“It’s a sign of marriage,” Kendra explained. “Ah, the thimble!” She placed it on a fingertip, flashing an angelic smile. “A life of blessedness.”
“When are you joining the convent?” Ford chortled.
He had to duck to avoid the flying thimble.
Colin snorted. “Well, so much for the tokens.”
“Thank heavens.” Amy set down her bowl.
Kendra glanced up. “Aren’t you going to finish it?”
Amy shook her head. “I’ve had enough,” she said quietly. “I’m really not feeling too well.” She threw Kendra a surreptitious wink, then turned to Colin. “I think I should go to bed.”
He shot up at once and placed a hand on her forehead. “You’re not feverish,” he reported, visibly relieved. “But if you feel ill, then of course we must go to bed.”
“But the games…” Ford protested.
“What games?” Amy asked innocently, finishing with a weak cough for effect.
“We always play games on Christmas Eve, charades and the like, until the wee hours.” Grasping her hand, Colin pulled her up and put a protective arm around her. “But that was before one of us was married. Besides, your health is more important.”
He started moving her toward the door.
“You must stay and play, Colin. It’s only fatigue, I’m certain, and overeating and a bit too much buttered ale—though it was all delicious.” Amy sighed prettily and placed a delicate hand on her abdomen.
Unfortunately, Colin proved to be overly solicitous. The best they could do was convince him to see her to bed and then return for the games.
He undressed her himself, pulled one of her new nightgowns over her head, then stood back to judge the effect.
He gave a low whistle. “Are you certain you’re ill, love?”
“Quite certain.” She forced another cough and clutched at her stomach. “Leave now, please, before I embarrass myself in front of you.” She climbed into the bed, moaning softly to demonstrate her illness. “Could you put the chamber pot beside me before you go?”
“Sickness is nothing to be embarrassed about,” he assured her. With a small thud, he deposited the chamber pot on the bedside table. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”
“I’m positively sure. Go enjoy the games.” When he hesitated as though not quite convinced, she added, “If you’ll but let me rest, Colin, alone, when you return in a few hours I’m certain to be feeling better.”
“Well…”
“Much better,” she repeated meaningfully.
She watched his eyes light up before she rolled away with a groan and pulled the covers over her head.
SIXTY-EIGHT
HALF AN HOUR after the charades game began, Colin and his siblings were interrupted by the head butler announcing the unexpected delivery of a crate. They all hurried to the stone hall to see what it might be.
The crate was enormous, standing taller than Colin himself, and his name was scrawled across the front. There was no indication of where or whom it had come from.
“Do you suppose it’s a wedding gift?” he asked, coming up to stand beside it.
“Open it and see,” Jason suggested.
The buoyancy in his voice had Colin turning to him sharply. “It’s from you, then?”
“I didn’t say that. Just open it.”
“It must be furniture. A nice thought, Jason, but much too generous—and besides, I have no place to put anything yet.”
Jason laughed. “Look, it’s not from me. Just open it.”
Colin considered. “Very well, but Amy should be here. Perhaps she’s feeling better now. I’ll just go and check.”
“Let her sleep,” Kendra said. “She felt beastly. Checking might wake her, and you mustn’t do that.”
“I’m not sure what to do, then.” Colin twisted his signet ring on his finger. “I expect this can wait until morning.”
“It’s addressed to you, not Amy,” Kendra said. “She can see it in the morning. Open it, please—or I’ll do it for you. I want to see what’s inside.”
“Well…”
“I’ll fetch some tools,” Ford offered, rushing off before Colin could protest.
Not that he really wanted to—he was at least as curious as Kendra.
A minute later, Ford was back, and together they pried off the front of the crate—only to find another box enclosed inside. They pulled the remaining three sides of the crate apart, but there was still no clue to the contents. The new box was unmarked.
“It must be fragile,” Colin remarked uncertainly. “Let’s be more careful opening this one.”
The second box revealed nothing more than a slightly smaller version of itself hidden inside.
He threw his siblings a sidelong glance and silently set to opening it. When a fourth featureless box was revealed, he grinned at the profusion of lumber littering the hall. “What on earth is going on here?”
“I’m sure we don’t know,” Kendra protested.
“We were just minding our own business, playing charades,” Ford offered.
“Just open it,” Jason said.
Colin shrugged, trying to hide a smile. He loved a joke played on himself almost as much as being the perpetrator of one. “I think I’ll wait until morning, after all,” he said blandly, turning to leave.
Kendra lunged at him, tugging on his shirt. “Colin Chase, you open that box right now. I’m—I’m dying of curiosity.”
He turned back and fixed her with an innocent look. “Well, then, I suppose I must. I wouldn’t want you to die on account of me.”
They laughed as he pulled the box apart, and he was not at all surprised to find a fifth box inside. This one had a sign on it, though, spelling out the words CONTAINS THE EARL OF GREYSTONE in neat block letters.
“It should say ‘Contents for the Earl of Greystone,’” he pointed out. “Somebody doesn’t know how to spell.”
His siblings shrugged.
“It cannot contain the Earl of Greystone,” he insisted, staring at their blank faces. “I’m the Earl of Greystone, and I’m quite obviously not in that box. I’m not certain I would even fit,” he added as an afterthought.
A cough came from within the box.
Colin swung around. “What the deuce…”
The top was hinged. He threw it open. Amy slowly rose, completely captivating in a soft peach gown, a dazzling smile on her lips and
