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

got was an even greater blessing—I got you.”
    “We have both been blessed,” he murmured. “I trust that we shall look out for each other. I hope I shall always be a guardian of your happiness, my love, and you of mine. But I do not mean for this to be a one-sided match. You have my solemn promise that your opinions and wishes shall always be as important as mine.”
    He grinned. “After all, my experience in the art of diplomacy has shown me that the prospect for harmony is always best when both parties have an equal say in things.”
    “Be careful what you wish for,” teased Anna.
    “Truly, I have nothing more to ask for.”
    The curl of his lips sent a sizzle of heat right down to the toes of her dancing slippers.
    “I’ve been given the most precious gifts of all. Love, hope, happiness. Christmas is truly a time of miracles.” His smile turned a touch more tentative. “I know that for you it has been a time of sorrow, but—”
    Anna pressed the palm of her glove to his cheek. “I think I have come to understand another message of the season. Loss is part of life, but we must never allow its darkness to extinguish the light in our hearts. From now on, Christmas will always be a season of great joy, as long as we share it together.”
    He suddenly spun to a stop in the middle of the ballroom and swept her up in his arms.
    “Nicholas! People are staring!”
    “Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to bend the rules, remember?” he murmured, cutting off her laughing protest with a long and lingering kiss.
    Anna arched into his arms. When at last his lips released hers, he murmured, “Speaking of protocol, would you be opposed to having our nuptials on Christmas?
    “Christmas?” Her face fell. “Y-you wish to wait a whole year to be married?”
    His eyes lit with unholy amusement. “Indeed not. I was thinking of the Russian Christmas. Which is less than two weeks away. I have procured a special license, and your uncle has assured me he has no objection.”
    “Considering that ours has been a very unorthodox courtship, it seems a very fitting day for a celebration,” she answered.
    “What a lucky family we shall be having Christmas come twice a year!”
    “Every day will feel like Christmas with you by my side, my dear Nicholas,.” Ssaid Anna.
    “Amen to that,” answered Nicholas.
    And then he kissed her again.

A Gathering Of Gifts

Chapter 1
    “ O h , show a little spirit, Charles! Must you always be a cautious as a church mouse creeping past a sleeping tabby?” Without waiting for a reply, the young lady slapped her crop against her horse’s flank and sent the high-strung stallion hurtling toward the towering stonewall.
    “The trouble is not my lack of spirit, but rather your overabundance of it,’’ muttered her companion as he spurred his own horse forward. “Ye God, I fear that if you don’t learn to rein in some of your less laudable tendencies, my dear Emma, it’s going to land you in the suds—and sooner than later.”
    His jaw unclenched slightly on seeing that she had cleared the obstacle without mishap, but the slip and clatter of hooves on the slippery ground quickly brought a fresh grimace to his face. The fact that a patch of ice nearly threw his stallion off stride as they approached the tumble of stones did nothing to improve his temper.
    It took a firm hand to ensure that neither of them came to grief because of the treacherous footing, and by the time he pulled to a halt beside his cousin, Charles, Viscount Lawrance felt his patience about to snap.
    “You see, there was nothing to worry about!” Lady Emma Pierson gave a toss of her blonde curls, causing the jaunty little feather adorning her riding cap to brush against the shoulder of her stylish-frogged jacket. She grinned at her cousin. “Ajax and Orion have jumped far higher fences on countless occasions. Come, there’s a path up ahead with several more obstacles and a stretch where we can race—”
    “Nothing to worry