Page 16 of Once Upon a Gilded Christmas (To All The Earls I’ve Loved Before #4)

If it wasn't for another young couple—Lord Clifton and Lady Marian—finding the solar as part of their clue, Honora's hands might have done more than unbuttoned Edward's waistcoat.

At least she didn't blush and draw attention to their state of enrapture.

Edward turned away from them to restore some order to himself while Honora asked them about how they were getting on.

"Quite splendid," Lady Marian admitted with more life than Edward had seen in her the past few days. "We've discovered six rooms so far." The solar was the seventh.

"How many more to go?" Honora asked.

"Don't know," the young lady admitted. She did, however, reveal which rooms they'd discovered so far: stables, library, larder, dining room, nursery, pantry. (Edward crowed at the larder; Downstairs was fair game after all.)

"Off we go," Edward declared, grabbing Honora by the hand. "We'll leave you to find the clue in here."

Out they went into the corridor, thankfully free from any other guests. Edward whirled Honora into his arms and planted a kiss on her nose. "Clever girl, to ask Lady Marian which rooms they'd seen."

Honora blushed. "Thank you. Shall we check the library out first, seeing it's on this level?"

Honora's gut had been correct. Unlike the solar, no card was nailed to the door.

Inside, chaos reigned. No sooner did she and Edward enter the room, they saw Juliana launch herself from the large mahogany desk to tackle Kendall to the floor.

Witnesses to the violence were Bertram Ashburton and his companion, Lady Lucy, who cried out before clasping her hands to her face.

Young Bertram looked quite pale himself, clinging to the desk.

While Kendall fought back the best he could, Juliana was giving no quarter. Who knew she could punch like that?

Honora could only stare at her daughter, now quite the grown woman, giving as good as she ever gave her elder brothers.

Granted, the Mildmay boys knew better than to bring any lasting harm to their sister, for Lord Charles was not above whipping Brook or the rest should they show any lady—even their sister—such disrespect, at least, not in front of any adult that had any authority.

But Juliana had to learn her fighting skills from somewhere. Kendall made a mistake, which led Juliana to roll him over and pin his arm in a half-nelson hold. Such talent only came from practice. (Honora made a note to have a word with her eldest son Brook.)

Edward cried out, "Please don't hurt him too much. After all, he is to inherit."

Juliana scoffed. "You've got a spare! It's not like you're going to miss this one."

The distraction was enough to let Kendall break her hold, knocking Juliana back. Juliana and Kendall wrestled about on the floor in a most inelegant manner before Juliana popped up in triumph, a card in her hand.

Quick as a whistle, she moved back from Kendall, pointing a finger at him. "Stay down or I'll thrash you more."

Kendall was not going to stay down. But as he rose to carry on the fight, his eyes burning, Edward grabbed the back of his coat. "You know better, boy," he growled low into his son's ear.

Juliana read aloud from the card, her voice carrying. "While the Good Lord shall blot out your mistakes, I remember them all." She frowned at the card. "What's that supposed to mean?" She looked about the room.

Young Bertram and Lady Lucy immediately put their heads together and nuttered over the clue.

Kendall, his jacket still in the grip of his father, threw out his hand to the bookshelf. "It's the Bible, of course!" he spat.

Juliana gave a narrow glare to Kendall, but went to the shelves to have a look for a Bible. As she passed her mother, she slipped the clue card into her hand and muttered, "Could you stick this back on the door? Kendall thought it capital to take it off and maybe slow down the competition."

While Bertram and Lady Lucy lifted their heads at Kendall's declaration of his solution, they gave each other subtle shakes of their heads, and went back to their ponderings. They sidled over to the desk, where a blotter lay.

While Juliana muttered loudly over how hard it was to find a Bible on the shelf and Edward was having a low word to his son about his behaviour, only Honora noticed Bertram lift the corner of the blotter and Lucy's gasp at realisation, before the two slipped out of the library.

Honora also saw the small nail on the desk that had been used to pin the card to the door. She followed her daughter's wishes and the spirit of the game and returned the clue to its door.

When she returned, Juliana had found the Bible, large thing that it was. She'd slammed it on to the desk and pawed through it, hoping to spot the clue. "It's not in here," she growled at Kendall.

Edward had released Kendall at this point. He pulled the Bible his way, skewing the blotter. There, underneath, was the card with the clue to the next room: the Larder.

Juliana spotted it the same time as her mother. She jabbed her finger at it. "It's wasn't the Bible," she snapped.

Off she went, presumably to find the larder downstairs near the kitchen.

Kendall only sighed. He moved the blotter back over the clue. "She's being impossible, father," maybe forgetting Juliana's mother was there?

Edward pulled no punches. "You're behaving like an ass. If you do not start acting like the gentleman you were raised to be, I have no compunction but to banish you to the bedroom for the rest of the week."

Kendall hung his head. "Yes, father." He wrapped his arms about him.

Honora turned away. The last thing Kendall needed was a witness to his embarrassment.

Edward wasn't done. "You are a guest. Please behave with the decorum expected of such a one. Now, off you go to the larder, lest Lady Juliana solve the clue without you."

That lit his fire. Kendall's head snapped up, eyes aflame. "You're right." Off he dashed, not bothering to close the door.

Just then, another couple showed up at the library.

Time for Honora and Edward to slip out. Honora subtly pointed to the clue on the door, then to the desk. Sure, the Bible was still on there, but so was the blotter and its concealed clue. She closed the door quietly behind them.

Out in the corridor, Edward sighed. "I am so ashamed over how my son behaved just now."

Honora slipped her arms about his waist. "Likewise, my conscience is pricked that Juliana behaved no better than a brawling fishwife. I am so sorry for her behaviour."

"Kendall deserved it, if you want my honest opinion.

" Edward blinked rapidly. Honora fished his handkerchief out of his inside pocket and offered it to him.

He gave a sad chuckle and took it, blotting his eyes.

"If it was anyone but you here right now, I'd not be able to show my face in public again.

I would take my sons and withdraw to the country, never to be seen of or heard from again. "

Honora swallowed. "I feel the same about my daughter." She laid her head against Edward's chest.

He stroked her steel-grey hair. "A fine pair we make, do we not?"

"So dramatic."

"If it weren't for our obligations to the next generation, I'd say sod the lot and let us run off to the sea. Surely there's some pirate vessel willing to take two salty sea dogs like us?"

"Don't tempt me," Honora said. "Though I fear our children have cornered the market on saltiness."

Edward released her and stretched, his hands going to the small of his back. "Didn't Lady Hammond say she had refreshments in the parlour?"

Was this how it was going to be? Edward wanted nothing more than to sweep Honora up and carry her off. Not sure to where, for the house still crawled with young scavenger hunters. Besides, he was only good for carrying so much weight—much of that the burden of his sons in his heart.

No doubt Honora bore the same weight for her daughter.

Funny, Edward didn't recall his own daughters being so prickly.

But that could have been due to how his late wife Caroline had had the children raised.

Now he thought about it, he hadn't had as much to do with his daughters as he had his sons. Had that been a mistake?

As Edward and the love of his life passed by the dining room on their way to the parlour, the doors flung open. To their surprise, Kendall and Juliana darted out, nearly knocking them over.

Didn't they say they were going to the larder? "What's this then?" Edward exclaimed as both Juliana and Kendall offered their apologies.

Unlike before, it seemed these two had declared a truce.

"We're done," Juliana declared. "We've completed the hunt."

Kendall explained, "The dining room's clue is the nursery. We started in the nursery. Therefore, we're done."

Juliana grabbed his hand. "Stop dawdling!"

Together, they dashed down the corridor to find Lady Hammond.

Edward and Honora looked to each other with a sigh.

They arrived in the parlour just as Lady Hammond congratulated them on completing the scavenger hunt. She consulted her pocket watch before noting the time on their card. "Did you have fun?" she asked.

Kendall and Juliana looked at each other, unsure of how to answer.

Lady Hammond ignored their lack of answer. "You've earned your rest." She gestured to a laden table set against a wall. "Do please help yourself to some refreshment. I dare say you deserve it."

Juliana's eyes sparked with delight. "We did it!" she declared to Kendall. But as she turned to the table, her countenance fell. There, in the far corner, sat young Bertram and Lady Lucy, cups of tea in their hands, pleased expressions on their faces as they chatted with one another.

Kendall groaned. They'd been beaten after all.

It took another hour or so until the last couple arrived, their card completed. Meanwhile Edward enjoyed some lovely cups of tea and as many biscuits as he wanted with Honora.