A Christmas Bride by Jo Ann Ferguson Page B

mentioned the carriage accident. How long had she been senseless?
    She looked at a gilded clock on the mantel and relaxed again. It must have been for only a few minutes that she had lost consciousness. Wrapping her arms around herself, she thought of how perfect it had been to be cradled in Timothy’s strong arms. The beat of his heart beneath her ear had been sweet music, urging her heart to match its rhythm. It had been wondrous.
    â€œWe have been looking forward to your visit, Miss Adams.” The housekeeper’s voice ripped her away from her reverie of forbidden dreams.
    â€œYou have?” She hoped Mrs. Scott had not said something else she had missed.
    â€œI don’t usually talk out of turn, but the earl is always happy to see his grandson, the viscount, and more so than ever this time when Lord Cheyney has brought you to meet his grandfather.”
    â€œI hope I can meet his expectations.” That was the most honest thing she had said since she woke in the inn.
    â€œDon’t mind the earl’s bluster, Miss Adams. He is deeply devoted to those of his family he respects. The others …” She shrugged and began to undo Serenity’s left shoe. Setting it on the floor, she reached for the other one.
    Wanting to ask who the others were, because she was hungry for any information that might help her keep from revealing the truth of this deception, Serenity simply smiled. A lady would not gossip with a servant. Again that was something she knew with a certainty that was inexplicable when so much of her past was gone. Mayhap she had been a prattlebox, and her employer had chastised her with a similar comment. Odd, though, for she did not seem to be a prattlebox.
    It did appear that, given the opportunity, Mrs. Scott was. Or mayhap it was nothing more than that she was trying to offer a welcome to the woman she believed would be the next chatelaine of Cheyney Park. As she drew the covers all around Serenity, the housekeeper said, “I shall send Nan to help you, Miss Adams. She is young, but not without experience as an abigail. The earl hired her last year when …” She glanced at the clock on the mantel. “Dear me, look at the time. I told Cook I would be up here for only a few minutes. Is there anything else you need just now?”
    â€œLord Brookindale’s prescription for me to rest sounds wisest just now,” Serenity replied, trying to keep her smile in place. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and fall asleep. Then she could forget the whole of this. “I want to recover quickly from this accident, so I can watch the house being decorated for the holidays.”
    â€œThe holidays!” Mrs. Scott rolled her eyes. “I dread them every year. It is busy enough with Christmas and New Year’s Day and Twelfth Night, but the earl’s birthday makes things even more hectic.”
    â€œEspecially this year when he reaches the seventieth anniversary of his birth.”
    â€œEspecially this year when the whole family seems to be descending on Cheyney Park.” The housekeeper shook her head and sighed. “If only they were not coming, there might be hope of a calm holiday.”
    â€œThey?”
    The housekeeper glanced toward the door and lowered her voice. “Those two, Miss Adams.”
    A lady would not gossip with a servant . In spite of her curiosity, she said, “I hope that things go better than you expect.”
    â€œSo do I, but I expect, Miss Adams, that you are going to have a Christmastide unlike any you have ever known.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    Mrs. Scott’s smile returned. “You shall see.”

Six
    Timothy set the two leather-bound books on the desk in his bedchamber. With a wry grin, he opened a drawer and put them inside, out of view. Grandfather would be upset if he discovered Timothy had brought work with him to Cheyney Park. In only one way did Timothy see a resemblance between