Christmas Carol Read online

  “Morning?” Carol laughed. “It’s more like early afternoon. What would you like to do, Penelope?”

  “Shopping,” was the immediate answer. “I do need several pairs of gloves. They dirty so quickly that I never have enough. And Mary Anne Hampton told me last night that Madame la Salle has the most delightful new bonnet in her millinery shop window. I want to try it on. We can take Ella with us.”

  “Then, shopping it is,” Carol agreed readily, glad for the distraction. She hoped the excursion would help to keep her thoughts off Lady Caroline for a while—and off the disturbing subject of Nicholas.

  The two young women spent a pleasant hour in the shops along Bond Street. Carol enjoyed the opportunity to compare the elegant shops to the ones she knew on the same street in her own time. She bought gloves when Penelope did, and also a small vial of rose-scented perfume for herself. She was not altogether successful in her efforts to put Nicholas or Lady Caroline out of her mind, but she did try her best to pay attention to what Penelope was saying.

  Penelope talked with delighted anticipation about the Christmas Eve ball to be held that night at one of the great London houses, about the plans for Lady Augusta and her two nieces to attend a church service on Christmas morning, and about the holiday meal Lady Augusta had arranged.

  “I do so love Christmas dinner,” Penelope went on. “Cook and her assistants are busy preparing the food. I looked in on them this morning before you were out of bed, my dear. We shall have a wonderful, plump goose to eat, and cakes with sugar icing, and the biggest Christmas pudding you ever saw! There is so much food that it’s a good thing Nicholas will join us. We will need a manly appetite to help us eat it all. Aunt Augusta said she is inviting Lord and Lady Falloner, too, and their niece. I wish Alwyn’s father would not insist that he remain at home for the day.”

  “Perhaps it’s just as well,” Carol said with great seriousness. When Penelope looked at her in a questioning way, she added, “If Lord Simmons ever realizes just how many sweets you consume, he will certainly break off your engagement in utter despair.”

  “Caroline, do not tease me!” Penelope dissolved into laughter.

  On their way from shop to shop they paused now and then to greet other ladies they knew, and there were a few gentlemen strolling along Bond Street, too. Carol was not at all surprised to recognize Lord Simmons among them. Upon spying Penelope he came to her at once, and though his greeting to Carol was polite enough, it was plain to her where his real interest lay.

  “May I invite both of you to join me for chocolate and a pastry?” asked Lord Simmons.

  “Oh, yes,” breathed Penelope, her blue eyes fixed on his face. “I should like it above anything.”

  When Lord Simmons looked toward Carol as if expecting her to agree to his invitation, she made a fast decision. She suspected this meeting with Lord Simmons was not entirely by chance. She also believed that Lord Simmons and Penelope were responsible young people who would not trespass beyond the boundaries of propriety. And then there was Ella, who stood behind Carol with her arms full of packages. Penelope would be perfectly safe with Lord Simmons, and with Ella present as chaperone no one could question her discretion.

  “I still have several more errands to complete,” Carol said to Lord Simmons. “But there is no reason why Penelope cannot go with you. I will just finish my shopping and then hire a coach to take me back to Marlowe House so Penelope can use our carriage.” She could tell from the startled expressions of her two companions that it was not quite the thing for a lady to hire a carriage for herself, but Carol did not care. She was finding all the restrictions placed upon unmarried ladies increasingly tedious, and she had just decided upon a particular errand for which she did not want any company. First, she had to find out where Nicholas was.

  “I might discover Lord Montfort in one of the shops,” she said brightly. “He could escort me home.” She kept her gaze on Lord Simmons as she spoke, and he responded at once.

  “I do not think it is likely,” he said. “Montfort told me last night that he has business to transact at Montfort Place today, so he will be at home until he leaves for the ball this evening. You see, Lady Caroline, in the days just before Christmas men with large properties tend to be somewhat busier than usual. Montfort will be deciding on holiday gifts for those in his employ.”

  Having learned what she wanted to know, Carol smiled and nodded at this patient masculine explanation of a simple business fact. She did like Lord Simmons, and from the way Penelope was looking at him, there could be no doubt that Lady Caroline’s younger sister was happily in love.

  “Well, then, I shall find my way back to Marlowe House on my own. You need not worry about me; I will be perfectly all right.” Carol gave the two young people a radiant smile, wished them the joy of their chocolate and pastries, and took her leave of them. She did not think they were terribly sad to see her go. As soon as they were out of sight she began to look for a coach she might hire, but most of the carriages she saw were private ones, and those that were for hire apparently were not stopping for women who were alone. It was worse than trying to find an empty cab on a rainy afternoon in New York.

  After a while Carol gave up and decided to walk. It was not terribly far to Nicholas’s house. She knew this area of London and she had walked much farther on many a day. Unfortunately, the shoes she was presently wearing were not intended for serious walking, and soon her feet were wet and cold. She slipped a couple of times on patches of ice. Once she came near to falling in a most undignified way, until she regained her footing just in time. She was sure it was more than an hour after leaving Bond Street before she finally marched up the steps of Montfort Place and pulled at the bell.

  The butler who opened the door stared at her as if he did not know what to say. Or perhaps he wanted to say that ladies, in his experience, did not appear upon a nobleman’s doorstep on foot and without an escort. Carol had a pretty good idea what kind of woman he must think she was, in spite of her elegant clothes.

  But Carol had learned a few things about aristocratic behavior during her two days in this earlier time. Sticking her nose into the air, she brushed right past the butler and into the entrance hall.

  “I am Lady Caroline Hyde,” she informed the butler. “I wish to see my fiance at once, on a matter of great importance.”

  “My lady.” With a perfectly straight face the butler inclined his head. “I was not aware that Lord Montfort was expecting you. If you would care to wait in the reception room just over here, I will inform him that you have arrived.”

  The butler conducted her to a small, simply furnished reception room that opened directly off the hall. The location made Carol think the man still wasn’t sure she was who she claimed to be. At least he was going to call Nicholas, and that was all that mattered to her. She was determined to see Nicholas, and what she had told the butler was no more than the truth. It was a matter of great importance.

  Throughout the busy morning, while she was outwardly occupied with other matters, Carol had slowly been working her way toward a difficult conclusion. She had decided that she was tired of deception. She loved Nicholas, and because she loved him, she could not continue to lie to him. Despite Lady Augusta’s warning, and despite her own fears over what full disclosure might do to the course of history as well as to her relationship with Nicholas, Carol was now determined to reveal the truth to him. She was going to tell Nicholas that she had come to him from the future.

  Chapter 5

  “It is you. I could not believe it when Bascome told me you were here.” Nicholas did not look pleased to see her. “What can be so terribly important that you would risk your reputation by coming to my house without a chaperone?”

  “Please don’t be angry with me. There is something I must tell you. This is so difficult. I don’t think Lady Augusta will back me up. In fact, I’m sure she won’t because she doesn’t want you to know. You probably won’t believe me, but I have to say it anyway.�
� Carol noticed the butler and a second man standing in the entrance hall just outside the doorway to the room where she and Nicholas were. Both men were staring at her. She fell silent.

  “Caroline, you are distraught.” After a quick glance toward the men in the hall, Nicholas gave her his full attention. “In heaven’s name, what has happened?”

  “Could we go someplace more private? I don’t want to say this in front of other people.” Seeing him start to shake his head, seeing his lips part with what she feared would be a refusal, Carol begged, “Please, Nicholas. If I am dear to you, as you said last night, then hear me out.” He gazed at her for a moment more, as if wondering what to do with her, before he nodded.

  “Wait here until I have finished with my secretary,” he said, and left her. Carol heard his voice in the hall when he spoke to Bascome, his butler. She heard the front door open and close and the murmur of further conversation. A few minutes later, Nicholas returned. “Come with me.”

  There was no one in the hall or on the great stairs when he led her up them to the next level of the house.

  “Did you send your secretary away to protect my good name from scandal?” Carol asked. “And all the servants, too?”

  “It seemed the sensible thing to do,” Nicholas responded. He showed her across a wide landing and into what was obviously his private study. Bookshelves lined the walls, there was a desk cluttered with papers, and there were a couple of leather chairs and a table with decanters and glasses on it. A fire burned in the fireplace, warming the room.

  “Please close the door.” Carol tugged at the ribbon that held her bonnet. She pulled off the hat, flinging it upon one of the chairs, then ran her fingers through her short curls.

  Realizing that she was still wearing her gloves, she took them off, too, and tossed them on top of the bonnet along with her reticule. She turned around to see Nicholas watching her as if she were doing a complete striptease act. She stopped with only the first few buttons of her deep blue pelisse unfastened.

  “Close the door,” she said again. “I don’t want anyone else to hear what I have to say to you.”

  “It is for the sake of your reputation that I have left the door open, Caroline. However, if you wish, I will close it. Now, then”—he came toward her—”what matter is serious enough to make you willing to risk that good reputation?”

  “Give me a minute to catch my breath. Now that I’m here, I’m not sure how to begin. I’m not sure that you are going to believe me, either.”

  “I will believe you.” He was facing her, standing just a few inches away from her with his hands at his sides, poised and tightly controlled, as if he expected to hear some earth-shattering announcement.

  Carol experienced a stab of fear. What she planned to say was going to shatter his world, and suddenly she wasn’t sure she could do that to him.

  “Caroline?” His green eyes searched her face. He waited.

  “I have to begin my confession,” she whispered, “by telling you that I love you. If you believe nothing else I say here today, believe that much.”

  “There was a time when I would not have believed this could happen,” he said. “Though after the last few days, I was beginning to hope.” She saw him relax and begin to smile at her, and she knew she would have to complete her revelations quickly, before he got the wrong idea.

  “I haven’t finished. There is more,” she told him.

  “I don’t care that you came here alone.” He seized her in his arms. Raw emotion roughened his deep voice. “All that matters is that you love me and you were willing to admit it to me.”

  “Nicholas, wait,” she pleaded. “You are not going to like the rest of my confession.”

  “Whatever it is, it will amount to nothing in comparison to the gift you have just given me.”

  Carol choked back the words she needed to say. When he bent his head to kiss her she responded eagerly, wanting to revel in his affection for just a few minutes more, before she shocked him and perhaps permanently destroyed his tender feelings for her. His embrace quickly grew warmer, the passion aroused between them on the previous evening flaring anew.

  “You are trembling,” he murmured. “My poor darling, your hands and cheeks are like ice. Take off your coat and stand closer to the fire.” His fingers worked at the buttons of her pelisse.

  “You are the fire,” she whispered, shrugging off the woolen outer garment. At the moment, what she had initially intended to say to him seemed unimportant. It could wait a few minutes more. “Warm me, Nicholas. Hold me close. Don’t let me go.”

  “Never,” he breathed. “Never, till life’s end. Come, it’s warmer here.” There was a thick Oriental rug in front of the fireplace. Kneeling, Nicholas drew her down beside him. They knelt there, holding hands and gazing at each other, until Carol spoke again.

  “Kiss me once more, before I tell you everything.”

  “Gladly. Don’t look so frightened, my dear. Don’t you know by now that I will never turn away from you no matter what you say? Whatever your problem is, we will solve it together.”

  “Not this problem.” Her words were lost in his mouth.

  She could not stop kissing him. Apparently he could not stop what was happening either, because within a heartbeat more they were lying together on the carpet and his hands were on her breasts and then at the buttons running down the back of her dress. The gray and blue striped fabric was whisked away as if by magic. Her shoes and stockings were gone, along with her chemise. Nicholas was pulling off his jacket and then his shirt. He paused with his hands at the waistband of his trousers.

  “Caroline?” She knew what he was asking.

  “I am sure,” she whispered. “Don’t stop.”

  A minute later his warm, firm body was stretched out next to hers. Nicholas pulled her close, then paused, giving her time to adjust to the sensation of his naked flesh against hers. She trembled in brief panic at the intimate contact, before she deliberately closed off the part of her mind that was once more cringing and shaking like a terrified little animal. Carol did not know if this terror was another breakthrough from Lady Caroline’s consciousness or if it came from her own past. Whichever it was, she would not let the fear prevent her from fully experiencing her love for Nicholas. She forced herself to relax.

  Nicholas felt her hesitation. Catching her chin on one finger, he raised her face so he could look into her eyes.

  “I will be gentle,” he whispered, “but if you have just discovered that you do not want to do this after all, we must stop now. A few kisses more and it will be too late.”

  “You can’t hurt me, and I wouldn’t care if you did,” she cried, pressing herself tightly against him in an attempt to prove how much she wanted him.

  All the same, he was remarkably careful with her, as if she really were the innocent, untouched young woman he believed her to be. He awakened her body’s passion with skill and with the gentleness he had promised. He took his time, at first doing no more than kissing her softly and holding her. After a while his kisses deepened and his hands began to roam over her shoulders and her arms. Where his hands went, his lips immediately followed. It was amazing how erotic the touch of his tongue in the crook of her elbow was. Even more astounding was the way heat boiled deep inside her when he drew her fingers into his mouth and sucked on them, slowly, one by one.

  “I don’t understand,” Carol groaned. Her breasts felt tight and heavy. She thrust them at him, silently begging him to take them into his hands and caress them, into his mouth to suck on them.

  “I was right,” he whispered. “You are the passionate woman I dreamed you could be. Do not attempt to restrain yourself, Caroline. Set your emotions free. Give yourself to me without fear. I will keep you safe.”

  “This is not safety,” she gasped. “Not when I feel as if I am going to explode at any moment.”

  “It is freedom,” he told her. “Freedom to say and do whatever you want while we are together like this. From w
hat you are doing just now, I assume that you want me to touch you … here.”

  She began to writhe in a state of painful delight because his hands were finally on her breasts, stroking their softness with a light, skimming motion. She soon discovered the touch she had craved only made matters worse, and she began to believe that she would completely lose her mind.

  Slowly Nicholas worked his way along her body, caressing and kissing every part of her, generating more and more heat until Carol thought she and the fire in the fireplace were one and the same. Molten heat sang through every nerve and blood vessel, her bones melted in pure joy at his touch on her skin.

  She was half crazed with desire by the time he knelt between her thighs and pushed hard against her aching, eager softness. She lifted herself a little to meet his thrust and her body opened to him at once, easily and naturally, as if they had been meant to come together since the beginning of time.

  “Caroline?” He paused, not yet exactly where she wanted him to be, and the look on his face was one of puzzled concern along with barely contained passion.

  “It’s all right. You aren’t hurting me,” she responded, surprised at how easy his entry was. Why there was no discomfort when she was in Lady Caroline’s virgin body she could not imagine, but she did not have time to wonder about that particular phenomenon. Passionate need clamored within her and she gladly gave in to its commands. “Oh, Nicholas, I love you!”

  She pulled him closer still, until he was completely buried inside her and her heart was singing in anticipation of what would happen next. She was not disappointed. His restraint and his skill were working their desired effect on her. Even now his caresses and his hot, demanding kisses continued. She was shivering and quaking beneath him before he finally released all control to take her with a stormy abandon that brought her to a throbbing, shuddering release. Turning her head aside to gasp for air, Carol looked into the flames in the fireplace and felt herself and Nicholas become one with them, cracking and burning with a searing, blinding heat.