Page 17 of Adeline

“This is my home. While you are here, I am responsible for your well-being.” Lord Ailesbury’s voice thundered around her. She longed to remind him that as master of Faversham Abbey, he did not need to go out in the storm to hunt, but at his narrowed glare, she remained silent. “You will remain in this house until your carriage is ready to depart.”

He gave her no further opportunity to debate the issue when he pulled the front door wide and slammed it behind him, once again leaving Adeline and Abbington in his wake.

She expected the servant to absolve his master’s rude behavior, but he made no excuses this time.

He knotted his hands behind his back and took in all of Adeline’s bluster at the situation as his wounded smile turned to intense scrutiny. “The rain will pass, Miss Adeline.”

“Thank you, Abbington.” She ducked her head, thinking the man only sought to reassure her she’d be free of Faversham Abbey before long—and out of Lord Ailesbury’s way.

“If you will wait in your room, I will have suitable hunting attire brought round, and your bow collected from your possessions in the stables.”

Adeline’s mouth dropped open, and the butler nodded to cover his conspiratorial smile.

“But…Lord Ailesbury said…” she started before clamping her mouth shut once more. The man had offered to assist her, and she would not dare question his motives. “Thank you, Abbington. Have I ever told you how much my family adores names beginning with the letter A?”

“You have not, Miss Adeline,” he replied. “But I foresee plenty of time in the future for us to discuss that topic at greater length. You have a hunting expedition to ready for. I will send a maid with a riding habit.”

She made no attempt to hide her bewildered stare, but it only had the servant smiling at her. Plenty of time in the foreseeable future? She hardly suspected the storm would prevent her from departing Kent before noonday passed.

Adeline took several steps and wrapped the servant in a tight embrace before hurrying up the stairs to her room. No matter the man’s intent, she was thankful for his kindness.

While she’d been below stairs her bed had been made, the drapes tied back, and her belongings repacked and waiting at the foot of the mattress; though Poppy was nowhere to be seen.

Odd. Adeline could not think where the maid had disappeared to. Maybe she’d been summoned below to find her own meal.

Adeline hurriedly undid the buttons at the back of her gown, stripping it away, and sat to await her hunting attire.

She could not risk sending for her maid and thus have her servant recite the danger Adeline could face by accompanying Lord Ailesbury on his hunting excursion. That she’d never used her bow for game, only sport, would not diminish Adeline’s resolve. What problems could a moving stag or a flying pheasant present? She was used to plying her skill before audiences in the hundreds, there was little chance she’d allow Lord Ailesbury to distract her focus. She, along with Theo and Georgie, had competed—and won she might add—in several London archery tourneys in the last several years. This could be no different.

Her competitive streak would not diminish because her target was not a stationary, straw-stuffed object. Nor would it wane because her competition was a handsome man with an overbearing streak.

Besides, it would be a new ability Adeline would be pleased to demonstrate for Theo, Georgie, and Josie when next they practiced in Hyde Park.

It was better to beg forgiveness than be denied permission outright.

Another fact Adeline had learned not only at home but also from her many years at Miss Emmeline’s School.

Chapter 7

Jasper waited in his study for his horse to be readied, pacing from the unlit hearth to his desk and back again, attempting to banish from his mind his less than noble treatment of Miss Adeline. After departing out the front door, he’d slipped back in through the side entrance and hid in his study.

What a damned coward.

He’d brought her to Faversham Abbey when she could have just as easily found refuge in town, only to treat her in a most ungentlemanly manner.

His aunt, Alice, would be appalled at his behavior and would likely return from her grave to haunt him if she were able. But bloody hell…he could not allow Miss Adeline to accompany him out into the storm—and for hunting, no less.

She could be injured. There was a great possibility of her becoming disoriented and lost in the woods.

Or far worse still, her horse could become spooked and throw her.

The land surrounding Faversham Abbey was vast and not easily navigated.

But there was no one to blame but himself. He wasn’t so foolish as to not realize that if he hadn’t demanded his entire fowl surplus cooked and prepared for her morning meal, they would have plenty of provisions for the next several days. That he’d ventured out in the pelting rain just after daybreak to collect berries from the vines at the edge of his property would likely cause laughter among his servants for months to come.

The truth of the matter was, Jasper had held the advantage with Miss Adeline until a short while ago. He’d taken in her beauty, her poise, and her upturned button nose. He’d watched her walk into his home the night before as if she belonged there. She’d handled his servants with the expert hands of a woman learned in managing a household.

And he’d been forced to hide himself and avoid his servants for fear of revealing the truth.