Page 5 of Once Upon a Gilded Christmas (To All The Earls I’ve Loved Before #4)

Lady Honora Radcliffe was her name, she openly admitted. No one would know they had never been properly introduced. Maybe would never find out they'd met. Edward's hand itched to pull the bell, to summon more ale, maybe more food, but Lady Honora had declared she'd dined enough.

Besides, if the servants discovered her in here, they might shoo her back to the party.

Edward found he disliked this idea immensely. Something about her drew him in

She wore a most fashionable gown, pale blue silk shot with silver, that shone in the light.

A silver belle. Even her name sounded like a peal: Honora.

While her gown, festooned with blue ribbons, might have been most fashionable, it didn't sit right on her.

Or rather, she didn't sit right in that gown.

Maybe it was the panniers. Too structured.

Perhaps she would better suit the softness of a shepherdess' costume, kind and gentle—

No. Something about the set of her jaw, the sulk of her arms warred with that image.

Maybe the clothes of a pirate, a captain's jacket flowing in the wind, a silk scarf about her waist. Let her stand on desk, the wind streaming through her natural hair, whatever colour it might be.

The powder on her hair did her no favours, her curls too tight, her hair piled too high.

"Have you considered running away to sea?" he asked.

She inclined her head. "More so of late, though I doubt I would act upon it. I hear shipboard food is terrible."

Ah, so she was hungry.

Before he knew it, he'd risen and tugged the bellpull.

"Don't do that," she begged, her hand outstretched.

Too late. What had he been thinking?

He hadn't. The only glimmer of a thought had been he'd do anything to please her, to make her happy.

Instead, a fret worried her brow. "I don't want to go back to the party."

It was too late to unpull the bell. Soon a servant would appear and she'd be compromised. "Hide behind the curtain."

She didn't need to be told twice. Before she sequestered herself between velvet and window, he asked, "What would you like to eat?"

Lady Honora paused. "Eat?"

Edward spread his hands. "I need some excuse for calling the servant." He drew himself up. "'I am ready for the next course,'" he declared in a foppish manner.

Footsteps in the corridor drew their attention.

"Roast beef," she whispered as she disappeared, just in time.

The door opened and Edward turned. It was a different servant than the footman who had brought him here.

This one was a maid, though he could not tell which kind.

"Ah." He clasped his hands. "So good of you to come.

Look. In gratitude to our hostess who could have tossed me out on my ear, I'd like to ease the burden on you and the other servants.

I was wondering if you could bring me a plate of the roast beef course, a serve or two of whatever is going for afters, and three, no four tankards of ale, all at once.

That way you will not have to keep coming back here for each course. "

The maid blinked at him. "Beg pardon?"

Too many big words? "Just bring me all of dinner in one go, then forget about me for the rest of the evening. It doesn't have to be pretty."

"Um, I'll see wut I can do, sir." She bobbed a curtsey before leaving with more bafflement on her face than when she had arrived.

Honora peeked out from the curtain. "Thank you."

He couldn't help but grin.

Honora had to hide behind the curtain again when a footman knocked.

He bore a trolley with Edward's request. Roast beef, with generous helpings of potatoes and carrots, a platter of cheeses, a dish of syllabub, plus four tankards of ale.

"I have your word there shall be no more requests? " the footman strongly hinted.

"Upon my honour." The young lady in hiding would be more than enough company for him.

Once the footman left, Lady Honora emerged. Her countenance brightened at the sight of the trolley. "How wonderful. Thank you."

Her gratitude pleased him to no end. "You're welcome. I don't know what it is, but I'd go to the ends of the earth to bring a smile to your face."

At this, Lady Honora sighed. "It's my enchantments."

"Your... what?"

"Enchantments. I'm magicked up to the lappets with charms." She reached behind her neck and undid her necklace.

This she dropped onto the trolley. Next came the rings from her fingers and two bangles off her wrists.

After that, hairpins. Then the buckles from her shoes.

All these she laid on the trolley, then plucked mournfully at her gown.

"I'm afraid this is enchanted as well, though not as strong. "

She pushed the trolley between the chairs at the fire. After selecting a tankard, she folder her panniers and settled into one of the chairs.

Edward remained standing. "Why are you thus enchanted?"

Honora sipped at the foam. "Because my father wishes a marital alliance with the House of Harwich, and I am to convince Lord Charles this is a good idea."

The bottom fell out of Edward's world. "It's a terrible idea."

She regarded him with amusement. "Oh? Do tell."

He opened his mouth, then realised the ridiculousness of what he wanted to say. Don't marry Lord Charles, marry me. He looked to the various items on the trolley. "I take it the enchantments are working?"

She laughed. His heart rose somewhat. He claimed the other tankard and chair.

"A little too well." She brushed at her gown. "Lord Charles was all solicitous and seeing to my every whim."

Edward looked to the plate of roast beef on the trolley. If only he could melt into the floor and disappear.

"If I supped at the broth, he had to dab my lips with a serviette. If I took a sip of wine, he poured more into my cup. He just wouldn't leave me alone." Again, she swiped at her gown.

Only then did Edward notice the stain. "That was him?"

"I told him enough, but he wouldn't listen. At least he didn't follow me once I got far enough for the charms to no longer have any effect."

He took a deep draught. "Do you want to marry him?"

"Eh," was her reply.

Edward was acquainted with Lord Charles Mildmay, the heir to the Earl of Harwich. He wasn't a bad fellow. Honora could have done worse.

Could she have done better?

Edward sighed. No, she could not. That stung. "I would marry you if I could," he murmured.

She took another sip of ale. "And who are you that you could make me such an offer?"

He shook his head. "I am not. I am a lesser son. My brother will inherit the title and will continue my studies in hopes of... I don't know. Not the church. Nor the military. But that leaves law, or... I don't know. That's the thing. I have nothing to offer you."

Honora thought about this. "Well, that's that, then. I am not for you and you are not for me. I guess the best we can do is enjoy an evening of good company with no expectations being thrust upon us." She sipped again at her ale. "Come to think of it, that sounds delightful."

Delightful. She called an evening with him—Edward, second son, no prospects at all—delightful. "I'd be honoured."