Page 50 of Adeline

Adeline felt his stare on her, and heat blossomed at her core. Something about the man—his strength, his resilience, his kind heart—had Adeline doubting her own character. He was a far better person than she. He’d shown that at the plant, helping the villagers rescue one of their own even though none of them would lift a finger to help him if he were in need. In fact, as soon as the crisis was resolved, they’d dispensed without so much as a thank you or a nod to Jasper for his bravery.

It had been insulting and hurtful to Adeline, and she couldn’t imagine the pain it caused Jasper.

“Tell me, Miss Adeline, I hope your brother was not overly vexed with you after my departure.” He pulled her a bit closer as he said the word vexed. “It might have been better for all if I’d dropped you in the drive and not complicated your arrival with my presence.”

But then he would not still be in London and attending her celebration.

“I fear my brother would be vexed if the sun dared to set a moment early. He’d also, more than likely, find a way to blame me for a summer storm. His contrary nature is something one gets used to.” Adeline hadn’t the need to explain her complicated relationship with Alistair before. Certainly, she loved her brother—and he her—yet, they were uniquely different people. “Alistair and I have been at war since birth. He’s the eldest sibling, and with our father sick more often than not before his death, my brother took his duties as patriarch of the family very seriously. Continues to do so. Heaven help us all if I were in command.”

“I would never doubt his love for you, and all your siblings,” Jasper sighed. “And I know much about responsibilities and the burden of taking on so much at a young age.”

The sorrow rolling off his shoulders much like the mists off the Scottish marshlands at dawn had Adeline regretting the choice of topics; however, she did not want Jasper to think less of Alistair. Despite their quickness to anger with one another, they were loyal to a fault.

“Yes, you and Alistair have much in common,” Adeline agreed by way of steering the conversation to safer ground. “I think you do for your people what Alistair does for us. Though you are not always rewarded for your efforts.”

Why did pointing out the similarities between Jasper’s and Alistair’s situations have Adeline questioning her exacting treatment of her brother? The family did not call Alistair a beast behind his back, nor did they make light of his hardships.

Adeline must remember that Alistair was not Jasper.

Though she had much to do with Alistair’s current burdens. Namely, her. She cringed, remembering the hateful words she’d spoke in the study the day before. She might as well have called Alistair a beast.

Blessedly, their path led them to the main area of the park where people had started arriving for their daily constitution: men and woman on horseback, groups of ladies strolling with parasols raised, and open-air carriages moving at a snail’s pace to allow their occupants the opportunity to socialize and be seen by those present. The hour was still early, but a growing number of Londoners were not averse to braving the chilly, late-morning air for a few hours outdoors.

Lifting her arm, Adeline waved to Lady Cecilia and her mother, who rode by on horseback. Their townhouse bordered the park to the south, and they commonly stopped to watch Adeline and her friends at their morning practice.

The women nodded in her direction but did not slow their mounts to visit.

“I envy your social ease, Miss Adeline,” Jasper said at her side. “I have lived in solitude for so many years, I sometimes forget how to speak with even my servants.”

“It is quite simple, really. You see, when I feel myself getting nervous around someone, I think what dreadful secrets they keep—some serious, many funny, but always enough to make certain my unease recedes.”

“Interesting. Do elaborate.”

Adeline glanced at two men walking, their heads lowered in deep conversation. “Take that pair for example,” she said, nodding in the men’s direction. “One could be a duke and the other a marquis with powerful French relations. But to me, I think, does the man on the left still employ his nursemaid from when he was a babe? And the man on the right, does he have an overwhelming fear of horses?”

Jasper chuckled, and Adeline’s stomach fluttered. The sound was deep and masculine, but at the same time soothing. “And what of the woman stepping down from that carriage?”

Adeline turned in the direction Jasper nodded to see a matronly woman alighting from a carriage in pursuit of two young boys, a stern frown on her face and a satchel slung over her shoulder. “Oh, I suspect the woman’s name is something like,”—Adeline paused, tapping her chin in thought—“Myrtle, because for some reason, her mother knew she would be as tall as a tree and lithe in frame. Those children she is chasing belong to her sister, who is traveling through Italy on the arm of a wealthy count. Your turn.”

They renewed their walk, and Adeline feared he would not continue with their game, but finally, he nodded to an elderly man, making his way down a rutted path, careful to use his cane for stability.

“That man there. He is hurrying to the house of his mother, who is wedding her fourth husband.”

“His mother?” Adeline barked with laughter. “The man is dreadfully old himself, his mother would be ancient!”

“Giving her ample time to outlive three husbands and take a fourth.”

Adeline scanned the growing crowd for another lady or gentleman who might have an interesting story. Instead of spotting yet another stranger, her gaze settled on the Duchess of Balfour, Georgie’s stepmother. The woman, while awfully unkind to Georgie during her childhood, had never cast a stone in Adeline’s direction.

She waved to the woman, escorted by a pair of ladies Adeline was not acquainted with, and she and Jasper moved in their direction.

“That is Georgie’s evil stepmother,” Adeline whispered before they were close enough for the women to overhear. “She produced an heir last year and has been in most agreeable spirits since.”

Jasper made no comment as they arrived to greet the trio of women, each dressed in their finest walking gowns with hats to match. Adeline did not favor grandiose headwear perched atop her head that could tumble to the ground with the slightest movement.

“Good day, Duchess,” Adeline greeted with a curtsey. “Lovely to see you. I fear you only missed Georgie by a few minutes.”

The woman sniffed, her chin rising several inches until she stared down her nose at Adeline. “I see Felton still allows Georgina to run about London like a hoyden. Pity.”