Page 60 of The Earl Next Door
“I’m not making it up. I’m sure you’ve heard some of the comments tonight. I must have heard‘those wonderful widows’at least three or four times already.”
Adeline gave him a bit of a grin and then sighed. “I’ve received some questions about it. Mostly what I’ve heard is curiosity. I’m sure there are times you think we’re more like wicked widows for putting a boarding school next door to you.”
“Wicked? I would never think of the wordwickedin the same thought with you, my lady. Well…” He grinned. “Maybe wickedly wonderful.”
“Perhaps that is why I find that some of the older ladies are not receiving me as well as they are Brina and Julia.”
“I neither see nor hear any jealousy in your voice about that.”
“There is none. Ladies have a right to be upset with me for barging in on a men’s card game if they wish—though I truly didn’t know what was going on when I entered. It was scandalous just the same and could have been more so. I have a feeling you had something to do with minimizing and quelling the severity of it. I am only concerned if it reflects badly on the school.”
“A scandal would only bother me if it hurt you in any way.”
The attendant Lyon had been talking to walked up and said, “Excuse me, my lord. Here is the cape you asked for.”
“Thank you,” he said, taking a lady’s black velvet wrap from her and placing it over his forearm.
“Aunt Delia was feeling chilled and asked that I get it for her. I was going to hand this off to her and go find you.”
Adeline’s breath sped up. “So you weren’t leaving?”
He gave her a roguish grin. “Without speaking to you? Without dancing with you? No, but I like that it made you angry to think I was going to.”
“You are a scoundrel,” she said.
He reached out and took two glasses from a tray as a server presented it. “I’d never leave without sharing a glass of champagne with you.” He gave a glass to her. “For tonight, a truce. There will be no more heated conversations. No talk of a subject that doesn’t bring a smile to your face.”
“For tonight only?”
“I can’t promise more than that. I want you to tell me about your childhood, Adeline.”
She gave him a curious look. “What kind of statement is that?”
“One that should make you smile. Most childhoods are happy ones, aren’t they? See you are already smiling.”
“That’s because I can see the boredom settling into your eyes before I even get started.”
“No. You don’t see that, Adeline. You could never be boring to me.”
“You’re serious. You want to hear about my childhood.”
“I do. I want to know everything about you. Where and how you grew up seems a good place to start.”
Adeline felt a tightening in the center of her shoulders. No. She couldn’t tell him everything. She didn’t want him to know everything.
“Excuse me for interrupting Lyon, Lady Wake.” The Marquis of Marksworth bowed. “I’d like to introduce my intended, Miss Helen Ballingbrand.”
Adeline looked into one of the sweetest faces she’d ever seen as formal introductions were carried out. Miss Ballingbrand wasn’t exceptionally lovely but her complexion was flawless. She had light brown hair and eyes and a fragile smile that seemed more fixed than natural. The marquis was an older Lyon. Tall, regal, and about as handsome and confident as a man could be.
“Lady Wake,” Miss Ballingbrand said, “Lord Marksworth told me about the school you started. I think that’s one of the most wonderful and compassionate things I’ve heard of anyone doing.”
Adeline quickly glanced at Lyon, who gave her anI told you solook. “That’s kind of you to say. There aren’t nearly enough boarding schools for girls and certainly not for the more unfortunate ones.”
“I’m afraid I didn’t know there were any, but then I was tutored at home and my knowledge of such thingsis limited to what my teachers wanted me to know. Your school must be one of the first?”
“Perhaps. In any case, we have much hope for its success in helping these young girls.”
“Do you think it might be possible for me to call on you one day for a visit so I can hear more about it?”
