It Happened Under the Mistletoe: A Holiday Novella Read Online Free PDF Page B

just told the handsome Duke of Markingham that their pretending to be courting was a perfect idea? It sounded awfully like she’d said such a thing but Cerian couldn’t quite believe it. She pressed a hand to her throat. Perhaps she’d only imagined it.
    “Excellent,” he replied, letting out his breath. He couldn’t possibly have been nervous, could he?
    He glanced back over his shoulder most likely to see if they were being watched. When he returned his gaze to Cerian, she hoped she’d settled a calm look upon her face. A look that was the complete opposite of how she felt. It was true that if she agreed to the duke’s proposal, she might have a bit of peace from Sir Gilliam and Lord Esterbrooke, but Mama would be devastated if she thought the Duke of Markingham had been in her grasp and she’d lost him. Which is exactly what Mama would think if they were to embark upon this farce.
    She eyed the duke. He remained leaning against the wall, his booted feet crossed at the ankles. Cerian forgot to breathe. Instead she made a noise that was something between a wheeze and a cough. Most unladylike. She pressed a hand against her cheek. “I … um … that is to say … I’m not quite sure…”
    “Don’t tell me you don’t think it will work,” he continued, glancing over his shoulder once more. “It appears to be doing the trick already.” He turned back to her and flashed a smile that made her brace her opposite hand against the wall to steady herself. She peeked around his shoulder. It appeared he was correct. In one corner, a few of Cerian’s admirers were assembled, watching the two of them with ill-concealed irritation, while Lady Selina and a handful of other young ladies openly glared at them from the opposite side of the room.
    Cerian ducked her head back and looked up into the duke’s captivating blue eyes. “It appears you’re correct. It does seem to be working.”
    He flashed a bright grin at her. “Does that mean you’ll agree to it?”

CHAPTER SIX
    They’d all been playing draughts, innocently playing draughts, when Lady Selina suggested they change the game. Cerian should have known at the first indication of that young lady’s pink cheeks and tittering laughter that something else was afoot. Of course it took her all of a half a minute to realize what Lady Selina was up to.
    “It’s time for our first Christmastide game. Miss Cosgrove and I have hidden special boughs of mistletoe throughout the manor house. We shall each go on a hunt for them. When a lady finds a bough, she must kiss the first gentleman who happens along.”
    Cerian let out a breath. Draughts had been so much less dramatic. Why couldn’t they simply continue to play nice, safe draughts? And kissing a gentleman who found you with a bough of mistletoe seemed a bit scandalous even for the fast Lady Selina. Where was that girl’s mother? Hmm. Standing back while her daughter roped in a duke, no doubt.
    Lady Selina’s giggles were quite getting the best of her. Cerian briefly wondered if she would choke. But even that would interrupt her draughts game. There was no help for it. Either way she wasn’t playing draughts anymore this afternoon.
    “The gentlemen shall begin at the west end of the house and the ladies, the east,” Lady Selina explained.
    Cerian glanced over at the duke. He arched a dark brow and gave her a comical look that made her guess he was thinking exactly what she was, that Lady S didn’t know her right from her left. Let alone the east from the west. This game was clearly set up.
    Lady Selina was busily ushering everyone into two lines, one for gentlemen, the other for ladies. Cerian dutifully stepped into line behind the Davis twins. The poor young women looked horrified at the prospect of finding a bit of mistletoe and being forced to kiss a gentleman. Cerian leaned forward and whispered, “Remember ladies, just because you find it, needn’t mean you must admit it.” She smiled at them both