Free Masked Love (A Christmas Regency Novella) by Nicole Zoltack Page B

Isabelle and a short, stout man entered. Adrian stepped aside as the physician overlooked his mother, but he knew the man could do nothing to help her. Now that he reflected upon it, his mother’s fainting spells coincided with whenever she disagreed with his father or seemed unwilling to converse with the man. His mother had given up so much for Adrian, and now she wanted him to have the happiness she never had.
    Adrian walked over to his father.
    “You will marry Lady Theodosia or you will no longer be my son.”
    He wanted so badly to tell him the truth, but the secret was not his to share. “Then I will no longer be your son.”
    The viscount slapped him across the face. It had been years since his father had laid a hand on him, but it had not lost any of its sting.
    “Now, now,” Lady Haywood said, standing between them. “Please, let’s be civil.”
    “He means nothing to me!” the viscount said.
    “From here on, I renounce the name Wingrave.” A weight lifted from around his heart. He no longer had to pretend to love the man he had no blood relation to. He was free to do what he chose, to love whom he wished.
    The Haywoods, all three of them, his father, and even Isabelle, all sharply inhaled. Only his mother, and Lionel, seemed unfazed by the proclamation.
    A trembling Isabelle inched up beside him. “Are you certain?”
    In answer, he held her hand.
    “For a servant girl?” Lord Wingrave roared. “All this over a maid? Whose maid is this?”
    “I am Lady Elizabeth’s maid.”
    “Elizabeth? Who is she?”
    Theodosia entwined her arm through Lionel’s. “She was my maid.”
    “You fell in love with your future wife’s maid?” Lord Wingrave barked.
    “So I did.” The admission was easy for Adrian to make.
    “Father, Mother, I know this isn’t the life you picked out for me, but I love Lionel. I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”
    The earnestness in her voice seemed to move her father. “Owen, my dear friend, it seems our old promise will have to be dissolved,” Lord Haywood said. He had one hand on his wife’s shoulder, the other on his daughter. “We give you our blessing, if you two are certain this is what you want.”
    “We are,” they answered together, and Adrian could not tell whose voice sounded louder or happier—Lionel’s or Theodosia’s.
    “But-but … ” Lord Wingrave sputtered.
    “Our debt will have to be settled another way. Perhaps … ”
    The lords continued their conversation, but Adrian tuned them out. The matter no longer concerned him. He and Isabelle approached the other loving couple. “Good luck with everything,” he said.
    Theodosia hugged him, then Isabelle. Lionel and he shook hands until Adrian pulled him close for a one-armed hug.
    “You’ll be invited to the wedding,” Theodosia said, her blue eyes shining. “The both of you.”
    “New Year’s?” Adrian asked with a sly grin.
    “Yes.”
    His smile stretched from ear to ear. “We might already be married by then.”
    “Oh? You’re eloping!” Theodosia turned to Lionel. “Yes, let’s.”
    “My parents, and yours, deserve a proper wedding,” he said slowly, but his grin matched hers.
    “They don’t need to know we’re already married.” The lady’s enthusiasm was infectious.
    Isabelle clapped her hands as best she could while still holding onto Adrian’s. “A double wedding!”
    Adrian loved her happiness. Even so, he had to ask, “You do know what marrying me means. We have no place to live. I am a lord no longer.” Never was. He’d save that story for another day though. “We need more to survive on than love alone.”
    “The Lord will provide. Perhaps, if you do not mind demeaning work, Lady Elizabeth’s family could employ the both of us.”
    Lionel coughed slightly. “This Elizabeth, does she have red hair? Favor me?”
    Isabelle stared at him and nodded slowly. “Yes, actually.”
    “She is my sister. I am most grateful for you not marrying Theodosia and