Because I am far older, and far wiser.”

  For some reason, this response seemed to concern the younger girl. “But what if I get older without getting any wiser?”

  “Then you will have to pay far more attention to your tutor when we return home,” Anne said gently. She had not intended this to be a lecture; she was late already to meet her father, and if she did not hurry, he was going to start to fret.

  “I hate Miss McPhearson!”

  “I know,” said Anne soothingly, brushing back Meredith’s hair from her face, “but you need to learn things if you are going to be wise. Come on now, I will blow out the candle.”

  But her hand was stayed by one a little smaller than hers. “Were you wise when you were my age?”

  A twinge of awkwardness pulled at Anne’s heart, but she attempted to brush past it. “Absolutely not! I had to grow up before I was wise enough to attend balls.”

  And even then, a small voice said in her mind, you were not really wise enough, were you?

  Kissing Meredith and tucking her in tightly, Anne smiled at the drowsy child and whispered, “Sweet dreams.”

  She picked up the candle and by the time she shut the door behind her, Meredith’s breathing had already slowed to slumberland.

  Anne leaned against the door. It was getting harder as Meredith got older, but she had known that would happen. Any little girl without a mother was going to become a handful, but at some point, Meredith would need to know.

  She swallowed back the emotion threatening to fall from her eyes. If only her mother had lived. Anne would have someone to talk to then, a woman who could guide her during this difficult time.

  But this was getting her nowhere. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed down her gown and tried to ignore the stiffness in the bodice. She cannot stay here, standing outside Meredith’s bed chamber. She has to go to the court ball, and be seen with Maxim.

  Not that that was a hardship! Why, just yesterday when they had gone horse riding, every moment with him had been intoxicating. The mere thought of ever going horse riding again, to try and share that closeness, was madness.

  She need not have concerned herself with her father missing her, at any rate. As Anne entered the ballroom, she was forced into a corner by the sheer number of people. Sir Thomas was a few yards away chatting animatedly to someone who looked like a duke, and Maxim was nowhere to be seen.

  Disappointment caught at her throat, making it sore. Maxim had spent the day not with her, but waiting for a royal audience with Prinny. She had not realised it was possible to feel the lack of someone you had only met a few days before, but he was…

  Well. Anne swallowed and tried to plaster a smile on her face. He was starting to become the reason she got out of bed in the morning. He was far more vibrant, interesting, and stimulating than anyone she had ever met.

  After years of boredom and monotony, helping her father to raise Meredith, Maxim was a wonderful distraction – even if he was going to disappear once Christmas Day arrived.

  Suddenly, a wave of loneliness washed over her. She would be so alone once they returned to Romney with just Meredith and her father.

  Perhaps it would be better if she just married Maxim…

  Anne pushed away the thought as she spotted a handsome man in more gold finery than was good for him dancing on the other side of the room.

  Dancing – with another woman!

  Hot fiery anger flooded through her veins, and something that tasted very much like jealousy rose in her stomach. What did Maxim think he was doing, dancing with another woman?

  As quickly as the emotions had come, Anne forced them down. She was not a jealous woman as a general rule, and she does not like it – but she liked the way that Maxim was smiling at that another woman even less.

  A gaggle of chucking gentlemen moved past her at such speed that Anne was forced to take a step back. She could not truly be falling in love with Maxim, could she?

  That would be ridiculous. The last thing she should be doing was opening her heart to another, particularly someone like Maxim. How many other women had he seduced on the journey to here from Russia?

  Anne swallowed. Falling in love; she knew where that could lead, and it did not lead to happiness.

  In that moment, Maxim spotted her. His eyes lit up, even from this far across the ballroom, and without saying another word to his partner, he bowed and then left her standing in t
he dance.

  The young woman stared, evidently outraged. She was forced to step back and allow the other dancers – those who still had partners – to continue on.

  A flash of pleasure roared into Anne’s heart but she pushed it away just as sternly. It was wrong to find pleasure in another person’s disappointment, surely?

  Maxim had reached her, clicking his heels and kissing her hand, which made Anne smile.

  “My lady,” he said in his deep, calming voice. “I thought I would never gain the pleasure of looking at you today, and so you have given me the greatest gift possible. Here is a small attempt to make amends.”

  In her hand he placed a small box, wrapped in brown paper and with a silver ribbon.

  Anne could not help but laugh at his sparkling eyes and way with words. “Another gift? What is it?”

  Maxim’s smile matched hers. “You will have to open it to see.”

  It took only a minute to pull the ribbon and wrappings away, and Anne gasped as two large diamond earrings appeared inside the box.

  Her eyes grew. “I-I cannot accept these.”

  “Of course you can.”

  Anne looked up. Maxim’s face was diffused with pleasure, but as she looked down at the earrings, a sense of just what a dangerous dance they were weaving came over her.

  “Maxim,” she managed to say, “these must be worth – ”

  “You are my future bride,” he said magnanimously. “You must have diamonds!”

  Pulling them out of the box, Maxim leaned forward to place them in her ears. “Besides,” he whispered, his breath caressing her neck, “it is expected.”

  Anne turned her head slightly as he placed the first earbob in her ear, and saw Prinny watching them, muttering to one of his companions. As she turned her head in the other direction, her father came into view. He was nodding approvingly.

  Anne worked hard not to roll her eyes. Always watched, always putting on a performance. Did Maxim never grow tired of it?

  “And now, I would like to dance with you,” Maxim said impressively. “Come, I think they are making up a new set.”

  Anne glanced over to the dancers. “I…I have not danced in public for a while. You will have to forgive any mistakes.”

  Maxim took her by the hand, which he squeezed as they walk over. “Why not?”

  Thankfully, it was possible for Anne to ignore this question, as by the time they had reached the set, the dance was about to begin.

  Maxim held out his hand. “My lady.”

  A shiver of anticipation flowed through Anne’s entire body, and as their hands touched, heat seared along her fingers. There was something about Maxim; something she could not explain, but her body seemed to know.

  Weaving in and out of the other dancers, Anne did not take her eyes from him, and his gaze never left her. It was as though they were the only ones in the room, the only people in the world. Anne felt her breath catch in her chest every time they came close together, and the temptation to lean in and steal a kiss, even before all the court…

  “I want to kiss you,” murmured Maxim as they came together, their hands interlinked. “And I know you want it.”

  Desire thrilled through her as she stared into his dark eyes, a smile dancing on her lips. “How could you possibly know that?”

  Maxim smiled. “I know.”

  It was fortunate for Anne that the dance ended at that moment, and gentle applause rang out around them, as it drowned out the half-formed thought that escaped her lips.

  “I think I am falling – ”

  “I shall get you a drink, my lady,” Maxim said with a grin. “‘Tis warm in here, it is not?”

  And with that, he was gone.

  Anne breathed out and tried to calm her beating heart. He was everything she had ever hoped for – no, had ceased to hope for. She could never have expected any gentleman like this would ever want her.

  “Miss Anne Marsh.”

  She turned to see who had spoken, and was immediately accosted by a well-dressed elderly gentlewoman who was frowning.

  Anne curtsied low. She did not have to know who this woman is to see it would be ungracious not to give her all the deference of a queen.

  The lady looked a little mollified as she said, “Lady Romeril. I thought in incumbent upon me, Miss Marsh, as you have no mother, to warn you about that man.”

  With her last two words, Lady Romeril pointed her fan towards Maxim.

  Anne’s cheeks darkened as she said, “My lady, I do not – ”

  “He is a ruffian,” Lady Romeril said decidedly. “A wild gentleman, one with a secret no one can discover. I know that your little tête-à-tête was indelicately disturbed and you had no choice but to announce your engagement – ”

  Anne stared. Who was this woman, to walk up to her so forcefully, in the middle of St. James’ Court, and speak to her this way?

  “ – but you are not the only one, of course,” continued Lady Romeril with a wink. “Why, I remember Lord Romeril and I, at the Duke of Axwick’s ball – not the incumbent, of course, his grandfather, who from memory – ”

  “Lady Romeril,” Anne interrupted, praying her cheeks would remain calm, “you must excuse me.”

  “Oh. I see.” Lady Romeril’s eyes narrowed as she pointed a wrinkled finger at her. “Just you remember what I have said, Miss. A ruffian. A trickster. I pray you avoid him, Miss Marsh.”

  Without another word, she disappeared into the crowd, leaving Anne with nothing but intrigue and curiosity – probably a quite different impact than the one Lady Romeril had intended.

  “Who was that?”

  Anne jumped. Maxim had appeared by her side with two glasses of something, and her cheeks flamed to think of what Lady Romeril had just been saying.

  A gentleman with a secret…

  “Let us take some air outside, and cool down,” she said quietly. “It is far too hot in here.”

  Maxim took one look at her and seemed to understand. “Of course.”

  He proffered his arm which Anne took gratefully. Anything to be out of this mêlée, where they were evidently being watched and gossiped about, if Lady Romeril was any indication.

  As they reached the door, Maxim whispered something to a footman, who nodded and disappeared down a corridor. Within a few seconds he had caught them up as they reached the outside door. There was a fur coat in his hands, and he handed it with a bow to Anne.

  “You have made a mistake. That is not mine, it is – ”

  “My lady,” said the footman, with a nervous glance at Maxim. “I was instructed to – ”

  “Give it here, man,” said Maxim easily, and nodded at the footman. “Off you go.”

  The servant bowed gratefully and disappeared into the gloom.

  “Here, put this on.”

  Anne stared as he placed the fur coat around her shoulders. “Where did you get this?”

  Maxim smiled, his breath billowing in the cold night air as they stepped outside. “Why, ‘tis one of mine. Did you think I had it stolen?”

  Anne laughed nervously, pulling the warm coat around her. A small part of her had wondered, and she hated that her instincts had played her false. Why should she believe Maxim could not provide something as simple as a winter coat?

  “Now, tell me,” said Maxim in a low voice, pulling her arm into his once more. “You are a beautiful woman, Annika – no, do not dissemble – and witty, and charming. Why have you not been married before?”

  Anne hesitated. Was this the moment to tell him the truth?

  “All women have secrets,” she said lightly. “And this is one I am not yet willing to share. Tell me a little more about your family. How is it possible that you are the heir to be a Czar, and yet you are here?”

  Maxim had known this question would be coming – it was always asked eventually. So why did he find his tongue utterly unable to repeat the same old excuses he had trotted out for everyone else?

  Could Anne be trusted? He felt closer to
her than anyone else in the world, and yet that was not saying much. It was incredible to think they had only met four days before.

  Anne Marsh was everything he could ever have wanted in a woman, but could it all be over in another four days?

  It seemed madness now, to think that they could be nothing to each other in a few days.

  “I have no wish to force a confidence from you.” Her words were light, her breathing billowing out into the freezing air. “I am not the sort of person who would attempt it.”

  Maxim smiled. “I know. ‘Tis a long story, and I have no wish to bore you, but a short history should suffice.”

  In the thin candlelight that escaped through the curtains of the court, he could just make out her expression as they walked around the walls, and it was trusting. Maxim swallowed. It would be wrong of him indeed to put this woman in danger. Not when he was starting to find his heart just as desperate for her as his loins.

  “My father had two wives,” he said slowly. “It is not uncommon in Russia, to have a wife recognised by the church and then another recognised by common law. I am the eldest son of his first wife, but they had a disagreement when I was thirteen years old. My mother…disappeared.”

  He glanced at Anne, who was staring. “Disappeared?”

  Maxim shrugged. He would not dwell on this; he would not allow the pain of those years to return. “She went for a walk in the snow, and never returned. A year later, my father’s second wife became his wife in church, and their eldest son, one of my half-brothers, became the heir. I was disowned, and the line of Czardom moved to Dmitri. The throne of Russia should have come to me three years ago, but the disagreements within my family line forced the court to choose another cousin for the crown.”

  There was silence beside him, and as he looked into Anne’s face, she looked nothing like he had expected. Even a little…sceptical?

  “I would have thought news such as that would be in the papers,” she said slowly, not meeting his gaze. “Such a huge injustice, and in a royal family.”

  “Are you questioning my story?” Maxim could not keep the words in, his shock was so great. “Questioning a Czar?”