Page 59 of The Earl Next Door
“I do have to say, Lady Wake, that crimson is your color.”
Her hurt that he was leaving didn’t vanish, but shesmiled and then laughed softly, briefly. She knew he would eventually get around to mentioning the red stays she had on the first night they met. She didn’t mind. Thankfully she’d gotten over the embarrassment of being caught in the moment of fantasy.
“Every lady should wear a forbidden color at least once, don’t you think?”
“Indeed I do. And, I like seeing you laugh.”
“I laugh and smile, too, my lord,” she said.
“Then I’d like to see you do both more often.”
“Our conversations don’t seem to lean to the more frivolous topics that merit such humor. They are usually so, so—”
“Heated.”
“Yes. I suppose that sums them up well.”
“I must take the blame for that.”
“Good,” she answered and smiled again.
“I will take the fault for many things, Adeline, but I won’t take the responsibility for us not being together. My feelings haven’t changed. Marry me.”
Adeline lost her breath for a few seconds. “That is one of those serious discussions that doesn’t bring about many smiles, my lord. My feelings haven’t changed either.”
He nodded.
Adeline squared her shoulders and said, “I hope the girls aren’t singing too loudly in the mornings now that Miss Hinson plays the pianoforte for them each day.”
“Not at all. However, I now find myself wishing they were running outside laughing, squealing, and shouting at the top of their lungs to one another rather than singing inside.”
“What?” She gave him an incredulous look. “I believe you would grumble about anything, my lord. Not even wanting the girls to sing after you gave them the pianoforte? Next, you’ll be upset if you hear one of them breathing.”
Lyon chuckled. “I hope I never get that bad, Countess.”
“Youarethat bad, my lord.”
“Perhaps I have good reason this time. I do find it maddening when I can’t get the tune of‘Here we go ’round the bramble bush on a cold and frosty morn’out of my mind no matter how hard I try. I find myself humming the tune while I’m walking down the stairs, looking over the account books, or in the middle of a card game.”
Adeline laughed, too. “You cannot be pleased.”
His gaze swept up and down her face. Their gazes wouldn’t separate. “No, Icanbe.Youplease me.”
Yes. And he pleased her. A bond of respect and desire had developed between them the first night they met, and it hadn’t been broken. But neither of them was willing to accept the other on their terms.
“I admit the same thing has happened to me about the song. I’ll have to ask Mrs. Tallon to let that one rest for a while.”
He nodded. “What did you decide to do about Miss Fanny and Miss Mathilda?”
“After talking with Mrs. Tallon, I came up with what I considered an appropriate punishment for them, and I haven’t heard of either of them doing anything wrong since.”
“So you didn’t send them home?”
“No. I couldn’t. That went against every reason I wanted to open the school. Besides, your advice was true. I decided if I wasn’t going to let an earl get the best of me, I couldn’t let two little girls do it either.”
He chuckled softly. “That’s what I expected. I hear you and Lady Kitson Fairbright and Mrs. Brina Feld are being heralded for your courage in opening the school for such unfortunate children.”
Adeline saw in his expression and heard in his voice admiration. Still, she said, “Heralded? That word seems much overstated.”
