Once Upon a Viscount: The Seldon Park Christmas Novellas, #9

By Bethany M. Sefchick

Much to the dismay of nearly everyone, Lady Charity Thorne and Lord Campbell St. John, Viscount Sutton, have been friends since childhood.  In fact, they are so close that they confide in each other about everything, including their families' demands that they marry.  Just not each other, of course.  That would be unseemly.

 

Campbell does plan to wed – eventually.  Though, by the time the annual Night of a Thousand Stars Christmastide ball at Highburn Castle arrives, Charity is facing a difficult choice – marry the man her father has selected for her or become a spinster.  Determined to know a lover's touch at least once, Charity sets out to have an affair during the house party and she wants Campbell's help to accomplish her goal.

 

However, an errant kiss between the two shatters what has always been the perfect friendship.  As Campbell takes on the role of Charity's temporary lover, can either of them come to terms with their changing feelings?  More importantly, will their new-found love survive beyond the house party and Highburn's magical holiday spell?

 

This 68,600-word novella, which is a companion piece to the "Tales From Seldon Park" series, is written in the modern, Regency romance style for a slightly hotter and sexier read.  It may not be appropriate for younger audiences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bethany M. Sefchick
• Release date: Dec 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201058722

Bethany M. Sefchick

Making her home in the mountains of central Pennsylvania, Bethany Sefchick lives with her husband, Ed, and a plethora of Betta fish that she’s constantly finding new ways to entertain. In addition to writing, Bethany owns a jewelry company, Easily Distracted Designs. It should be noted that the owner of the titular Selon Park - one Lord Nicholas Rosemont, the Duke of Candlewood, a.k.a. "The Bloody Duke" - first appeared in her mind when she was eighteen years old and had no idea what to make of him, or of his slightly snarky smile.  She has been attempting to dislodge him ever since - with absolutely no success. When not penning romance novels or creating sparkly treasures, she enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, and lavishing attention on any stray cats who happen to be hanging around. She always enjoys hearing from her fans at: [e-mail]

Book preview

Prologue

July 1815

Landsdowne

Oxfordshire

Do you think your father noticed us sneaking off, Tee?

I rather doubt it.  He is far too busy trying to locate my brother so he can partner him with some insipid chit for those foolish lawns games this afternoon.

I am going to have to attend those same foolish lawn games you know.  It is my estate, after all.

"It has been your estate since you were five, Cam.  You always have to be there."

You don’t have to be, though.  You are a guest, Tee.  You can do whatever you please.  That includes not participating in foolish lawn games.

No, Cam, I cannot do that, and you well know it.  If you are there, then I shall be as well.  That’s what friends are for, are they not?

They are at that, I suppose.  Gads, Tee, what would I do without you?

Your life should be a good deal more boring, I suspect.  Just as it always is when I am not about to cause mischief.  With that, Charity – or Tia to her friends, though she was always simply Tee to Cam – stepped out of the shadows cast by a row of small boats upon the boathouse wall.  You are too stiff and too proper and yes, sometimes too cold when I am not about.  Far too remote for your own good.  You need me in your life, Cam.  Admit it.

That would be Lord Sutton to you, Tee, Cam replied archly as she snickered at him.  But yes, you are right.  My life would be quite boring without you.

Extremely boring, actually.

Because Cam was stiff.  And proper.  And cold.  Not to mention off-putting with most marriageable young women, at least according to his mother.

Then again, that was how he had been raised his entire life.  To be a viscount.  Cold.  Distant.  Aloof.  Untouchable.

As for Tee?  Well, much like him, Tee had been raised to be constrained by society.  To always be a prim and proper lady.  Unlike him?  She hadn’t listened to a word anyone had said.  She still didn’t.  Instead, she preferred to do as she pleased, often dragging him along with her on her adventures.

Not that she had to drag him too hard.  For where Tee went?  Cam always followed and had since they were children.  Always.  It didn’t matter how old they were.

Today, for instance, the two of them had been exploring the old Roman ruins on his estate.  They had explored them likely hundreds of times before but a few weeks ago, Tee had read about a recent archeological find.  A farmer in the middle of England had stumbled upon a cache of Roman gold and jewels beneath an oddly shaped keystone in a tumble-down building on his land.  Cam’s estate had a similar keystone and both of them had wondered if anyone had ever bothered to look beneath it.  Just in case there was some sort of buried treasure beneath.

Set upon their course for the day, they had snuck out of the house immediately after nuncheon to investigate and were just passing the ramshackle old boathouse when they had both heard Tee’s father giving a very un-duke-like bellow as he searched for Colin, his second-oldest son, and Tee’s brother.

Knowing Colin as Cam did, Cam would have bet his favorite bottle of scotch that Colin was likely off some place with a woman of possibly loose morals.  For Colin adored women.  Well, one woman in particular by the name of Thera.  Theirs was a complex relationship and Cam didn’t even want to try to understand it.  Nor did he ever try.

In general, Cam had decided long ago that it was better to let people live as they liked.  If only his mother had adopted the same philosophy, instead of trying to push every unwed, noble-blooded chit she encountered in his general direction.  Mostly because he was a viscount already and, unless one of Great Uncle Hector’s demon-spawn sons produced an heir in the very near future, Cam would also one day become the Duke of Thornton.

And be he a duke or a viscount, Cam still needed a wife.

Preferably a first-born daughter of the bluest blood imaginable.

At least according to his mother.

For now, however, Cam was young.  He was a wealthy lord.  He was enjoying life in his own way, mostly with drink and women in his bed.  Could that not be enough for now?

Apparently not and from the sounds of things, Tee’s father had much the same outlook on his children’s lives as Cam’s mother did.

So while they were safe from their respective parents for the moment, they really did need to think about returning to the manor house, the Roman keystone adventure set aside for another day.  If they ever returned here to Landsdowne in a similar fashion, that was.  For Cam realized – even if Tee did not – that their stolen moments like this would end eventually.  Sooner rather than later, most likely.

This kind of relationship between a man and a woman wasn’t appropriate.  They both knew as much.  However, Cam was probably a bit more aware of it than Tee was.

Though if she were aware of the inappropriateness, she likely wouldn’t care anyway.  She never did.  Just as she did not care about Cam’s mistresses or his lovers.

Those women cared about Cam’s relationship with Tee.  Cared a great deal actually.  However, hard as he tried, he could not make them understand that Tee was no threat to them.  She was his best friend.  Nothing more.

She was…just Tee.  Even though he secretly adored her and she wasn’t really just anything.  It was simply easier to say that she was merely a friend rather than admit that there might be anything more between them.

Assuming Tee wanted there to be more.

Cam wasn’t certain that she did.

Did he?

He didn’t know.

He simply knew that she was the center of his world and he would do anything for her and follow wherever she led.

Following her out of the shadows now, Cam looked around to make certain they were still alone.  If they were caught out together?  There would be hell to pay.  At the very least there would be a hasty marriage, even though Tee was only sixteen and he was only twenty.

It would have also been very awkward.  No one, particularly his mother and her father, seemed to understand the long-held friendship that existed between him and the young woman at his side.  People could not seem to understand that they truly were friends and not lovers.  Or that they had never really entertained the notion of becoming lovers.

Given how well Cam knew Tee, he would have known if she had romantic thoughts about him by simply looking at her.  Her eyes would give her away every time.  Well, at least they gave her away to him.  Nobody else probably even bothered to look.

However, Cam looked.  He always had.  Because she was Tee and that was simply that.

My life with you is never boring, Cam repeated as he squeezed her ungloved hand gently.  I also would not have it any other way.

Neither would I.  Tee let out a long-suffering sigh and for a moment, their fingers entwined before she released his hand.  You are the one bright spot in my life and have been for ages.  She snorted indelicately.  With two years at The Young Ladies Academy completed and one more to come?  Honestly, Cam, without your intelligent conversation to look forward to each summer, I think I might lose my mind!

Too much talk of ribbons and lace and watercolors? he teased gently as he led her further out of the shadows.

"That is all they talk about!  All day and all night, along with how to snare a husband with the loftiest title!  Just then Cam was thankful they were so far away from the main house, the lake area and boathouse separated from the rest of his estate by several hills and valleys.  You would think that one of them might have an interest in music or art or literature or, Heaven help them, science!  But no.  They prattle on about the silliest things."

Tee let out what could have best been described as a growl and once again, Cam laughed.

That is why I adore you so much, Tee.  In all of the time I’ve known you, you have never once behaved like an empty-headed female.

At that, Tee sobered and Cam had the impression he had touched upon a sore spot.

Mama says that might be to my detriment.  She squinted up at him and in the shaft of light that cut through the room, Cam could see the first hint of something worrisome in her eyes.  She is comfortable with my decision not to marry but she also cautioned me that my father might not be so amenable.  She informed me that even if I’ve no wish to marry, I do need to curb my hoyden ways a bit if I am to debut in a few years.  I’ve no wish to change, Cam.  I like myself as I am.

As I do, Tee.  As do I.  Cam gathered her close when he noticed she was becoming upset.  You are perfect as you are.  However, you know very well that even I had to change how I acted once I entered Society.

I know.  I still despise the notion, however.

Even though there was nothing romantic between them, Cam enjoyed the way Tee’s small body felt pressed against his.  Her presence at his side made him feel as if he wasn’t so alone in the world.

Cam had his mother, true, but she wanted him to wed and produce heirs now.  Not in a few years when he was finished being a man about London.  She also wanted to choose his bride for him.  The higher the pedigree the better and, again, preferably a first daughter who would allow Cam’s mother to ride roughshod over her and continue to dictate the running of the household as she did now.  Oh, and this would-be bride should also be a very young lady with culture and refinement and polite manners.  One who was meek and obedient and always prim and proper.

One who would most likely bore Cam to tears after little more than a week in her company.

Needless to say, that wasn’t Tee.

Oh, as the daughter of a duke, she was of the proper pedigree.  However, she was also a twin.  The younger twin only by a few minutes, but still…younger.  She also wasn’t prim or proper or anything else that his mother might approve of when it came to a potential bride.

Tee also certainly wouldn’t allow his mother to run Cam’s household.  At least not if Tee were the viscountess and his mother relegated to being the dowager.  Meaning that there was no possible way his mother would ever approve of Cam marrying Tee.

Assuming he even wished to do so.

Except that Cam approved of Tee – as his friend of course.

Tee was also not afraid of his gorgon of a mother, unlike all of the other young debutants Cam knew, thank all that was good and right.

When one looked at the situation that way, perhaps being caught out with her might not be so bad.  At least he would go into his marriage with a friend.  Someone he could talk to and laugh with.  The bedding part might be an issue, but, well, Tee was pretty enough.  He was certain the two of them could work up the required enthusiasm somehow.

Campbell!  Where are you?  I know you’re about so show yourself!  Now!  I refuse to be humiliated like this again, especially when Lady Matilda is here to meet you and see if the two of you suit!

Quickly, Tee and Cam sprang apart and he was thankful they hadn’t left the safety of the boathouse quite yet.  Being discovered by his mother would bring the entire house party running.  His mother really could screech that loudly when she wished.

If his mother discovered him with Tee?  Well, all of England would likely hear her banshee-like screams of horror.  And they both knew it.

Should I go out and face her?  I can buy you some time to sneak out the back if you like.  I’m the hoyden, remember?  Easier to believe I’m the one causing trouble since I’m not exactly a lady.  Cam could hear the uncertainty in Tee’s voice and he hated it.  The Tee he’d known for so long was stronger than this.  More confident than this.  Silently, he damned all of those who would try to change her and rob him of his best friend.

As Cam saw it, they had two choices.  They could both emerge together and face the consequences of being caught out.  Or, one of them could emerge from the boat house and concoct some kind of idiotic story.  The other could emerge later, once his mother was gone, before returning to the party where they would all spend the afternoon playing lawn games with insipid members of the opposite sex.

It wasn’t that Cam didn’t like women.  He did.  In fact, he liked them quite a bit.  Especially when they were naked.  He just didn’t like talking to them.  Mostly because, as Tee said, they nattered on about inconsequential matters and his mind ended up drifting off, further growing the rumor that he was cold and unfeeling.

Cam wasn’t certain how Tee felt about men.  In general, she seemed, well, not ambivalent exactly, but rather more resigned.  As if men, in general, were a fate she could not escape.  Then again, most men she knew were like Cam – eager to divest a lady of her gown but not so eager to talk.

He could very easily see her dilemma when one looked at the issue from her perspective.

That was yet another reason why they were so perfectly suited as best friends and had been since childhood.  It was also why he had no wish to give up their friendship.

Which he would have to do – or worse – if his mother discovered them together.

Then, another thought occurred to him.  Perhaps they could both remain hidden here and go on to the ruins once his mother was gone.  It was a risk, of course.  They might still be discovered.

However, the more Cam thought about the matter, the more he decided it was a risk he was willing to take.  He didn’t need to ask Tee if she felt the same.  He already knew the answer.

No.  Back to the shadows.  Cam grasped Tee’s hand and tugged her back toward their hiding place.  However, when he touched her, something sparked along his arm.  Something that felt like a cross between a shiver and a bit of arousal.  Odd that.  He wondered if there was lightning in the area and if he had inadvertently been struck.  I am the bloody viscount and I’ll not be ordered about like a child.  Both of us wish to look under that keystone, and so we shall. 

As expected, Tee didn’t protest.  Instead, she took the hand he offered and allowed him to tug her back into the thick shadows that cloaked the corners in near darkness.  Because that was Tee and she would follow him anywhere.  And in that, Cam found a sort of comfort he could not quite explain.  Nor did he wish to, either.

Chapter One

April 1821

London

Just how many biscuits did you filch, Cam?

Lady Charity Thorne looked askance at Lord Campbell St. John, Viscount Sutton, as he offered her a raspberry tart from the napkin he had spread across his lap.

Enough so that I can successfully avoid Lady Charity White for the rest of the evening and still have my fill of these delicious biscuits.  Clearly unrepentant, Cam stuffed a lemon tart in his own mouth with a defiant look on his face.  He probably would have stuck his tongue out at her, just like a child, had his mouth not been so full of the treat.  I can also avoid her prattle about needlepoint, watercolors, her skill at household management and her ease at selecting what obscenely expensive jewels to wear with which even more obscenely expensive gown.

Laughing now, Charity – for it was harder to think of her as simply Tee these days – did her best not to snort.  It was not at all ladylike.

Then again, Charity wasn’t exactly known for being ladylike.

Though she was better than she had been.  Cam could give her credit for that much.

You make her sound as if she’s auditioning for a role!

She is auditioning for a role!  As my wife!  And that shall never happen.  Cam snapped off the head of a rose that was growing next to the bench where they sat and crushed the fragile petals in his enormous hand.  The scent of roses quickly wafted through the sultry night air.  God, I think I might put out my own ears if I had to listen to her babble for all of eternity.

She isn’t…

She is.  Whatever you were about to say, Tee?  Cam arched an eyebrow at Charity, his dark brown eyes glittering in the darkness.  She is.

I was about to say that she isn’t going away.  Nor is her gorgon of a mother.  Or your gorgon of a mother for that matter.  Charity knew she was only saying what Cam already knew to be true, but, as his best friend, she felt it was worth repeating.  You shall have to deal with her – with all of them actually – sooner or later.

Your bastard of a father is not going away either, Cam reminded her as he allowed the petals to fall from his fingers onto the crushed stone path beneath his feet.  Who was the lout he tried to push on you this time?

Lord Neely.  Charity shuddered a little at the mention of the man’s name.

The Earl of Hartleton?  Why he’s three times your age if he’s a day!  Why doesn’t your father just have you marry an octogenarian and be done with things?

Charity let out a snort and snitched a lemon tart from the pile still on Cam’s lap.  That her hand gestured far too close to a particular part of his anatomy than was proper didn’t bother her – at least not too much.  Her relationship with Cam wasn’t like that.  Not that it couldn’t be like that, she supposed.  She would be lying if she said she had never imagined what it might be like to kiss him.

She had imagined just that very thing.  Many times.  She also suspected that it might be quite wonderful.  Though only if he felt that way about her and she felt that way about him.  Which neither of them did.  Though she had wondered on occasion if they could feel that way about each other.  They were best friends after all and they got along far better with each other than her sister, Christi, and her best friend, Eli, did – and those two were utterly infatuated with each other.

Still, such a thing would never happen.  Charity and Cam weren’t meant to be lovers.  Rather, they were meant to be friends.  She knew that.  She had always known that.

Growing up, Charity and Cam had never shared any romantic feelings toward one another.  Oh, there was perhaps a glimmer of attraction at one point or another, but the idea of acting on that attraction was, well, it just wasn’t something she would do.  Nor would he.

My father would have me at the altar tomorrow if he thought I would go willingly.  You know that.  Charity rolled her eyes to emphasize her point.  Thankfully, my mother has held firm all these years and will not force me to wed where I’m not inclined.

Would that my mother would do the same, Cam grumbled as he reached for another tart.  Charity did the same, trying not to blush as her hand skimmed a bit too close to his private areas once more.  Would that I could be in that ballroom dancing and enjoying the company of any number of women.

There’s always Dionysus, Charity reminded him as she stuffed a tart into her own mouth.  The papers say that Lord Tiger hasn’t made an appearance there in quite some time.

Neither has Lady Butterfly, he replied dryly,