Page 62 of Adeline

Chapter 24

Adeline had quite simply had enough.

Enough of Jasper’s thinking he knew best—for her and for himself.

Enough of her brother’s superior attitude.

Enough of the ton’s petty, judgmental arrogance aimed at anyone they questioned as being one of them.

Enough of her friend’s overbearing protection.

They thought she hadn’t noticed the way they saved her from certain ruination on the terrace or came to shield her and Jasper on the dance floor as they closed in and swirled near Adeline and Jasper.

She was not a child, nor ignorant of the ways of society.

She’d known the repercussions she faced if she and Jasper were discovered on the terrace together, pulled close in an intimate embrace.

And she did not care a whit.

Pushing her way through the milling crowd of haughty, insufferable matrons and leering lords, Adeline arrived at the dais as the musicians began to once again take their places.

These people may think to intimidate Jasper, but Adeline had been a part of their ranks for far too long to cower in a corner, accept a fate she did not want, and allow Lord Ailesbury to walk out of her life.

She would not allow them to do that to her.

And if her brother and Theo stood in her way, then they would earn the right to be cast in with them and become a confirmed enemy of Adeline’s.

At nearly twenty-one, Adeline was free to seek her own home, her own way in life, her own future—free of her brother…and her friends, if it came to that. Which, Adeline desperately hoped it would not. Without Theo, Josie, and Georgie at her side, Adeline would have little idea who she was. Odd that this was the same for her and Jasper.

In his arms, she felt protected, safe, and loved.

The moment he’d fled the ballroom, she’d been cast into doubt, left angry and confused.

But no longer.

Adeline nodded to a waiting footman who hurried to her side and assisted her onto the dais, where her scowl was enough to send the musicians fleeing for safety.

Moving to stand in the middle of the dais, she faced the crowd of people she’d once considered her friends, her kin, her community. These were people whose homes she’d visited, whose lives had been inexplicitly intertwined with her own. They were her brother’s friends, her mother’s companions, her friends’ parents. They were the people Adeline should want surrounding her on the momentous occasion of her twenty-first birthday. Yet, she found herself desiring only one man: Jasper. It was his opinion that held weight for her. It was his feelings she wanted to soothe. It was his heart she prayed was not damaged by these people.

This—her fury, her sorrow, her doubt—had naught to do with her or her own standing in society.

If she were labeled a ruined woman, so be it. As long as Jasper’s name remained above reproach, and he was spared the scandal.

In a way, Adeline was more equipped to handle the ramifications of their terrace tryst. She was capable in a way Jasper was not, no matter how many hours, days, years, he spent gaining the strength to one day make amends for the fire at Faversham Abbey. And Adeline did not doubt he blamed himself for everything.

A hush descended on the crowd as one by one, couple by couple, group by group, the ton noticed her presence on the dais.

Every pair of eyes turned in her direction.

As Adeline looked to where Jasper had fled, his tall stature now out of sight.

That did nothing to lessen her irritation. Nothing to banish her need for vengeance in his honor.

Friendship…loyalty…and honor above all.

It was the Lady Archer’s Creed, written when she and her friends were mere girls at Miss Emmeline’s School. Yet, the relevance of the words hadn’t diminished, hadn’t paled, and hadn’t lost their meaning in any way.

In fact, the creed meant far more in that moment than ever before.