Not knowing what to expect—perhaps she wanted to announce her engagement to John Metcalf—he held the door open for her. He would not be surprised if she wanted to marry the man. Nothing would surprise him now.
She led the way into his study rather than the parlor, then she boldly closed the door behind them.
Adam stood motionless in the center of the room, trying to subdue the dread that was spreading through him like a climbing vine. Following closely behind that dread was an unhealthy dose of dangerously frustrated lust.
For heaven’s sake! He should not be in this room alone with her with the door closed, facing the prospect of losing her to another man, while the entire household slept upstairs. It was too much to ask of himself. He did not think he could resist the hunger to devour her and demand that she finally open herself to him, give herself to him, body and soul. She was meant for him, and no other!
Madeline walked to the desk and lit a few more candles from the flame of the one she held. The room brightened.
“First,” she said, “I’m going to tell you what I had intended to do tonight. What Itriedto do.”
Adam strode to the window, working hard to speak with aplomb. “I’m listening.”
Her voice was shaky, as if she were holding too much air in her lungs and could not let it out. “Tonight when I asked you and Lord Blackthorne to excuse Diana and I, I was acting on an impulse that came over me very suddenly. I wanted…or rather Ineededto talk to Diana about everything that had happened.”
He held up a hand. “Wait, you didn’t want to talk to her about John Metcalf?”
Madeline shook her head. “No, this has nothing to do with John.”
He contemplated that for a moment. “He didn’t propose?”
“Yes, he did,” she said uncertainly, “but I turned him down. Did you think…?”
“It doesn’t matter what I thought.” He swallowed uncomfortably. His legs seemed to be made of butter. “I thought nothing.”
Madeline wandered to the bookcase and ran a finger over the spines. He wished she would just spit it out, for his patience was all gone.
She faced him. “I tried to tell her what she had forgotten the day of the flood—that you had broken off your engagement.”
Had he heard her correctly? Adam stepped away from the dark window. “You tried. You did not succeed?”
“I did, eventually. You may relax now, Adam. Diana will not be holding you to your proposal. She plans to leave tomorrow.”
The muscles in his back and shoulders relaxed in one great sweep of comprehension. The secrets were out.
“How? What did you say? Was she shocked? Angry?”
Madeline tilted her head, as if she were considering how to describe it. “Neither shocked nor angry. When I tried to tell her, she informed me that she already knew. She said she remembered everything the day after the accident but kept it to herself, because she…she didn’t want me to have you.”
Adam fought to check his anger. “She knew, and she didn’t want you to have me? What I really want to say to you now is that I told you so, but I will not because I know how ridiculously loyal you are to her, and that nothing I say will make you choose happiness for yourself over hers.”
Madeline walked to him. She took his hands in hers, pressed them to her soft cheek.
Caught off guard and instantly flustered, he looked into her eyes for the first time, searching them. What was this?
“Please, let me finish,” she said. “I must say everything I came to say before I lose my mettle. When you convinced me the other day to talk to Diana, I did, but I failed. At least I thought I did. She turned me away and made me more certain than ever that I was doing the right thing to keep my heart closed off to the world. But Adam, somehow I managed to open her heart with all the things I said, and afterward, she began to regret what had become of our relationship. You were right. I did need to open my heart, and I want to open it now. Again. To you. Diana is leaving, and I want to stay.”
She kissed his hands and pressed them to her cheek again, and he tried to focus on what she was telling him rather than the feel of her moist, hot lips on his skin and the fires kindling in his veins.
Yet, even through it all, he still had questions. “You said she is leaving tomorrow. Why so quickly?”
“Diana is going to leave with Lord Blackthorne. She is going to marry him.”
The fires within began to cool slightly. “She is leaving to marry Lord Blackthorne? When did this transpire?”
“Over the past few days, and I suppose it began when they met on the ship.”
He shook his head. “This seems all too familiar.”
