Christmas By Candlelight: Two Regency Holiday Novellas by Andrea Pickens Page B

man of your strict temperament would deign to feed his troops.”
    Noel gave a humorless laugh. “ Ifbread and water was to be had, my troops were infinitely grateful for it, Lady Emma. On the battlefields of the Peninsula, liveried servants do not appear at the ring of a bell with silver salvers.”
    Noting she at least had the grace to color, he went on, “Neither will they here. Now, if you will excuse me, I have some rather more important matters to attend to.”
    Turning on his heel, he quit the room, making no attempt to prevent the door from closing with a pronounced thump.
    That should make it clear to the pampered little minx that he would not dance attendance on her like everyone else did, he thought as he walked down the narrow corridor toward the kitchen. It was quite evident that “no” was not a word with which she was intimately acquainted.
    But she did have some spirit, he was forced to admit. He had half expected her to tum into a watering pot or lapse into a fit of hysterics on hearing his announcement. Instead, she had met his deliberate roughness with a show of spunk.
    A faint smile crept to his lips. Her comment about bread and water showed she had a sharp sense of humor as well. And more than a little courage. Although he had made light of her injury, he knew it must be a very painful one. In all fairness to her, she had born the discomfort with a soldier’s fortitude, making no complaint until that moment.
    He made a wry face. Perhaps the young lady had more to her than he had first thought. However, that was hardly any concern to him. As he had told Lady Emma and her cousin, he had a good deal of other things to occupy his mind.
    Picking up the hammer and chisel that he had left lying on the scarred pine table, he turned his attention back to trying to loosen a rusted bolt on the door of the iron stove. The house had been sadly neglected by his predecessors, but until he could make a final assessment of the late baron’s finances, he was determined not to incur expenses that he could ill afford. For the time being, most of the rambling structure would remain closed off, save for the small wing where he and his family had taken up residence.
    It, too, needed a good deal of attention to make it a snug place to live, so he had determined to do much of the menial labor himself. He didn’t mind—he disliked being idle, and the work would keep him busy until he could make long range plans and see about hiring a proper crew of workmen. Besides, it gave him a sense of satisfaction to see the improvements take shape with each passing day.
    By Christmas Eve, he vowed, the fires would burn without smoking, the draperies would be free of dust, and the hearths would be polished and hung with greenery. He wanted Anna and Toby to have a snug, cheery home in which to celebrate their first holiday without James.
    But try as he might to concentrate on the task at hand, he couldn’t keep his thoughts from drifting back to their unexpected guest.
    She was no milk-and-water miss, that was for sure. He preferred a lady who had opinions of her own, but whether Lady Emma’s spirit was indicative of merely a headstrong nature or other, more exemplary qualities, he wasn’t sure.
    What he did know was that it was hard to find fault with the lush fullness of her lips, even when they were pursed in a pout. As for the spark in her eyes , it was  intriguing.
    To his dismay, he found it impossible to banish the picture of a mass of spun-gold curls and the way her chin came up in a saucy tilt when she was angry. He supposed it was only natural to feel the stirrings of physical attraction for a beautiful lady, but his reaction to this particular one only caused his mood to turn blacker.
    It grew even worse when a careless swing of the hammer caught a sharp blow to his thumb. Swearing under his breath, Noel gave it a shake, then clenched his jaw. No doubt Lady Emma already had a legion of besotted young men making cakes of