Chapter Thirteen
Graham entered the foyer and handed his hat, coat and gloves to James’s butler.
“Their Graces and Lady Adelaide await you in the blue room,” the man intoned as he began to walk up the hallway.
Graham nearly tripped over his feet. “Lady Adelaide is here?” he asked.
The butler didn’t stop moving. “Yes, Your Grace. She is joining the family for supper.” He stopped at the parlor and opened the door. “The Duke of Northfield,” he announced, and stepped out of the way.
Graham took a deep breath as his world moved into half-time. Adelaide was in that room. Adelaide, the other half of his present dilemma. The other woman that occupied his mind. That she was here was providence.
Or a devilish coincidence that would only make things harder.
Perhaps both.
He stepped into the room. He knew he should look toward James and Emma, who were standing together before the fire. He didn’t. His gaze moved immediately to Adelaide. She had obviously been seated on the settee, but now she stood, her hands clenched before her, her bespectacled gaze focused on him.
She was nothing like what he had pictured when he thought of a woman who would capture his attention. But she had it. All of it. Even his obsession with Lydia faded when he entered a room with Adelaide in it.
“Good evening,” he forced his mouth to say.
“Good evening,” Adelaide responded, her voice shaking just a fraction.
Before Graham could analyze that overly much, James and Emma came across the room to greet him. “Hello, mate,” James said.
Emma reached for him. “I’m so glad you’re here, Graham, we’ll be a very happy foursome—my goodness, Graham, your hands!”
Graham glanced down. Without his gloves, his bruised and marred knuckles were very clear. Emma had gone pale as she looked at them, and even James seemed concerned.
When he glanced at Adelaide, he was surprised that she was staring at his face, not his hands. He cleared his throat. “Ah, yes. I, er…well, I suppose I have some news for you two. I don’t know if I should say this in front of Lady Adelaide, though.”
Adelaide’s jaw set slightly and she moved as if to leave the room, but Emma held up a hand. “Adelaide is my dearest friend. You may say whatever you wish in front of her. Come, let us sit.”
She motioned for the chairs and the settee in front of the fire. She and James took the chairs, and Graham’s heart began to pound. The only place left was the one next to Adelaide. She seemed to notice that fact the same time he did, for her cheeks darkened to a deep pink.
He smiled at the reaction, for it meant she was not as immune to him as she always pretended to be. She sat and he followed, not sitting too close, but close enough that he could feel just the hint of her warmth. Suddenly he felt it keenly. Smelled her soft, fresh scent. And wondered, with a powerful jolt, what it would feel like to touch her lips with his own.
He blinked the thoughts away and refocused.
“Sir Archibald is in London,” he said.
Emma’s reaction was immediate. She jumped to her feet, all color leaving her cheeks and stood staring at him. James followed, catching her arm to steady her as he, too, kept his gaze on Graham.
“What?” Emma finally burst out. “Here?”
Graham nodded. “After what happened in Abernathe in the early summer, I did track him for a while. But the situation with Simon…” He hesitated, looking at Adelaide. Her gaze darted between himself, James and Emma.
“What happened in Abernathe?” she asked.
Emma trembled as James helped her into her seat. “My father made an arrangement for me to marry that bastard,” she whispered. “James saved me, but Sir Archibald was enraged. He attacked me and nearly—”
She broke off. James’s face was red as he said, “I kept him from hurting her. I should have killed him.”
Graham bent his head. “Well, I nearly did. You see, he has been lurking about the theatre as of late. He was bothering a…a friend of mine.” He shot Adelaide a glance, but she didn’t look at him. She almost seemed to be doing it on purpose.
“A friend?” James repeated, his eyebrows lifting.
Graham glared at him. “A friend.”
“Was she hurt?” Emma whispered. “The poor woman, was she injured by him?”
It was clear what she meant by injured, and Graham reached out to gently take her hand. She lifted her eyes to his and he said, “No, Emma. I stopped him. I nearly killed him, but my…my friend was wise enough to stop me.”
“A good friend, indeed,” Adelaide said softly.
He turned his gaze on her. “Yes,” he agreed with a sigh. “Honestly, Emma, he fears James. I don’t think he’ll pursue you. He much prefers women who have no such protection that you do.”
The color in Emma’s cheeks returned a little with that statement, but James’s jaw was set with a barely controlled rage Graham recognized. “I shall employ a guard,” he said through clenched teeth.
Graham nodded. “I can help you arrange that.”
Emma let out her breath gently. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have a few extra men as protection.”
Adelaide voice trembled as she said, “Yes, I think it wise, but Emma, why didn’t you tell me about Sir Archibald?”
Emma shook her head. “There was so much that happened. And it was a moment of horror in the midst of such happiness. I just didn’t want to speak of it.”
Adelaide’s expression gentled, and there was a wealth of understanding there. Enough that Graham wondered how she could be so empathetic. Had someone hurt her at some point? The idea stoked an anger in him, rivaling what he’d felt when Lydia was attacked. He took a few breaths to calm it.
“Well, we must speak of happier things now,” he said. “Unless you have more questions, Emma?”
Emma smiled at him. “You are very kind, Graham, but no. I think you’re right that talking the past to death will do us no good. James and I know about Sir Archibald now. And I’m certain, given my husband’s protective expression, he will take care of me.”
James spun on her. “I will, Emma. I vowed that to you and I meant it.”
He shocked Graham by tilting Emma’s chin up and pressing a brief but passionate kiss against her lips. Graham turned his head and found Adelaide was also staring at a loose thread on the settee. Her cheeks flamed as she lifted her eyes to him.
In that moment, he wished he were so free as to be able to kiss her. He wondered what she tasted like. What she would feel like in his arms. What her sighs of pleasure would sound like. How she would move her delicate hands across his skin.
“Your Graces,” James’s butler said from the doorway. The group turned toward him, and he nodded. “Supper is served.”
Emma took a long breath and then slid her hand into the crook of James’s arm. “Shall we?” she asked as she motioned to the door. They exited, and Graham turned to Adelaide.
Touching her in this moment seemed very dangerous, but there was no avoiding it. He held out his elbow and lifted his brows. “May I take you, Adelaide?”
She caught her breath quietly and her gaze darted away from his. She nodded, but the movement was jerky. “Y-yes,” she stammered. “Of course.”
She glided toward him, graceful in her movements, and then her fingers folded around his arm. He fought every urge within him to groan at the gentle touch and instead moved toward the dining room.
A place where he hoped he could gather his senses before he lost all ability to control himself.
Adelaide shifted as she felt Graham’s gaze turn on her yet again. It felt like the hundredth time this evening, and she hardly knew how to react.
“How did you and Emma meet, Adelaide?” he asked.
She jerked her face up to look at him. He truly seemed interested in the answer, just as he had when he’d asked her a dozen other questions during supper.
Fighting for control over her emotions, she shot Emma a look. “We met at a tea party hosted by…” She trailed off.
“Lady Laura of Liars,” Emma finished with a giggle that warmed the room and took the edge off of Adelaide’s discomfort.
“Oh, gracious I’d forgotten about that,” Adelaide laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.
“What exactly?” James asked, his expression warm with indulgence as he watched his wife. “Whatever it is, my wife’s blush tells me it’s a wicked joke between you two hellions.”
Adelaide shook her head. “Wallflowers cannot be hellions.”
Graham snorted out a laugh and she glared at him. He lifted his shoulders without a hint of apology to his face. “I’m sorry, my dear, I’ve spent too much time with you as of late to believe that. And Emma clearly has a devilish side or she’d never caught the attention of James.”
James winked at his wife and Emma’s cheeks turned an even deeper red. “Adelaide and I used to come up with silly little names for some of the meaner girls in our acquaintance,” Emma explained.
“To be fair to the honor of your wife,” Adelaide interrupted, “I started it. Lady Laura, I believe she’s…she married the Marquis of Hedgebottom, didn’t she?”
Emma nodded. “Twenty years her senior. I’ve heard she’s utterly miserable.”
Adelaide smiled despite herself. “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer girl. At any rate, she tossed a horrid little set down at Emma, and I’d just received one of my own. So I said something nasty about her being Lady Laura of Liars and it set off from there.”
“You two little gossips,” James said with a shake of his head. “Standing at the wall, looking innocent and sweet as sugar and all along you had depths galore.”
“I’ve never looked sweet as sugar in my life,” Adelaide laughed.
“I would disagree with that,” Graham said, and his gaze focused once more on her face.
She shifted beneath his unexpected regard. What in the world was happening? He couldn’t possibly like her. It was a foolish notion to even think such a thing. What was happening was that she wanted him to like her, the real her, and so she was finding meaning in every fleeting glance. Every offhand comment.
It really had to stop or she’d end up with an even more broken heart than was surely coming when she finally revealed the truth to him.
The servants cleared the last of their supper courses and James stood. “Northfield, would you like to join me for a chat? I think you and I have some arrangements to make.”
He shot Emma a brief look and Adelaide recognized the fear that flitted over her friend’s expression. Fear over Sir Archibald. She felt terrible she’d never even known Emma’s relationship to the bastard.
Graham got up, and his gaze flitted to Adelaide once more. “Yes. Perhaps we could join you ladies after?”
Emma smiled. “Of course.”
James moved forward and pressed a kiss to Emma’s cheek before he helped her to her feet. Then he smiled at Adelaide and the two men left the room.
Once they were gone, Emma sagged slightly and Adelaide moved to steady her. “You look tired,” she said as the two walked to another parlor for their own drinks.
Emma nodded. “I am. I’m still feeling sickly in the morning time thanks to the baby, and sometimes it’s as if emotions just…overwhelm me. Hearing about Sir Archibald…”
She trailed off, and Adelaide helped her to a seat. “Oh Emma, I wish I’d known.”
Emma shrugged. “As I said earlier, I’ve had such happiness since my marriage, I didn’t want to speak of it.” She sighed. “James and Graham will take care of it, though.”
Adelaide pressed her lips together. “Yes, I’m certain they will.”
“You two seem to be growing more connected each time I see you,” Emma said softly.
Adelaide glanced at her friend. Emma seemed very focused now, the sharpness back in her stare. And once again Adelaide wanted to tell her everything. Everything.
Only she couldn’t. Not yet. She owed it to Graham to tell him before anyone else. After…well, after she would tell Emma. Carrying all these lies was becoming far too difficult a burden. And if Graham turned on her, as she had to believe he would, she would need Emma more than ever.
She shivered at the thought.
“You know, Emma, I want to talk to you about it,” she confessed. “I have so much to say. But like you, I’m exhausted. Will you let me wait until another day to confess everything you want to know?”
Emma examined her a moment, then she nodded once. “Of course. But I’m here if you need me. I hope you know it.”
Adelaide leaned in to buss her cheek. “After today, I could never doubt your friendship. Thank you again for getting me out of that house.”
Emma pushed from the chair and sighed. “Come, we’ll both go up. I’ll send word to James that we’re both too tired for any more excitement tonight. He’ll explain to Graham.”
Adelaide inclined her head in agreement, though there was a part of her that was deeply disappointed she wouldn’t get to see the man again tonight. A fact that proved she was being foolish when it came to him. She would do well to remember that.
Emma linked her arm though hers as they began to leave the room. “Adelaide,” she said quietly.
“Yes, Emma?”
“It will be better in the morning.”
Adelaide swallowed. She wasn’t certain that Emma was right in this case. Soon enough, a tomorrow would come where she would have to tell the truth to everyone she cared for, including Graham.
When the day came, she was utterly unconvinced that anything would be all right ever again.