Page 8 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
“Where have you been?” her mother asked as Lord Pemberton took his seat at the head of the table. “Breakfast is getting cold.”
“Are we heading into London after breakfast?” Nerissa asked. “As you said.”
“Yes, yes,” he assured her. “As to where I was? Next door, chatting to our neighbor.”
“Next door?” Nerissa perked up. “Did anyone see that servant chopping wood Earlier?” She giggled. “I wish you had told me, Father. I would have come and paid him my greetings.”
Felix snorted. “I am sure you would have done more than that.”
Alison felt her cheeks flush bright pink, and she focused on patting Pickle, praying that nobody would notice. All morning, she had been unable to scrub clean the image of the man chopping wood, no shirt on, his muscular body rippling in the morning light.
What was he even doing out there? And how does his lord allow such things!
“Was he the shirtless one?” Winnie asked, which had Felix bursting into laughter. “Was he not cold?”
Lord Pemberton groaned. “That is not…” He clicked his tongue. “I suspect he did not wish to dirty his shirt.”
“Thank God for that,” Nerissa added with a cheeky smirk.
Lord Pemberton looked at her flatly. “As I was saying, I decided to pay a visit, seeing as I know him to be living alone at the moment.”
“I thought he had sisters,” Felix said. “What was it? Six or so…” He snorted. “Sounds hellish.”
“He did,” her stepfather replied. “But he has spent the last few years marrying them off, which means that he is alone this Christmas and I thought it might be nice to extend him an invitation to sup with us.”
“Be sure to invite his servant along too, Father,” Nerissa said with a wicked grin. “It is only polite.”
Lord Pemberton looked warningly at his daughter. “The so-called servant you appear so obsessed with Nerissa, is Lord Grayhill himself. And I ask that you please behave yourself.”
“What!” Nerissa cried. “Truly?”
“Yes.”
“But that is not possible!” Alison cried before she could stop herself. For once, her family paid attention to her, and all eyes turned to face her. Her cheeks flushed pink, and she shied away, cursing herself silently for having spoken. “I mean… what kind of lord chops his own wood?”
“Oh, you saw that did you?” Nerissa giggled. “Quite the show, wasn’t it? I have never been so jealous of a piece of timber.”
Lord Pemberton continued to look intentionally at his daughter. “I will remind you that he is an Earl and should be treated with respect.” A final look of warning was sent in Nerissa’s direction before he turned to Alison’s mother. “He is a bit of a recluse, truth be told, and despite living next door now for years, I hardly know the man.”
“I admitIknow little about him,” Alison’s mother said. “I did not even know he was home. Nor the last time that he was, for that matter.”
“I thought he lived in London?” Nerissa added. “I can’t remember the last time I saw him.”
“And you would remember, wouldn’t you,” Felix sniggered.
“He is a private man,” Alison’s stepfather continued, but not before eyeing his two children in warning. “And yes, he mostly lives in London, or on one of his other estates. His father was a drunken gambler who left his family with tremendous debt. As I understand it, this forced the Earl to marry his sisters off one by one, a task that he had been rather preoccupied with for some time. Hence, his being away.”
“Clever,” Felix nodded with approval. “And right. What else are sisters for?”
Nerissa blew through her lips. “Do not look at me like that.”
Felix scoffed. “You are twenty now, Nerissa. Perhaps it is time we shipped you off to the highest bidder.”
“You can try,” she snarled.
“What of Alison?” Winnie asked innocently. “She is six-and-twenty. Should she not marry first?”
This question, despite being a reasonable one, saw an awkward silence descend upon the breakfast table. Felix sniggered as he watched her. Nerissa grimaced. Her mother looked away awkwardly. And Alison groaned, doing her best not to appear put out, but finding it rather difficult.
