Page 65 of The Earl Next Door
“For girls whose fathers and brothers were lost at sea on theSalty Dove! No one else and certainly not for the benefit of titled men’s illegitimate children. I don’t know why she’s doing this. No, maybe Idoknow. She wants to remind me one more time that she gave Wake a child and I didn’t.”
“Adeline, no,” Lyon said, gently touching one side of her face. “I don’t think she was thinking about you at all. She was thinking of what’s best for her child. When the earl stopped her income, she probably had to turn to a life that wouldn’t be suitable for a little girl to be around. She must be desperate.”
“I don’t care,” she insisted fiercely. “I can’t help her.”
“Adeline, take time to think about this reasonably. It’s unlike you to be so unkind.”
“Me? Unkind? Did you actually say that to me?” Adeline shoved Lyon away and rose, raking his arms away when he tried to take hold of her. She turned to him, striking her fist to her chest, and said, “You have the nerve to call me the unkind one?”
“You must think of the welfare of the child.”
He reached for her again, but she spun away. “No! I am not the unkind one. You don’t know what I went through.”
“I don’t, but I know you can’t put your husband’s daughter in an orphanage or out on the street.”
“His brother did and so can I.”
“You aren’t like that.”
“I am like that!” she yelled, inhaling a bitter sob. “You don’t know how many times Wake threw in my face‘My mistress can give me a child but my wife can’t.’You don’t know how many potions he mixed and forced me to drink with brandy because the taste was so vile I couldn’t otherwise get them down. How many examinations I had to endure from men and women. The horrors of being probed and poked by a physician, a midwife, an apothecary, or some other person Wake had found who promised he could make a miracle happen. They all promised they could help me conceive. And none of it ever made a difference. Not once.” Another sob heaved from her chest. “So no, I won’t take her child into my school and care for her! I never said one unkind thing about her to Wake. That’s what I did for her, and all I can do for her now is stay quiet about what I think of her.”
Lyon stood quietly watching her. Letting her say what was buried deeply in her heart. What she shouldnever have let be spoken. She didn’t want him to see her like this. Didn’t want him to know how she’d suffered. Without thinking, she rushed over to the doorway and pointed to the corridor. “Get out.”
Her throat and chest hurt. She watched Lyon stride over to where she stood, but instead of going out he closed the double doors.
“I asked you to leave,” she said in a softer tone, not wanting to believe he wasn’t leaving her alone to drown in her anger, hurt, and bitterness.
“No,” he replied quietly, with a hint of a smile twitching his lips. He turned the key in the lock. “You told me to get out, but I’m not going to.” He reached for one of her hands.
She pulled back from him and held her arms stiffly at her side. “I want you to leave.”
Lyon reached for her hand again and caught her wrist. “I know, but I’m not going to.” He let his fingers slide down and grasp her palm.
“Give me the other hand,” he said softly.
He had her attention, but she still answered, “No. What are you doing? I don’t want to hold your hand. I want you to go away and leave me be.”
“I will, but not right now. Come on, take my other hand.”
He walked toward and she walked backward as he continued to advance on her.
“Your other hand, Adeline. Let me hold it.”
Finally, she lifted her arm and he grasped her fingertips. He stopped moving forward and started sidestepping. His upper arm bumped hers, and she wasforced to sidestep, too. Taking faster steps, he knocked into her again.
“You’re going too slow.”
Adeline took wider, hastier steps.
“Don’t let me step on your ankle,” he said. “Keep going.”
“No—I—what are you doing?”
“What I’ve seen the girls at your school do from my window. Hold hands and spin.”
“I don’t want to do this, Lyon,” she whispered softly. “Please.”
“Go faster. Pick it up or I’ll run over you.”
