Accidentally Compromising the Duke(69)
She rose from the bath water, and Meg gently toweled her dry. With mechanical motions, Adel sat in front of her dressing table as Meg tamed her hair. Then she dressed in a simple white muslin day gown, donned her emerald green redingote, and added her bonnet. She would go for a walk this morning, and try to lift her spirits.
A few minutes later she strolled through the gardens, the fragrance of lily and roses filling her lungs. Dr. Graves had said exercise would be good for her health and it was time she took measures to ensure she took her daily constitutional.
The wind tugged at her bonnet, and the air smelled crisp and clean. After her walk she would direct her attention to the few letters she had. Adel had become the patron to several underfunded and much ignored charities in the nearby villages, and a few in town. She had been appalled to learn the closest village to Rosette lacked both a proper school and had no bookstore or library. A few of the children in the village traveled for miles for some sort of an education but most went without and remained unlettered. A school was now being constructed, and it was being overseen by the vicar and his kind wife. One of the local shops was falling vacant in a few months and she had bought the lease intending to turn it into a bookshop. Though she immersed herself with such activities, every night she still ached for Edmond. But she was determined to exorcise the wretched man from her heart.
In the far distance the dowager duchess was strolling with Squire Wentworth. Adel smiled. She could see the affection developing between the two when they thought no one was observing.
Lady Harriet saw her and waved. A few minutes later, she reached Adel.
“It is wonderful to see you up and about, my dear. Is my foolish and stubborn son home?”
A startled laugh jerked from Adel. “No.”
The dowager duchess sighed and linked their hands together in companionable silence.
“Why have you not followed him to London? A wife’s place is beside her husband and it has been two weeks since your stomach has settled. You are fit for traveling.”
“Edmond does not love me.”
The dowager duchess froze, and then faced her. “My dear, he worships the ground you walk upon. It is fear that drove him away.”
“What utter rubbish. I told him I carry our child, and he ran away to London without writing a single word to me for six dreadful weeks. When I came to this marriage I had nothing to offer him but my eventual love. I gave it to him even knowing he would never love me in return, and now I have never felt more a-alone.”
Adel burst into mortified tears. “Oh, forgive me; I’ve been such a watering pot lately.” She swiped at her face angrily. “Did he ever tell you how we met? I snuck into his bed at Lady Gladstone’s house party. It was quite by accident I assure you, for I’d only intend to comprise Mr. Atwood. Edmond insisted we wed to avoid scandal. Before I even said yes, he told me all the love he had to give was bu…buried with his wife. He avoided my bed with a single minded purpose that even I had started to admire, and the only reason I am with child now is because he had been drunk,” she ended on a sob. “He does not want me…no gentleman has truly ever wanted me, for I have nothing to offer! Can there be any other opinion?”
Embarrassed at her emotional outburst she marched away. Edmond loved her? As she loved him? Adel faltered.
You are beautiful.You taste sweet…I could feast on you forever.
There are days when I shudder in dread at the thought, of what might have happened if you had not climbed into my bed, because I would now be wed to another. I’ve never desired another woman as I do you, Adeline.
The heated and sometimes tender words he’d expressed wafted through her mind. It probably should not have, but the memory quieted some of the pain pricking at her heart.
What if he truly loved her? Would he really have felt such fear if he only felt mild affections?
Oh!
Lady Harriet regarded Adel for a lengthy moment. “Come, let us retire to the parlor and ring for tea.”
Adel glanced toward the lawns. “And what of Squire Wentworth?”
“He’ll keep,” she said on a light laugh. “He knows I will not be long, and he may do a spot of fishing in the lake.”
A few minutes later they entered the main house, and Adel rang for tea and cakes. They entered the warmth of the parlor and sat on separate sofas. A footman arrived in short order with a tea tray and several pastries.
The dowager duchess faced her. “I’ve been meaning to thank you for weeks now,” she said softly.
Adel lifted startled eyes to her. “I have done nothing.”
“Since your marriage to my son, he has laughed.” This last bit was said so wistfully Adel’s heart ached.