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Shaking his head, he said, "What do you think?"
She put a finger to her cheek and appeared to consider the question. "Was it that I told Lady Jersey yesterday, after she'd commented on my having so many admirers despite my distaste for marriage, that Society is like a great cat? Speak sweetly and
try to lure him to you and he disdains to approach, but ignore him and he jumps into your lap."
Despite the urgency of what he needed to discuss with her, Adam laughed. "Anything else on your conscience?"
"Is it because I gave Viscount Framingham's wandering hands a smack at the musicale two nights ago?"
"He did what?" Adam straightened, instantly incensed. "I shall have to break every one of his fingers."
"You may spare Freddie's fingers," Helena replied with a chuckle. "I scratched him so hard he bled on his blue satin breeches. I doubt he'll trouble me again."
"I'm relieved to hear it." Tamping down his anger over Framingham's lecherous advances, Adam made himself focus on the more serious matter at hand. "The event that concerns me occurred.. .rather late last evening."
He wasn't sure how she would respond to his probing. To his relief—since he didn't want to put her 263
immediately on the defensive by announcing he'd seen her—
she gave him a sheepish glance. "I suppose Dickon talked to you?
I thought he was wearing a guilty look this morning. He told me over and over last night what a fright I'd given him."
He wasn't the only one! I saw you, too."
Her chin jerked up and her eyes widened. "You saw me?
Where?"
"Outside White's.. .holding a horse for a gentleman who was talking with Lord Blanchard."
To his gratification, a flush stained her cheeks. "Oh, my.
Well, I suppose I can only be glad you did not drag me off by my heels on the spot."
"Believe me, I was sorely tempted to do just that! But I didn't dare risk creating a disturbance that would have drawn attention to you."
"I suppose I must thank you for your restraint. Shall I now wait quietly while you berate me?"
"If I thought railing at you would be effective, I'd give you the jobation of the century! Especially after having followed you home."
But though her cheeks flamed redder, she merely said, "I should congratulate you on your skill. You are obviously better at stealth than I."
Incensed that she still would not acknowledge the seriousness or folly of her escapade, Adam jumped up from his chair and exploded. "If you weren't terrified out of ten year's growth when that ruffian accosted you, you should have been! I assure you I was!"
Too agitated to sit back down, he started to pace the room, looking back at her as he spoke. "Hel—Miss
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Lambarth, surely you must realize what you did was incredibly dangerous! What if that man had been joined by others? What if he—or someone else—had discovered you were a female, out in the dead of night with only a small boy to defend you?" His words pouring out in a furious rush that gave her no time to reply, he continued, "Even setting aside the peril of it, how do you think Bellemère would feel if someone whispered to her that they'd seen you roaming the London streets in boy's dress?" Shuddering at the hys terical scene that would inevitably result from such a disclosure, he demanded, "How could you do such a thing?"
In a silence broken only by the ticking of the mantel clock, they stared at each other. "I'm certainly glad you don't intend to lecture me," Miss Lambarth said at last.
But before he could erupt again, she waved him to silence. "It wasn't wise—I see that now," she admitted.
"Why run such a risk? Dickon mumbled some thing about you feeling 'stifled,' but you must know you are free to go out whenever you wish, with a proper escort. Whatever possessed you to creep about in the dead of night?"
She knotted her hands and gazed down at them. "You know that my father kept me...close confined. You probably don't know that I eventually found a way to escape every prison he devised. I taught myself to pick locks and discovered every exit through Lambarth's walls. After I'd been locked in for the night, I would leave the castle and walk about the grounds. Or visit Mad Sally, an old medicine woman who lived
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in the woods and was my only friend after Mama left. I should have gone as mad as she was reputed to be if I hadn't had her to talk with. So you see, wandering about at night is quite natural for me."
Adam had to admire her indomitable spirit even as be deplored the circumstances that had compelled her escape her own home. "But you have many friends here."
"Acquaintances merely, most of them more interested in my fortune than my character. Besides, I've spent so much of my life alone that to be always among a crowd of people makes me feel—closed in. Here, I may ride or visit only with an entourage.
Sometimes I...I simply must be outdoors, alone and free to move about on my own."
"Surely you see how perilous it is to do so here."
She nodded. "I didn't realize just how perilous until last night.
I now acknowledge there are good reasons for the rules that prevent girls from going out unaccompanied. Which I imagine you will now forbid me to do."
"I haven't that right. But I will most, earnestly implore you not to do so, for your own safety and the peace of mind of all who care about you."
“That is a pledge easily given! I promise I will not do so again. Though," she added with a sigh, "I'm not sure what I shall do now when I feel hemmed in."
Her agreement was a huge burden lifted. Uttering a swift prayer of thanks that she had proven so reasonable, he finally felt calm enough to cease his pacing. Waving her to a seat beside him on the sofa, he said,
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"Perhaps it is partly London itself that makes you feel caged in—the tall buildings that cut off the horizon, the throngs of people wherever you go. An excursion into the countryside might refresh you—to Hampton Court, perhaps. One can go by boat down the Thames. The gardens will be almost deserted this time of year. And it has a maze. Find the center and you may rest there, breathing in the scent of fresh air and evergreens and feeling you are the only person on earth."
To his satisfaction, her face lit. "I shall ask Aunt Lillian if we may go."
"Let me know if she does not care to take you. I..." No, much as he would enjoy escorting her, he must not offer—even if his fiancée could be persuaded to make a party of it, which, Priscilla not being fond of the country, he doubted. "I can arrange an escort. Mr. Dixon or Lord Blanchard would be happy to squire you and Charis."
Head tilted, she studied him as he spoke. Suddenly self-conscious, he went silent.
To his surprise, Adam found himself feeling, not an intensification of desire, though the nearness of her still hummed in his veins, but an odd...wistfulness. How he would love to row with her down the river, watch her eyes light with pleasure at the extensive gardens, tease her through the maze. Sit with her at the center, content to watch her happiness. Happy to be with her.
Slamming his mind shut to the ramifications of that strange feeling, Adam was fumbling for something else to say when Miss Lambarth smiled—not the breath-stopping siren's smile, but a tender curve of the lips that
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sgueezed his chest and made him want to cradle her in his arms.
"You are very kind," she said. "You will not say anything to Aunt Lillian about my—?"
“Heavens, no! That shall remain our secret."
"Thank you." Her serious mood passing, she chuckled. "I promise to try hard not to disturb your peace again."
He laughed with her, humor hardly easing the ache in his chest. "I believe I've heard that pledge before."
Never fear! Soon enough, I shall leave for good and disturb you no longer. My lord," she said, and curtseyed.
After she exited, Adam ran a trembling hand through his dark hair. In Lambarth or in London, the thought of her in peril horrified him. Yet though he deplored her rashness, he could not help but admire her fearlessness. A girl who carried a knife and could use it! Lady Darnell would indeed have palpitations.
Nor could he resist reaching out to help when she confessed her need for solace.
It was good that she must leave soon. For, Lord s ave him, as he had the night she fled the ball and despite his fine words about sending her off with Dix or Nathan, he wanted to be the one to console and protect her.
Staring into the flickering flames on the hearth, Adam observed bleakly that reining in his lust was hard enough. Must he grapple also with a growing sense that she was a unique soul he hated to lose?
CHAPTER 20
Helena left her meeting with Adam Darnell pensive and unsettled. The idea of leaving the city had been instantly appealing. Though she would prefer to go with Darnell, he'd quickly caught himself before making that offer, which was just as well. Miss Standish would doubtless put a damper on such an expedition, if she agreed to go at all.
Besides, Helena only wanted Adam's company if she might have him to herself, able to take his arm and stroll the pathways until they reached the center of the maze. Where, hidden away, she might draw close—and kiss him.
