Page 6 of Once Upon a Gilded Christmas (To All The Earls I’ve Loved Before #4)

Edward's heart would not stop beating. Here she sat, Honora Radcliffe—or rather, Mildmay—across from him, the same beautiful eyes, the same delightful smile, the same familiar trolley between them as they claimed the two chairs before the fire.

The young had divided themselves once they had their cups of tea.

Juliana sat on a footstool near her mother while young Bertram attempted to scoot a chair somewhat closer to her.

Meanwhile, his sons sequestered themselves on the other side of the room, heads together in discussion.

Absolute fools, these two, to make an enemy so soon. Did they not know young ladies talked? Once young Juliana became chummy with the others, no doubt she'd share her impressions of his thicker-than-molasses sons, and there went their chances of making a match this Christmas.

They were not strangers; there were no secrets between them. "I trust you're here for the same reason I am?"

"Possibly more so."

"I'm sorry to hear of the death of your husband. Lord Charles was a good fellow."

Memories swirled in her eyes. "He was."

He raised his teacup, but put it down unpartaken. "I hope you came to love him?"

She sipped at hers. "In a way. We respected each other. Gave each other the space we needed." She sighed and leaned back. Unspoken words weighed heavy in her mouth as if she didn't know how to spit them out.

Alas, he returned to his teacup just as they found their way out.

"I wish I had married you," she said.

Oh dear. Honora hadn't meant to say that out loud. Neither had Edward, from the sudden sputtering of tea all over the front of his suit. Mortification froze her.

The children, who had been distinctly ignoring each other, drew their attention back to the two parents.

"Mother? What did you say?" Juliana clutched at her teacup.

Kendall and Jacob popped up like gophers. "Who said what now?" Jacob asked. Kendall looked between his father, who dabbed at his waistcoat, to Juliana, who'd shaded her eyes in embarrassment.

Honora's gaze darted back and forth, her hands glued to her teacup.

Edward managed to wipe the tea from his clothing. He reached over to set his teacup on the trolley, only to miss it, sending his cup teetering.

Oh no! Honora couldn't move to catch it, but Edward did, just in time... mostly.

Some of the tea slopped onto the floor before he righted the teacup.

Juliana rose from her stool. “Mother, did you just…?”

Kendall looked around at everyone. “Wait a minute. Who said what?”

Bertram cleared his throat. “May I be of assistance?” he said to Juliana.

Juliana blinked at him as if she'd forgotten his presence.

Edward looked to Honora, his eyes glistening. He extended his hand. After all these years, she still felt like—

The door to the library opened, making everyone jump.

Edward quickly pulled back his hand. Lady Hammond herself strode in, her gown swishing.

“Ah, here you are,” she declared, her voice rich and loud.

“The servants assure me your luggage has been delivered to your rooms. If you’d like to freshen up after your journey? ”

The way she said it brooked no opposition. Honora gave Edward a glance. Seems like some things never changed. She stood.

Edward took his time rising, both hands on the arms of the chair. While the younger folk filed to the door Honora didn’t follow. She approached Edward and took the hand he’d originally proffered. They were not children—had not been for decades. Who were they that they had to obey their elders?

As soon as her hand clasped his, Edward’s face lit up. “You still love me?”

She responded by pressing his knuckles to her lips.

Only Juliana's scandalised voice interrupted Honora from doing more. "Mother!"

Honora watched her daughter pace their guest bedroom. “I can’t believe you did that, Mother!” Juliana had nearly torn her travelling gown while changing, so agitated she was. “You’re too old for this sort of thing.”

Honora only smiled at her memory as the provided maid helped her change into something more suitable for the afternoon.

Apparently, Lady Hammond had games planned, of the sort one played at Christmastide—Snapdragon and Hide the Slipper, mostly for the young.

No one was under the illusion that this party was anything other than a thinly veiled matchmaking event. Based on what she had been told by the maid of the guest list, nobody else would be taken by surprise.

Was everyone of noble birth? Yes. Were they all diamonds of the first water?

Not really. Everyone had their flaws, ones that would make them less suitable among more stellar company.

But here, without the bright young things that had dominated the society pages of the newspapers, perhaps they would get their time to shine.

“If this was your plan the whole time,” Julia declared as soon as her mother’s head cleared the neckline of her afternoon gown, “I do not like it. I thought we were here for me.”

“We are.” Didn't excuse the fact she'd kissed his hand. It had been a spontaneous act, or so she thought.

Or had it been correcting an error from long ago? They did have unfinished business.

Juliana dug her jewellery box out of the trunk. She rifled through her inventory of enchanted rings and necklaces, muttering to herself over what they’d packed. She had wanted charms like Notice Me and Please Me—active charms. Her mother wanted subtler yet more powerful ones like Charm and Beauty.

Juliana started throwing on bangles. “We’ve only just arrived and already you’re proposing marriage to a complete stranger?"

"He's not a complete stranger. I've known him for years."

Juliana folded her arms. "Well, I've never heard of him or his family. Nor have you ever spoken of him. I know they do not move in our circles. So why are they here?"

“It was sheer serendipity that Edward is here.”

“Edward? You call him Edward?” Juliana blinked. “How acquainted with the Earl of Lavistock are you?”

“He was not the Earl of Lavistock when we first met."

“Who was he then?” Juliana folded her arms and pouted.

Honora had no idea why her daughter was being so difficult. It wasn’t as if she’d stolen the only eligible man at this party. “He was a second son.”

"A second son?" Juliana tightened her arms. “ I wouldn't marry a second son.”

Memory washed over her. “Your grandfather felt the same.”

Juliana relaxed somewhat. “You married father instead. See, that turned out all right.”

All the grief and joy of her debutante Season came flooding back to her. True, there had been nothing wrong with Lord Charles Mildmay. Their marriage hadn’t suffered the way so many arranged marriages did, but something had been missing.

For some reason, Edward, for all his brief stint in her life, had filled that empty spot. What could their life have been like, had she married him instead? “The difference is, I was not given a choice. You, at least, are being granted that.”

Juliana weighed her words. “I’m still not marrying a second son,” she declared, though not as vociferously.

“How about you fall in love first, then we can discuss his place in the birthing order?"

Edward’s sons still didn’t have a clue. After the footman led them from the library and they settled in the one bedroom allotted to all three, there had been no more questions from them regarding Honora’s declaration.

Edward, on the other hand, could not get her words out of his head. He certainly couldn’t get the imprint of her lips off his hand, not that he wanted to. He pressed the back of that hand to his cheek.

Now that they had changed for an afternoon of what Edward hoped would be the young things flirting with each other, Kendall consulted Jacob over his notebook.

While it was heartening to see two brothers so close, it would not do either of them any good if the young ladies couldn’t separate one of them from the other.

He knew every single one of them would be magicked up to the gills in hopes of securing a titled husband; Kendall would have his work cut out for him.

Maybe Jacob would get lucky, if a young lady would be willing to compromise that he would always remain a mere Lord and not become an Earl.

Jacob was fine with that. His ascendancy to the title would have meant the death of his beloved brother.

Edward sent word to Lady Hammond to separate the two at the dinner table. Maybe some enforced socialisation would help things along.

He briefly toyed with sending another message: Sit the Dowager Countess Harwich next to him?

And why not? They had dozens of years to catch up on, a flame to rekindle. Based on their first encounter today, her hissy cat of a daughter would have nothing to do with his own litter of puppies.

Would anyone? Now, there was a conundrum worth considering.

He’d raised his boys, drilling the idea into Kendall of being a good Earl and the idea of good noblemen into both of them.

They knew their social responsibilities to King and Country and their own birthright.

Neither had embarrassed the family too much with their youthful antics—certainly no lingering scandal.

But had he neglected to teach them how to be good husbands and fathers?

Edward pursed his lips at this oversight.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to sit next to Honora, at least, not tonight. Lady Hammond might take that the wrong way and think a match between Lady Juliana and one of his sons was on the table.

It very much was not.

Before they departed, Edward laid a hand on each son’s shoulders. “Boys, once we leave this room, you each have a responsibility to comport yourselves well. We all know why we were invited to Lady Hammond’s Christmas party.”

Kendall looked to Jacob. “I don’t think we do.”

Edward blinked. Surely his boys weren’t this obtuse. “It’s obviously a matchmaking affair.”

At this Jacob rolled his eyes. “Honestly, Father. We know that. What we don’t know is why us?”

“Because I’m an earl and you, Kendall, are my unmarried heir.”

Again, the brothers shared a knowing look. “Lord John Talbot is also an unmarried heir of an earl, but he didn’t get invited.”

Now it was Edward’s turn to blink. “Maybe he was, but had a prior commitment? Besides, he's Catholic.”

Jacob shook his head. “No, Father. It’s not that. He wasn’t invited because he’s a capital fellow.” He looked back to Kendall, who only rolled his eyes. “True, Lady Hammond invited us because of our title. But she also invited us because there’s something wrong with us.”

Kendall stiffened. "There's nothing wrong with me."

Jacob tapped his notebook. "Everyone here has a fault, something that hinders them out in Society. We're the broken nobility."

Kendall wrinkled his nose. "Maybe it's you who was invited and I'm just along for the ride."

“Wrong?” Edward bristled at this. There was nothing wrong. They had no family secrets. His boys were not ugly nor mean, and their fortunes were not absent. "What could possibly be wrong with you?"

"We were hoping you'd tell us," Jacob requested.

"How would I know?" Personal doubt niggled at Edward. Had he missed something Lady Hammond had seen?

"Because you were the one who accepted Lady Hammond's invitation."

Thirty years ago...

Lady Honora all-but-engaged-to-someone-else Radcliffe and Lord Edward second-son-with-no-prospects Russell had shared the plate of roast beef and split the dish of syllabub, feeding each other with spoons.

With the support of a tankard of ale, Edward had confessed his lack of a distinct future as a lesser son. Honora had sighed over her arranged marriage. "I wish these things didn't matter," she moaned.

Edward spread his hands. "Do we have a choice?"

"Not really." She took another swig of ale. "Well, I might, but it's not really a choice."

Edward perked up? "What kind of choice?"

"I could make myself abhorrent to Lord Charles and he'd not want to consider a marriage, no matter how big my dowry is."

"What's the alternative?"

She thought about it. "Marriage to someone more distasteful, less prominent." She heaved a sigh. "Then there is always eternal spinsterhood. Old maid. Maiden aunt. Ape leader."

He wrinkled his nose. "That's not much of a choice."

She wilted. "I know." She licked the last of the syllabub off her spoon. "But I'm not going to do that. Lord Charles is not so bad as a marriage prospect. If his father's health does not soon improve, he may be an earl within the year. I could do much worse."

"I am hard pressed to think of how you could do better," Edward said. It hurt to say it, but he was right. He had nothing to offer her compared to Lord Charles. "Is it time to go back and make pretty eyes at him, convince him you'd be a good wife?"

Honora frowned. "No. I'll have him for the rest of my life." She raised her gaze to Edward. "I've only got you for tonight. Can't we just sit here and enjoy each other's company. You're ever so more pleasant that that crowd out there."

His heart soared. "You can stay for as long as you want."

So she did.