Madeline picked up the next card and read the word printed upon it. “‘Tempestuous.”’
Momentary panic dashed across Charlie’s face. “Tempestuous.T-e-m-p-e-s-t-u-o-u-s.Tempestuous.” He quickly sat down.
“This is getting tense,” Jacob said.
Madeline glanced at Adam, who sat in one of the wing chairs with his legs crossed, his temple resting on an index finger. He was watching her. Feeling awhooshof butterflies in her belly, she quickly picked up another card.
“George, it’s your turn.”
George rose and took his place in front of the fire. “I’m ready.”
Madeline read the word. “‘Apprehension.”’
George spelled it correctly, and the bee continued for another hour until Penelope finally took the prize, after George and Charlie both misspelleddilemmaand she proudly got it right.
After much applause and congratulations and the presentation of the award—a cream cake in the shape of a trophy—the children made off to bed, and Mary went into the kitchen to feed the baby and tidy up before going upstairs to join Jacob.
Madeline was left in the parlor to collect and put away the spelling cards she’d made, while Adam moved the furniture back into place.
“Are you ready for Lord Blackthorne’s arrival?” Adam asked. “A ship is arriving from Halifax tomorrow, and he should be on it.”
“Almost. Mary has been a wonderful help to me.”
All too aware that she was alone with Adam in the candlelit room, she stood up to leave him—a little too quickly.
He gently squeezed her arm. “Won’t you stay and have a cup of tea with me?”
She tried to keep her voice steady and polite. “I really shouldn’t. Tomorrow will be a busy day.”
His expression was impossible to read. “Of course. I understand, but will you come to the fort with me tomorrow to meet the ship? I would be proud to have you at my side, Madeline.”
Proud to have you at my side.Oh, with words like that, how could he even think she would refuse?
His beautiful eyes and his deep silky voice reduced her to a puddle of melting resolve on the floor. The idea of being alone with him even for an hour was a temptation too powerful to resist. “I would be delighted.”
With a charming, flirtatious smile, he released her arm. “Sleep well then, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
She nodded and said good-night, picked up a lit candle and turned from the room. Madeline reached the top of the stairs and made her way down the back hall to her bedchamber. She set the candle down on her bedside table and noticed the book,Clarissa,lying unopened on the bed.
She had not read a word of it. She’d been too busy with her household duties. She’d been spending all her free time with the children and the baby, feeling as if she had to make up for a lifetime of missing companionship—like a starving street urchin who has just been presented with a feast.
Madeline decided to return the novel to Adam’s den, at least until after Lord Blackthorne’s visit. She took the candle with her out into the dark hall and down the stairs, and tiptoed into the study. She set her candle on his desk, went to the bookcase and slid the book into the empty space on the shelf, then returned to the desk for her candle.
She had her finger through the grip when she noticed a miniature lying there beside it. A miniature of Diana.
Madeline’s heart broke a little at the sight of it, for she had been hoping again…but she somehow managed to keep her head out of the stars. This was the reality. She knew it. It was not a shock or a surprise.
She let her fingers roam over all the letters spread out on the desk, letters from Diana, written years ago. Madeline picked up one of the letters, held it next to the candle and read a few words.
My darling Adam, how deeply I regret the way we parted and how I made you suffer. You were my one true love, and I betrayed that love. If I could see you one more time, I would not trust myself not to run away with you and correct all my mistakes, for I may be another man’s wife, but my heart will always belong to you. I will go on dreaming that one day, we will be together again—forever—as we were meant to be….
Madeline closed her eyes briefly, searching for the strength to put down the letter and read no more of it, for it felt like a vise around her heart, crushing it. Madeline picked up her candle and walked out of the room.
Early the next morning, Adam waited anxiously for Madeline, who was upstairs, dressing to go to the fort to greet the lieutenant-governor. It was not Lord Blackthorne’s arrival that was making Adam anxious, however. It was something much more profound than that, for Adam had a letter in his pocket.
He remembered sitting in his study the day before, deliberating over what to do about the situation with Diana. He hadn’t thought he could go one more day without somehow telling Madeline how he felt about her, and at that moment, he had known he could not marry her sister.
Yet, he’d already sent the proposal. It was on a ship bound for London. What if Diana had already received it and wanted to come right away? On the contrary, she might send a letter turning him down and he would be free, but could he wait six weeks or more to find out? Could he go on for that long, keeping his desires for Madeline in check? He sincerely doubted it.
