His Christmas Nymph by Marly Mathews Read Free Book Online

quite civilly in front of you. We shan’t have any trouble whatsoever.”
    She didn ’t doubt it. Edward would, however, be excessively astonished to see her. In fact, he’d be trying to discern why she was there.
    “I don’t know if that would be appropria te. I don’t want to be a bother. I certainly don’t want to take advantage of his hospitality.”
    “You are never a bother. You are the epitome of charm and grace. Pray, come with me , dearest. If you come with me, I’ll make sure you don’t have to see hide nor hair of Gertrude until we go to church on Sunday. I’ll let you hide in your room and dash away to see Fanny or Mrs. Finch whenever you want.”
    “Truly, Papa?”
    “Indeed,” he answered.
    “In that case, I will accompany you.” She wanted to say no but he had a wild gleam in his eyes and she wondered if it would be safe to let him go on his own. No, she would hav e to go with him, and hope the duke wasn’t too astonished to see her.
    “Besides, daughter, you will have to say goodbye to Whitney Park. Now that the duke is back in residence you won’t be able to visit the grounds. Unless of course, he invites you to—I shall ask him if he minds if you make use of the Folly during the day. I’ll tell him you’ve been doing it since your mother died and it comforts you immensely. As long as he’s not harried, and nothing is going to change, I can’t see any reason why he wouldn’t allow it. Come to think of it, perhaps he’ll revive his Father and Grandfather’s custom of having Christmas Parties! Oh, they were such gay events,” he said, sighing, at the fond memory.
    She smiled as his infectious warmth spread throughout the room. She missed being this close to her father, if only he hadn’t married Gertrude.  
    He reached for her arm, and hooked his arm through hers. “I am not exactly dres sed for being presented to the duke, Papa.”
    She knew she was grasping, but she had to remove the silly notion of her father taking her to Whitney Park. 
    “You look fine, but you are correct, you should change into an afternoon dress. Put on that white light muslin that your aunt sent you. You know, the one with the cornflower pattern on it. You wear it with the sapphire blue velvet spencer that she also sent, and the matching bonnet will make you look quite fetching. That should fare you well enough. It’s a very mild day out there. That spencer and dress are by far the prettiest thing in your wardrobe, aside from the white evening gown she sent you last year. She does spoil you, and she would lavish you with more gifts if she thought I would allow it. Perhaps,” he stopped. “Mayhap, I’ve been remiss. Mayhap, I should have allowed her to take you under her wing, and let her take you from me. And maybe I should have let her buy you a full wardrobe the way she wanted to. I’ve held you back, Caroline. I’ve been so selfish. I’ve kept untold joys from you. I never should have stopped her kindness. Margaret used to allow it—she said that Georgia loved doing things for us. After your Mama died, I couldn’t bear to have you get too close to Georgia. I couldn’t bear to lose you.”
    She patted him on the hand. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Well, now that Gertrude is in our lives perhaps that is a bit of a lie. I can’t abide the woman. Give me a few minutes and I shall be ready, Papa. I’ll call for Sally to help me dress.” She smiled at him, and dashed away. “Sally,” she called, waiting for their maid to emerge from the kitchen.
    “Yes, Miss Caroline?” Sally asked.
    “I have to away to Whitney Park. Can you help me fix my hair and change my dress?”
    Sally grinned. “’Course, I can, Miss. It would be my pleasure.”
    Sally , like Caroline, was always in better spirits when Gertrude wasn’t around.
    Today was going to go splendidly. 
    * * * * *
    Edward paced the length of his massive Library. He couldn’t understand why Mr. Griffiths hadn’t arrived