by Amelia Grey
“I’m glad everyone is so pleased,” Adeline said and then smiled. “It’s important to have something lovely to look forward to each day. But now, I must bid you good day.”
Adeline started to make a hasty retreat but noticed several of the girls still staring at the rosewood with awe. It was indeed a rare refinement for a charitable school. She turned to Mrs. Tallon and added, “Why don’t you let the girls line up and take turns coming by one at a time to touch the pianoforte? Let them press the keys if they want to. Their small hands won’t harm it.”
The headmistress gave her usual frown when she didn’t like what Adeline said. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea, my lady. It might encourage them to touch it at other times.”
“Maybe. I think it’s more likely that it would satisfy their curiosity about it and keep them from wanting to look it over when you aren’t nearby. Better they do it now when you can control them.” Refusing to take no for an answer, she added, “Don’t be stingy with their time. Give each of them plenty to give it a once-over.”
“Of course, if that is what you want.”
“It is,” she said, feeling delighted the girls had this opportunity.
Adeline said goodbye to everyone and walked out. There was no time to waste in getting to Town and finding out where the beautiful piece came from. At any moment it could be snatched away from the girls, leaving them heartbroken and wondering what was going on, and that would make Adeline feel absolutely wretched. Hurrying under the trellis, her gaze strayed to the back grounds of the earl’s house. She saw he was standing near the low garden wall between their properties, looking at the school. She stopped and then he noticed her, too. He quickly backed out of sight as if he hoped she hadn’t seen him.
Why?
Did he not want to see her after last night? No, that didn’t feel right. He wouldn’t hide from her because of what had happened between them. From her husband she knew that men handled dalliances very well. Had he heard the pianoforte playing and thought to stop it as he had the girls playing outside? Now that wouldn’t surprise her but somehow that didn’t feel right either. The noise might have caused him to come outside but it wasn’t the reason he hurriedly tried to blend into the afternoon shadows to avoid her.
Another possibility leapt into her mind, causing her heartbeat to quicken, and her chest swelled at the thought. That explanation felt right. It would be just like him to do something so roguish.
Without taking time to really consider the likelihood or viability of what had entered her mind or what she would say to him about it, Adeline changed direction and marched alongside the tall yew border that separated her grounds from the school. She hurried across the small patch of garden and over to the vine-covered wall between her house and the dashing earl’s. As she rounded the corner, she saw he was about to disappear into his house.
“Don’t you dare go through that door until you have spoken to me,” she called to him. When it came to Lyon, she was always compelled by emotions, not sensible reasoning. If last night proved anything, it was that.
Lyon turned toward her. “If you insist.” He smiled innocently and headed back down the steps, saying, “And good afternoon to you, too, Adeline.”
Adeline?
Of course, he would now feel familiar enough with her to call her by her first name. And she familiar enough with him that the informality of it didn’t bother her. Without considering the violation of invading his privacy, she followed the wall down to the wooden gate that had been mounted at the end of the stone wall, opened it, and went through to his back garden and met him at the bottom of his portico.
“It doesn’t appear as if you are surprised to see me,” she said, trying to subdue the tingling awareness of desire that always assailed her whenever she was near him.
“Why should I be?” His gaze swept up and down her face, making her feel as if he were looking at the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “We are neighbors.”
She met his gaze without flinching and said, “I believe you know why I’m here.”
“That’s not entirely true.”
His answer caught her unaware and for a moment she didn’t know how to respond. A crisp wind blew a strand of hair across her cheek and she brushed it behind her ear. “What do you mean?”
Apparently sensing her caution, he said, “There is more than one reason you could be here. I have no way of knowing on which to bestow the honor.”
Unable to deny the truth of his words, she said, “One of them we decided not to talk about.”
“Did we?” he asked in a husky voice and with an attractive quirk of his head. “Or did you?”
“Both of us,” she answered firmly. “I asked that we not discuss what happened between us, and because you are a gentleman you agreed and it was settled. So that can’t be the reason I’m here.”
“All right,” he said, moving over a few steps and leaning his rump against the back of a marble bench in an attractively easy manner. “Another reason you could be here is because you are returning the umbrella you borrowed yesterday, but it’s not in your hand.”
“No,” she admitted guiltily. Because of how it came to be in her possession, she hadn’t even remembered she’d used it. “I’ll see it’s returned later.”
“Then you must have come over because you wanted to see me again.” He gave her a gentle smile. “That would be a sound motive for us to meet again.”
Adeline’s heart pounded. So he did want to be with her again. She hadn’t wanted to think about that today and she couldn’t think about it now. She could play this cat–and-mouse game with him the rest of the evening, but if her instincts weren’t right, she was wasting valuable time. Trusting her intuition, she said, “You sent a pianoforte to the school.”
He took in a long breath but remained silent.
So it was true. She walked closer to him. “I want to know why.”
“Perhaps I grew tired of hearing the girls sing off-key each morning and thought some softly played music might be a welcoming respite.”
She swallowed a shivery gasp of chilling air before saying, “You are every bit the beast I thought you were.”
He smiled. “Do the girls like it?”
“They love it,” she said, and flew into his arms so quickly she almost knocked him over the top of the bench.
Lyon caught himself and her to keep them from falling backward. He laughed. Adeline laughed.
He spread his knees, and in an unthinking response she stepped in intimately close to him as he settled against the bench again with his feet firmly planted on the ground. He gathered her up against his chest, closed his thighs around hers and pressed her tightly against him. The warmth of his body, the tightness of his embrace, the humor in his face, instantly soothed her ruffled spirit and delighted her. She rested against his body, letting him hold her up.
Adeline slid her arms under his coat and around his waist. Reaching up, she placed her lips against his and gave him a long, soft, and gentle kiss. It was relaxing, heavenly. Natural and right. Savoring. His response was all she could want it to be. When she thought to break the kiss and pull away, his hand slid up her neck to hold the back of her head.
“Not yet.”
She willingly accepted the pressure of his grasp, not caring that he wasn’t ready for their embrace to end. She didn’t mind that he took control. It kindled and enhanced all she was feeling for him.
“I needed to thank you.”
With his lips hovering just above hers, he whispered, “Then go ahead and thank me again before I let go of you.”
Their kisses weren’t frantic, searching and demanding as they’d been last night. They were languorous, cherishing but with no less feeling of wanting and needing to be closer. She felt as if she would be happy to never stop kissing him. It was magical how her lips pressed to Lyon’s, her breasts flattened against his chest, could stir up and awaken the most wonderful spirals of sensations in her body, making her feel totally
agreeable to being possessed by him.
When his lips finally moved to the corner of her mouth and then across her cheek to nuzzle around the warmth of her ear, he whispered, “We shouldn’t be doing this out here but I can’t seem to stop.”
Adeline leaned away from him and asked, “Lyon, I need to know, did you purchase the pianoforte because of what happened between us last night?”
He questioned her with his eyes, “What exactly are you asking?”
“Why did you give the school the pianoforte?”
His arms tightened around her. His body stiffened. Slowly, he lifted his head and looked at her. Anger crinkled around his eyes and mouth. “Do you think it was a thank-you for giving me something I’ve wanted since I first saw you? Do you think the pianoforte was an apology for that or a recompense for guilt? Is that what you think?”
“I don’t know,” she answered, wanting him to see the concern in her expression and hear it in her voice. “I don’t want it to be for any of those reasons.”
“Then why would you ask?”
“Because it crossed my mind. It was an expensive gift.”
He slid his hands under her arms, picked her up, and gently set her away from him and straightened to his full height. His gaze lingered on hers only a moment before saying, “The truth? Yes, it was guilt that made me do it, but it had nothing to do with you. It was the girls. It was guilt because I yelled at them and I shouldn’t have.”
Relieved and pleased that his gift had nothing to do with her or what happened between them, she swallowed a deep breath. She jerked her hands to her hips, but instead of giving him a disapproving scowl, she gave him a bit of a grin. “So, days later, you finally admit you raised your voice to them?”
“Yes,” he said disgustedly as he turned away from her but just as quickly turned back and pulled her into his arms once again. His silvery gaze burned right into hers. “Don’t make light of it. They deserved better from me than they got. So did you. I yelled at you that day, too.”
“I remember.”
“I also will admit I have never held anyone in my arms that I wanted more than I wanted you last night. I’ve never been with anyone who had more passion and eagerness for my touch than you had and I want to be with you again. Right now is not soon enough for me, Adeline. No guilt, no apologies, and no regrets for that. Can you say the same?”
Adeline sucked in a deep yearning breath. She’d needed to hear that from him, too. “Yes. You have me feeling things I shouldn’t feel, saying things I shouldn’t say, doing things I shouldn’t do. I don’t know what makes me want to kiss you every time I see you but I do. I have no guilt, no apologies and no regrets either.”
“So we understand each other?” he asked, his expression still serious.
“We do.”
His arms squeezed her tightly and claimed her lips in a long passionate kiss. All he had to do was touch her and she wanted to be with him again.
“We are taking too many chances out here even if we are in the back garden.” He let go of her and stepped away. “There’s always a chance someone may see us.”
“Yes, of course. You’re right. We must be more careful. I seem to lose all reasoning when I’m with you. Thank you for your gift to the girls,” she said hastily and turned to go.
“Wait, Adeline.”
“Yes.”
“I should let you know there may be gossip about your visit to my house yesterday. Someone will talk and it will get discussed.”
“I’ve expected as much and I’m prepared. Should the staunch pillars of Society show up at my door and forbid me to attend any of the parties or simply shun me when I attend one, I think I am strong enough to survive it.”
“I believe that, too. I don’t think anyone would dare say anything to you, but they will be looking at you. You and your friends have already created great interest with the school and now this is bound to cause more gossip.”
Adeline hugged her arms to her chest, suddenly feeling the cold of the afternoon after Lyon’s warm embrace. Once her husband had told her she was the subject of tittle-tattle because she hadn’t given him a son. “I have endured much worse, Lyon.”
He walked closer to her. With the backs of his fingers he brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “What?”
She looked into his dreamy eyes. The concerned look on his face and in his eyes had her suddenly wishing she could tell him, and share her burden. It wasn’t just idle curiosity that made him ask. He cared and wanted to help. That made her throat thicken and her gratitude run deep. Adeline knew she was feeling way too much for the earl. Against her wishes, against her best efforts, her heart was involved in what she felt for him. It was difficult for her to say no to him.
Her hesitation prompted him to say, “Tell me. I want to understand.”
His voice washed over her as silkily as an embroidery thread pulled through a delicate fabric. For reasons she couldn’t understand she was tempted to tell him what she went through, but where would she start and where would she end?
“No.” She stepped away from his touch. “Nothing in particular.”
“All right.” He slowly lowered his hand and accepted her words. “There’s something else I should tell you. Our neighbor across the street, Mrs. Feversham, saw me enter your house last night.”
That concerned Adeline more than her verbally accosting the gentlemen. That was done in daylight and she had good reason for entering his house.
“She saw you come inside? How could she see in the dark? Mrs. Lawton had already extinguished the outside lamps. Only one small light burned inside the house. Did Mrs. Feversham tell you this?”
“I’ve never met her. My aunt let me know this morning when she came over. Cordelia said she took care of the lady’s concerns and there will be no more talk about it.”
“Are you sure?” she asked more breathlessly than she would have liked. “I’m not fearful for myself but for the school. I wouldn’t want anything to happen that might cause someone to think the school needed to be closed because I behaved inappropriately.”
“I don’t believe there is any chance of that. If Cordelia Carbonall says she has it under control, she does.”
“You trust her that much?”
“I do. She can be fierce when she needs to be. Mrs. Feversham would listen to Cordelia because she’s the only one who has consistently visited with her since she fell. She wouldn’t want to lose such a good friend. It’s troublesome that Mrs. Feversham doesn’t have much to do other than watch her neighbors.”
“Like you,” Adeline said with a sudden smile.
“Me?” Lyon grimaced.
She lifted her chin and tossed out, “You admitted to watching me from the window of your bedchamber, my lord.”
“That was different.” He smiled, too. “I did, but I didn’t have a spyglass.”
“Oh my,” she said, her lighter attitude fading as quickly as it had arrived. “Truly?”
He nodded.
“That is troublesome. Do you suppose it can see around the side of your house to where we are now?”
Lyon laughed. “No, I’m sure of that, but there are still risks to being out in my back garden together. You should go.”
She knew he wasn’t trying to get rid of her. He was sincerely worried about her reputation, but she couldn’t say it was worrying her overly much—except where the girls were concerned. Gossip about her might in some way endanger the well-being of the school. And while it hadn’t happened so far, she could be taken to task about it at any time. For the school she needed to be as proper as possible—when she wasn’t in the privacy of her own home.
“Yes, I agree. I probably shouldn’t have come over. I wanted you to know the girls are very happy.”
“I’m glad. And, Adeline?”
“Yes,” she said hopefully.
“I don’t want the girls to know the pianoforte came from me.”
“Why? They should know that—”
�
�That’s the way I want it, Adeline.”
Chapter 15
The water was just the way Lyon liked it. Cold. The day was starting as he preferred when he had no early meetings to attend, no plans to meet anyone for a ride in the park, or fencing competitions to watch or participate in. Sitting in a tub reading the morning’s newsprint while downing his morning coffee.
Lyon sensed that his valet had come back into the room but he hadn’t heard him leave. That was odd. Dome didn’t usually intrude once the water was delivered but if he did, it was only long enough to see if Lyon needed anything and then he’d quietly slip away. Lyon turned his attention back to the article about the Prince’s extravagant expenditures on three pieces of art the writer considered less than worthless and more unnecessary spending by the Regent’s unrestrained appetite for anything he wanted. No doubt his father would have a few choice words to say about the author of the piece. Not that either the ridicule or the spending was likely to change.
Another rustle of movement in the room disturbed Lyon. He was about to ask his valet what the devil he wanted when he heard a slight whisper. Was Dome talking to himself? Before Lyon could ask there were more whispers and the scurry of soft-soled shoes padding on the wood floor.
Small shoes.
He tensed, and the fine hairs on the back of his wet neck rose. What he heard was not coming from his quiet-as-a-mouse valet. Someone else was in the room. He slowly lowered the newsprint until he could peek over the top. Without moving his head, he gazed first at the open door that led from his dressing chamber into his bedchamber. No one was there. He slowly shifted his gaze around the room. He saw nothing out of place and no movement, but knew someone was with him.
Who? And where?
Remaining still but watchful, something caught his eye. The face of a little girl peeked from behind the large upholstered wing-back chair that stood near the entrance. His gut tightened. His fingers started slowly closing tightly around the newsprint, crumpling it in his palms. She was the little redhead he’d seen playing outside the morning he’d been at the school.
Suddenly the head of another girl appeared. She had light brown hair and big popping blue eyes that stared straight at him. Damnation! How many were there? And how did they get into his bedchamber?