Maybe during the soup course.
No, that wouldn’t do. If he was too stunned or upset at the news, he might leave the dining room and order the rest of his dinner be taken to his apartment.
Perhaps during the fish course. Her stomach roiled at the thought of fish, and she remembered her instructions to the cook that no fish be served that evening.
Dessert, she decided. She would tell him over dessert.
Holding her pose on the steps, Adele waited patiently as she heard the butler welcome the earl. She heard her husband ask about dinner. She imagined Milton removing his great coat, imagined him giving Bernard his top hat and cane. She imagined him looking slightly tousled and ever so confident and calm and collected ...
She blinked as she realized she was suddenly staring down at him. Milton had come from the vestibule—no, he had shot out of the vestibule, as if from a cannon, his eyes wild, his hair even more so, his hands filled with small black boxes. He had been running, and when he was halfway to the dining room, he had attempted to stop, his Hessians sliding on the marble floors and leaving black streaks in their wake until he could turn around and retrace his steps. Then he had finally come to a dead stop at the bottom of the stairs.
“Hallo,” he managed to say as he stared up at her, his mouth hanging wide open, his arms dropped to his sides, the flat boxes barely held by his long, tapered fingers. When he closed his mouth, his cheeks puffed out a bit, and then he opened his mouth again, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Adele had to stifle a giggle when she was reminded of one of Lord Everly’s tropical fish.
“Good evening, Milton,” she answered, resuming her regal descent down the stairs. When she reached the last one, she curtsied.
Moving all the boxes he held to the crook of one arm, Milton bowed and brought her hand to his lips, kissing the knuckles. “Are you... are you going somewhere?” he wondered, his voice very quiet.
Adele arched an elegant eyebrow. “I am.” She motioned toward the dining room. “Would you care to join me?”
Milton swallowed, his gaze taking her in from the tips of her satin slippers to the top of her curls, pausing briefly on her décolletage.
Adele found herself wondering if he had misinterpreted her invitation and intended to join her there by planting his face between her breasts.
“I would, my lady,” he replied, his casual and confident demeanor having just then returned. He held out his available arm and Adele placed a hand on it, giving him a tentative smile as they followed his black streak marks to the dining room.
“I bought you a gift,” Milton stated as he indicated the boxes barely held in the crook of his arm.
Adele angled her head, intrigued by the way he said the words. “A gift?” she repeated, giving the slim boxes a pointed glance. She knew from experience what they contained. “Is assembly required?”
Milton placed the slim boxes on the table between where they would be sitting that evening. “A bit,” he answered, his mischievous grin appearing. He lifted one of the boxes and peeked inside, quickly shutting it and setting it aside. “Wrong color,” he murmured before lifting another box. He barely opened it and his eyebrows cocked. He glanced in her direction, shaking his head before closing that box. He set it atop the other one. Without looking inside, he gave the last box to her.
Drawing her long fingers along the top edges, Adele knew what hid inside boxes of this shape and size. She’d received enough gemstones during her time with Worthington to recognize a jeweler’s velvet-covered pasteboard box. Gifts such as these were bestowed for a reason, though, and since there were no special occasions scheduled anytime soon... and there were three boxes... “Have you gone and done something naughty?” she asked then, a flush of color rising to her face. “Several times?”
Stunned at her question, and knowing her use of the word ‘naughty’ really did mean ‘naughty,’ as in, he’d been guilty of participating in some kind of bad behavior that involved Cyprians or courtesans, Milton’s eyes widened. “No!” he claimed, his head shaking back and forth. “Well, only with you,” he amended, looking ever so contrite. “The result of which is why I bought this...,” he motioned toward the box, “... for you.” One hand lifted to cover his eyes a moment when he realized he hadn’t actually bought the necklaces—he’d managed to leave Stedman and Vardon without having paid, or at least arranging for the bill to be sent to him! It was a wonder a constable hadn’t shown up at the front door.
At the sound of the front door being opened by the butler, Milton nearly panicked and then realized it was probably just the bill being delivered. Certainly Stedman would know to have the bill sent to him at home.
“What is it?” Adele asked, seeing the flash of distress cross his face.
“Well, open it,” he replied, surprised she hadn’t behaved like every other mistress he had ever employed by tearing the lid off the box before it was even out of his hands.
“I will. When you tell me why,” Adele countered, rising up to regard him, her expression once more severe.
Milton blew air out from between his lips and shrugged. He remembered the discussion at the card table at White’s. “Remember last Christmas? When we were snowed in at Torrington Park? And we spent all that time... being bad? And since then, you’ve continued to be rather bad? Insatiable, in fact.” At Adele’s suddenly arched eyebrow and startled expression, he hurried on. “Which I don’t mind a bit. I rather adore it, really. I do,” he was saying as his head bobbed up and down. “And now you look as if you’ve eaten a few too many tea cakes and...” His hand had suddenly moved to her belly, and he rested it there in a most protective manner. He let out a sigh.
“Milton!” Adele whispered. Her arms wrapped around his neck, one hand still clutching the box and her lips finding his to kiss him as thoroughly as she could.
When a housemaid suddenly entered from the butler’s pantry, she gasped and quickly retreated from the room.
Milton stifled his chuckle and instead nuzzled Adele’s neck with his nose and lips. “Did I get it right?” he asked then, suddenly wondering what he would do if he had misjudged the whole scenario.
“Oh, yes,” Adele whispered, kissing his jaw and his neck. “I was going to tell you tonight. During the dessert course.”
Taking a step back, Milton ran his gaze down the front of Adele again. “And I was going to give you that during the dessert course,” he countered, his head nodding toward the black velvet box Adele still held. “But I rather doubt we’ll make it to the dessert course, my love,” he added. “Unless we take it up in my bedchamber,” he suggested, an eyebrow waggling.
Adele smiled, her cheeks flushing pink. “You are incorrigible,” she murmured. She held the box up between them. “Some assembly, hum?”
“I’ll help you put it on,” he offered as he took the box from her and opened it. The sapphires sparkled with blue-violet light, the gold glinting from the flames in the chandelier overhead.
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” Adele breathed, reaching out with a fingertip to gently nudge the necklace around the raised circle in the middle of the box. “I do hope it’s a boy,” she said then, her attention returning to him.
Milton shrugged. “I was thinking a girl, but if it’s a boy, we can always be bad and have another,” he suggested hopefully. In for a penny, in for a pound. Lifting the necklace from the velvet bed, he opened it around her neck and secured the clasp. He noticed Adele’s attention on the other two boxes.
“Did you try to guess what color gown I would be wearing tonight?” she wondered, her fingers barely touching the gold filigree and sapphires that encircled her neck. She couldn’t imagine what stones might be featured in the other necklaces.
“I didn’t actually buy them to go with any particular gown,” Milton countered, his lips curling up as he regarded the sapphires, deciding they looked especially regal with the gown and ear bobs she was wearing at the moment. He tried to imagine her in just the necklace and ear bobs, an
d he found he rather liked that image even better. He glanced back at the table. “Now that I think on it, I was rather patriotic when I made my selections,” he added, the mischief back in his eyes. “And a bit naughty, too,” he added.
“Oh?” Adele replied, one eyebrow arching up. “Do tell.”
Shrugging in that way he had of making himself seem cavalier and confident at the same time, Milton leaned closer and whispered in her ear.
Adele regarded her husband for several moments and angled her head to one side. “Indeed?” she commented. “Then what were you imagining me wearing...?” Her eyes suddenly widened. “Milton!” she admonished him.
“Oh, you can wear them with gowns, of course,” the earl assured her quickly, hoping she hadn’t just thought the very worst of him at that moment. “But, if you would be so accommodating, I would love to see these on you while you’re... wearing nothing but my bed linens, so to speak. Perhaps later tonight?” he hinted hopefully.
Although her face kept its slightly flushed coloring, Adele gave him a teasing smile. “Milton Torrington, if I wasn’t so hungry, I’d let you undress me and have your way with me right now. On this table,” she whispered, leaning in to capture his lips with another kiss.
Milton’s arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her hard against his body just as the maid reappeared with the soup course. Letting out a gasp, the servant immediately turned around and started to go back into the butler’s pantry.
“Hold it right there,” Milton ordered, pulling away from the kiss. He waved toward the maid. “We’re ready for dinner. Truly.” He placed Adele’s hand on his arm and led her to a place to his right. “However, my lady will be eating here instead of way down there,” he said, pulling the chair out from the table. A footman, who had apparently appeared from almost nowhere, hurried to reset the table so that Adele’s serviette was in front of her before she’d even taken her seat. “And we’ll be having the dessert course in my apartment,” he added to the second footman who appeared with wine.
“Very good, my lord,” the footman murmured as he poured the wine. Within seconds, the servants had disappeared and the two lovebirds were left enjoying their dinner.
They enjoyed the dessert far more.
Also by Linda Rae Sande
The Daughters of the Aristocracy
The Kiss of a Viscount
The Grace of a Duke
The Seduction of an Earl
The Sons of the Aristocracy
Tuesday Nights
The Widowed Countess
My Fair Groom
The Sisters of the Aristocracy
The Story of a Baron
The Passion of a Marquess
The Desire of a Lady
The Brothers of the Aristocracy
The Love of a Rake
The Caress of a Commander
The Epiphany of an Explorer
The Widows of the Aristocracy
The Gossip of an Earl
The Enigma of a Spy
The Secrets of a Viscount
The Cousins of the Aristocracy
The Promise of a Gentleman
The Pride of a Gentleman
About the Author
A self-described nerd and lover of science, Linda Rae spent many years as a published technical writer specializing in 3D graphics workstations, software and 3D animation (her movie credits include SHREK and SHREK 2). An interest in genealogy led to years of research on the Regency era and a desire to write fiction based in that time.
A fan of action-adventure movies, she can frequently be found at the local cinema. Although she no longer has any tropical fish, she does follow the San Jose Sharks. She makes her home in Cody, Wyoming.
If you’d like to learn about upcoming releases, be sure to subscribe to her newsletter.
For more information:
www.lindaraesande.com
The Christmas of a Countess (The Holidays of the Aristocracy Book 1) Page 33