Page 86 of The Grand Mistletoe Assembly
Sophia gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.
Wolfgang tore the page out of the auction ledger, picked up the comb, and grabbed her arm.
“Where are we going?”
“To confront them!” He glanced down the hall outside the ballroom and … Oh!
He stopped. A sprig of mistletoe hung over the door to the study where they’d been earlier.
“Sophia.” He took her hand and placed it on his cheek. “Under ordinary circumstances, I’d court you, buy an engagement ring, and—” She whimpered, and he smiled. “Will you accept your own comb back instead of an engagement ring?”
She sniffled. “It’s better than a ring by the Jews.”
“Please be my baroness in earnest,” he almost begged. That was how much he wanted her to say yes.
He didn’t give her time to answer for fear that she’d say no, that she wouldn’t want the damaged and scarred runt of the litter. She looked into his eyes, and he took her mouth. After all, mistletoe hung over their heads.
She parted her lips as if to say something, but his tongue darted into her mouth. He had to show her how he felt, for he couldn’t explain it himself. The icy walls around his heart were melting. She made his insides boil with desire.
“In earnest?” a voice thundered from behind them.
Wolfgang broke the kiss, startled that someone had overheard them.
Eve Pearler and Stone gazed at him from the threshold of the study.
“I beg your pardon?” Wolfgang said.
“How can you propose to the baroness if she is your wife already?” Eve asked sternly.
Wolfgang squared his back. “The same way you have your ledgers filled out by someone other than the treasurer.” In position.
“You mean the ledgers you stole?” Stone said.
“The ledgers you forged,” Wolfgang countered. Attack.
Sophia stepped back from Wolfgang and took the comb from his hand. She slid it back into her hair. And straight as a stick, as the queen that she was, she said, “I recognized Mrs. Pearler’s handwriting on several of the pages.”
“So what?” Eve asked.
Wolfgang gave an evil chuckle. “So, the treasurer here let a woman alter the numbers. It looks like embezzlement to me, fraud, and probably theft. Have you commingled the orphanage funds with any of your own? Maybe let the foundlings pay for the diamonds you’re auctioning off tonight? Doubling your profit on the same piece?” Capture.
“Step in here.” Stone signaled for them to enter the study.
They followed Eve and Stone inside.
“Baron von List, I don’t know what your game is here, but it’s not working. Eve has helped me with my responsibilities as treasurer. I have a lot to balance, believe it or not. A member of Parliament is rather busy during the Season and when Parliament is in session.”
“It’s a crime to let a woman balance your accounts,” Wolfgang said.
Stone shook his head. “It would be a crime not to let her! She’s been running a fortune for decades and knows this town better than any of us. And she’s invested in making sure the charity is properly financed.”
“Paperlapapp.” Nonsense, Wolfgang sputtered in German.
“Baron von List, I don’t know what you’re after or why you’re trying to catch me making an error. But I won’t allow you to taint my good name at my ball.”
Wolfgang scoffed. “A Christmas ball with Jews. Who’s ever heard of such a thing?”
“Ah, so that’s what this is about.” Eve opened the door and left.
