The Earl's Christmas Delivery by Susan Gee Heino Read Free Book Online Page A

friend up onto his feet. "We'll be thankful for the ride to any place just now."
    Myserleigh glanced over at his own traveling companion. She seemed a bit downcast at having not gotten her way, yet she kept a calm demeanor and even smiled sweetly as she did her best to help guide the men out of the ditch where their carriage had overturned and then lead them toward the wagon. She fussed over them all, helping to assure the weaker one had the most comfortable seating arrangement and warning the young men to keep their hands off the mince pies when they began commenting on the heavenly scent. She made certain everything was quite secure before she came up to the front of the wagon to climb into her own seat.
    Myserleigh made sure he was there this time to help her aboard. She'd proven she did not need his assistance, but he'd be damned if he let these careless whelps watch him allow a lady to make her own way up into his rugged wagon. They already must wonder what manner of earl he was to arrive dressed in ill-fitting clothes with a conveyance better suited to farming needs than carting gentility, but he would not give them any reason to question Miss Meriwether's position here. She was not some uncared for servant they might consider taking advantage of, just in case that is what had begun to cross their minds.
    They were, after all, three otherwise healthy young men, clearly some sort of well-bred, and she was quite an attractive young lady. It would be only natural that they might notice this and get some ideas. Myserleigh would keep a close watch over them and be glad to be rid of them at the earliest possible moment.
    For Miss Meriwether's sake, of course.
     

Chapter 4
    "So you've come from the east?" Carole asked, twisting around in her seat to continue conversation with the three young men.
    She'd found them immensely entertaining so far. The earl, of course, had been his usual, brooding self, but the young men were quite engaging. Of course their friend Jasper was a bit quieter than the others, but once they made rags from one of the shirts packed in their traveling bag and got his head to stop bleeding, it seemed he might be just fine. They found a relatively secure way to prop his arm and he was even able to add to the conversation from time to time.
    The three of them, Jasper, Basil and Mel King, were brothers on their way home from school for the holiday. Quite the enthusiastic scholars, too, from the way they spoke of their favorite studies in science and astronomy. They spoke enthusiastically about their Nana, as well.
    Apparently she was not actually a relative of theirs, but the old woman who had nursed all three of them as babes. To hear them speak, this Nana had raised every baby in their village and was revered as some sort of saint by one and all. She seemed to have nearly magical skills and an understanding of herbal remedies that could cure any disease imaginable. Carole believed next to nothing that they were telling her, but she found them highly amusing, nonetheless.
    "Yes, we've been traveling far," Basil said. "And I can tell you I'm eager to get home for good old cook's pudding."
    "You're always eager to eat anyone's pudding," Mel chided.
    "Well, sitting next to these mince pies is making me hungry!" Basil defended himself. "They smell like ambrosia for the gods!"
    "Well, you ain't exactly no god," Mel assured him. "So keep your paws off the lady's fragrant pies."
    The two young men jostled each other in mock battle and bumped against Jasper in the process. He grimaced. Carole wished she could do more for him than offer the last wadded handkerchief from her reticule.
    "Is the pain very great, Mr. King?" she asked him.
    "Not enough to kill me and put me out of my misery, I'm afraid," he replied. "But bad enough. I'll surely be glad when we get home to Nana and she can brew up one of her concoctions."
    "Is she really so very accomplished? Caring for the sick is a wonderful talent."
    "Oh yes, she's