Page 229
Story: Ten Lords for the Holidays
Eliana ignored the warning note in her sister’s voice. As far as she was concerned, there was nothing more to discuss.
“Thank you so much, Miss Banning!” Mrs. Pare rose and made her a low curtsey, tears still glinting in her eyes. “You saved Theo, and I’m certain his parents will call upon you to express their extreme gratitude. You certainly have mine, forever.”
“I’m glad you were there to rescue me,” Theo piped up, running over to hug Eliana around the waist.
She gave the boy a squeeze in return. “So am I—but it was a group effort. Prince Sebastian deserves equal thanks for pulling us to safety.”
“Is he really a prince?” Theo blinked up at her. “Where’s his crown?”
“You’ll have to ask him that yourself, next time you see him. But for now, we must be going.”
“I’ll call upon you soon,” Selene said, escorting them to the front door.
“I’m sure Mother and Father will be delighted to see you,” Eliana said.
Her sister gave her a slightly exasperated look, while Hetty went to retrieve her cloak from the butler.
“You must forgive your prince,” Selene said in a low voice. “Whatever he’s done, you must discover if there was good reason for it.”
“He’s not my prince.”
“And Jared wasn’t my duke—but I forgave him his deception. Don’t let this stand in the way of your happiness.”
“There can be no happiness built on lies.” Eliana turned to Hetty. “Are you ready?”
“Ready enough.” Hetty brushed at her cloak, which still sported a large damp patch from its part in the rescue.
“At least it’s not far to Banning House.” Eliana, despite her irritation, kissed her sister on the cheek. “Thank you and Jared for your help.”
“Of course.” Selene clasped Eliana’s hands. “Don’t do anything irrevocably foolish.”
Like kiss Prince Sebastian?Too late.
The air outside was cold enough to make Eliana’s breath plume. Prince Sebastian waited at the curb to hand them into the sleigh, and soon enough they were off with a jingle of sleigh bells. She did not think she would ever find the sound particularly merry again.
As they glided through the streets of Mayfair, Eliana fought the temptation to lean against the warm solidity of Sebastian’s side. Their adventures were at an end. And no matter what her sister might think, there could be nothing between them.
CHAPTER TEN
Sebastian was acutelyaware of Eliana seated beside him on the sleigh bench. She held herself stiffly, and he wished, quite foolishly, that he might gather her against him.
But she would not welcome his attentions—she’d made that clear. For a short time, just after the rescue, he’d thought she was warming toward him, but that hope died when she’d told her sister he was unwelcome to call upon her. Her blue eyes had been frosty as he handed her into the sleigh.
“Well,” Mistress Hetty said as they came to a stop in front of Banning House. Her voice held a note of forced cheerfulness. “Here we are. What an adventurous afternoon!”
“At least everything ended well,” Eliana said.
Sebastian silently disagreed as he leaped down and went around to hand the ladies out. Yes, they’d rescued the boy, but he feared he’d lost his bid for Eliana’s affections. How odd that not even two days ago he’d believed her to be a flighty, shallow young lady.
Instead he’d seen strength and bravery, and perhaps a touch of loneliness in her eyes that matched his own, strange as that might be. And then there was the matter of that searing kiss, which had left him stunned.
A pity it had not appeared to affect Eliana equally in turn.
Mistress Hetty gave him a rueful smile as he assisted her from the sleigh. With a slight nod, she made her way up the walk, giving him a moment of privacy with Eliana.
“Miss Eliana?” He held his hand out to her.
She remained a moment in the sleigh, sunlight warm on her fair hair, her cheeks pink from the cold. He engraved that image in his memory—likely the last time he would ever be this close to her.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229 (Reading here)
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263
- Page 264
- Page 265
- Page 266
- Page 267
- Page 268
- Page 269
- Page 270
- Page 271
- Page 272
- Page 273
- Page 274
- Page 275
- Page 276
- Page 277
- Page 278
- Page 279
- Page 280
- Page 281
- Page 282
- Page 283
- Page 284
- Page 285
- Page 286
- Page 287
- Page 288
- Page 289
- Page 290
- Page 291
- Page 292
- Page 293