and were probably helping her prepare. She couldn’t blame them for refusing to toss their plans aside for her, for this Christmas was special for them, too. It would likely be the last one those three inseparable friends ever spent together.
Olivia’s husband, the Duke of Hartford, seemed to be indispensable to the royal family, so he and Olivia would likely spend next Christmas in London. Penelope and her husband Thad, heir to the Earl of Hume, would likely be in Scotland hosting Christmas for their clan next year. Poppy would remain here, but if the hot looks exchanged by her and her husband were any indication, the Earl of Welles would have his little heir before next year was out and Poppy would have her hands full with the little viscount’s arrival.
“Bollocks, how many times must I kiss you to get you to stop frowning?” Angus teased, stoking the fire in her bedroom hearth and tossing on several more logs before it sputtered out.
The fire cast a rich, golden glow about the room and seemed to illuminate Angus as he strode to her side like a valiant warrior and gave her a shockingly delightful kiss on the mouth.
She forced a smile when he drew away. “This Christmas Eve supper has me overset. I wanted so badly to be at Sherbourne Manor and wear my new gown. I wanted to be with my friends, although it is presumptuous of me to consider them as that. They are so high above my station.”
His gaze turned thoughtful. “Perhaps not for long.”
She frowned, not understanding what Angus meant by the remark. However, she shrugged it off. Her brain was too dulled with laudanum to think clearly. “Did you manage to get some sleep last night? You couldn’t have been comfortable stretched out in front of the bookshop’s fireplace.”
“I slept like a log. When I awoke, I stole away home to wash up and change into clean clothes. I also checked the infirmary to make certain no one had come by looking for me. All quiet, thank goodness. But I expect young Walter Fitch will manage to get himself into a scrape soon enough, and his father will come running into town to find me.”
“Oh, that boy!” The mere mention of Walter, that scamp, cheered her. “He has a knack for mischief. But he is good hearted and always means well. He’s clever, too. He already knows his letters and can count faster than his older siblings. And what a sense of adventure he has! I’ve been reading to the children at the schoolhouse, stories about wizards and kings, pirates and their sailing ships. Knights of valor. Walter sits wide-eyed and hangs upon my every word. All the children do. It’s quite splendid to see them so excited about learning and their young minds spinning with ideas.”
She rolled her eyes. “Walter told me he has decided to become a wizard…or a pirate, he hasn’t made up his mind yet which. However, he has not ruled out becoming a king. Or Hercules. But he feels he has to eat a lot to build up his muscles, and he can’t do it because his mother’s cooking isn’t all that good.”
Angus chuckled.
She blushed suddenly. “You should have stopped me. I didn’t mean to go on about the children.” Especially since she would have none of her own, and she supposed the ache showed. Seems she could not hide anything from Angus lately.
“You’ll make a wonderful mother, Felicity. Kind and patient and inspiring.” He sighed when she turned her head away and said nothing. “You will. I–”
He was about to say something more when interrupted by the tinkle of the bell above the bookshop door. It must have shut and opened again, for it continued to ring. First, light footsteps skittered across the shop. Then it sounded as though an entire army was marching in. “I’ll go see what’s happening. Don’t you dare climb out of bed.”
She sorely wanted to, but her body would not cooperate. Her left arm was broken and her right ankle was still swollen from its sprain. It made walking impossible for the moment. “Angus! Is it the laudanum addling my senses, or is that the aroma of roast goose wafting through the kitchen?”
Angus was staring at the goings on in her bookshop, too busy grinning at her visitors to respond.
Felicity bolted upright upon recognizing the cheerful voices…but it couldn’t be. “Poppy, what are you doing here? Your guests will be arriving at any moment!