Mistletoe and Mayhem - Cheryl Bolen Page 0,37

a dozen years, and she could still stir up his temper over something so inconsequential as a silver bell. The way she’d done as a girl, too. He remembered they had become bitter enemies over the lost bell, but those childish fits of rage belonged in his past.

Ruby Clement had lost a silver bell somewhere in this vast pile, and Hector had the unfortunate luck to be the last person to admit that he had seen it. And because he had, he’d been suspected—by Ruby, mostly. His possessions had been searched, and he’d even been deprived of a meal in a bid to entice him to admit the bell’s location. He should have kept his mouth shut instead of trying to help with the search. He’d never coveted the stupid bell, since he had one of his own.

“Forgive me,” he murmured. “I should not have raised my voice to you.”

“No, I beg you to forgive me, my lord. Apparently, some losses never lie quietly in the mind. I hadn’t truly thought of my bell in years.”

“Well, no harm done.” He took pains to calm his ruffled feathers. He was no longer a little boy who needed everyone to believe he spoke the truth. He swept his hair back from his eyes, noting his brow was damp and hot. “Well, that little disagreement between us certainly got the blood pumping through my veins on a day I thought would be utterly uneventful. No chance of being chilled for a while now, eh, Mrs. Roper? Would you care to sit down with me so we might conduct a more civilized conversation and renew our acquaintance? It has been some time since we last met. I’m sure much has happened since that we could catch up about. I must admit, I haven’t kept up with news from that side of Lord Vyne’s family.”

She shook her head and turned away. “I really should return Pip upstairs. Excuse me.”

Hector was keen not to let her go away yet. He had been rather bored until she’d swept into the room, and the chance to talk to a near-stranger was vastly more appealing than watching the snowfall outside. “If you’re worrying about Lord Vyne’s restriction denying the chance for children to be in the lower part of the mansion, I happen to have it on good authority that he rarely comes downstairs these days.”

She stopped and turned. “Why ever not?”

“He hardly ever comes down.” Hector drew closer so he could whisper.

“Oh!” she gasped. “But still, Lady Vyne might not want Pip running around.”

He looked at her in confusion. “Surely you’ve heard? Lady Vyne is not here. She left Vyne almost a year ago. Took the children, packed her trunks, and has been living in Cornwall with Lord Clement and m’sister Meg—whom he married by the way.”

“He never told me about my aunt.”

Hector rolled his eyes. “Vyne lies, quite frequently, and he is known for keeping his own counsel, especially when it’s a sensitive topic. I really would not put much faith in anything he might promise, too, if I were you.”

She pulled her child to her side and stroked his pale hair. “I’m sure that’s not the case. He wouldn’t lie to me. I’m his niece. Family.”

“Then you might be a rare bird indeed, but I am not wrong about your aunt.” Hector gestured her to the arrangement of chairs before the warm fire. “Please join me.”

Ruby shook her head again. “Do excuse us.”

To his regret, Ruby flew from the room, dragging her son along with her. Hector followed along a few steps, but she was soon only a memory.

A pity she went so quickly. He’d only now remembered that Ruby Clement was the first girl he’d ever kissed. Since it was Christmas, and she was quite pretty, he hoped to be in a position to claim a second under the mistletoe…and do a much better job this year.

Chapter Six

Ruby returned her son to her chamber, told him to play quietly, and then went in search of a servant. Hector suggested she had been lied to, but that couldn’t be right. Her uncle surely would have told her of her aunt’s absence when she asked to talk of her marriage with the woman. And she’d experienced enough of Hector as a boy not to believe anything he would say without confirming it first.

At last she found a maid, who stammered out that Lady Vyne was not receiving.

That didn’t sound promising. “Perhaps you could ask if Lady Vyne