Chapter 15 #2
“Then let us be off so we can all settle into our celebrations of the day.” And he would secure the rest of his life. He’d suffer whatever his family wanted to toss at him, for he’d have Lucy at his side.
Nothing else mattered.
No sooner had they stepped foot inside the ancient bowels of Lancaster Hall than Ellen set upon them, along with two other young people Colin assumed were Lucy’s children.
Everyone talked at once, and they swept him and Lucy through the corridors until they paused just outside of the Green Parlor where, as he peeked into the room, his whole entire family was gathered.
Oh, God.
His stomach muscles cramped. Anxiety clawed at his insides. I’m not ready. “Er, before Lucy and I present ourselves, we should refresh our appearance. Being stranded in an abandoned cottage doesn’t lend itself to making the best impression.”
Ellen rolled her eyes. She bounced her merry gaze between him and Lucy before focusing on him again.
“All in good time, Papa. However, after speaking with Simon and Beatrice,” she pointed to them both, apparently in way of introduction, “we need to say our piece before Christmas celebrations begin.”
“Meaning what?” Colin couldn’t help but frown.
He looked at Lucy, who shrugged. If these children weren’t so innocent, they’d take one glance at her disheveled appearance and hastily upswept hair to know exactly what she’d been about during the nighttime hours. Heat infused him. We did that—together.
Was there guilt in his daughter’s expression? His frown deepened. Whatever for? “I have a confession to make, to you both,” Ellen began. When he and Lucy trained their attention on her, she continued. “Father, you’ve been unhappy for a long time—”
“I know but—”
“Please don’t interrupt. I need to say this before my courage deserts me,” Ellen pleaded. She fiddled with the red sash at her waist that offset the white of her dress. “When you were otherwise engaged—drinking—”
“I’ve vowed not to do that so much,” Colin interrupted, and Ellen huffed.
She stamped her foot. “Papa, please!”
“Fine, go ahead,” he said with a grin.
“I went through your things, found old letters from long ago, before you married Mother. Such sweet letters to Mrs. Ashbrook—Lucy. She was a Hudson then.” She smiled at the widow, who looked on with confusion.
“Then I found the sad letter when she refused your suit soundly... again it seemed. As well as a simple note from one of my aunts telling you of Lucy’s marriage to the war hero, Jacob Ashbrook.
” She glanced at Colin, who felt a childish urge to clap his hands over his ears.
“I had no idea about this portion of your history, but it intrigued me. It sounded so heartbreaking and convoluted.”
When she paused, Colin blew out a breath.
“Please, get on with it, child.” I cannot believe my daughter pried into my personal effects.
“It is unaccountably uncomfortable standing here with my whole family looking on.” He did his best to ignore the collection of assorted relatives sitting in silence inside the parlor.
“Right.” She smiled sweetly at him. “I puzzled out what was between the lines, all the things you and she didn’t say, and it just so happened that I attend the same academy for young ladies Lucy’s daughter, Beatrice does. We became friends and started talking...”
Lucy turned to her daughter. “In all this time, you never once mentioned you knew Ellen?”
“I couldn’t, Mother. We had a plan in place.
And this is where my confession begins,” the young lady named Beatrice stated.
She was possessed of glossy brown-blonde curls and a smile that put him in mind of Jacob so much that his heart lurched.
“Once Ellen relayed the information to me that you and the viscount once shared a romance, I did some digging of my own.”
“You went through my things.” It wasn’t a question, and Lucy grew agitated, but Colin bumped her shoulder with his. She glanced at him with a rueful smile.
“It had to be done. Simon and I found Papa’s pocket watch, the one Lord Hartsford gave him when they were best friends.
” She cast a concerned glance at Lucy while Colin traced a finger over that same watch currently residing in his waistcoat pocket, a gift from the woman he loved.
Then the girl looked at him. “Mama’s been so lonely and haunted, and she hasn’t truly lived these past years since Father died.
” She dropped her voice. “So Ellen and I thought of how lovely it would be if we could help matters along between you and see if that old spark was still there.”
Ellen nodded with enthusiasm. “Christmas romances are so lovely,” she said in a dreamy voice.
Colin’s eyes widened. What had these two impish young girls done? “Is that all there is to your confession?”
“No,” both girls said in union, their expressions conveying both guilt and embarrassment while their cheeks reddened.
“Spare me the Drury Lane acting, girls,” Simon said with a shake of his head.
“I want my Christmas breakfast, and this is only delaying it.” The boy, also with blond hair and a chin that could belong to no one else except Jacob, sighed.
Then he attempted to affect an expression and pose of boredom but didn’t quite succeed.
“Long story short, the girls wagered me that they could bring the two of you together again. I said they couldn’t.
Too many variables at play. And now?” He looked between Colin and Lucy with slightly narrowed eyes. “Are you?”
“Are we?” Colin caught Lucy’s eye, the sparkle of love in those gorgeous depths, and he fell all over again. Then he nodded. “We are.”
“Buggar.” Simon sighed. “I suppose I’m honor bound to do Beatrice’s chores for a month. I’m also to introduce Ellen to a few of my friends. Damnation.” He rubbed a long, elegant hand along his chin.
“Simon, don’t curse,” Lucy admonished in the tone she reserved for talking to young people. He’d heard it enough when she’d spoken with Ellen. “You are not yet a young gentleman of the ton.”
Colin chuckled. No, but he soon would be, and if Simon would let him, he’d count himself honored to help give the lad a bit of Town bronze…
to a certain extent. “Perhaps my brain is confused from hunger and lack of sleep.” At the last second he stopped himself from glancing at Lucy.
“How is any of this possible? Surely there’s more to the story than finding old letters and trinkets.
” The anxiety came back, but Lucy stepped closer.
She grabbed his hand, threading their fingers together, and immediately calm descended.
Oh, how good it felt having her in his life once more!
“Would you believe Christmas magic?” Ellen asked in a hopeful voice.
“I would not. And especially not from the three of you. Explain, please,” he encouraged and tamped the smile that threatened.
How dear these children were by taking matters into their own hands when their adults were too blind to see the truth.
Perhaps there was a bit of Christmas magic involved, but he wouldn’t admit that to the young people.
“Fine.” Ellen shrugged. “The post driver fell victim to flirting and a kiss on his cheek.”
“Damnation.” Colin groaned and Simon protested the vulgarity.
“How can he say it, but I cannot?”
Lucy huffed. “He is an adult, but even he should know better.”
Colin ignored them both in order to concentrate on his daughter. “We shall need to have a talk about proper deportment, young lady.”
“I know, and I agree, but those were desperate times,” she insisted. “Also, the axel break on the post coach was faked. Merely a wobbly wheel that was repaired once you and Lucy were well on your way.”
Colin gawked and Lucy gasped.
“That’s not all,” Beatrice inserted. She chewed her bottom lip quite like her mother did when worried. “I made certain Aunt Lydia traveled with us and the cat, who was truly tranquil.”
“Ha! That’s why you laughed in your sleep when I mentioned it,” Lucy said with a knowing look at Ellen.
Beatrice continued. “Lord Hartsford’s grandmother rode with us as well.” She cringed, as if waiting for admonishment, but Lucy merely patted her shoulder with her free hand.
“It’s quite all right.”
“Bloody hell.” Shock moved through Colin. “So that’s what Grandmother was scheming. I knew that look in her eye boded no good.”
“The letters to Father Christmas?” Lucy asked in a quiet voice.
Both girls colored again. “We wrote them,” Beatrice confessed.
His daughter rushed on. “That meeting with my friend Emily at the last posting inn was pure providence. I couldn’t pass it up.
” She grinned, and it brightened the corridor.
“I left you with Lucy, and felt that if you couldn’t figure out what happened next, you deserved to be alone at Christmas, and for the rest of your life.
” She shrugged, as if she expected the results all along.
“I feigned sleep many times so you could talk with her. What else is there to do during a long coach journey?”
A sick feeling circled through Colin’s insides. “You heard us?” Good God, so many things were discussed…
She nodded. “Yes, but it’s forgotten now if everything’s come out right.”
Lucy interjected with a question of her own before Colin could respond. “And the two pretty gowns in my luggage? Were those your doing?” She bounced her gaze between the girls. “I certainly didn’t pack them.”
“Oh, no!” Beatrice shook her head and her curls bounced. “Aunt Lydia did that. She said you might have need.”
Lucy’s lips parted as she gawked. “Everyone in my life arranged to deceive and manipulate me?”
Her daughter smiled. “For your own good, Mama.”
“So that you’d remember what happiness felt like,” Simon added with a sage look and his hands clasped behind his back.
The amount of dissembling the three of them had done boggled Colin’s mind. “We will all need to sit down for a serious chat later.”