The Ducal Gift & The Christmas Carriage Read online

  Amid cheers and more hooted schoolroom taunts, Westhaven took Eve’s ring from her hand and slipped it on her finger, then kissed her sister’s cheek. “And no malingering under the mistletoe!”

  * * *

  “I do believe our daughters have better aim than their brothers.” His Grace peered down into the back garden, where his offspring were comporting themselves like unruly children, pelting one other with snowballs, shrieking madly and dashing from hedge to bush to bench.

  “I love that sound—our children at play.” The duchess slipped an arm around his waist. “The grandchildren will soon be joining them.”

  They shared a quiet, lovely moment, full of memories, and full of hopes for those grandchildren.

  His Grace took his wife in his arms, right there by the window. “I have a gift for you, my love. It’s much smaller than a horse.”

  “Your love is gift enough for me, and it’s as big as all of creation, Percival Windham, though the horses were a wonderful gesture.” She rested her cheek against his chest, and His Grace wanted nothing so much as to remain with her, the rest of the family larking around down in the garden, snow falling and all right with their world.

  “For you.” He drew a little box from his pocket, and passed it to her. When she stepped back, he let her go reluctantly. “It’s merely a token.”

  “I have a gift for you, too, husband. One you don’t really need, though I want you to have it.”

  “Open mine first.” He had to tell her how he’d afforded the horses—there was no hiding a transaction like that—but first, he wanted to see her eyes sparkling like the emeralds she wore so well.

  Her Grace opened the box, and held the little bracelet up to the light. “Percival, it’s lovely. It’s marvelous. You must put it on me this instant.” She held out her wrist, her smile soft and luminous.

  “You like it then? The only emeralds in your collection are your grandmother’s parure, and that has no bracelet. This can be for everyday, of course, or whenever—” He fell silent, fastening the clasp, then bringing her knuckles to his lips.

  “Oh, Percival…”

  He glanced up. That was not an Oh, Percival, of gratitude. If he didn’t mistake the matter, it was an Oh, Percival redolent with despair.

  “My love, is something amiss?” He kept hold of her hand, lest she decide she had to join the affray in the back garden.

  “No, nothing. Your gift is in the armoire.” She gestured with her free hand, and yet it seemed to His Grace, that the duchess might be blinking back tears. He led her to the armoire and opened the doors to find a hunting saddle sporting a bow of gold silk on the pommel.

  “A saddle? For me? A new saddle?” The horseman in him couldn’t help but run his hand over the supple leather. “By God, it’s beautiful, Esther. And look, that’s the stitching pattern on my old saddle, and the fittings, and the… Where did you have this made?”

  Her smile was full of mischief and glee, and yet, she was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. “Old Mr. Dickens. He makes only a handful each year, his sons having taken over the trade, but for you… he recalled the day you purchased the last one and was quite proud to have your custom. I hope you like this one just as much.”

  She was shy and pleased and so lovely, so loving, His Grace just had to kiss her.

  “It’s perfect, Esther. I shall ride in no other, but my dear, we need to talk before we join the children on this outing.”

  She kissed him too, a quick wifely buss that brought a whiff of roses to the duke’s nose.

  “We do need to talk. You must promise me you will not be wroth, Percival. I have more fancy parures than is decent.”

  She led him by the hand to a settee and tugged him down beside her. The gold bracelet winked from her wrist while outside, the ladies had started up a bouncy chorus of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.

  “I will not be wroth, Esther, and you must make me the same promise.” They had exchanged that promise any number of times in their marriage, and it had stood them in good stead. “You speak first, my dear, while I admire your bracelet.”

  Her Grace inhaled, studying their joined hands. “I sold my grandmother’s parure to pay for the rings. The emeralds on my wrist are now the only emeralds I own, but I will treasure them always, Percival, more than the whole set I inherited from my grandmother.”

  His Grace wanted to laugh, he wanted to hug his wife and kiss her senseless. He contented himself with sharing the truth with her.

  “I sold the hunting box in Melton to pay for the horses, Esther. The only hunting saddle I’ll ever need is the one you just gave me. I’m too old to be spending weeks galloping around in the mud after a pack of hounds and some wily fox. I’ll attend the local meets, and have more time to spend with my duchess, our children and our grandchildren.”

  The look she gave him was so… dear. Her Grace snuggled closer. “Happy Christmas, Percival Windham. I do love you.”

  “Happy Christmas, Esther Windham. Your love is all the gift I will ever need, and of course, I love you too. Very much.”

  A snowball smacked against the window, and while the Windham rabble charged into a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus, Westhaven bellowed for his parents to leave the mistletoe and come down to join the fun.

  After one more lingering, loving kiss, the duke and his duchess did exactly that.

  “This blasted day wanted only another batch of damned snow.” Frederick Amadeus Itnyre kept his voice down as he stomped his booted feet for warmth. One could not mutter such sentiments too loudly in a city gone stupid with holiday cheer.

  “I’ve always liked a white Christmas,” said a pleasant voice from behind him. Frederick glanced over his shoulder at the next patron waiting in line at the hackney stand.

  “The snow at least makes things seem clean for a few hours,” Frederick admitted. The fellow was tall and bare headed, with snowflakes catching in his dark chestnut hair. His build was lanky, and yet the elements did not seem to be affecting him adversely. “Only to become filthy again in all the coal smoke.”

  “What say we share?” the fellow suggested. “The cabbies have their hands full keeping up with all the holiday shoppers and one can always use good company.”

  Frederick took a closer look at the fellow. His clothing was exquisitely well made, and his green eyes held a sparkle. He’d be pleasant company. Pleasant was bearable.

  “My thanks. I’m late for work or I wouldn’t be parting with the coin for a hansom.” Really should not be, but with more snow falling, crossing town on foot would take forever.

  “Ah, you have gainful employment then,” Frederick’s companion remarked. “A substantial blessing that.”

  Frederick said nothing, and the line seemed to shuffle forward more quickly, now that his toes were but a frozen memory. They piled into a cab that sported a surprisingly clean interior, though the poor horse was wearing jingling bells on its collar and a sprig of ivy between the terrets.

  “I’m Westhaven,” the fellow said, pulling his hand from a bright red mitten.

  Frederick had no gloves, the chill of his grasp in Mr. Westhaven’s warm hand occasioning a frisson of humiliation. “Frederick Itnyre. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  “You mustn’t fret about being late for work,” Westhaven said, loosening a red scarf. “If you’re late, your superior is likely to be late as well. Besides, Christmas approaches, and the holiday spirit should mean some lenience is in order.”

  “You may not have noticed that I’m Scottish.”

  “A fine lineage when winter’s wrath is to be endured,” Westhaven rejoined.

  This was… true. Frederick loosened his own scarf, the only gift Lizze had managed to give him. “Not so fine a lineage when one’s superior at the Post Office is a grouchy old martinet who thinks Englishmen deserve every position the government has to offer. I’m the only Scot, and we’ve not a Paddy among us, though they’re notably hard workers.”

  “That’
s a beautiful scarf you’re wearing, Mr. Itnyre. Has some angora in it, if I’m not mistaken?”

  Frederick ran his hand over the aubergine and green wool, a familiar comfort and a torment. “This was a gift from a friend. She promised to make me some gloves to go with it.”

  “A dear friend, I take it, to give you something intended to keep you cozy?”

  The dearest. The cab lurched away from the stand, but only at a walk. Mr. Westhaven seemed the chatty sort, and as Frederick looked out on the bleak, snowy scene, he gave in to the impulse to share a sorrow with a stranger.

  “My Lizzie gave it to me. Her papa did not approve of me, though, because I’m merely a clerk from Aberdeen, though many a clerk has risen through patronage and does quite well, eventually. Her papa told me to make something of myself before I presumed to offer for his darling girl—he wasn’t wrong—but the family has moved and I was not told their direction…”

  They passed a church, where two children huddled in the doorway, trying to shelter from the wind, if not the cold.

  “It has been months since I walked her home from services the last time,” Frederick went on. “I expect Lizzie has suitors aplenty by now.”

  Westhaven was quiet for a bit, folding his scarf into a muff around his hands. “London is a very large city, but I suppose you might find her papa through his clubs or business endeavors?”

  Somebody opened the church door, and the children were taken inside. Churches were not warm, but they were safe.

  “Henderson Winklebleck is old school. He does not dirty his hands in trade, and having no club affiliations of my own, I would not know how to find him among the wealthy fellows on St. James.”

  Though Frederick had tried. He’d tried asking the pastor, who claimed to have no specific forwarding address for the Winkleblecks beyond “Mayfair,” so he’d tried walking the streets of Mayfair by the hour on his rare days off. He’d tried drinking hard, and he’d tried praying harder.

  “My missus and I had to overcome some difficulties,” Westhaven said. “I had to propose to her at least six times. My brothers put the total higher. Then too, papas are not the most sanguine people when faced with the possibility of losing their dearest treasures. You’re a good looking fellow in a dark, braw sort of way. Perhaps you’d best affix your affections elsewhere?”

  “You’re suggesting I give up.” The coach came to a lurching halt, traffic being predictably snarled as they approached Picadilly. “I have tried to give up. Told myself a fellow ought not to have designs above his station, told myself Lizzie would be happier with a man from her own set. I’ve told myself she hasn’t tried to contact me, though I’m not sure how she could, and I’ve told myself…”

  He trailed off, because some of the things he’d told himself were not fit for the ears of a proper gentleman of short acquaintance.

  “You’ve told yourself it’s hopeless,” Westhaven concluded. “And is this approach yielding good results?”

  Frederick gave a short, humorless laugh. “Of course not. I love my Lizzie, and love doesn’t give up just because one’s beloved has disappeared from the face of the earth. Love never gives up.”

  The coach moved forward at a crawl. Westhaven patted Frederick’s knee, the gesture avuncular rather than condescending.

  “The season of miracles is upon us, and you have the right of it: Love is dogged and dauntless. Now, my missus appropriated the town coach today, and said she would not be home until tea time at the earliest. What do you suppose she’s getting up to in this weather?”

  * * *

  “Ma’am it’s snowing again.”

  The shop girl sounded thrilled with this development, while Lizzie felt only dismay. “We don’t need more snow.” New snow reminded her of Frederick, whom she’d met on a snowy day. She’d slipped on an icy patch and fallen headlong into strong arms and the handsomest blue eyes ever to laugh a clumsy girl back to her feet.

  “Snow always makes me happy,” the girl said. “I love a white Christmas.” The sentiment was remarkable, given that miserable weather could only make the girl’s existence more difficult.

  “I enjoy a fresh snowfall, too,” said another patron. The lady looked up from a bolt of red velvet and sent Lizzie a smile. “My children enjoy it, the boys especially. The girls show every sign of following in their brothers’ footsteps. Does this velvet seem a cheerful color to you?”

  The lady was pretty at first sight, and more than pretty on closer study. Her skin was flawless, her dark hair shiny, and her smile revealed perfect teeth. This was Quality, not merely wealthy gentry, like Lizzy’s family.

  “It’s quite bright,” Lizzie said. “Reds are complicated. They can look rich, or they can appear garish, depending on light, the wearer’s complexion, and even the way the fabric is cut.” Had her own grandmother not been a mercer’s offspring, Lizzie would not have been as confident in her opinions.

  The lady ran her hand over the lovely material. “As a holiday dress for me, do you think it would do? My husband’s family has an open house each year on Christmas Eve, and one wants to look one’s best.”

  Lizze studied the lady, then the fabric. Took the bolt and held it up to the other woman’s face. Outside, the snow would make the walk home a challenge, but the red was really not quite right for the woman’s coloring.

  “We had best keep looking, ma’am. You’re right to hesitate, because we can do better, I’m sure. And the lace is important too. Lace can make all the difference.”

  A conspiratorial gleam lit the lady’s eye. “I’m Anna. Shall we have a spot of chocolate while we deliberate?”

  Lizzie adored chocolate. Whenever Frederick had come to call, she’d ordered chocolate, thinking it a treat for him, and a way to make him linger a few minutes longer in her company.

  “Chocolate would suit wonderfully,” Lizzie said. The shop girl bobbed a curtsey, and scurried off as Anna moved to another bolt of red, not as bright as the first one. “How about this one? It’s a bit more dignified, don’t you think?”

  The lady would want something dignified, for all her friendliness. Something beautiful. “I’ve always favored the purple tones, ma’am. Aubergine is lovely, or a deep, rosy, violet, perhaps?”

  The chocolate arrived, the snow came down, and Lizzie lost track of time in the midst of pretty fabrics, good company, and a need to ignore a lonely despair that only grew worse as Christmas grew closer.

  * * *

  “It appears we’re stuck,” Westhaven observed. “Too many holiday shoppers.”

  Frederick wanted to pound on the roof, for his supervisor would be wroth with him.

  “Why the cabbie tried to maneuver directly down The Strand is beyond me,” Frederick muttered. “And the snow isn’t helping.”

  “You’re afraid you’ll lose your position over a single incidence of tardiness?” Westhaven asked.

  “One can,” Frederick replied as two footmen on the walkway collided, their packages going everywhere. The passersby stopped and started gathering up the items, restacking each fellows’ arms with presents. “Times are hard, and positions difficult to come by. Then too, my supervisor regards every Scotsman as a potential traitor. His people fought for the crown at Culloden, and for him the battle yet rages.”

  Westhaven had the look of an Eton man. Polished, clean, tidy, and quietly wealthy. If his people had been at Culloden, they’d have been leading the charge.

  “More Scots fought for the crown at Culloden than against it,” he remarked. “Your supervisor sounds like some of my father’s cronies. Set in their ways, mired in the past, and without the sense to see the gifts immediately before them.”

  The coach stopped all forward progress again. “We can all get set in our ways,” Frederick said, “and you’re right. It is a blessing to have a job. It’s a blessing to be able to send some coin north for my family. It’s a blessing to share a cab fare I ought not to be splurging on.”

  To admit blessings was not the same thing as fin
ding joy in the day, but Westhaven smiled at him as if he understood this.

  “You forgot that the straw in our conveyance is clean, and we’ve been good boys this year. Father Christmas might yet have a treat or two for us, right?”

  Westhaven was clearly a wealthy man, but he’d admitted to having had difficulties wooing his lady, and his smile suggested a degree of understanding Frederick hadn’t expected to find a simple cab ride.

  “Very good boys,” Frederick said. Good, but lonely for his lady, and trying not to despair.

  * * *

  “You must allow me to take you up with me,” Anna said. “I’ve wasted half your day on my fripperies, and all because our coloring is similar. You’re very kind to spend time on a stranger this way.”

  “I’ve enjoyed it,” Lizzie said, “and the dress will look spectacular on you.”

  “This snow is spectacular,” Anna replied, pulling on white wool gloves. “My carriage will be right outside, and I will not hear of you making your way home on foot.”

  Frederick had no carriage. He sent every spare penny home to his family, and walked everywhere. By now, he’d likely found a lady whose father didn’t pinch every farthing, a lady whose marriage portion could ease a young couple’s way in a daunting and difficult world.

  “I would appreciate a ride,” Lizzie said. “I sent my maid home earlier with a set of purchases, and she likely has enough sense not to come back for me.”

  “We’ll leave cab fare for her in case she doesn’t,” Anna said, linking her arm through Lizzie’s. “My home is in Mayfair, what about yours?”

  They lived a mere two blocks from each other, and Mayfair was not far from Knightsbridge, but the snow, or the holidays, or something had traffic barely moving.

  “If I might presume,” Anna said as they waited at yet another intersection. “You do not seem to be anticipating the holidays with much cheer, Lizzie. Is all well?”

  Anna—Lizzie did not know her new friend’s last name—was a mother several times over. This had become apparent in the course of their morning, when Anna had remarked that this fabric would be lovely with her daughter’s green eyes, and that corduroy was sturdy enough even for her sons’ enthusiastic play.