One
“Youshotit down? What were you thinking, you daft man?”
An ear-piercing screech disrupted the tranquility of the library, causing Helena to wince. She looked up from her place at the small writing desk and met her husband’s gaze.
Sebastian grinned and closed the book he’d been reading. “It sounds like Fergus is receiving another set down from Edith.”
“Yes, it does.” Helena returned her husband’s smile as she replaced the quill. A response to her sister Cora’s letter would have to wait. She couldn’t write a word with her companion and land steward bellowing in the next room. “How long do you think it will be before they storm off to separate parts of the house?”
“It could be a while. Edith is scolding him good this time.” Sebastian’s dark brown eyes glittered with amusement. “The poor sap.”
“Your expression of sympathy lacks conviction, my love.” Helena feigned a disapproving frown, but laughter laced her words. “I think you enjoy Fergus’s suffering.”
“Perhaps a little. After all, he caused me to suffer a time or two during my courtship of you.”
Sebastian laid his book on the side table, rose from his seat by the crackling fire, and came to urge her to stand.
She eagerly abandoned her task for the thrill of his touch and sighed with pleasure when he caressed her hair. She’d never believed she could be happy wintering at her former husband’s estate. Before Lord Prestwick’s death, Aldmist Fell had been like her prison. Her older husband controlled every aspect of her life and kept her hidden away from her family.
Now the castle was a home that she shared with the love of her life, her youngest sister Gracie, a most gracious mother-in-law, and servants she loved as family. Even Edith was earning Helena’s admiration with her unwavering devotion to Gracie.
Sebastian brushed a feather light kiss across Helena’s cheek. “I will go to Fergus’s rescue if you wish,” he whispered in her ear before gently capturing her earlobe between his teeth.
Her heart launched into a wobbly gallop. After five months of marriage, Helena was more in love with Sebastian Thorne than she had been the day they exchanged vows. His patience and good humor when dealing with her colorful family—whether they were actually blood relatives or close friends she loved like kin—never ceased to amaze her.
“Fergus can defend himself,” she murmured. “I would rather you kissed me.” Her husband needed no further encouragement to claim her mouth, causing her to forget about the squabble in the foyer. For a fleeting moment, at least.
“You could have easily missed,” Edith ranted. “What if you had hit a bystander?”
“How else was I to retrieve it?” Fergus’s booming voice echoed in the vast foyer.
Helena’s hopes the two would lay their differences aside for the holidays, especially with her sisters arriving any day, were fading. It seemed Fergus and Edith had been out for each other’s blood ever since their arrival in Scotland. Helena wasn’t sure what to do with either one.
“What manner of idiot discharges a firearm with no regard for anyone else?” Edith said.
“I canna climb a tree, so what did you expect me to do?”
“I expected you to leave Gracie out of your foolishness, you blasted oaf.”
“Stop yer caterwauling, Mistress Gallagher. I dinna answer to you or any wench.”
Sebastian hissed. “Och, I dinna think I can rescue him now, lass.” His impersonation of Helena’s dear Scottish servant was very good. Helena had never mastered the brogue herself, but Sebastian even had Fergus’s forbidding glower perfected.
Helena’s ten-year-old sister entered the library and retrieved a book from the shelf as if she hadn’t noticed the two adults in the foyer screaming at each other. How anyone within a two-mile radius could be oblivious to the commotion was a mystery. Gracie rolled her eyes and plopped into the seat Sebastian had vacated. “They are quarreling again.”
“We heard,” Sebastian said. “What has Edith in the boughs today?”
“Fergus and I went hunting mistletoe. Ismay said it isn’t Christmas until the mistletoe is hung.”
Gracie followed Helena’s lady’s maid around like a pup ever since their arrival at Aldmist Fell. Since Ismay had been born and raised at the estate, she knew all the best places to explore, which made her an expert on everything in Gracie’s estimation.
“Mistletoe?” Sebastian raised a dark brow. “This just became interesting. Shall we?”
He entwined his fingers with Helena’s and led her toward the ruckus. Gracie tossed her book aside and hurried to catch up, giggling in anticipation of what Sebastian had up his sleeve this time. Helena’s husband was full of mischief and usually provided ample entertainment for the household.
They found Edith and Fergus locked in a death stare in the drawing room threshold opposite the library.
“At least they are quiet now,” Helena murmured.
