Convenient Christmas Brides: The Captain's Christmas Journey ; The Viscount's Yuletide Betrothal ; One Night Under the Mistletoe

by Carla Kelly

  There was no telling what kind of life they would have led if they had followed their passions, as she had wanted to do, and run off to elope after knowing each other for only a week. Maybe they needed this time to grow into the people they were meant to become.

  She walked down to the shoreline to see if she could spot anyone on the opposite bank who might be looking for them. It would be a shame to have to leave the cosy cottage and be surrounded by their families again, but she would welcome a nice warm meal. Scanning the bank, she heard her stomach growl and saw there was no one there.

  How long would it take for anyone to notice they had not returned? By evening, her maid would surely take notice of her absence. Would Gabriel send a search party out in the dark? Would they even be able to see the smoke curling out of the chimney once the sun went down?

  She turned towards the house with the idea of crawling back into bed and snuggling up with her warm naked husband, when she took note of his footprints in the snow. There were tracks of his that led to a large old tree with branches hanging over the cottage and there were other tracks that led to a path near the shoreline. Monty had said the mistletoe grew on the trees around the house. Why would he have ventured down the other path?

  The snow had stopped and the temperature wasn’t as frigid as it had been earlier. The idea of exploring the island was appealing so she followed his footprints into the woods. Exposed tree roots were visible in the trail, covered with freshly fallen snow, and a light wind blew through the trees that lined the path shaking snow from the branches. If she followed his footsteps she would have a way back to the cottage and wouldn’t risk getting lost. In the distance she could make out the water of the lake and realised this trail was taking her to another edge of the island. Why would Monty bother to go this way?

  When she stepped out of the woods at the end of the trail, she had her answer.

  The sight of the rowboats in the small open structure made her want to be sick. He had lied to her again. They could have taken one of the rowboats and been off this island hours ago. Did he find some sick twisted enjoyment in playing her for a fool?

  She couldn’t go back to the cottage. She couldn’t go back to Monty.

  * * *

  As soon as Monty woke up and realised he was alone in the cottage, he threw on his clothes and went in search of Juliet. Outside, the snow had stopped and the air was still and silent.

  It was easy to see her footprints and he tracked them to the water’s edge where they had come ashore and then saw that she had turned back towards the cottage. He followed her footprints a few more feet until he realised they veered towards the thicket of trees that led to the path he had taken earlier—the path that led to the boats.

  A sense of dread gripped him. How would he explain this to her?

  He took off after her at a run and by the time he reached the end of the footpath his deep quick breaths were visible through puffs of air. It was obvious from the condition of the snow that she had dragged one of the boats to the water’s edge and left. Icy fear for her safety twisted around his heart.

  What if her boat had capsized while she was rowing across the lake? She wouldn’t have been able to swim to shore in water this cold. And if she had made it to shore she didn’t know the grounds and would never find her way back to the house. The sun would be setting soon. She would be out alone in the dark and the freezing night-time temperatures.

  As fast as he could, he dragged the other boat to the water’s edge and took off after her, trying desperately to remain calm and think clearly. Water lapped hard against the boat as he rowed across the lake, afraid he would find her upturned boat or see an oar float by. The muscles in his arms strained with the speed with which he was cutting through the water.

  Scanning the shoreline ahead of him, he prayed he would see her boat. He had to slow down as he approached land and rowed the boat parallel to the shoreline, searching for any open space large enough for her to come ashore. Fear like he had never known welled up in his throat and he periodically called out her name.

  A large shrub had grown far enough out into the water that Monty had to manoeuvre around it. Once he did, he felt his body go weak with relief. Floating within a thicket of branches was the boat Juliet must have taken. He rowed quickly with all his might to get his boat on ground and jumped out, not caring about pulling it fully on to shore.

  Once more he was grateful for the snow that helped him track her footprints. He needed to get his bearings as to where they were in relation to the house so, before taking off after her, he turned and looked back at the island. If they travelled to his right, they should be able to get to the house. He called out to her, hoping she wasn’t too far ahead of him and could hear him.

  The wind whistling through the trees was his only response. Taking off at a sprint, he followed her trail. He had no notion if she had left the island fifteen minutes before he did or an hour. He only hoped she wasn’t too far ahead of him.

  Eventually, he spotted something red through the trees and knew he had found her. His lungs burned with the cold air and he closed his eyes in relief. It would be impossible to steady his erratic pulse even though he now knew she was safe.

  Finding his voice, he called out her name and ran towards her.

  * * *

  Juliet was crushed when she discovered Monty had lied to her yet again. She knew leaving the island without him was foolish. She had no idea how to get back to the house, but she couldn’t face him. She needed time apart to try to bury the hurt enough that he wouldn’t see her cry. And she did cry—during the entire time she rowed across the lake.

  When she was able to row the boat on to the shore, she almost sank to her knees in exhaustion and relief. The muscles in her arms were burning, but she couldn’t stop. She was determined to find her way back to the house by nightfall. Let Monty wonder what had happened to her.

  She hadn’t anticipated that it would be so easy to get disorientated in the woods. Now she was alone and lost. If she found her way back to the house this was what her future would hold. For the rest of her life she would always be alone—being married to a man she could not trust and someone she could not share her fears with.

  Chills ran through her and she could feel her body tremble. It might have been from the cold—or it might have been from the fear of being out unaccompanied on a cold December day with night approaching. Were there wild animals in these woods? Were they hungry? How would anyone ever find her in this enormous park?

  When she heard Monty call her name, after what felt like hours of wandering alone, tears of relief pooled in her eyes. How he had found her, she didn’t know. But she thanked heaven he had.

  There was no time to react when he charged down the path and threw his arm around her waist, squeezing her so tightly it was almost impossible to breathe. She held on to him, afraid he was just a figment of her imagination. When she realised he was real, she rubbed her face on his shoulder to wipe away the tears.

  And then she broke out of his arms and pushed him back.

  ‘Juliet, thank God you are safe.’ He took a step towards her.

  She took a step back. ‘No thanks to you.’

  ‘Me? I wasn’t the one who told you to go off on your own in a two-thousand-acre park that you do not know.’

  ‘No, but you lied to me—again. I couldn’t stand to be near you, so I left. If you hadn’t lied to me about those boats, I wouldn’t have felt the need to leave you.’

  ‘I didn’t exactly lie about the boats.’

  ‘You didn’t tell me about them. It’s the same thing! Do you even know how to tell the truth? Why do you even bother to say sweet words to me? Is it because you feel obligated to do that?’

  ‘Sweet words?’

  ‘You told me you were so glad I married you. Was that a lie, too? Did you feel you needed to say something lovely because I agreed
to allow you to touch me?’

  ‘No, of course not. I meant that. I am glad you married me. I should have married you years ago.’

  ‘Argh!’ She fisted her hands at her sides and it was taking great control not to push him in the snow. ‘I wanted to marry you. You were the one who said we shouldn’t.’

  ‘We weren’t ready then. It would have caused a scandal, but I should have told you we should wait. I shouldn’t have walked away and ended it the way I did.’

  ‘You said we couldn’t elope because you didn’t love me.’

  ‘And because it would have caused a scandal. I told you that, too. And, truth be told, I didn’t want the world to know that Skeffington had turned down my request for your hand. He told me I was a worthless third son and because I had no political aspirations I was a parasite on my family. That I was no better than the beggars on the street asking for money. He didn’t believe me when I said I loved you. He told me the only reason I was asking for your hand was because I needed your dowry. He said if I married you, everyone would believe that was why I wanted you. No one would believe we were in love. When I told him I didn’t care what the ton thought, he then told me he would have to be cold in his grave before I could marry you. That he would never consent to it. He would never tie his family to that of the Duke of Winterbourne’s.’

  ‘You told me you loved me. You even said it to him. And yet when we had the chance to run off and be together, you couldn’t do it. You didn’t love me enough and your pride overruled any feelings you had for me.’ She took a breath to steady the hurt squeezing her chest. ‘I loved you. I was willing to leave everything to be with you.’

  ‘I couldn’t do it. I have two brothers that excel in everything they do. All my life I felt as if I was not quite as good as they were. All my life I have felt as if I am in a race to catch up to their accomplishments.’ He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. ‘Some of the things Skeffington said to me were true. Don’t you see? He was right. I had no direction. My family wanted me to enter a career I had no interest in. I was living with their disappointment and yet had no notion of what I wanted to do. I had no idea how I would make my way in the world and was living off the money Gabriel gave me. If I had caused a scandal and eloped with you, there was a chance that well of money would have dried up. What would we have done? How would we have survived?’

  ‘Do you think your family would have really turned their back on you?’

  ‘That was a chance I was not willing to take. Not with your welfare.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me any of this that night?’

  ‘Because I knew it would be easy for you to sway me into leaving with you. I knew how much I wanted you and I thought if I couldn’t find a way for us to be secure, then I must not really be in love with you.’

  She looked away from the anguish in his eyes. ‘You still lied to me about the boats.’ It was the one thing she knew was true.

  ‘Because I wanted to spend more time alone with you—away from everyone at the house. I was afraid if you knew about the boats you would want to leave. Ever since the Ashcrofts’ ball you have found ways to avoid being with me. I just wanted us to have some time together to find a way to co-exist.’

  Juliet was cold, hungry, and mentally and physically exhausted. She was not in a proper state to process any of this. At this very moment, she just wanted to find a way back to the house. ‘The sun will be setting soon,’ she said, looking up at the sky. ‘Do you know your way back to the house from here?’

  ‘That is all you have to say to me?’

  ‘Monty, I cannot discuss any of this with you now. I am cold and tired and just want some food.’

  He nodded. ‘Of course.’ There was a catch in his voice. His breath was visible as he looked around and then up at the sky. ‘If we go east, we should make it to the end of the wood and then we will be able to see the house across the Great Lawn.’ He scrubbed his hand across his eyes. ‘Unfortunately it is too cloudy to see the sun so I cannot determine which way is east.’

  The thick old tree next to the one she was leaning on had moss growing on it. She tilted her head to get a better view.

  ‘If I had to guess,’ Monty said. ‘I think that way is east.’ He pointed to his right.

  ‘No. It’s this way,’ Juliet countered, pointing in the opposite direction.

  Monty narrowed his eyes at her. ‘Are you simply being contrary?’

  ‘No, here look.’ She gestured towards the moss on the tree. ‘Moss usually grows on the north side of a tree. Therefore, that is east.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘I read about it in a book.’

  ‘Of course you did.’ He let out a deep breath and seemed to be considering if he should trust her memory. ‘Very well. We will follow your direction. The minute you see anything that resembles a well-worn path, let me know. It should lead us to the house.’

  They were able to make their way for quite a while following a fairly straight line. The thick clouds were getting darker, indicating the sun was going down. The clouds would block any light from the moon and the idea of being outside in complete darkness was giving her a prickling sensation under her skin. She glanced over at Monty, who was walking beside her with an appearance of confidence that she found reassuring.

  He stopped at a break in the shrubbery and glanced in both directions. ‘Here, this is the way.’

  He held out his hand to her and she took it. Giving it a reassuring squeeze, he smiled at her. She squeezed his hand back.

  ‘How do you know which way to go, Monty?’

  ‘See that X carved into the tree? That tells me we are on a path that will lead us back to the house.’

  ‘But suppose we should have turned in the opposite direction on the path?’

  ‘The markings down to the lake are an L, the markings to the house are an X.’

  ‘Who did that?’

  ‘I did. When I was about ten. I never wanted to get lost in the wood.’

  ‘That was very smart of you.’

  Even though he gave her a careless shrug, she could see the pleased look on his face at her comment.

  It was getting darker and all around them the trees were looking more and more like shadows.

  Juliet tightened her grip on his hand. ‘What should we do when we are on the path after the sun sets and we can’t see the markings?’

  ‘We won’t be.’

  ‘How can you be so sure?’

  He stopped walking and pointed ahead of them at the break in the trees. ‘Because we have reached the Great Lawn.’

  Stepping out of the wood on to the snow-covered expanse of lawn that led to Winter Hall in the distance, Juliet covered her mouth to hold in the sob that was ready to burst from her lips. They had made it. They were safe. Soon she would be inside the warm house and would be able to have something to eat and drink, and lie down. This emotional day would be over.

  She stood there, looking out at the bluish-black silhouette of the enormous stately home with its ninety-degree angles, and watched as lights started to flare up in a row in the front and back of the house.

  ‘They are lighting the torches for us. So now we have light to lead us to the door,’ he said from beside her.

  Their eyes held and she put her arms around him and gave him a hug.

  ‘Thank you for going after me.’

  His arms gripped her a bit tighter. ‘I will never leave you again.’

  Her heart flipped over in her chest. How she wanted to believe him.

  ‘I might not have made it through the wood before nightfall if it weren’t for you,’ he continued. ‘Who would have imagined that all those little facts your brain likes to collect would one day save us.’

  He lowered his arms and their eyes met. It was growing darker and it was becoming hard to see his expressio
n.

  ‘Are you ready to rejoin the world?’ he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

  She threaded her arm through his. ‘I am now.’

  They walked across the Great Lawn in silence. The snow beneath their boots crunched underfoot. With every step they took, they could see lights being lit in many of the windows inside the large house. By the time they made it to the front drive, Juliet felt as if she could collapse in bed and stay there for the next two days.

  Monty had paused and turned to her when they were a few feet from the front door. ‘This wasn’t what I had planned when I invited you out this morning. I thought we would be gone for a few hours and it would give us a chance to create some pleasant memories. I am sorry.’

  ‘For everything?’

  He held both her hands in his. ‘I don’t regret the time we spent together in the cottage. I’ll think of our time in front of the fire for many years to come. And when I said I was glad you married me, I was wrong. Glad is too soft a word for what I feel about having been given this second chance with you. I want to be a good husband to you. I want you to be glad you married me.’

  He took a tendril of her hair that had come loose from the pins and was blowing across her face, and tucked it over her ear. She leaned up to kiss him, when suddenly the front door opened and Charlotte came running out.

  ‘Oh, thank God. I’ve been so worried. Come inside. Come inside. You must be freezing.’

  She should have been, but instead Juliet was filled with warmth. He hadn’t said he loved her, but she understood him better now. She understood why he had left her years ago and had not wanted to run away. He had been the sensible one. She had been too impulsive. Maybe they could start over. After all, he had wanted to be stranded with her on an island.

  The inside of Winter Hall was aglow with candlelight and the flames of warm fires danced in the hearths. Sprigs of holly rested above the gilded mirrors and framed portraits. So much had happened today that Juliet had forgotten it was Christmas Eve.