Perhaps there was a bit of truth to it today. Madeline wanted to shock Diana. Let her know that Adam was not an aristocrat and he didn’t expect his future sister-in-law to be one, either.
“I forgot,” Diana added, “that you always liked getting your hands dirty in the gardens. I never understood that.”
Madeline felt guilty suddenly, for purposefully trying to exasperate her sister, who had just traveled across an ocean to be with Adam, whom she loved. No matter how angry or resentful Madeline felt, she could not forget that. Diana loved Adam, too.
She reached for her sister’s hand and held it. “We were always different, Diana. We still are, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to be close now that you’re here. We’re a long way from home.”
Diana’s beautiful smile reached her eyes and made them sparkle like jewels. No wonder everyone who met her fell in love with her.
“Yes, we must get to know each other all over again. After all, you’re the only true family I have here. At least until I become Adam’s wife.”
That last comment struck Madeline like a slap, but she made a firm decision not to feel sorry for herself any longer. Fate had played its hand today and had sent Diana early. It was clear that Diana truly loved Adam, and he most certainly loved her, so it was time for Madeline to accept that and try to be a dutiful sister.
Adam spent the early part of the afternoon seeing to everyone’s needs and ensuring that his guests and all their servants had places to sleep. Agnes had arrived to help out, and Mary was doing her part, too, while Penelope watched the baby. By the time everyone was settled, it was time for supper.
They dined on fresh beef with gravy, fiddleheads and Yorkshire pudding, with chocolate squares and gingerbread cake for dessert. Adam sat at one end of the long table, while Lord Blackthorne sat at the other, his pleasant laughter filling the room with mirth. The food was delicious, the children were polite and entertaining, conversation was engaging, yet Adam was reeling in discontent.
He watched Diana eat her dessert, gracefully, delicately, while she shone with witty remarks and curious questions for the lieutenant-governor about his property in England and his new position here in Nova Scotia.
Her beauty was remarkable. She possessed shiny golden hair and blue eyes, a flawless complexion, and she wore a flattering gown of the latest fashion, trimmed in precious gold lace. She was the perfect hostess, even though it was not yet her party to host. She was any ambitious man’s dream of a wife.
Yet, her physical magnificence left Adam feeling listless and unresponsive. It was Madeline’s simple beauty that attracted his attention now.
He sipped his wine and watched her. She listened politely to Diana’s stories, smiled demurely at Lord Blackthorne but, for the most part, was quiet. There was a sweet shyness about her, a shyness that he adored, for it was gentle and kind. He loved that she valued the things he valued: family, home, the land. She didn’t care about lustrous jewels or society gossip. She was more interested in watching Penelope chase a squirrel, or helping Charlie with his numbers, or seeing the first tomato plant sprouting out of the soil.
Beneath all that, she was strong and capable, and as Adam watched her now, dipping her gingerbread cake into the cream on her plate, he knew that Diana’s arrival had changed nothing. Whether Madeline was aware of it or not, she had stolen his heart.
Did Madeline even have the slightest idea how he felt about her? he wondered. Did she suspect anything when she looked into his eyes?
Lord Blackthorne directed a question at Diana. “Tell me, Lady Thurston, what do you think of Cumberland now that you’re here?”
She raised her wineglass. “I believe I have never seen a more fascinating landscape, my lord. The sheer size of the marsh is astounding. Yet I have not seen any tenant farms, Adam. Where are you hiding them?”
The viscount laughed at her intended jest, but Adam wasn’t sure Diana understood that her joke had just revealed her ignorance of the colony. He tried to correct her as kindly as possible.
“Mostly I farm the land myself, and though I do rent some land to other families, the returns are incidental. I only wish to keep those farms productive until the children are ready to move onto them—if it is their desire. I don’t wish to profit from them. The families I rent to are merely in transition until they can buy land of their own.”
Diana cleared her throat. “You farm this yourself? You must at least hire hands.”
“At harvest time, of course, but my sons and I can manage most of the work ourselves throughout the year.” He winked at Charlie, who smiled proudly in response.
By the blank look on Diana’s face, he sensed she was imagining him actually pushing a plow. She seemed to have a hard time swallowing.
Lord Blackthorne changed the subject, and Adam decided he would have to resolve this situation as soon as possible. He could not go on misleading Diana, nor could he continue keeping his true feelings for Madeline to himself. He would have to do the right thing, as swiftly and gently as he could, and do his best to spare any further heartache.
He had an uneasy feeling, however, that no matter how carefully he handled this situation, it was going to be bloody.
With Lord Blackthorne’s presence in the house, it was necessary for Diana and Madeline to share Madeline’s bedchamber, the one that should have been Diana’s to begin with. As Madeline slipped into the cool sheets beside her sister, she felt as ifshewere the guest.
“Is it true,” Diana whispered to Madeline in the darkness, “that after you arrived, Adam sent instructions for a proxy marriage? Lord Blackthorne told me so on the ship, but of course I never received the proposal so I wouldn’t know for sure.”
Madeline hugged the coverlet to her chest. “Yes, it’s true.”
“Adam must have been terribly anxious to have me. It still seems like a dream. Oh, how disappointed he must have been when it wasyouwho arrived that day, and not me. Was he very angry? I’ll wager he wanted to brain Father.”
“Yes, he was angry.” Madeline knew her sister wanted to hear all the details, but damned if she was going to give them to her. She simply couldn’t, not without revealing how heartbroken she had been and continued to be.
“Oh, Madeline, I can still barely believe I am here in Adam’s house. You cannot imagine how, over the years, I have dreamed of seeing him again.”
