The Redemption of a Rogue, стр. 74

Enjoy an Excerpt of Mismatched Under the Mistletoe

Available November 10, 2020

Lady Emily Rutledge took the hand her groom offered her and stepped down from her carriage on the walkway. She shook her head and looked up the stairway toward the front door. Outside, a footman swept the afternoon’s dusting of snow away from the walkway and she paused.

“Good afternoon, Arthur!”

The footman looked up from his work and gave her a smile. “Good afternoon, my lady. Almost finished here.”

She nodded. “I see that.”

“And how was the shopping?”

Emily laughed as she lifted the two satchels in her hands and motioned to the carriage, which was being unloaded as they spoke. “Productive. Thank you.”

“Mr. Cavendish is here,” the young man said.

Emily pursed her lips. Cav was always late to every appointment except the ones he took with her. It was a joke between them now, but on days like today she wished he hadn’t changed that bad habit for her. “Oh, I know. I’m so late. Good afternoon, Arthur!”

As she scurried up the freshly swept steps, she heard the footman laughing after her. “Good afternoon, my lady.”

She burst into the foyer to find her butler, Cringle, already waiting for her. She smiled as she handed over her packages, then her gloves, scarf and coat in rapid succession.

“Should these go in the gift room, my lady?” he asked, indicated the bags.

“Yes, those two and the ones outside.” She gave him a conspiratorial look. “How long has Cav been waiting?”

“Mr. Cavendish has been in the parlor for a bit over a half an hour, my lady.” He tilted his head.

She smothered another laugh. “Oh, I shall be railed upon for sure. Thank you, Cringle.”

He nodded as he moved away to the room upstairs that Emily had long ago set aside for gifts and wrapping. She kept it well-stocked with items all year round, but never was it so packed as the weeks leading up to Christmas, when Emily filled it to capacity with gifts for her relatives, friends and servants. Just the thought of it now filled her with giddy anticipation of the reactions of those she cared about when they opened her perfect gift for them.

She threw open the parlor door to find Cav sitting on a settee beside the roaring fire. In the fraction of a moment it took for him to rise to his feet in greeting, a wash of emotion hit Emily in the chest. It had been five years since her husband died of a sudden fever, followed by both her parents.

Five years of heartbreak and mourning and loneliness. She had only truly begun to feel herself again in the last twelve months. But seeing Cav always brought Andrew back to her mind. Cav had been his best friend, after all.

He had become hers, too. When loss had become a constant companion, so had Cav.

She shook those thoughts aside as Cav got to his feet. He was a handsome man. Tall, broad shouldered, with dark blond curls that always looked just a bit mussed. Like he’d run his hands through it. Like someone else had done the same. Certainly plenty of someone else’s had. The man had a certain reputation with the ladies.

“Emily,” he said with a teasing arch of his brow and a quick flick of his head toward the clock on the mantel.

She laughed, pushing her thoughts away as she rushed to him and took his outstretched hands. “I know, I know!” she gasped. “I’m sorry to have kept you.”

His gaze flickered over her face. The smile remained but someone darker entered his eyes. She found herself glancing away from it. He often had that expression when he looked at her. Something a little…forlorn. She supposed she reminded him of Andrew, just as he reminded her.

“I am freezing,” she said, releasing him and rushing to the sideboard to look at what had been brought for refreshments. “Did you pour yourself tea?”

He held up the cup on the table beside the settee. “And Cringle brought those cakes Mrs. Lisle makes this time of year. She must know I crave them.”

“Everyone knows you crave them,” she teased as she put sugar in her tea and then took a sip with a sigh of pleasure. “You make a very theatrical expression of it any time they are served.”

“I know my audience,” he said with a wink in her direction. “Mrs. Lisle loves my boisterous declarations, which allows me more cakes.”

She shook her head. “You are hopeless. I don’t even know why I invited you here.”

He laughed, but he set his cup aside and took a long step toward her. The warmth of him hit her, the spicy scent that always accompanied his arrival a comfort.

“I’m not sure why you invited me either,” he said. “But I’m sure I can ascertain the answer if you give me a moment to observe.” He pressed a finger to his lips and looked her up and down. “You are happy.”

She wrinkled her brow. “Don’t sound so surprised by that fact. I’m a happy person, am I not?”

“You are, indeed. Practically bottled sunshine,” he teased. “But today you are positively glowing. You are up to something.”

“You do know me so well.” Emily leaned closer. “Cav, I have had an idea. No, not just an idea, the best of ideas, and I need your help!”

Cav held her stare for a moment, then tilted his head back and laughed. The tendons in his neck flexed around his cravat as he did so. Emily blushed. She knew she was exuberant. She couldn’t help it. Emotions were something she had never been able to hide. If she was joyful or excited, she showed it.

“All right, Emily. You have intrigued me. What is this idea?” he asked.

“Although we…lost Andrew