“I daresay it is the duty of daughters to resent stepmothers when they are presented,” he teased drolly.
She wrinkled her nose. “Yes…though perhaps hate is a strong word. We never got along. From the moment my father introduced her, I was made to feel insignificant. Papa always adored me and Mamma, with a similar intensity. However, upon Lady Margaret’s arrival it seemed all the affections he had left went to her. There were times I wondered if it was because I looked so much like Mamma with hardly any features from him.”
Edmond stiffened, and she could feel the chill forming around him. “My girls favor their mother, Maryann,” he said after a small silence.
Adel held her breath, humbled by the faith he was showing in confiding in her.
“They have my eyes, and according to my mother, Rosa and Sarah possess my stubborn chin and attitude.”
“They are beautiful children.” Adel wrestled with the overwhelming urge to wrap her arms around him. Though he seemed decidedly more approachable, she did not want to overstep too quickly. “They would love to have puppies. Your neighbor, the earl, his spaniel bitch has a litter and they are in raptures at the idea of owning two.”
She heard him swallow.
“Then they shall have them,” he said gruffly.
“And they also need a governess.”
“Will you help me select one?”
“Yes. I will ask Lady Harriet to help me if you prefer. I heard you hired the last four…and well, they are now without a governess.”
His lips twitched. “Once again, I am indebted.”
“I shall collect a boon one day.”
She fought to maintain an air of casual indifference. It would not do to betray how much she desired him. It was already wretchedly intolerable that she brought nothing to the marriage, and in this instance to be the only one to feel desire…insupportable.
“And what would you require of me?”
“I promise I won’t be alarmed if you kiss me.”
“Are you by chance teasing me, Adeline?”
“I assure you not in this instance. You kissing me is a very serious matter I take to heart,” she said softly.
Adel had not known she would respond with such bald honesty. The man’s nearness rattled her more than she realized. But what startled her even more was that behind his studied reserve, she detected a flare of raw unbridled heat, in the
bottomless gray of his eyes.
Then he stepped closer to her. He leaned down so that his mouth was dangerously close to her ears, his breath a caress against her lobes. Edmond lifted his arms and placed them above her head, effectively caging her. The urge to press her lips against his was strong. What was he doing? Thinking? Would he kiss her, make love to her? She waited, her heart quickening, and anticipation shivering through her. His beautiful, heavy-lidded eyes remained intent on her face. Oh, please…kiss me, you wretched man.
But he did nothing, nor did they speak. A blistering need to feel his arms around her, just once, surged through Adel, and she bit into her lips to suppress voicing the desire. He already knew where her inclination lay, and she had too much pride to be so overt in her passion for a man that was doing everything to not want her.
They stayed like that for a long time, his comforting heat surrounding her. Then she slipped from the half embrace, and departed the library to read to the children, but her heart was infinitely lighter than it had been before.
Chapter Seventeen
She had dreamed of her duke again, of being kissed, of him once again shifting her nightgown and touching her in her most intimate of places. Heat surged through her, and Adel chewed on her bottom lip. She wanted to seduce Edmond. Seeing him daily was becoming an exercise in patience, and she was startled to realize that, well…she was the impatient sort.
Adel glanced toward the direction he had ridden in, on one of the most powerful yet graceful stallions she had ever seen. Edmond had appeared so assured and masculine, handling the big bay with a firm hand and skilled thighs. Lifting her face to the first rays of sun peeking from the cloud, she inhaled the cold air. Her walk with the girls this morning had taken her to the southern end of the gardens of Rosette Park, where there were topiary gardens.
She bent to caress the petals of a pink flower growing beneath a shrub shaped to look like an eagle if she were not mistaken.
“This one is our favorite,” Sarah said, running up to several trees pruned and shaped to appear like a small herd of elephants. The designs were truly beautiful and elegant.
Sarah slipped her small hands through Adel’s.
“Do you see how loving the mother elephant is?”