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It seemed her original question only led to more. Which, she now knew, she could not ask of Lady Darnell or even Charis, who had already told her all she knew.
How unfortunate she could not query Lord Darnell. The possibility that he found her desirable both excited and disturbed her. Was she so unconventional that to Darnell she seemed like one of those women meant to slake a man's lust? Yet Chads also said that since Helena was now a part of his family, Darnell would feel obligated to protect her from the desires of ineligible men.
Even from bis own?
For being promised to another, he could not wed her—even if she wished to wed, which she did not. Though, she thought a bit wistfully, the idea of marrying a man who both desired her and was as honorable and compassionate as Adam Darnell appeared to be almost tempted her to reconsider her stance. But, no, marriage was out of the question for a number of excellent reasons.
What a muddle! she concluded as she knocked on her aunt's door. No wonder the attraction between them made Darnell so uneasy.
CHAPTER 12
At the dinner that evening which was to mark his triumph, Adam Darnell sat tense and disgruntled, trying to keep his attention from being drawn from his fiancée and her mother beside him to Miss Lambarth, placed near his stepmother and Mr.
Standish at the other end of the table.
He could try to tell himself he was only concerned that she might embarrass Priscilla by using the wrong fork or spilling her wine. But that was a lie and he knew it.
He simply couldn't rid himself of a sense of her presence. An unwanted, intangible awareness of her annoyed him constantly, like the mosquitoes that on many a Peninsular night had whined about his head, unable to be ignored or successfully swatted.
Nothing in her behavior should have drawn his eye, for she used all her utensils correctly and properly performed every ritual of courtesy. Her conversation was perfectly conventional as she
prompted Mr. Standish to discuss the land management techniques he employed on his estates. But though her unadorned gown of violet silk covered her up to her chin, she said 152 THE UNTAMED HEIRESS
nothing outlandish and committed not the smallest breach of etiquette, no amount of proper behavior could mask the passionate intensity she radiated to every man in the room.
The slightly protruding eyes of Priscilla's first cousin and her father's heir, Francis Standish, never left Miss Lambarth's face...though fortunately did not drop to her bosom, which would have required Adam to plant him a facer. Nor could Priscilla's father, prosing on about tares and staves, tear his gaze from her as she smiled and nodded.
Even Dix, between making conversation with his dinner partners, took every opportunity to turn and watch her.. .like a hound eyeing a beefsteak he'd like to devour, Adam thought sourly.
How could he not? Without making any overt attempt to do so, still the girl exuded sensuality.
Given what he knew of her father's treatment of her, Adam supposed he could understand her initial refusal to consider marriage. But marrying her off would be the best, most socially acceptable way to dispose of her and the damnable temptation she posed—and the sooner, the better.
Despite her determination not to marry, Adam knew there were any number of ton gentleman of excellent character. Surely one of them, when she got to know him better, could lure her into matrimony.
And into his bed—the lucky dog, he thought with a sharp, unwanted stab of jealousy.
Until then, however, Adam could figure no way out of his obligation to let her remain in his house. After 153
casting a clandestine glance down the table and receiving in just that quick look a sense of connection as sharp as a shock, he felt he would almost rather be back in Belgium, riding all day through the mud while dodging a hail of shot and canister, than here in London, having to rub shoulders with Helena Lambarth in the close proximity of his house.
As the dinner progressed, he discovered that his problem was more than mere lust. He noted how Miss Lambarth deferred to Mr. Standish and, though the man was a dead bore, prompted him with questions and appeared completely absorbed in his answers.
Nor could he help but notice that she'd made pains to include Priscilla's shy cousin Emily in the conversation, rather than taking advantage of the curiosity even the female members of Priscilla's family felt about her to make herself the center of attention.
That was kindness and modesty indeed, which he had to admit justified Charis's high praise for the girl. Even now, his sister and stepmother sat smiling their approval at her exemplary behavior.
The fact that Miss Lambarth had been so completely embraced by those ladies ought to relieve him, since it meant he'd not be consulted save on the most important decisions concerning the girl. Yet the obvious affection in which those ladies held her only demonstrated how sterling a character she must possess—
something he'd rather not have to ac knowledge.
Adam suppressed a curse. He didn't want to like or admire
Miss Lambarth. 'Twas bad enough that he was 154 THE UNTAMED HEIRESS
forced to continue offering her the hospitality of his home, where she could so effectively cut up his peace.
To make matters worse, it had quickly become apparent that Priscilla had taken an immediate dislike to her. The moment his fiancée had set eyes on Miss Lambarth in the parlor before dinner, she had stiffened. Which, he supposed, was mostly his fault.
Priscilla had been led to expect the girl would be an ill-behaved, scrawny orphan.
In the short time between his discovery of Helena's transformation and the party tonight, Adam had tried to think of a way to warn his fiancée that Miss Lambarth was now radically different from the half-starved waif who had elicited his compassion in the lawyer's office. However, caught in the throes of trying to control his strong physical response to the girl, he'd been afraid if he attempted a description, he would end up uttering something either too brief or too detailed.
Wanting at all costs to avoid the horror of having Priscilla, who was no fool, sense how intensely the girl affected him, as they sat together this afternoon in a sheltered alcove in the Standish garden, he'd limited himself to just the innocuous observation that his stepmother and Charts had managed to effect a marked improvement in the girl, which he hoped his fiancée would appreciate. Of course, they could not expect in just a few weeks to truly bring her up to snuff, so he trusted Priscilla would be kind enough to overlook any lapses.
Squeezing his hand, she had replied that she hoped
155
she would always treat every member of his family with the graciousness he expected of his wife—and lifted her face toward his.
He'd given her the kiss she obviously expected. And tried to ignore the fact that this brief salute upon her lips had not stirred his blood to anything like the pulse-pounding, heat-inducing furor Miss Lambarth had provoked tonight merely by walking into the room.
Which meant he must continue to avoid, to the extent possible, being in the same one with her. What bitter irony, he thought glumly, that the home for which he'd longed all through the hell of Waterloo and the long months of duty in Paris was no longer the haven he'd dreamed of, but a trap that might tempt him to the worst of follies—at least until he could fight his mind free of the spell cast by Helena Lambarth.
His nerves on the raw, Adam sighed with relief as Lady Darnell rose and signaled the ladies to withdraw. At last he could relax over a badly needed glass of port.
He had scarcely filled his glass when Dix strolled over, delivered a sharp punch to his side and introduced the very topic he wished to avoid. "Wretch!" his friend exclaimed. "Lady Darnell's ward is exquisite! The only reason I shall not immediately challenge you to fisticuffs is that you^illowed me to meet her first."
That intent, heated glow in his friend's eyes had not been provoked by Miss Lambarth's conversation. Slim as the possibility was that Adam might have been mistaken about her effect on other men, he didn't relish having his assumptions
confirmed. "Need I remind
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you that she is a lady and under my care?" he asked stiffly. "I expect you to treat her as such."
"Of course!" Dix replied, sounding a bit affronted. "I'm a gentleman, after all. ‘Tis well that you are already vigilant about men who aren't, however. I shall be happy to help you protect her—and you needn't worry that I'll drool all over her, as I feared young Standish was about to during dinner."
Anxious to end a conversation that only deepened his annoyance, Adam said sharply, "Perhaps you should remember the destination to which admiring a young lady might lead."
Dixon merely chuckled. "I admit, I've hitherto scoffed at marriage, but since you've hurtled the breech, perhaps it's not quite the disaster I've always envisioned it. And with a prize that alluring..."
Allure, Adam thought acidly. If one could bottle the essence that surrounded the girl, women would storm the shops to purchase it.
Adam's future father-in-law walked up. "I say, Darnell, 'tis quite an interesting chit your stepmama's taken up. I'd heard she was odd and ill-dressed, but I found her nothing of the sort!
Asked quite knowledgeable questions about my estate. Ah, ah, taking little puss."
Standish's eyes held the same gleam as Dix's, Adam noted with disgust.
"Rumor at the clubs says she's quite an heiress! I suppose I should be glad my gel brought you up to scratch before she arrived." Standish cleared his throat. "I trust, despite her presence, you'll remember what's due my Priscilla."
