The Season for Loving by Vanessa Kelly

Author:Vanessa Kelly
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: 0
Published: 2016-10-26T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

* * *

The long case clock outside Georgie’s bedroom bonged out the late hour. The house was finally quiet, everyone safely in bed after the night’s revelries.

Except for her. She sat in her window alcove, her feet tucked up under her thick flannel wrapper. The fire flickered merrily in the grate, throwing soft patterns of light and shadow throughout the room.

She gazed through the new double-paned windows at the gardens and the expansive lawn rolling away from the house. A gentle but steady snowfall filled the night sky and slowly blanketed the grounds. Crisply trimmed hedges grew soft and fluffy like cotton balls, and the gravel paths disappeared beneath a frosting of white. It was a perfect Christmas night. If she listened very carefully, she might even hear the music of the spheres or an angel’s celestial song.

What sentimental twaddle.

Georgie sighed at the cynical voice in her brain, but it was turning out to be a terrible Christmas, when she’d been hoping it would be the best. After all, for the first time in her life, she was in love. Until a few hours ago, she’d thought Fergus was, too.

Her ridiculous suggestion that he pretend to court her had actually led to something wonderful. Georgie had told herself that she’d made the impetuous offer as more of a lark than anything else, and as an excuse to spend more time with someone she quite liked. Now, however, she knew the truth—she’d been falling in love with Fergus even then. Her madcap plan hadn’t been a lark, but a last-ditch effort to turn her dreams into reality.

Now reality had come crashing down around her ears, and in the most humiliating way she could imagine. Georgie was either a very bad kisser—and that was certainly a possibility, given his horrified reaction to her—or she’d completely misjudged the nature of his attentions. Frankly, she didn’t know which would be worse.

She slid down from the window seat and headed for her bed. Tomorrow would be a long day. There were boxes to hand out to the servants, and then the skating party for the estate tenants and their children. Under the circumstances, it would never do to look pale and melancholic. Bertie and Mrs. Clotworthy would start to fuss, and Georgie knew she didn’t have the fortitude to deal with them.

She also knew she had to greet Fergus with some degree of equanimity. She wasn’t sure she had the fortitude for that either. Fortunately, his party would be departing for Hampshire in a few days, and she’d never see him again. That, she’d told herself at least a hundred times in the last few hours, was a good thing.

A soft knock sounded at the door. Her heart thudded, and for a wild moment she imagined it might be Fergus, coming to apologize.

“Enter,” she called out.

Eliza stuck her head around the door. “May I come in, dear?”

Georgie sighed. “Yes, of course.” She was surprised when Evie Endicott followed Eliza into the room. They were both dressed in sturdy wrappers, with slippers on their feet and frilly caps on their heads.

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