His Christmas Match (A Gentleman's Guide to Once Upon a Time) (14 page)

“Not necessarily,” Noah
explained. “Simply try to find a book that contains morals in it.”

She simple stood by his side. He
glanced down at the young lady, and she smiled up at him. She wasn’t even
reading the titles but seemed to be waiting for someone else to find the
book.
 
Why did she feel the need to stand
so close to him especially if she wasn’t going to participate?

Was it because he had kissed her
earlier and now she believed them to be courting?
 
Even if that was the case, ladies behaved
with a bit more decorum even after a betrothal was announced.
 
Not that there would be one between the two of
them.
 

That stupid kiss was the biggest
mistake of his life. Noah turned back to reading titles of books. Or perhaps it
wasn’t his biggest mistake. Kissing the lady had helped him realize rather
quickly that he and Lady Jillian would never suit.

“I’ve got it,” Broadridge
announced.

Noah, Lady Jillian, and Miss
Valentine turned to him. He was holding up the Bible.

“This must be it,” he said.

“No,” Noah said and turned back
to searching titles.

“Of course it is,” Lady Jillian
argued. “The Bible is full of morals.”

“It is too easy,” Miss Valentine
said echoing Noah’s thoughts.

“Well, I think you are wrong, and
I am going to hold onto it,” Broadridge insisted without looking any
further.
 
Not that he looked all that
hard. The Bible had been sitting on a table just inside of the door.

Noah and Miss Valentine continued
reading the spines of the books slowly moving toward each other.

“I’ve got it!” Miss Valentine
cried.

Noah moved toward her side as did
Lady Jillian.

Noah laughed.
 
“
The
Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault.
”

“Fairytales?” Lady Jillian asked
bewildered.

“They each have a moral,” Noah
explained. “See if Meadows has a copy in French.”

Miss Valentine turned back to the
shelves and a moment later withdrew a second book.

“We should take both,” Noah
suggested.

Miss Valentine tilted her head
and narrowed her eyes on him. “That is hardly fair.”

Noah’s eyes met Miss Valentines.
Her blue depths sparkled with mischief.
 
She took the English version and placed it back on the shelf. Noah
removed it and placed it on the highest shelf far above the heads of most ladies.

Miss Valentine gave him a
censoring look.

“At least I am not taking it,”
Noah defended.

“Now that we have the book, what
else is there?” Lady Jillian demanded in a voice filled with tedium.

“Where is Lord Meadows’ gaming
room?” Miss Valentine asked.

“Down the hall,” Noah answered
already moving in toward the door.

* * *

Rosalind followed, as excitement
bubbled inside.
 
She knew they had the
right book which was the most difficult and almost assured them of success.

Once the hunt began, she was able
to embrace the game though she feared that would not be the case when Lady
Jillian felt the need to explain that livre was French for book. Did she assume
that since Rosalind had a modest upbringing, that she wasn’t well educated? It took
everything she possessed not to inform Lady Jillian that she was well aware
that the language was French, could speak it fluently, and if it had been in
Latin, she would have understood it just as well as English. Instead, she held
her tongue. It would not do to appear shrewish before Felding, Broadridge or
the duke’s daughter. It wasn’t her place.

Thank goodness Felding was also
on her team. If she had been alone with this particular brother and sister, she
might have given up.
 
Lady Jillian
couldn’t decipher a clue, and Broadridge wasn’t putting much effort into the
game.

Mr. Marius Parker, his wife, and
two other guests Rosalind were not familiar with were exiting the game room as
they entered.
 
“We took the queen,” Mr.
Parker whispered to Felding as they passed.

“There is still another,” Noah
chuckled.

Mr. Parker glanced down in to the
basket and laughed. “Of course!”

“I am surprised you didn’t think
of it yourself,” Felding said, “you did marry Cinderella after all.” He leaned
in and whispered in Mr. Parker’s ear, and Rosalind suspected Felding was
telling him where the second book could be found. Hopefully, it was the French
version that would win.

“I’ve got it,” Broadridge
announced holding up the queen of diamonds from the deck sitting in the middle
of a table.

“The king,” Rosalind insisted.
“Our current monarch is a king not a queen.”

Broadridge nodded and placed the
card back in the deck before hunting for a King. He found the King of Hearts
and placed it in basket Felding was holding.
 

“What next?” Lady Jillian asked
with a sigh.

He glanced down at the list.
Rosalind came to his side. He held the list out far enough that she was able to
read it.
 
“Spectacles, quill, toy
soldier, yellow hair ribbon.”

“What do you think adorning
tresses or above the kiss are?” Felding asked Rosalind.

“I’m not sure,” she muttered
before glancing up. “Do either of you have eye spectacles?”

“Of course not,” Lady Jillian
asked as if affronted. “My eyes see perfectly.”

Broadridge shrugged and shook his
head.
 
She knew Felding didn’t need any
and though Rosalind only had to use hers for small print, she never let anyone
outside of her family see her wear them.
 
At least not until today when they were necessary for reading to
Penelope. As she was the only one in the group who required them, Rosalind knew
she would have to retrieve her own.

“I’ll get mine on the way to the
nursery.”

“Nursery?” Lady Jillian demanded.

“Where else do you think we will
find a toy soldier?” Felding asked.

If Rosalind didn’t know any
better, she would think Felding was losing patience with Lady Jillian, but that
wasn’t impossible. As far as she knew, he had never lost his patience with
anyone before and apparently the two were courting.

Rosalind paused outside of the
chamber she shared with Penelope and knocked quietly. When there was no answer,
she pushed the door open and peeked inside.
 
Penelope slept, and a maid sat
beside
the bed
sewing.
 
Rosalind turned to the others
and put her finger to her lips so that they were quiet before she entered the
room.
 
She would hate for those in the
hallway to wake Penelope.
 

Closing the door behind her, she
tiptoed across the room to where her spectacles rested on top of the book she
had been reading to Penelope.
 
As she
turned, she spotted the small lap desk Penelope had brought with her so that
she could send correspondence. Rosalind lifted the lid, retrieved one of the
quills, and gently let the lid shut before making her way to the door. After
she exited into the hall and shut the door behind her, Rosalind held up the two
items with a proud grin and dropped them into the basked carried by
Felding.
 
Together they turned and made
their way to the stairs at the end of the hall.
 
One floor up was the nursery and toy soldiers.

Twelve

Noah stared down at Meadows’
oldest child. He stood at the door; his scrawny arms folded across his
chest.
 
“How do I know you will return
it?” the lad demanded.

“I promise to bring it back as
soon as the game is over,” Noah assured him.

“I am not sure we can part with
any. What if something were to happen? I would be missing a soldier. An entire
battle could be lost.”

Noah blew out a breath.
 
Had Meadows set him up to this so nobody
could obtain a soldier?

“Just give him the toy,” Lady
Jillian hissed. “You will get back.”

Miss Valentine straightened and
sent an appalled look in Lady Jillian’s direction.
 
Noah hadn’t been the only one taken aback by
Lady Jillian’s harsh tone.

The lad only notched his chin a
bit higher.

Miss Valentine knelt down until
she was eyelevel with him. “How about if we make a bargain?”

The boy considered her for a
moment. “What kind of bargain?”

“I’ll run down to the kitchen and
ask cook to prepare a plate of biscuits and cups of chocolate for you.”

His eyes lit with interest.

“If the governess doesn’t mind,”
Noah added directing his comment to the older woman hovering behind Meadows’
son.

“I can assure you, Lord Felding,
the boys don’t intend on parting with a single soldier without something in
return.
 
I believe Miss Valentine has
struck the right bargain.”

“First, the soldier,” Miss
Valentine insisted.

The boy disappeared behind the
door, and the adults waited.
 
The door
seemed to open further on its own. Noah glanced down, and a grin formed on his
face.
 
He had not seen Miss Hope since
his arrival. He bent and plucked the eighteen-month-old and held her
close.
 
She was the image of Sabrina with
her russet curls, rounded cheeks, and cherub bow mouth.

“Is she another child of Lord and
Lady Meadows?” Miss Valentine asked.

“No,” Noah chuckled. “This angel
belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Marius Parker.”

The little girl leaned her head
against Noah’s shoulder and placed a thumb in her mouth.

“It appears to be nap time,” Miss
Valentine giggled.

Noah glanced down as Hope’s eyes
closed, and she relaxed further into his arms.

“Here, I will take her from you,”
a maid came forward and gently lifted the child from Noah. There was a quick
pain of loss when the child was gone.
 
He
didn’t spend near the time with his niece and nephew as he would like and
wondered if he would one day be blessed with children.
 
There was something about holding a child
that set the world to rights.

Meadows oldest son returned and
held the toy out to Miss Valentine.

She smiled brightly. “Thank you,
and I promise to see to your biscuits directly.”

“And chocolate,” he reminded her.

“And chocolate,” Miss Valentine
laughed.

They turned from the room when
the governess closed the door, and Miss Valentine marched to the steps at the
end of the hall.

“Where are you going?” Lady
Jillian demanded.

Miss Valentine turned to look at
her. “I need to see that the treat is delivered.”

“That can wait,” Lady Jillian
insisted.
 
“We still have items to find.”

Miss Valentine frowned. “I struck
a bargain, Lady Jillian. I must see to it now.”
 
Without waiting for anyone to speak, she turned on her heel and
continued on disappearing down the back stairs that would lead to the kitchens.

Noah followed and Lady Jillian
hurried to catch up until she was walking beside him. When they reached the
kitchens, Miss Valentine was already speaking with the cook.

Lady Jillian stopped at the
threshold and looked around. A frown formed on her brow and confusion lit in
her eyes.

“
This
is what a kitchen is like?” Broadridge murmured.

“I suppose so,” Lady Jillian
whispered.

Noah closed his eyes and shook
his head. How could the two have grown up without ever stepping inside a
kitchen?
 
He was aware that most ladies
never crossed the threshold or became any more involved in meal preparation other
than planning a menu, but to have never set foot in a kitchen before was beyond
his comprehension.

Miss Valentine turned to them; a
bright smile formed on her lips.
 
Noah
found himself smiling back at her. Her happiness warmed him in a way Lady
Jillian’s presence never could.

“What remains on the list?” she
asked brightly.

Noah glanced down at the
list.
 
“We need a yellow ribbon, but I
still do not understand what the remaining two are.”

“I have a yellow ribbon,” Lady
Jillian announced.
 
This time it was she
who turned toward the stairs as if she couldn’t get out of the kitchen quickly
enough.
 
Noah and the others followed her
to the floor where her chamber was situated. She disappeared inside for a
moment and returned with a yellow hair ribbon.