Christmas with the Duchess by Tamara Lejeune Read Free Book Online

in her head but dogs and horses. What say you to Miss Augusta?”
    Nicholas stared at him, bewildered. “I do not understand.”
    Otto looked slightly surprised. “Naturally, you’ll be expected to marry one of your cousins. It’s the usual way of things. Didn’t you know?”
    Nicholas gave a startled laugh. “Marry one of my cousins? You are joking me!”
    “I never joke about the human tragedy. As the Earl of Camford, your first duty is to marry and produce an heir,” Otto said patiently. “After all, there’s no one behind you, is there?”
    Nicholas actually looked over his shoulder before Otto’s meaning dawned on him. “You mean there’s no one to inherit Candle—Camford—if I were to die unexpectedly? No. No, I’m the last of the St. Austells. But I’m only twenty!” he added hastily. “I’ve plenty of time!”
    “Youth is no protection against the Angel of Death,” Otto told him bluntly. “Accidents happen all the time. Forgive me, but you could die at any moment. Any one of us could, after all. If you were to die without an heir, that would be the end of it. Camford would revert to the Crown.”
    “I had not thought of that,” Nicholas said haltingly. “As a poor lieutenant, I never thought I’d have the opportunity to marry, let alone the duty to marry! I am not against the idea of marriage, of course,” he added, “but I—I hardly know my cousins. I am sure they are good girls, but I only met them a few days ago. I can’t even remember their names. Oliver’s aunt cooked five jellies. Octavia, Augusta…Cornelia…” He grinned suddenly. “I say! It does work.”
    Otto did not smile back. “You’re caught in a trap, boy. You just don’t know it yet.”
    “I am not in a trap,” Nicholas protested.
    “Quiet, please,” said Otto, leaning across the table.
    At the exact moment he took the stroke, the door opened, causing him to scratch again.
    “Damnation!” he growled as his sister ran into the room.
    Emma was in tears. Sobbing, she threw herself at her brother, oblivious to everything else. “Thank God you’re here!” she babbled in German. “I don’t know what to do. He’s here. He arrived in the night. He knows about Aleta!”
    Otto had been trying to stop the flow of words, but at the mention of Aleta, he frowned.
    “What?” he said sharply.
    “He has my letter. He wants money. What are we going to do?”
    “Emma,” he said.
    “I shall have to pay him, of course,” she yammered on, unheedingly. “That’s all there is to it. And you wanted me to be civil! ”
    “Emma!” he barked, giving her a hard shake.
    She blinked up at him. “What?”
    “We are not alone,” he told her.
    Emma turned slowly, grinding the tears from her eyes with the heel of her hand. Nicholas stood at the other end of the billiard table, looking down at his feet, his hands folded behind his back. Slowly, he raised his eyes to her. Slowly, he bowed.
    Silently, Emma answered his bow with a curtsey. “I beg your pardon, sir,” she said breathlessly. “I did not—I did not see you.”
    “Do you see me now?” he asked, with a quick smile.
    Emma caught her breath. “Oh, it’s you,” she said, recognizing him. “That is—it is you, isn’t it? You are Lord Camford, are you not?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said.
    They stared at one another for a long moment. The germ of a diabolical idea entered Emma’s mind. Hugh’s nephew obviously was attracted to her. There must be some way she could turn that fact to her advantage.
    Nicholas broke the silence, stuttering, “Forgive me, ma’am. You are obviously in distress. I would have left the room at once, but you are between me and the door.”
    Emma laughed faintly. “I am not in distress,” she said merrily. “What on earth gave you that idea? I was just looking for you, as a matter of fact.”
    Nicholas gave a start. “Looking for me?”
    “Yes! I thought—I thought you had gone to breakfast. Did you become lost