Regency Christmas Pact 02 - A Gentlemen's Pact by Jerrica Knight-Catania Page A

her head turned towards Joanna, so Northcotte had no clue how she felt about the suggestion, but she didn’t beg off. Which meant he couldn’t, either. A footman brought down their outer garments, and once they’d bundled up, they stepped out into the brisk sunshine.
    Northcotte handed Lady Miriam into the sleigh and as she tucked the lap robes around herself, he positioned the heated brick near her feet. The sleigh was small, the bench narrow. They sat so close he was grateful for the layers of their cloaks to keep the warmth of her nearness from assaulting him. As it was, her sweet rose fragrance stirred a hunger he could neither explain nor appease. A brisk breeze should take care of that, however. With the groom perched on the precarious seat behind them, Northcotte took the reins and the horse stepped out.
    The snow was already somewhat slushy, but the metal runners slid through the muck at a good pace. The speed was exhilarating after days spent indoors. Not the breakneck pace of his best racehorses, but as fast as one might wish to travel on a wet road.
    T he silence stretched longer than he could bear, giving him time to contemplate being sent out alone with Lady Miriam and what his sister might hope to gain from it. He bristled at the idea of being anyone’s pawn. He could end their idea right from the start and make himself so undesirable Lady Miriam would want nothing to do with him. It should be easy enough to do.
    “I should warn you, your scheme will not work. ”
    Miriam gasped. “My scheme? Whatever do you mean?”
    “Expecting me to escort you and partner with you in everything we do. This match you and my sister have planned is futile.”
    “ I am not to blame. You are mistaken, sir.” Her laugh was thin, brittle. “In fact, quite the opposite is true. I came to Hambleton Cottage to avoid my grandfather’s scheme. He’s been trying to marry me off for the past two years. I thought I would be safe here.”
    Of course she would say so to his face. No woman ever admitted to trying to entrap a man.
    She continued to spout angry words, her eyes narrowed at him. “Two years ago he wrote to all his grandchildren and insisted they come to Danby Castle for Christmas. The duke had obtained special licenses for each of us, can you believe it? Of course, we all had different ideas. My sister married a man she met while traveling to the castle. My brother—uh, well, never mind about him.”
    Now Northcotte chuckled in recognition. She was one of those Thornhills? Now he wasn’t surprised she would use wiles to entrap him. “Leander Thornhill—he’s your brother?”
    “Why, yes. Do you know him?”
    “Only by reputation.” The word around London regarding Leander accused him of buggery, being an unnatural man.
    “Oh, dear . Well, he did get married, so Grandpapa was pleased.”
    Northcotte cleared his throat and looked askance at her . She showed not an ounce of embarrassment in discussing such a thing with him. The gossips had it that his marriage to the Earl of Keswick’s sister-in-law was in name only, and the couple was often in residence at the earl’s estate. Thornhill’s relationship with Keswick was the major point of the on dits . “I’d heard some rumors to that effect.”
    “Well…as I was saying, all but a few of us married that Christmas”
    He slowed the horse as they approached a curve, not wanting to tip over. So, she admitted to being desperate to marry. She claimed to be arguing against it, but her words betrayed the truth. “And how did you escape such a decree?”
    “My aunt was quite ill. I couldn’t leave her.”
    “Rather inconvenient of her.”
    “No, quite the opposite. I was exceedingly grateful to her. Praise the lord she didn’t die, for I could never celebrate my escape on that account.”
    He still wasn’t certain she was an innocent party to his own concerns. “Your grandfather has invited to you visit again, I take it?”
    “Hmm, I wouldn’t use that