None of that those things really mattered, though. A strong, binding attraction had developed between them when they first laid eyes on each other. He knew she’d felt it too. There had been differences between them, too, but they weren’t unsurmountable. It wouldn’t matter if she were the daughter of a vicar or a tenant farmer, she belonged to him. She just hadn’t agreed to that.
Yet.
But he was working on it. That was why she and the lads were outside, in the cold, playing hide-and-seek at this very moment. He was proving to her he wasn’t always firm in his thinking and doings. He could change. He was learning how to not worry so much about Fallon and Heron’s health and safety.
A movement out the window caught his eye. Fallon had come back into view and was hiding behind the tree Lillian had just vacated. Exactly what a five-year-old would do, he thought with a silent chuckle. If it was a good hiding place for her, it must be a good hiding place for him too.
Seth had tried to tell himself he didn’t love Lillian. That he simply wanted her as he would any other woman he desired. Maybe more, because her smiles and laughter made him feel good, made him think about the joy of a warm summer day, lying in sweet-smelling green grass under a shady oak tree.
With her.
Though she wouldn’t admit it to him the other night, he knew she loved him. He saw it in her eyes every time she looked at him. Felt it in her touch when they’d kissed. He was convinced she knew he loved her too. She had wooed him without trying, by being herself. Now, the tables had turned. He must woo her.
Lillian was right about one thing—he was studious. And that was to his advantage. If he wanted to know something, be it horses, stars, or steam engines, he read about it. No subject was off limits or too uninteresting for him to study. And he knew the way to beat an opponent at cards, fencing, or any other game or pastime was to study them, watch them, get to know how they think.
After Lillian refused to marry him, and refused to change her mind the next day even following a talk with her sister, he’d thought about kidnapping her, taking her up to Gretna Green, and forcing her to marry him. Fortunately, Crispin had talked him out of that idea. Which was just as well because he really didn’t want to leave the lads.
Though the duke wouldn’t let him run away with Lillian, he’d said exactly what Seth needed to hear. “You’re going to have to work harder if you want to win her hand.”
And that was exactly what Seth was doing. He was determined to have her promise to be his bride by Christmas night.
The first thing Seth did was send one of Crispin’s footmen off to London to make a couple of purchases for him. Second, he’d told the boys there would be no more lessons until after the Twelfth Night. They could play inside—and outside within reason. Third, there would be no pressure from him to Lillian about marriage. It was just as well that this was part of his plan because the rest of Lillian’s family had arrived and she was never alone. There was always at least one of her four sisters with her.
Seth had never seen so much blonde hair and blue eyes in one house. It wasn’t natural for anyone to have had that many daughters who looked so much alike. He’d met Lillian’s oldest sister Louisa, the Duchess of Drakestone, a couple of years ago, but not her younger sisters. Miss Sybil looked to be about fourteen, and the youngest, Miss Bonnie, had told him she was ten. All were beautiful, and not surprisingly, as bold and outspoken as Lillian.
He’d expected that they would have heard about his and Lillian’s rendezvous in the upstairs sitting room. If they had, surely they would have been looking at him as if he were the devil incarnate every night at dinner, but they were always pleasant. He decided that if they knew, they agreed with him that she should have simply agreed to marry him. That would have certainly made everything a lot easier for him.
Seth chuckled to himself as he continued to watch the play outside. Lillian would never make anything easy for him. That was all right. He enjoyed a good challenge. And, if all his plans worked out, come Christmas night, Lillian would be his.
Chapter 9
Christmas dinner was always a spectacular affair of food, drink, and conversation in the brightly lit formal dining room of Hurst. A white linen cloth covered the long table that was set for more than twenty people. An array of burning candelabras lit the room with a golden glow and gleamed prisms off the crystal glasses and polished silver. Arrangements of winter greenery and holly berries intertwined with a smattering of mistletoe were neatly placed on each end of the table. A goose that had been roasted to a perfected golden brown was the crowning centerpiece. The room was warm and filled with the scents of cedar and spruce and the tempting aromas of baked bread and cooked fruit.
Outside it was a clear, cold night. Perfect for what Seth had in mind for the guests after dinner.
The duchess had asked that Fallon and Heron be allowed to dine with them because Christmas dinner was a time for family and friends to come together in the spirit of the occasion no matter of the age. The lads had been excited but a little nervous too. Every once in a while, Seth would look down the table at them. They were being perfect little gentlemen with hands folded in their laps.
He grinned at them and they reciprocated.
Lillian had been seated on the opposite side of the table from Seth and two chairs down. While he talked to her sister Louisa, the Duchess of Drakestone, who was seated on his left, he gave more of his attention to Lady Fieldingham, who was on his right. Looking at the Viscountess gave him the perfect angle to keep an eye on Lillian.
All evening he’d seen her smile at everyone—including him. He already knew she wasn’t the kind of person who could stay angry with someone for long. That gave him some hope that the evening would go well. She was a vision of loveliness in a gown of dark ivory velvet. Shiny beads and pearls had been sewn onto the bodice, but the sparkle on the gown couldn’t match the sparkle in her eyes. She kept trying her best not to look at him (too often), but she couldn’t keep her gaze from straying toward him anymore than he could have stopped staring at her.
The soup, fish, game, and meat courses had already been served, when one of the servers accidently knocked Seth’s shoulder with his elbow while removing Lady Fieldingham’s plate. Several green peas fell off the plate onto the white linen.
The man shivered in horror at what he’d done and nervously said, “Excuse me, my lord. I apologize. I’ll clean that up immediately.”
“No harm done,” Seth said, brushing aside the man’s concern that he’d be chastised. “I’ll get them for you.” Seth brushed the peas into the palm of his hand, intent on putting them onto the plate for the server, but then he glanced over at Lillian. She gave him a slight nod and a hint of a smile, obviously approving of his helping out the servant. Instead of dropping all of the peas back onto the plate the server held, Seth kept three or four of them in his palm.
Lillian probably thought he’d never done a mischievous thing in his life. It was best she not know all he did in his youth. But tonight Lillian was about to see that he could have a little amusement at someone else’s expense too.
When Mr. Nash rose to give a toast, Seth knew it would be a long-winded speech. Crispin’s uncle couldn’t say the short version of anything. This would be a perfect foil. When it appeared everyone was attentive to the old man’s colorful story, Seth cautiously and quickly tossed a pea at Lillian. It hit near her collarbone and fell to her napkin. Blinking with confusion, she stared at the pea before looking up directly at Seth.
“Marry me,” he mouthed.
Her eyes widened for a second before she set her lips in a line and returned her attention back to Mr. Nash who was continuing his long tale about Crispin. As soon as she did, Seth threw another pea. This one plopped into Lord Fieldingham’s glass of wine, which happened to be sitting closer to Lillian than to the viscount.
That time, she frowned and gave Seth the evil eye as she mouthed, “What are you doing?”
