Page 15 of Courting Miss Lancaster
“Yes, but Mr. Windover is here an hour late,” Adam replied.
“And your business is such that I cannot remain,” Daphne stated. On the few occasions Harry had interacted with Daphne, he had been impressed by her maturity and intelligence. For a girl who was little more than a child, she had a remarkably sharp mind.
“I am afraid not,” Adam replied.
Daphne nodded, her features taking on a look of neutrality that, when she happened to glance briefly in Harry’s direction, was belied by the disappointment he saw in her eyes. Did this unlikely pair truly spend afternoons regularly in one another’s company? Who had instigated the arrangement—somehow Harry couldn’t picture either party doing so. Adam was too gruff and preferred isolation. Daphne was too reserved.
Harry heard Daphne take an oddly shaky breath in the moment before he realized her eyes had turned uncomfortably bright, and her chin was wobbling ever so slightly.
“Daphne.” Adam’s gentle rebuke broke into the silence. “You know the rules.”
She nodded. “No crying,” she whispered.
“Precisely. Now I will be in Lords tomorrow but should have time the day after for our usual afternoon discussion,” Adam said.
Daphne looked up at Adam, brows creased in concentration. “What ifhecomes back?” she asked, nodding her head toward Harry as she emphasizedhe.
“I’ll throw him out.” Adam shrugged.
Daphne smiled up at her brother-in-law, putting Harry firmly in mind of her older sister, except that Athena’s hair was golden and curly, her eyes a startling shade of green. Daphne, other than the creamy pale of her skin, had much darker coloring. Their smiles, however, were the same—down to the single dimple near the left corner of her mouth.
Even more shocking, Adam smiled back at her. He never smiled at anyone. Harry was certain it was partly the result of self-consciousness. Adam’s facial scars made his smiles uneven and puckered. The remaining reason was his disgruntled nature. Adam very seldom found a reason to smile.
As silently as she had entered, Daphne left the book room. Without a word of explanation for his complete character shift in the presence of his young sister-in-law, Adam took hold of the letter he’d held aloft a moment before Daphne’s arrival and held it up once more, his eyes focused again on Harry. The message was obvious. Adam would not discuss Daphne.
“Ah, yes, the mysterious letter,” Harry said, shaking off his lingering confusion over the interaction he’d just watched.
“Mr. George Howard,” Adam said, his words once again clipped and impatient.
With that, Harry burst out laughing.
Adam raised an eyebrow, his expression stern.
“What on earth was he writing about?” Harry managed.
“You tell me, Harry. You are supposed to be sorting through the suitors so I am not bothered by them.”
“Suitors?” Harry grinned. “Is the man writing you love letters?”
Adam didn’t look amused. “He has written to request permission to court Athena.”
“Written?”Harry chuckled. “Isn’t that sort of thing usually done in person?”
Adam’s eyes dropped to the letter, and he began readingwith the same tone of mocking annoyance he used when reading letters from his cousin and heir-presumptive—a man whose intelligence and bravery Adam found entirely lacking. “‘Miss Lancaster likes trees. I like trees. It seems we would suit. But only if Your Grace will permit it. I would rather not be shot, so I am asking from a distance.’” Adam dropped the letter onto his desk and shook his head in obvious disapproval. “Imbecile. As if I couldn’t shoot him from a distance as easily as I could in my own home.”
But Harry was still too diverted by Mr. Howard’s reasoning to find Adam’s words as amusing as he usually did.I like trees.How very fitting it was as a declaration from that particular gentleman.
“What are Athena’s feelings regarding this Mr. Howard?” Adam said, phrasing his inquiry as if to indicate he was unfamiliar with Howard, when Harry knew that Adam was perfectly aware of who he was. “Will I need to dispose of him quietly to spare her sensibilities, or does she possess enough intelligence to have already written him off?”
“What do you plan to do if she has no feelings for the unfortunate man?” Harry asked, smiling broadly. “The gibbet is too far away, after all.”
“The man practically requested that I shoot him,” Adam answered. Anyone who did not know Adam as well as Harry did would never have known the infamous duke actually had no intention of shooting Mr. Howard.
“Well, then, as sorry as this makes me for Mr. Howard, I must truthfully tell you that, far from ruing his loss from her court of admirers, Athena would probably be grateful for your interference.”
“So she has not fallen for whatever well-hidden charms the man might possess?” Adam asked.
“Not remotely.”
