Page 5 of A Diamond for Christmas (Diamonds of the First Water #6)

A unt Cordelia’s shocked voice was like a splash of frigid water. Lord Diamond released her so quickly, Caroline stumbled forward until he put his hands out to steady her.

At the same time, she opened her eyes as lamplight destroyed the sanctuary of their dimly lit embrace.

“You are in dreadful trouble,” her aunt said. And then she added, “And so am I.”

It was true. Caroline’s mother would smite them both with her wrath. And who could tell what her father might do if he caught wind of it?

Next to Aunt Cordelia was their evening’s hostess.

“Most unacceptable,” said Lady Plain de Ville. “Shocking, in fact.”

“Hardly shocking,” Lord Diamond said. “It was merely a kiss.”

Caroline wished he hadn’t said anything. The lady’s eyes widened.

“Not merely a kiss,” pronounced their outraged hostess. “Your mouth was not upon her lips when we found you.”

For a moment, Caroline didn’t know what Lady Plain de Ville meant. Within seconds of Geoffrey touching her, she’d known nothing but excited, sizzling sensations. Her other more discerning faculties had all but shut down. And then she recalled his lips on the curve of her breast .

Looking at him, he appeared unrepentant, and she wished he wore an expression of chagrin at the very least.

Caroline decided to plead for them both.

“I beg of you, my lady, not to think badly of us. We are two people who are not pledged to others. We were causing no one any harm, simply sharing a kiss, albeit perhaps a little something more than a chaste one,” she added, glancing at Lord Diamond, “and therefore undoubtedly ill-advised.”

Perhaps he didn’t understand the dire circumstances. He made a sound of exasperation before addressing their hostess and her aunt.

“We are not children, and I, for one, find this snooping and spying to be beyond the pale.”

Caroline wanted to clamp her hand over his mouth, but stood staring, aghast, as did her aunt and their hostess.

“We are trying to decide whether we have enough interest in one another to bother beginning a courtship,” he continued. “Or at least that’s what I was doing. What about you, Lady Caroline?”

Is that why they kissed? She already had quite an emphatic interest in the man, or she wouldn’t have gone outside with him, but all she did was nod in agreement.

“Thus, you see, ladies, now that Lady Caroline and I have come to an understanding, we can face the rest of the obstacles of which we’ve been told there are at least four.”

Caroline thought he summed it up well. Four parents, all determined to keep them apart.

“Aunt Cordelia, Lord Diamond and I merely wanted ... that is, oh, please don’t tell Mother and Father.”

Her aunt fixed her with a stare that reminded her too much of her mother’s, making Caroline shiver. But it was Lady Plain de Ville who brought it all to an end.

“I do not approve of my party, nor my garden, being used for such behavior. However, we shall say no more about it since we caught you before anything too egregious occurred.”

“Then you will say nothing?” Aunt Cordelia asked .

“I don’t want anyone to know of such reprehensible behavior, either. My home is not Vauxhall!” With that, the older lady turned heel and walked away, taking the oil lamp with her.

Lord Diamond gestured for her and Aunt Cordelia to go ahead of him, which they did.

“What now?” Caroline whispered to her aunt.

“I suppose I get to keep my head upon its shoulders,” she jested. “As for you two, heaven help you if you decide to continue in this folly.”

“I can hear you,” Lord Diamond said, sounding annoyed. “Why is this folly?”

“While I am a sappy fool who allowed you to meet,” her aunt snapped at him, “Lady Caroline’s parents will not look kindly on any association.

I had half-hoped my niece would find you lacking and speak no more of you.

But mark me, Lord and Lady Chimes will not give their blessing and certainly not my niece’s dowry to a Diamond. ”

Silence met those daunting words. By then, they were back inside and heading upstairs to the ballroom. Lady Plain de Ville had disappeared from view.

“Maybe Lord Diamond doesn’t want an association,” Caroline began.

“I believe I do,” he muttered, and she almost laughed with relief for, more than anything, she wanted to get to know him better. When she stopped in her tracks at the top of the staircase, Lord Diamond ran into the back of her.

“Ooph,” he said. “I nearly tumbled back down to my death.”

“That might have been easier on you,” her aunt quipped.

Caroline ignored them both. “I merely wanted to ask if we would be allowed to dance again tonight.”

Aunt Cordelia sighed. “Yes, you two can have another dance, but I shall have my eyes upon you both, and if I’m lucky, a glass of rum punch in my hand.”

Caroline wondered how she could win either of her parents over to her side. Dancing twice with Geoffrey Diamond had been heavenly, despite Lady Plain de Ville’s disapproving stare for the rest of the evening.

Moreover, every other partner that night was inconsequential in comparison, and all she could do was hope this wouldn’t be the last time she was in Lord Diamond’s arms.

In the carriage, her aunt was not hopeful.

“While I believe our hostess will not mention seeing you two together, the fact that you were both at this ball will most likely reach your mother’s ears.

You could pretend you never even saw Diamond, I suppose, but that won’t get you any closer to your goal.

That is, if you truly wish to have that plummy young man court you in earnest.”

“I believe I do,” Caroline said, echoing Lord Diamond’s earlier statement. She decided to tell her parents the following day. If she was honest with them, surely they would want her happiness as they always had before.

As circumstances happened, she didn’t catch them together until dinner.

“Sit,” her father said as soon as she entered the dining room.

“That was my intention.” Caroline glanced at the two of them. Her mother’s lips were set in a straight line, and her father was drumming upon the table as if he’d been kept waiting. Unmistakable tension shrouded the room.

Her usual place on one side, halfway between them, felt like a trap, and she fervently wished one or both of her brothers were at home to offer a diversion or at least bolster her spirits.

“I hope you are both well,” she started, then hurried on. “I have something to tell you.”

“If it is about Diamond, we already know,” her father said.

Her gaze flew to his and then back to her mother .

“From Lady Plain de Ville?” Caroline asked. If that was the case, then they knew about the kiss. That glorious, breathtaking, soul-shattering kiss!

“The newspaper had a paragraph about the party,” her father continued, “mostly because the Diamond heir was in attendance. Word has it he’s looking for a wife.”

“I see.” Caroline quickly decided to change tactics and let them draw any information out of her.

“Did you dance with him?” her mother asked, her tone soft, which was more cause for alarm.

She had to tell her. After all, they’d been seen dancing, and it was nothing to be ashamed of.

“Yes,” she said.

Her father’s hand slammed upon the tablecloth, making her jump. Her mother flinched slightly as well. But the next harsh words came from her end of the table.

“I believe I told you not to. Do you have no recollection of my refusal to allow him to be introduced?”

“Yes,” Caroline said again. “But —”

“But you thought you knew better,” her father ground out.

“We merely danced.”

“There is no ‘merely’ with a Diamond,” Lord Chimes said. “They want and they take.”

Her mother glanced at him, her eyes widening. Caroline wondered if his words hurt her. Did her father wish the earl hadn’t taken the woman who might have become his Lady Chimes?

“That is nothing to do with me,” Caroline insisted, using all the strength of her twenty years to stand up for herself. “I enjoyed dancing with Lord Diamond and intended to tell you tonight that we had done so. Also, I would like to see him again.”

Her father nearly slammed the table again. Stopping himself by fisting his hand, he ran the other over his forehead and gestured for wine from the silent footman who watched the entire scene from his place by the wall .

“Handle your daughter,” Lord Chimes said to Caroline’s mother without looking at either one of them.

“ Handle me! ” Caroline exclaimed. This was so unlike her normally loving and generous parents, she could almost believe she had walked into the wrong dining room.

True, her father was strict with his sons, and her mother had a strong personality, but neither had ever directed any dissatisfaction toward her.

“I ask you to recall I have two decades behind me. I have met a man who interests me enough that I wish to know him better. I am not doing anything outrageous, like trying to run away with a street-sweeper. He is an earl’s only son, and I have heard nothing bad about him.

Indeed, I had heard nothing about him at all before the Fenwicks’ ball. Moreover, he will be an earl someday.”

No point in saying Diamond had alluring eyes, a wicked grin, and solid muscles she had felt for herself.

“There are other eligible men who are not street-sweepers, as you said so dramatically,” her mother pointed out. “Last week, you didn’t know of his existence. Next week, you can just as easily forget about him, too.”

“I don’t wish to forget about him. I want to —” she broke off, seeing her father start to seethe, his jaw clenching as he gritted his teeth.

“Sometimes, you don’t get what you want,” he said after a moment.

Again, seeing her mother’s wounded expression, Caroline thought his choice of words was terribly poor. He might be speaking of the current Lady Diamond, for all she knew.

“And this is one of those times,” her father continued. “You will not dance with him again. If you see him at a ball or a party, you will not speak to him, nor allow him to speak with you. Your mother will accompany you at all times to ensure that is the case.”

“But I—”

“That is the end of it,” Lord Chimes said. “Did I forget anything?” he asked his wife.

“No,” Lady Chimes said softly. “I think you said it all.”