A Wallflower Christmas by Lisa Kleypas Page B

that ran through them at her rendition of a ghostly voice.
    As she continued to read, the magic of Mr. Dickens’s words wrought a spell over them all and eased the doubt and anger from Hannah’s heart. And she remembered something she had forgotten: Christmas wasn’t merely a single day. Christmas was a feeling.
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    It certainly would have been no hardship to kiss Lady Natalie. But Rafe had refrained from taking any such liberty, mainly because she seemed so determined to entice him into it.
    After Hannah had left the lower terrace, Natalie had been defensive and sheepish, telling him that men were fortunate not to require chaperones everywhere they went, because at times it could be maddening. And Rafe had agreed gravely that it must indeed be quite inconvenient, but at the same time Miss Appleton struck him as tolerable company.
    â€œOh, most of the time Hannah is a dear,” Natalie said. “She can be rather bourgeois, but that is only to be expected. She comes from the poor side of the family, and she’s one of four unmarried sisters, no brothers at all. And her mother is deceased. I don’t mean to sound self-congratulatory, but had I not told Father I wanted Hannah as my companion, she would have suffered years of drudgery looking after her sisters. And since she never spends a shilling on herself—she sends her allowance to her father—I give her my castoffs to wear, and I share nearly everything that’s mine.”
    â€œThat is very generous of you.”
    â€œNo, not at all,” she said airily. “I like to see her happy. Perhaps I was a bit harsh on her a few moments ago, but she was being unreasonable.”
    â€œI’m afraid I have to disagree,” Rafe told her. “Miss Appleton is a good judge of character.”
    Natalie smiled quizzically. “Are you saying that she was correct in her assessment of you?” She drew closer, her lips soft and inviting. “That you’re going to make the most of our privacy?”
    â€œI hate to be predictable,” he told her regretfully, amused by her frowning pout. “Therefore…no. We should probably take you upstairs before we cause gossip.”
    â€œI have no fear of gossip,” she said, laying her hand on his arm.
    â€œThen you clearly haven’t yet done anything worthy of being gossiped about.”
    â€œPerhaps it’s only that I haven’t been caught,” Natalie said demurely, making him laugh.
    It was easy to like Lady Natalie, who was clever and pretty. And it would be no hardship to bed her. Marrying her would hardly be a difficult price to pay, to get the business deal he wanted with his father. Oh, she was a bit spoiled and pettish, to be sure, but no more than most young women of her position. Moreover, her beauty and connections and breeding would make her a wife whom other men would envy him for.
    As he walked with her toward the main entrance hall, they passed by the open door of the library, where he had conversed recently with his father. A very different scene greeted his gaze now.
    Warm light from the hearth pushed flickering shadows to the corners, spreading a quiet glow through the room. Hannah Appleton sat in a large chair, reading aloud, surrounded by a group of avidly listening children.
    An elderly man had nodded off by the hearth, his chin resting on the ample berth of his chest. He snuffled now and then as a mischievous boy reached up to tickle his chin with a feather. But the boy soon left off, drawn into the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his visitation by a Christmas spirit.
    Rafe had not yet read the wildly popular book, but he recognized the story after hearing a few lines. A Christmas Carol had been so quoted and discussed that its ever-growing fame had become rather off-putting to Rafe. He had dismissed it as a bit of sentimental candy floss, not worthy of wasting his time with.
    But as he watched Hannah, her face soft and animated,