Read Online House of Trent 01.5 - His for Christmas by Jennifer Haymore - Free Book Online

stretched between them and Postcombe, and they spent the hours alternating between easy silence and conversation, Evan resolved that this Christmas would be a new beginning for them both. It was finally time for him and Amelia to come together, to spend the rest of their lives together as partners, friends, lovers…and as husband and wife.
    As they drew within a few miles of Cheltham House, Amelia snuggled even closer to him.
    “I wonder what Mama and Papa will think?”
    “About what?” he murmured, glancing down at her. Her cheeks were flushed beneath the brim of her fur-lined cap.
    “About you bringing me home.”
    He shrugged. “I am sure they will understand when we tell them what happened to your carriage.”
    “Ye-es…” But she didn’t sound convinced. “It’s just that…well, it was my mother who took me home after that night.”
    He frowned. “Which night?”
    “The night you said those things,” she said softly. “She took me home in the carriage, and when I couldn’t stop crying, she pulled the story of what happened out of me.” Amelia looked up at him bleakly. “I recounted every word of what I heard said between you and the other boys.”
    Evan stiffened. “She must despise me.” As Amelia had.
    “She does. She’s never forgiven you.”
    “And your father?”
    She sighed. “He knows, too. My mother told him.”
    Evan blew out a breath between clenched teeth. He could do nothing to win the earl and countess over except be truthful about his feelings for Amelia. It probably wouldn’t be an easy thing to earn their absolution—they’d always doted on Amelia and took her happiness very seriously.
    He knew how much Amelia valued her parents’ opinions. If they didn’t give their approval, it would definitely be a problem.
    Amelia wrapped her arms around him. “I’ll tell them I was wrong about you. That I misheard those words so long ago.”
    He put the reins in one gloved hand and slipped his free arm around her. “Don’t say that,” he told her. “It isn’t the truth.”
    “But I know you now, Evan. And I know my mother and father. Those words weren’t who you are, and yet they will always judge you based on them.”
    “Perhaps they should,” he said softly.
    She squeezed him tighter. “No,” she breathed.
    Even after the long night they’d spent together, even though he’d wanted to give her pleasure until it wiped away all memory of that night, he never truly could. That night would always be a moment of ugliness between them. And it was his fault. There was no way he could travel to the past and say something else to that bastard George MacBride.
    He gazed out over the snow. The sun was making a valiant effort to burn away the clouds, and it was now a silhouetted, hazy globe that hung low in the sky. The snow was deep and soft in areas, causing the horses to move far more slowly than they normally would—and he needed to be careful, too, so as not to lead them into a patch of softer snow or an area that might cause them to stumble and injure themselves. Dusk would settle across the countryside soon. It’d probably be full dark by the time they arrived at Cheltham House.
    “Evan?” Amelia asked him.
    “Yes?”
    “I know you’re not like that. I believe you now. And I…I forgive you.”
    He bent down to kiss the top of her cap. “Thank you. Your forgiveness is the best Christmas gift I could ever receive.”
    He turned to face forward again. Up the road ahead, a horse and carriage topped a short rise and headed toward them. It was the first traffic they’d encountered all day.
    Amelia squinted at the oncoming vehicle. “That looks like my father.”
    A few seconds later, the crest on the carriage’s side glinted in a ray of waning sunlight, and Amelia stiffened and pulled away from Evan. His body missed her warmth immediately.
    “It’s definitely my father’s carriage,” she said. “What is he doing out on such a day? Lord, I hope he hasn’t come