Page 52 of How to Tempt an Earl

Adam’s face lit. “She did.” Clearly the distasteful notion of having more sisters was pushed aside by the mention of a surprise.

“Do you like ices or ice cream?”

“Both!”

“Gunter’s is the best confectioner in London.”

“Gunter’s!” Adam all but flew out of the house and into the drive where Ian’s carriage waited.

Grace smiled at Adam’s enthusiasm. “How did you know what my brother would like?”

“What boy doesn’t like sweets?” Ian held out his arm. “Shall we?”

He was certainly charming and likeable when he put forth the slightest effort. He escorted them both outside where a shining black carriage, and two matching bays waited. The conveyance was just as luxurious as the one that had transported her to Ian’s home in the middle of the night, only this carriage had the crest of the earldom emblazoned on its lacquered side.

The driver lowered the step and Grace ascended and settled on a padded bench.

Adam and the two girls were already inside.

“Hello, Miss Ashton,” the girls said in unison.

Grace recognized the redhead as Ellie and the delicate blonde as Olivia. “It’s lovely to see you both again.” She didn’t know what Ian had told them about their hasty upcoming nuptials.

“We were surprised to hear about your engagement to our brother,” Olivia said.

“Olivia,” Ian said, a note of warning in his voice. “We spoke about this.”

“What Olivia means,” Ellie said, “is that we were surprised to hear the news, but we are happy our brother has chosen you.”

The carriage set off at a brisk pace, and Grace smoothed her skirts. “I realize you must have questions.” Grace glanced at her young brother who was gazing avidly out the window. “Adam, you must have questions, too.”

Adam shrugged. “Do you think Gunter’s has pistachio ice cream?”

Well, that answered the question about an eight-year-old boy’s curiosity. Grace turned to the sisters. “You must be curious?”

“No longer. We are relieved it is you and not one of the stage actresses Ian had been involved with in the past,” Olivia said.

“Olivia,” Ian said in a near shout this time.

Grace smiled; she couldn’t help herself. The girls were refreshingly honest.

A short while later, the carriage came to a stop at 7 Berkley Square in the West End of London. Grace looked out the carriage window to see a charming storefront. A sign that read Gunter’s and bore the image of a pineapple hung over the door. As she watched, a waiter burst from the shop. He was carrying a tray of ice cream, and he dodged around hackneys and a brewer’s cart to take it to a carriage parked on the opposite side of the street.

“Can we eat inside?” Adam asked as he stared wide-eyed into the confectioner’s bay window.

“I wouldn’t dream of denying a boy,” Ian said, then leaned close to Adam. “Pistachio is my favorite, too.”

Adam cracked a wide grin, then reached for the carriage handle and hopped out. Ian stepped out after the boy and helped his sisters to descend, then took Grace’s hand.

“He reminds me of myself as a boy,” Ian said.

“Were you trouble?”

“I climbed every tree on our country estate, no matter how high. I also liked to play pranks on my siblings. I gave my nursemaid gray hair.”

She pictured him as a mischievous boy and burst out laughing.

Ian paused. “I like the sound of your laughter. I haven’t heard it enough.”