Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
The following few days passed quickly for Daniel, far more than he might have liked.
Strange that this was the case, as just last week he wanted the complete opposite.
With Lady Alison staying in his home until her family were able to return for her, he needed her gone and quickly.
Every minute she was around him was another where he was at risk of losing control and giving in to his urges and that was something he could not allow to happen.
Now, he was hesitant to admit that he no longer looked so forward to the day when she would finally leave. And that wasn’t to mention what would come only a few weeks after… his trip to the Americas from which he would not return.
Daniel did his best to ignore the brimming sense of foreboding that slowly overtook him as each day passed.
He tried to instead focus on the good, the fact that he was enjoying himself for the first time in years.
Ironically, doing such a thing only made it worse, because dammit if he wasn’t happy like he could not remember.
And, of course, it was all thanks to Lady Alison.
“What are you reading?” Lady Alison asked as she walked into the library.
Daniel was sitting by the fire, one leg folded over the other, a book open on his lap. But he looked up when he heard her voice, and he even smiled to see her. “Don’t we knock anymore?”
She rolled her eyes. “As if you could not hear me coming.”
He had heard her, but he liked to pretend otherwise. “It is still polite. Seeing as you are a guest in my home.”
“Perhaps I wanted to surprise you?”
“Perhaps you enjoy catching me unawares, so I do not have time to formulate an excuse.”
“An excuse for what?”
“Whatever it is you are about to ask me.” He closed his book and looked pointedly at her. “Come on then, out with it.”
Lady Alison folded her arms and looked down at him with a dismissive scowl. “I was going to ask you something, but now I have changed my mind. Seeing as you are being so –”
“So what?”
“Annoying.”
“Annoying, am I? If I had known that was the easiest way to get rid of you, I might have done so sooner. All this time wasted, treating you politely and with respect. What a fool I am.”
“Is that what you have been doing?” she scoffed. “I had not noticed. Should I walk out of the room and try again? Will that make you happy?”
He laughed at the banter. “No need, seeing as you are here already. So, what is it? Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Lady Alison was smiling through the feigned bickering.
That’s how they were now, their conversations always walking that fine line between humor and argument.
But they both understood this, knowing well that hostility was not the intent.
Rather, it was a sort of return to how they had always been, only nowhere near as aggressive or purposefully rude.
“I was thinking of going for a walk outside,” she said to him. “And until a few moments ago, I was going to see if you wished to join me.”
“Outside…” Daniel looked to the window, noting the light snow that fell across the grounds. “In this weather?”
“If it is the snow you fear, do not let it worry you.” she said. “I will keep you safe.”
He scoffed. “I was more curious if that mutt you call a dog will be joining us.”
“Of course he will be. As I keep you safe, he does the same for me.”
“Is that right?” Daniel laughed.
“If you don’t want to come…” She half-turned as if to leave.
“Fine…” Daniel sighed as if agreeing to her invitation was the last thing he wanted. When in truth, he was always going to say yes. “I can’t very well let you wander the grounds alone now, can I? Who knows what trouble you will get into if I am not there.”
“My savior,” she said with a cheeky grin.
“And don’t you forget it.”
They had not spoken of their shared kiss in the sleigh since it happened.
In Daniel’s mind, that was for the best. The kiss had caught him by surprise, even if he had not-so-secretly wished for it.
Alone as they were, the romance of the setting, and Lady Alison being so vulnerable with him, kissing her had felt as natural as breathing.
What Daniel found most strange about the incident was his ability to keep it to a single kiss. Where the last time they had done so, it had taken every ounce of control he had to tear himself away, this time it was different.
He knew why it was too. And I get the distinct feeling that so does Lady Alison.
It was the lack of hostility that did it. Those last times that he had kissed her were brought about via expressions of anger and passion and fire that burned so hot Daniel had no choice but to kiss her lest he explode.
Things were different now.
It started after Daniel rescued her from those two burglars.
Lady Alison, no doubt realizing that Daniel only had her best interests at heart, did not buck and push at everything he said like she once did.
She treated him with more respect. She was not always looking for a fight.
And most importantly, she no longer acted as if she hated him.
This allowed Daniel to drop his guard. It gave him the chance to get to know her better and on a more personal level. And better still, it meant that he could control himself around her like he had not been able to.
What might happen next? Daniel did not know, nor did he want to. For now, it was enough that he and Lady Alison could coexist peacefully.
Better that I do not think ahead, because I know where that will lead me. Better that I am happy with how things are and pray that they stay this way. No need to complicate that which is so simple.
“Pickle! Get back here!” Lady Alison shouted after her dog, which the moment she set it down raced through the snow and vanished behind a row of hedges. “Oh, how he frustrates me! Why does he not listen?”
Daniel laughed as he and Alison walked the garden path through the snow-covered garden. “Now you know how I feel.”
“And what does that mean?” She widened both eyebrows at him.
“Nothing,” he said with a knowing grin. “Just referring to my sisters. They rarely listen to me, even when they know the advice I give is right.”
“Sounds vexing.”
“You have no idea.”
“It must be hard for someone like you,” she said with a sigh. “Always being right but rarely being afforded the courtesy of being told as much.”
“It is my cross to bear.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him. “You are so… self-important sometimes, you know? Tell me, how do you manage to stand up straight when your head is that size?”
“You tell me,” he responded coolly. “Yours is twice the size of mine, and you know it.”
“It is not!”
“Maybe not anymore,” he shot back. “Thanks to me, of course, helping to deflate it as I have. I really am that brilliant.”
She snorted and shook her head, but he caught the smile on her lips and the way her eyes glimmered in the white sun of the morning.
As said, Daniel was starting to enjoy himself these last few days like he had never known before. He found that he was looking forward to seeing Lady Alison each day. Just as he was relishing the time they spent together.
She was just so easy to be around. She did not hoard his time.
She did not insist upon always being about to be doted upon.
Having lived alone now for two years, Daniel worshipped his private life and his alone time like nothing else.
But for reasons he could not explain, Lady Alison was the exception.
It was thirty minutes later when they finally went indoors. Daniel was the one to suggest it, seeing as it was freezing and he worried that being outdoors for too long would see them get sick.
“Yes, I think you are correct,” Alison said without argument as she scooped up Pickle. “Besides, Pickle is already shaking.”
“Oh, I was going to suggest that you leave the dog outside.”
“You are a scoundrel!”
He laughed and then linked his arm through hers. “Come on then, let us find somewhere warm.” He smiled at her, and she smiled back. That she was so willing to do as he asked without pushing back… again, it spoke to how far they had come.
It was when they arrived back inside that Daniel heard voices coming from the front of the manor. And what was more, it sounded to his ears like they were arguing.
“What on earth…” He walked ahead, hurrying through the halls until he came into the foyer. There, he saw right away what the cause of the commotion was.
“There you are!” It was none other than Mrs. Hollingberry, engaged in a shouting match with Godfrey. “Will you please tell your manservant that I am not a threat?”
“I did not think you were a threat,” Godfrey snapped at her. “I was simply stating that Lord Grayhill does not appreciate unannounced guests.”
“And as I said, in this case, he is sure to break his rule.”
“And as I said –”
“It is quite fine,” Daniel eased his valet. “I do appreciate your stout defense of my private life, but I think in Mrs. Hollingberry’s case, an exception can be made.”
Mrs. Hollingberry looked at Godfrey with a mocking smile, before stepping around the valet and hurrying toward Daniel. “It is no great thing, Lord Grayhill. I promise, my unexpected presence here will not delay you in whatever it is you have planned for today.”
“Let us hope not.”
“Mrs. Hollingberry!” Lady Alison then strode into the foyer. “This is a pleasant surprise.”
“I should think so,” Mrs. Hollingberry beamed. “I was hoping you would be here also, Lady Alison. For this concerns you.”
“Oh?”
Mrs. Hollingberry’s eyes widened, and her smile was mischievous. “Oh yes, in fact, it is the two of you I wished to speak with. I was just with the mayor, and he was telling me how appreciative he was that you attended both the Christmas Fair and the Winter Ball. Your presence was a blessing.”
Daniel could see where this was going, and he braced himself. “Yes, well, I am glad to hear it.”
“With that in mind, come Friday, we will be decorating the village square for Christmas. It is an annual tradition, as I am sure you know…” She then winked. “Even if you have somehow managed to avoid attending for as long as I have lived here.”
“Oh!” Alison exclaimed. “I had completely forgotten”
She and her family often joined in on this tradition, and her as her stepfather was a local lord, he donated money always for the decorations. With all that had happened these last weeks, however, it had completely slipped her mind.
“It is lucky that I am here to remind you!” Mrs. Hollingberry seized on the question.
“With Christmas right around the corner, it is important that we bring some cheer to the village as is right. There will be games. There will be food and drink. There will even be fun had…” She looked pointedly at Daniel. “At least for some.”
“Let me guess,” Daniel sighed. “You would like for me to attend?”
“Both of you,” Mrs. Hollingberry corrected. “If it pleases you.”
Daniel suppressed the urge to groan. He should have known something like this would happen. Attending both the Fair and the Ball as he had done, he made it appear as if he wanted to be involved in the village’s celebrations. Which he most certainly did not.
For two years, he had done all he could to distance himself from those people, needing them to understand that he had no desire whatsoever to be thought of as the type who took pleasure in community.
Even that Mrs. Hollingberry had come here to ask him, acting as if it was a natural thing to barge into his home, was proof that things had gone too far.
“Mrs. Hollingberry, I do appreciate the offer…” Daniel started, turning his voice cold and distant as he was used to doing. There was a perception of him in this county, and it needed to be enforced.
Only then, he caught sight of Alison beside him.
She looked eagerly between himself and Mrs. Hollingberry. A hopeful smile was on her lips. A glimmer of excitement shone in her eyes. He had no doubt that she wanted to attend, just as he had no doubt she would insist.
Daniel hesitated. He considered what would happen if she pushed the issue. They would argue, he knew for sure. They would fight. And whether he won or not was inconsequential because it would return them to how things had once been. And if that happened…
Daniel felt a pulse ripple through him. He felt his blood warm and his legs tremble.
He dared a glance at Alison again, imagining the heat of argument, the need to control her, and what he would be willing to do if it came to that.
His self-control… kept in check for so long…
would surely falter, and when it did, he did not think he had it in him to stop a second time.
I have no choice. Suddenly I’m losing fights that I have not even started because the consequences of winning would be that much worse.
“As you say,” Daniel sighed. “If you wish us to attend, we shall do as you request.”
“Really?” Alison started in shock. “We will?”
“Assuming you wish to go?”
“I do,” she said quickly. “So much.”
He smiled awkwardly, his body still trembling with that urge to argue against her. “As do I,” he lied.
Was it a lie? Daniel believed it was, just as he believed he had no desire to attend this silly tradition.
But it also warmed him to see Lady Alison so happy, just as it excited him to spend more time with her.
Not a reaction he might have expected, but so much had changed these last few days where nothing made sense and everything surprised him.
“Friday, you said?” he asked Mrs. Hollingberry.
“Bright and early,” she said.
“Good.” He nodded once. “We will see you there.”