Page 26 of The Earl Next Door
“What?” she asked expectantly and then took a bite of her scone.
“I want you to bring Chatwyn with you the next time you come for tea.”
“Yes, please do,” Brina added quickly. “We haven’t seen him since you left for the coast last fall. I’m sure he’s grown taller.”
“Oh, no.” Julia dabbed at the corners of her mouth with her napkin and then said again, “No, I couldn’t do that. You don’t know what a two-and-a-half-year-old is like. He’s never still. Except when he’s sleeping, of course. When he’s awake he is always running ortalking—though no one knows what he’s saying yet. He grabs everything he sees and usually puts it in his mouth.”
Adeline laughed. “Perfect. It would be wonderful to see him again and hug his little body up close.”
“Yes,” Brina agreed. “I do want to give him a hug. He makes us laugh and smile. Something I know I don’t do often enough.”
“Neither do I, so it’s settled,” Adeline stated. “You’ll bring him with you the next time we have tea and scones, and he can enjoy them with us.”
“Scones!” Julia exclaimed, her cup rattling in the saucer as she put it on the tray. “Never. You haven’t seen him eat and you don’t want to. He’s such a happy little fellow that he laughs and chatters when food is in his mouth and it goes everywhere. Half of it ends up on his face and the other half is either on his shirt or in his hair. Believe me you don’t want to see him after he’s gobbled down a scone covered in plum preserves.”
“It sounds delightful, Julia,” Adeline said. “I do want to see him. Don’t deny us his company.”
“No, of course I won’t, if you’re sure. I’d love to share him with you. But, I warn you, his manners are—”
“That of a child,” Adeline exclaimed, cutting off the rest of Julia’s sentence. “We want to watch him grow up, hold his little hands, hear his babble of words.”
“Kiss his chubby cheeks,” Brina added. “Do this for us, please. And if it causes you anguish, suffer through it.”
“All right, all right, I will. But mark my words, we won’t have any peace. We will be constantly watching him.”
“Excuse me, my lady.”
Adeline looked up and saw her housekeeper in the doorway. “Yes, Mrs. Lawton.”
“The Earl of Lyonwood and Mrs. Cordelia Carbonall are here to see you.”
A tight curl of expectancy knotted Adeline’s stomach. Had the girls agitated him again? And who was this lady with him? Had he brought someone from the ton to take her to task about the school? What could he possibly want after their quarrel earlier in the morning? Perhaps he merely wanted to share with her some other thing he felt she’d done wrong?
Adeline glanced at Julia and Brina, who were giving her questioning looks. “I have no idea why he’s here.” She turned back to Mrs. Lawton. “Please tell him I have guests.”
“No,” Julia said quickly. “Don’t dare. I would like to know why he’s come to see you.”
Of course she would, Adeline thought.
“I want to know, too.” Brina placed her cup on the tray beside the other two. “Perhaps he simply came to apologize and make peace for whatever he said to you during your tiff this morning.”
“I feel quite confident that isn’t the case, Brina. Not every gentleman is a gentleman.”
“What did he do other than complain the girls were too loud?” Julia asked, being her typical self and not missing anything Adeline said.
“Nothing.” Other than arouse feelings inside her she wanted to stay buried.
“Then do invite him to join us, Adeline,” Brina encouraged. “I thought him a handsome man the lasttime I saw him. Now that I know how rude he’s been to you, I want to see if he now looks like a monster since he’s been acting like one.”
Adeline could say without equivocating that the earl did not look like a monster.
There was nothing to do but acquiesce to her friends. Besides, if he wanted to discuss the school, it was best Julia and Brina be available to have their say. “All right.” Doing her best to calm the knot of trepidation in her stomach, Adeline turned to Mrs. Lawton. “Ask them to come in.”
All three ladies rose and looked toward the entrance.
A short, small-boned, older lady with an inquisitive smile came through the doorway first. The earl entered and stopped beside her. Lyon’s gaze immediately met Adeline’s. Suddenly it was as if every one of her senses spoke to her at once.Let me touch him. Let me taste him. Let me smell him. Let me hear him. Let me see him.
He bowed. “Lady Wake, you should have told me you had guests.”
