The Christmas Secret by Julia London Read Free Book Online

in circumstances beyond his control.”
    Circumstances beyond his control? Eireanne choked on a surprised bite of laughter.
    “Why do you laugh?” Mr. Bristol asked, smiling at her.
    She waved her hand at him and swallowed down more laughter. If only the poor gentleman knew the truth.
    Mr. Bristol was not so easily put off. “Come now, you must tell me why you are laughing.” His smile was warm; she could feel it to the tips of her toes.
    “Only that my family can be a wee bit willful,” she said laughingly. “Once you meet Declan, you may draw your own conclusions.”
    “Ah,” he said, nodding as if he understood her. “He is the adventurous sort, I take it?”
    She grinned. “One might say, aye.”
    “And what of his sister?” Mr. Bristol asked, his gaze slipping to Eireanne’s mouth once more. “Is she the adventurous sort, as well?”
    Had Eireanne been Molly or Mabe Hannigan, this was surely a moment she would have seized. She had long been envious of the Hannigan twins’ easy way with handsome men. But years of being deemed less than a desirable companion had made Eireanne shy in some respects, and she was at a loss as to what to say. Yes, Mr. Bristol, yes. I want to be adventurous, here and now, with you .
    Fate saved her—the ferry reached the western shore of the Shannon, bumping into the dock at that moment, and in Eireanne’s moment of hesitation, Mr. Bristol was at the door. “It has truly been a pleasure, Miss O’Conner. Thank you again for saving me,” he said, and went out the coach door into the rain.
    Eireanne did not speak to him again before they reached Ballynaheath, but she watched him out the coach window, riding alongside the carriage and speaking amicably with Mr. Donovan, judging by the number of times that gentleman tipped his head back and laughed.
    When they reached Ballynaheath, Eireanne stepped out of the coach and looked around for Mr. Bristol, but she was instantly engulfed by Declan, who swept her up off her feet and held her tight, and then Keira, who chatted excitedly while Grandmamma smoothed Eireanne’s hair from her face and studied her for any signs of change.

Chapter Three
     
    If there was one thing that could be said for Ireland, it did not lack for appealing women. In a part of the world that seemed to Henry so sparsely inhabited, lovely women seemed to roam about in packs.
    There was the earl’s wife, Lady Donnelly, who had arresting green eyes, inky black hair, and an appealing smile. He understood her to be pregnant, and she did indeed have that sort of shine about her.
    Her beauty was matched by that of her younger sisters, Miss Molly Hannigan and Miss Mabe Hannigan, identical twins, who likewise possessed black hair and green eyes and were indistinguishable, from what Henry could glean, except for one lone freckle on Mabe’s right cheek. And there was Mrs. Sullivan, the earl’s maternal grandmother, who was in the autumn of her life. But never had Henry seen a more handsomely mature woman.
    None of these women suffered from lack of attention.
    That was something else that amazed Henry. He could not begin to guess where all the gentlemen came from . Ballynaheath was so removed from civilization as to be at the top of the world, yet come these men did, on horseback or carriages, alone, or in pairs, and sometimes as many as three.
    Henry wondered if the flow of traffic to Ballynaheath had to do with the fact that it was such a magnificent old house. He’d been surprised to discover, when he’d landed in England, that country homes and estates in London’s Mayfair district were much grander than homes in America. In fact, his pair of rooms above the east courtyard at Ballynaheath was as fine as his room at home, and frankly, the Bristol estate at Danning Point was considered one of the jewels of all of New York.
    Ballynaheath was a sprawling castle with wings that spread out on either side. It faced a rolling green vista as far as one could see, with