Mistletoe and Mayhem - Cheryl Bolen Page 0,16

the sofa, have a glass of port, and watch the fire. It’s so soothing on a chilly winter’s night.”

She favored him with a smile. He helped her to the sofa, and then he moved the table and chairs away from the hearth to allow them clear vision of it. When he came to sit on the sofa, he sat closer to her than she had chosen to sit by him the previous night. He poured her drink, handed it to her, and offered a toast. “Permit me to drink to a happy Christmas and healthy lungs for Stevie.”

Her glass clinked against him. “Thank you. You’re so good to him.”

They drank.

“Will you give your permission for me to take him—in my enclosed carriage against the cold—tomorrow to the village so he can purchase a Christmas gift for his mother?” he asked.

Her sweet mouth opened. “How thoughtful you are! I’m sure Stevie would love that.”

“Perhaps you can suggest something for me to get Mrs. Ballard.”

She thought on this for a moment. “There is something! There’s a man in the village who sells spectacles that enable older people to be able to read small print. Poor Mrs. Ballard’s eyes aren’t what they once were. Just the other day she was lamenting she could no longer read her Bible. I believe she would love to have those spectacles, but I understand they’re rather expensive.”

“That’s a present I could get for her and her husband! Thank you for the suggestion.”

He thought again about the proximity of the mistletoe and about kissing her and about that damned Blatherwick. David was convinced the man meant to offer for her.

The very idea made his stomach drop. “Has it occurred to you that Blatherwick may be intending to propose marriage to you?”

She did not respond for a moment. “It has.”

“And? Have you considered remarrying?”

Again, she did not respond right away. “When Peter first died, I was sure I would never marry again. I could not imagine ever being the wife of any man except him. As time has passed and I’ve reread the letters he wrote, it’s clear he thought there was a likelihood he would die, and he wanted to know that I would be taken care of, that I would be cherished.”

“So you’ve decided you will remarry?”

“I would certainly give such a proposal consideration.”

“Please tell me you would not consider Blatherwick.”

She giggled. “I am honored by his attentions, and marriage to him would give me security—though I will own I couldn’t be happier than I am at Darnley.”

She was far too nice. He refilled his glass, but not hers as she’d taken no more than two sips. He was emboldened enough to finally ask what he’d been longing to know. He drew a deep breath. “Tell me, Mrs. Milne, how is it you ever became acquainted with my father?”

“He never told you?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t know of your existence until the solicitor told me you’d inherited Darnley.”

“Oh, how you must have hated me!”

She was far too close to the initial truth for his comfort. “I don’t think anyone could ever hate you.”

She bestowed her brilliant smile upon him, and he felt as if he’d just broken the faro bank at White’s.

“Getting to meet your father was…” her voice trailed off. “It was like Divine intervention in my life.”

He moved closer. “How so?”

“I was very, very low, and Stevie was not doing well at all when I happened upon an advert—I was too poor to purchase a newspaper, but I was fortunate enough to read my landlady’s that she had finished reading. Your father advertised for a genteel woman to read to him as he was, sadly, losing his vision.”

“I didn’t realize that,” David said solemnly, a giant lump in his throat.

“Because he didn’t want you to know. Just like he didn’t want those of us who loved him to know when he was dying.”

It still stung to think about his father dying alone. “So you answered his advert?”

“Yes, I wrote to him. I prayed so hard that I would be the one he selected for I was desperate to get Stevie out of London.” She paused for a moment. “And I think I knew, as ridiculous as it sounds, I knew that the man who placed that advert was a kindly man. When I read it, I felt it was…I know this sounds foolish, but I felt it was my destiny.”

“And obviously my father felt the same connection.”

She nodded, her great blue eyes meeting his.