Christmas By Candlelight: Two Regency Holiday Novellas by Andrea Pickens Read Free Book Online

by the call of duty, and suddenly thrown together by chance. Her problems were not really any of his concern, and yet he felt an inexplicable bond had formed between them.
    Trying to lighten her bleak mood, he kept up his light banter. “What! You mean to say a porcelain doll can hold a candle to this exquisite delicacy?”
    “It was a rocking horse, painted bright yellow, with a flaxen mane and tail soft as spun silk.” Anna shivered as she nibbled at the morsel of food. “I used to imagine I could ride to the moon and back if I wished to.” A sigh. “But like all childish fantasies, such dreams soon came crashing back down to earth.”
    Sympathy only seemed to be making things worse.
    He tried another strategy. “And here I was thinking you had more bottom than most highborn young ladies. But I see I was wrong. A tumble or two, and you run for cover, feeling egregiously sorry for yourself.”
    Her eyes blazed, just as he had hoped, burning away the look of dull despair. “That’s most unfair, sir!” she exclaimed. “Why, I have faced plenty of hardships that would send any of your cosseted female friends into a paroxysm of. . .” Anna’s indignation trailed off as she caught sight of his twitching lips. “Wretch—you were trying to make me angry.”
    “I would rather hear fire in your voice than such a note of defeat,” he admitted. “Trust me, we all experience times when our dreams soar a bit higher than reality allows.”
    “Even you?”
    “Yes, even me. The fall back down to earth may leave a few bruises, but the trick is to dust yourself off and get back on your horse.”
    She nibbled at the last bit of cheese while digesting his last words. “I don’t imagine it happens often. Gentlemen are so rarely knocked from the saddle.”
    “You saw me land flat on my. . . bum. A rather lowering experience, I might add, that put several distinct black-and-blue marks on my pride.”
    “At the time, you appeared to need a set-down. But I was wrong, and owe you yet another apology.” Her gaze dropped. “My judgment seems greatly askew these days.”
    “But not your aim,” pointed out Nicholas.
    She didn’t smile. “That is hardly a mark in my favor.”
    “On the contrary,” he replied. “I think it quite admirable that a young lady possess practical skills, and the spirit to use them.”
    Anna cast him a doubtful look. “You are teasing me again, I expect.”
    “No, I’m not. You’re right to say that in many ways, young ladies of the ton are indistinguishable from one another. In a ballroom, they do have a tendency to blend together into one blur of pastel silks. A very pretty blur, to be sure.”
    His lips quirked. “However, up close, pastels tend to look a trifle insipid. I often find myself wishing for some sort of show of real color.”
    Nicholas watched as her eyes deepened to an indescribably unique shade of blue. Deep, mysterious, and rippled with subtle shadings ranging from turquoise to indigo.
    A man could drown in such a hue. And die happily.
    “Even if that show of color takes the form of a snowball smack to the back of your head?” she asked.
    He found himself grinning. “You certainly leave a lasting impression, Lady Anna. A number of gentlemen might not like it that you have strong opinions, as well as a strong arm. But you also have pluck and courage. I cannot think of another lady with whom I would rather be trapped in the wilds.”
    His observation stirred an unfathomable reaction. It was gone in the blink of an eye as she lowered her lashes. “That’s nice of you to say, sir. Most of the time, I hear only florid compliments on my looks or shameless flattery of my mediocre skills on the pianoforte.”
    “And you do not like that?”
    “No. In truth it is very wearisome.”
    Anna made no protest as he tucked another blanket over her lap and settled her head on his shoulder. “Try to get a bit of sleep, then. There will still be a long way to go once your coachman