Page 46 of The Earl Next Door
Lyon stomped across the lawn at a fast pace, flanked by the errant girls who struggled to keep up with his much-longer stride. He hurried the girls alongside the tall yew and under the budding trellis, hoping they could get through fast enough that Mrs. Feversham wouldn’t see them.
He knocked loudly on Adeline’s back door and completely understood the shock in the housekeeper’s expression when she saw him standing there with the girls. “We need to see Lady Wake. Now.”
“She’s in the drawing room reading her mail.”
“Lead the way,” he said and stepped aside, nodding for the girls to follow her.
Adeline slowly rose from the secretary where shewas sitting when they walked into the room. His first thought was she was the most beautiful lady he’d ever seen. The second was that she belonged to him and he would challenge any man who tried to take her away. Only thirdly did he notice the frown of surprise and confusion etching her lovely features.
The shortest girl had somehow slipped behind him and now stood beside the other girl. They were holding hands. To her credit, the taller child still looked frightened. On the other hand, the redhead still seemed quite calm. She was looking around the countess’s drawing room, taking in its blue velvet draperies, damask settees, and carved dark wood tables as if she’d been invited to do so.
Lyon knew this wasn’t the way to Adeline’s heart. He had no doubt he would once again be seen as the ogre to Adeline in this scenario. He was on her property with wet hair, half-dressed and scaring the girls.
So be it.
“Here they are, my lady,” Lyon said, the only way he knew how—in a matter-of-fact tone. “Your wandering students.”
With her gaze intent upon his face she said, “I’m not sure what you mean by that or why you are with them.”
Feeling quite sure she wasn’t going to like his answer, he said, “I’m returning them to you. They were in my home.”
She stared at the girls in disbelief. “Fanny? Mathilda? Is this true? You were in the earl’s home?”
Fanny nodded.
Lyon was certain Adeline’s legs went weak, but she straightened her shoulders and looked back at him inan accusing way. “How did they get inside your house and why were they there?”
“I have no idea,” Lyon admitted. “They were uninvited guests I assure you.”
“That can’t be.” In disbelief, Adeline walked closer to the youngsters. “Did you just walk inside his house?”
They remained silent again.
Adeline swung toward Lyon again, her soft gray skirts swishing attractively about her legs, her eyes sparkling with more questions than he had answers. “You should have had your doors locked so they couldn’t get in.”
“They were locked,” he said, trying not to be irritated with Adeline. He knew this would upset her, and it had.
She clasped her hands together at her waist and turned to Fanny. “How did you get into his house?”
“I climbed on Mathilda’s shoulders, opened a window, and crawled inside. I helped her climb in after me.”
“I can’t believe that!” she said breathlessly. “That was dangerous. You could have fallen and been injured.”
“And against the law,” Lyon muttered to himself, realizing whether or not Adeline knew it, the girls needed to be taught a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget—only it wasn’t up to him to do that. He’d have to leave chastisement up to her.
“Why would you do something like this?” Adeline asked them, clearly distraught and desperately trying to hide that fact.
“We heard a dog whimpering,” Fanny said, so innocently Lyon might have believed her himself. If he didn’t know better. “Like he was in pain and needed help.” She elbowed Mathilda.
“And starving for some food and water,” Mathilda said, her big blue eyes opening wider. “It was a puppy.” Her voice softened and her lashes fluttered as if she were remembering a happier moment, the earlier fear completely gone from her face. “He was a playful little puppy. With soft, warm fur. He was white with big black spots all over him. He wiggled a lot and he—”
“But he couldn’t play because he sounded like he was hurt bad and needed us to help him,” Fanny said, interrupting her friend’s reminiscing.
Adeline glanced back at the earl, her eyes filled with hope and searching for him to give her a reason she could accept the paltry explanation. “A puppy. See? There was a good reason for them to have done this—they wanted to do an act of kindness.”
“I don’t have a dog, Lady Wake,” he said brusquely, his annoyance with what the girls had done beginning to show in his tone and no doubt his expression, too.
She moistened her lips. Lyon knew she was desperately attempting to make sense of what she was hearing, “Maybe it was some other kind of animal. Or maybe they heard a servant crying in distress over breaking something of great value and mistook the sound for that of a dog in pain.” She paused for a second and then added, “Maybe you should get a dog. It might help your gruff attitude.”
