Dare to be Mine (28 page)

"Home," she spoke with bated
breath, never imagining she would come to cherish the grand estate as her own.

"Lady Fredrickson, are you certain
the place is ready?"

Elyssa turned to the driver, her bags
already in his hands, and she graced him with a lovely smile. "Yes, the
servants have been here nearly a week and should have Greystone in perfect
living order."

The rest of her things would be arriving
the following day, but for the most part, Elyssa had everything she needed.
They were greeted at the door by Annie, who was heartily happy to see Elyssa
back, and looking wonderful and happy at that. Forgoing all formality, Elyssa
laughed aloud and hugged the maid to her. "Annie, how are you? I've missed
you."

The butler entered the foyer and Elyssa
shocked the normally staid servant by briefly hugging him. "Jeffrey, have
you missed me?" Clearing his throat nervously, the aging butler knew not
how to handle himself. Surely the mistress was into herorcing a halfhearted smile,
y accomplish cups, for she'd never
in the past been quite so informal. "Quit looking at me as if I'm crazed,
Jeffrey. Just say yes!"

"Ahem...yes, Lady Fredrickson, we
have all missed your spritely presence the past year." On a roll now that
he'd broken his silence, Jeffrey continued, "It was a great pleasure to
receive your request that we return to Greystone."

"Hear, hear!" Annie chimed in.
"Will is so thrilled to be back in Greystone's stables you would think him
daft by the way he's been acting."

They had been the only three original
servants to return to Greystone, the others content in their newer places of
employment. Elyssa had assured them all from the moment she'd closed Greystone
and dismissed the servants, each with a hefty severance bonus, that if she ever
returned, they would have a job guaranteed did they wish.

Annie and Jeffrey marveled inwardly at
the changes wrought in Elyssa since they'd last seen her a year ago. Where
before she had been lovely, her radiant beauty now surpassed even the most
sophisticated women in London
.
Where she'd been friendly
before, Elyssa was now even more warm and inviting in her gracious manner.
And where she had been timid and unsure of herself, she was now self-assured
and poised with a graceful confidence that anyone could plainly see.

"Your year in Paris did you much
good, milady," Annie softly commented.

A flicker of pain flashed in her eyes
but Elyssa quickly hid it. "Yes, it did, thank you.
Very
much so."

"Are you still planning to host a
Christmas gala?" Jeffrey questioned as Elyssa began to make her way through
each of the rooms, seeing for herself that everything was exactly as it had
been. Nostalgia yanked at her heartstrings as Elyssa recalled the first time
she'd ever walked the floors of Greystone and had felt the same excitement she
was feeling now.

"Oh yes, we are going to throw the
best, most memorable Christmas party in all of London!”

After traversing the entire inside of
Greystone and meeting the other newly hired servants, Elyssa bid them all good
night, wishing to retire to her room for the evening. A hot bath had been drawn
upon her arrival and Elyssa declined Annie's offer of help, wanting only to over the yearshi dowbe
alone. Her steps slowed as she walked past Percy's bedroom door. The room he'd
died in. Had been murdered in, her mind cruelly taunted.

Had Daniel truly killed Percy? He had
said he'd make everything right so they could be together. Had told her he
always got what he wanted. And he had nearly succeeded, her mind cried, for
Percy had died, Greystone was willed to Elyssa, and Daniel had planned to wed
her. She had nearly unwittingly helped him accomplish his goals.

Stubborn loyalty to Daniel's memory
flooded back and Elyssa cursed
herself
a fool for
still doubting that Daniel had committed the heinous crime. But still she could
not fully believe that he'd done the foul deed. There simply had to be another
explanation.

Rubbing her forehead as a headache
threatened, Elyssa's steps quickened until she was in the solace of her old
bedroom. She hurriedly shut the door behind her, breathlessly resting her back
against the closed door. Perhaps it had been a mistake to return to Greystone.
To embrace her ownership in the mansion rather than sell it to the highest
bidder, or to have done what she should have in the first place, which was to
sign it over to Daniel. It should belong to him, really. But it was his
dishonesty, the fact that he'd used her for his own
gain,
that
bade Elyssa keep ownership for the time being.

An inviting tray of food tempted Elyssa
and she was grateful to Annie for seeing to such things. Elyssa quickly
finished the tasty fare, not having realized how famished she actually was
after her trip.

The rising steam from the tub was
inviting and Elyssa quickly stripped and sank gratefully into the hot water.
Bubbles cradled her slick wet body, the hint of vanilla and wildflowers
scenting the bath water. She washed leisurely,
then
rested against the back of the huge tub, luxuriating in the absolute
contentment of being back in England. Her eyes drifted shut and Elyssa listened
to the crackle of the flames in the fireplace, reveled in the warm water
surrounding her body, and reacted to what felt like the barest whisper of a
touch upon her lips. Her eyes opening wide, Elyssa breathlessly looked around
the room in alarm. No one was there. And yet it had seemed so lifelike.
So real.
As if his lips had barely covered hers for the
briefest of seconds.

"Damn him," she swore aloud,
touching her fingers to her lips. Tears misted her emerald eyes as Elyssa
allowed herself to think of him in that way for the first time since she'd
stepped into Greystone. Would her treacherous heart never completely abandon
the memory of Daniel Fredrickson? Could she ever find release from the
remembrance of the only man she had foolishly come to love?over the yearshi dow

She was over him, confound the wretched
man! She had spent the last year of her life keeping busy and meeting people
during her stay with her aunt and uncle in Paris for just that reason!

Hadn't she received a dozen offers for
her hand in marriage? And she'd not been tempted to seriously consider even one
of them. Well, there had been the one handsome duke she had briefly
contemplated. Tall and dark, passionate and demanding, for all that he'd never
been able to steal more than a mere kiss from Elyssa. But it was that likeness
to Daniel that both drew and repelled her. And in the end, she'd cut him loose
just like all the others.

Monthly missives from Percy's
solicitors, now hers, had kept Elyssa up on the bold investments she'd made
with the money he had left her. With their help, she'd become a very wealthy
woman in her own right, making their firm a goodly commission in the process.

She had it all now.
Wealth,
self-respect, a magnificent home.
Who needed a man to complete the
picture?
I do,
Elyssa thought miserably.
I want a husband and
children to complete my life.

How warm could self-respect keep a woman
on a cold, lonely night? And how satisfying could it be to run a household
forever without the pitter patter of children’s feet? A lone tear trailed down
Elyssa's cheek as she closed her eyes once again, her happy homecoming now made
dismal, thanks to Daniel.

Sleep was long in coming. Elyssa was
very restless, finally getting out of bed and lighting a few candles on her
desk. She might as well put her sleeplessness to good use, and proceeded to
start the guest list for her Christmas gala. She wasn't sure exactly why she
was doing it. She really didn't have any close friends other than her cousin
Sophie in Paris, who'd promised to visit and stay over the Christmas holidays.
Of course she would invite her family. Her brothers and sister would be beside
themselves with excitement.

Perhaps it was simply to make a
statement––she was back.
And doing just fine without the
young Lord Fredrickson.
If Elyssa were completely honest with herself,
she would have admitted that was the true reason she was throwing the huge
party. That perhaps one of his friends would attend and later confide to Daniel
that Elyssa was completely over him.

Of course, that might mean stringing
along some handsome young gentleman for the evening in order to accomplish her
facade of being careless and happy. She would need to ma escaped her lips ahehi dowke a great show of
interest in someone––anyone––of the opposite sex besides Daniel.

Elyssa listed a myriad of names,
including her solicitors and their wives, former business associates of
Percy's, and anyone of importance in London. Of a whim, she added the names
Blake and Catherine Edmonton.
I must be a glutton for punishment,
she
mused aloud. But if she wanted the message to be relayed to Daniel that she was
well over him, who better than his closest friend and former lover?

Elyssa might have wondered if Daniel
hadn't already wed someone else in the past year except for the fact she read
the London newspaper every week in Paris. It somehow helped to keep the
homesickness at bay. And the newspaper would most assuredly have made mention
of the infamous rake's wedded bliss had Daniel decided to wed someone. But he
hadn't. Surely he couldn't possibly be holding to the unlikely prospect of trying
again to wed her to gain Greystone after all this time. Could he?

A traitorous fluttering of her heart at
that thought was swiftly quelled, for the point was moot. They were over.
Whatever they had shared more than a year ago had been based solely
on guile and deceit.
And she would do well to remember that fact.

She tossed the quill down and blew out
the candles, getting back into bed. Sleep finally came although Elyssa's rest
was interrupted with haunting dreams of Daniel. She'd not dreamt of him in
months, and now the first day back at Greystone she was already fighting to
escape the hold he'd once had on her. At all costs, she must stay away from
Daniel and strive daily to rid all thoughts of him.

The following week was spent in an
excited flurry. Greystone was decorated for the holidays. An enormous Christmas
tree was cut and placed in the ballroom, and that only after the huge room had
been cleaned from one corner to the other. Annie confided that she couldn't
recall the lovely room ever being used for anything since she'd been employed
at Greystone. The tree was decorated with countless ornaments, beautiful and
fragile,
and colorful ribbons were hung from the ceilings
and spiraling about the banisters. Mistletoe was hung over every doorpost in
the downstairs part of the mansion, slender red ribbons cradling the leafy
sprigs.

Prettily wrapped gifts abounded beneath the
tree. Elyssa had bought several gifts apiece for her younger siblings and
parents, and her cousin Sophie. They would all be arriving within the next day
or two, and Elyssa was immensely pleased as she walked throughout Greystone to
check its appearance. It brought tears of joy to her eyes."It is
beautiful," she marveled, the servants sharing in her admiration of the
wonderfully decorated mansion.R">
CHAPTER

CHAPTER 3FN"> 

CHAPTER 17

A white blanket of pristine snow covered
the grounds. Hundreds of red and white candles twinkled like endless stars in
Greystone's sconces and chandeliers throughout the mansion. Festive sounds of
holiday music sounded invitingly from the ballroom as the stringed instruments
played melodiously.

It was December twenty-second, the night
of Elyssa's ball. Her family had arrived two days earlier, as had her cousin,
Sophie. All were delighted and anxious for Christmas, her sister and brothers
excited to see all the gifts Elyssa had bought. She hadn't realized how much
she missed her family over the past year, and vowed to remain in closer touch
now that she was back in England. Christmas was a time for family, of
closeness, and it wouldn't do to keep harboring a grudge against her parents.
Elyssa had already forgiven them for her forced marriage to Percy. That period
of her life was over now, and things were finally good.