But for all she knew, he could be injured. No one had checkedhimfor broken bones. “But it’s a mile or more back to the house! You can’t carry me that whole way. I’m perfectly capable of walking.”
Even as she said it she couldn’t help noticing he hadn’t once broken stride, and he didn’t appear to be struggling to carry her, or at all winded. She let her hand trail just the tiniest way over his shoulder, and her palm met nothing but hard muscle.
My goodness.
“You seem to be under the impression you’re in charge here, Miss Sheridan. Allow me to correct you. Iwillcarry you the whole way, and before you think to argue with me,” he added, when her mouth opened. “I’ll remind youI’mthe earl, and I won’t be trifled with.”
Oh, for pity’s sake. Whenever he took to reminding herhewas the earl, there was no point in arguing with him.
Thea looked over his shoulder at the children, who were walking behind them, their arms full of evergreens. They were whispering to each other, their gazes fixed on Ethan’s wide back. “Henry, George, take Martha’s hand.”
“Aw, do we have to, Miss Sheridan? She’s aw right.”
“Do as Miss Sheridan says at once,” Ethan said, in as lordly a tone as Thea had ever heard him use. “It’s dark, and we don’t want to lose anyone.”
There was a pause, then a meek, “Yes, sir—er, I mean, yer lordship.”
No one said another word until they reached the house. The boys ran ahead to open the door for Ethan, and he carried Thea through the entryway into the study, and placed her carefully on the settee in front of the fire.
The children stood in the doorway, watching with wide eyes until Ethan turned to them. “What were you three urchins doing before Miss Sheridan took you out to hunt for mistletoe?”
“We was making paper decorations,” Henry replied.
“Very well. Go do that, then.”
“They need their tea.” Thea began to rise from the settee. “They must be hungry—”
Ethan laid a hand on her shoulder. “Sit back down. Miss Sheridan is going to rest for a moment or two. I don’t suppose you three have any objection to that, do you?”
“No, lordship.” All three children shook their heads.
“Very good. If you’re hungry, eat whatever sweets are left in the kitchens.”
“Hurrah! Lordship says we can have sweets for tea!” The three children vanished from the doorway and charged down the hallway, the sound of their thundering feet fading as they ran toward the kitchens.
“Christ. They sound like a bloody herd of elephants.” Ethan went to the sideboard, poured some amber liquid from one of the crystal decanters into a glass, and handed it to her. “Here, drink this. It’ll warm you more quickly than the fire.”
“Thank you.” Thea took a tiny sip, choked a bit, and then lowered the glass.
Ethan laughed at the face she made. “Go on, drink it all. It’s only a bit of brandy. It’ll do you good.”
“What if I told you I don’t bother with things that do me good?” Thea asked, throwing the words he’d spoken earlier that day back at him. They’d troubled her for reasons she didn’t quite understand. “What would you think of me then?”
“I’d think you were a bloody fool.” He stripped off his coat, threw it over a chair and then took the seat next to her on the settee. “Is that what you want me to say? That I’m a bloody fool?”
“You’re many things, Ethan, but a fool isn’t one of them.”
“No? Well, that little fiend—the dark-haired chit—she told me I’m a wicked, wicked man. Quite ironic, since she was stealing my jam at the time.”
“She does have a name, you know. It’s Martha.”
“Oh, I know her name. I’m not likely to forget it. She reminded me of it right after she dumped milk in my lap and called me an arse.”
“An arse? Oh, dear.” Despite herself, Thea pressed her lips together to hold back a smile. Martha hadn’t mentionedthatpart. She shouldn’t laugh, of course, but, well . . . Ethan likelyhadbeen being an arse.
They sat without speaking while Thea finished her brandy, but then Ethan got to his feet, went to the sideboard, and poured a heavy measure of whiskey into his glass. “If you’re recovered from your fall, you’d better go tend to those three savages, before they smash the rest of the glasses to bits and steal all the silver.”
Thea huffed out a breath. “They haven’t stolen a blessed thing.”
