With a charming, flirtatious smile, he released her arm. “Sleep well then, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
She nodded and said good-night, picked up a lit candle and turned from the room. Madeline reached the top of the stairs and made her way down the back hall to her bedchamber. She set the candle down on her bedside table and noticed the book, Clarissa, lying unopened on the bed.
She had not read a word of it. She’d been too busy with her household duties. She’d been spending all her free time with the children and the baby, feeling as if she had to make up for a lifetime of missing companionship—like a starving street urchin who has just been presented with a feast.
Madeline decided to return the novel to Adam’s den, at least until after Lord Blackthorne’s visit. She took the candle with her out into the dark hall and down the stairs, and tiptoed into the study. She set her candle on his desk, went to the bookcase and slid the book into the empty space on the shelf, then returned to the desk for her candle.
She had her finger through the grip when she noticed a miniature lying there beside it. A miniature of Diana.
Madeline’s heart broke a little at the sight of it, for she had been hoping again…but she somehow managed to keep her head out of the stars. This was the reality. She knew it. It was not a shock or a surprise.
She let her fingers roam over all the letters spread out on the desk, letters from Diana, written years ago. Madeline picked up one of the letters, held it next to the candle and read a few words.
My darling Adam, how deeply I regret the way we parted and how I made you suffer. You were my one true love, and I betrayed that love. If I could see you one more time, I would not trust myself not to run away with you and correct all my mistakes, for I may be another man’s wife, but my heart will always belong to you. I will go on dreaming that one day, we will be together again—forever—as we were meant to be….
Madeline closed her eyes briefly, searching for the strength to put down the letter and read no more of it, for it felt like a vise around her heart, crushing it. Madeline picked up her candle and walked out of the room.
Early the next morning, Adam waited anxiously for Madeline, who was upstairs, dressing to go to the fort to greet the lieutenant-governor. It was not Lord Blackthorne’s arrival that was making Adam anxious, however. It was something much more profound than that, for Adam had a letter in his pocket.
He remembered sitting in his study the day before, deliberating over what to do about the situation with Diana. He hadn’t thought he could go one more day without somehow telling Madeline how he felt about her, and at that moment, he had known he could not marry her sister.
Yet, he’d already sent the proposal. It was on a ship bound for London. What if Diana had already received it and wanted to come right away? On the contrary, she might send a letter turning him down and he would be free, but could he wait six weeks or more to find out? Could he go on for that long, keeping his desires for Madeline in check? He sincerely doubted it.
So with a new sense of purpose, Adam had sat down at the desk, reached for a clean parchment, picked up his quill pen, dipped it deeply into the ink and begun his letter to Diana: the retraction of his proposal. And if necessary, the request for an annulment.
It had been a difficult thing to do, but he knew it was the right thing. For everyone.
Now Adam paced up and down the hall, still waiting for Madeline to come downstairs. He patted the letter in his pocket. He couldn’t wait to hand it over to the ship’s master.
Of course, Adam couldn’t actually propose to Madeline until he’d received a reply from his solicitor, affirming that Adam was free, but he could at least explain to Madeline what he had done, and assure her that Diana would not be coming to Cumberland.
He was eager and impatient to take the first step toward a life with Madeline if, God willing, she would ever have him. He supposed that after today, he would have plenty of time and opportunity to make it happen, for he had every intention of fighting for her. By God, he was going to give John Metcalf a good run for his money.
Just then, Penelope came running down the stairs. “Father, may I take Thunder out for a ride on the marsh this morning?”
Adam cleared his throat and cupped his daughter’s soft chin. “Have you had breakfast?”
“Yes. I had two eggs and a slice of corn bread.”
“Then yes, you may take Thunder out, but stay on the path.”
“I will! Thank you, Father!” She bolted past him and out the front door.
He heard a rustle of silk behind him and turned.
There stood Madeline, wearing a fine peach-colored floral gown, her hair pulled into an elegant bun and decorated with pearl combs, beneath a bergère straw hat trimmed with flowers. Her short, tight sleeves were trimmed with a triple layer of lace flounces just above her elbows, and at her neck, she wore a white crossed handkerchief to cover the deep, square décolletage.
Adam could barely speak. How could he ever have imagined she was plain?
“You look exquisite, Madeline. I…”
There were no words to describe how she affected him. All he could do was bow deeply to her, as if she were a duchess and he, her humble servant.
She laughed. “Oh, Adam, you flatter me.”
“The lieutenant-governor will fall over himself when he sees you.”
“I certainly hope not!” she replied, her smile beaming.
Adam offered his arm. “Shall we go then, my lady?”
“As you wish, sir.” She looped her arm through his and they went outside to the waiting carriage.
As he helped her into the seat, he remembered the first time he’d set eyes on her at the fort. She had come here as his intended bride. She had been willing to marry him that day. If only he had known what he knew now. He should have called for the reverend right there. If only he had known how his feelings would change.
He climbed in beside her and flicked the lines. They turned up the road and drove into the woods.
Along the way, they talked about the marshes and discussed which sections to show Lord Blackthorne. They discussed the entertainments they had planned for him, and what songs Penelope should sing first, for she had rehearsed a number of them.
By the time they reached the fort, the wind had picked up. The British flag was snapping noisily atop the mast, and Madeline had to hold on to her hat to keep it from flying off her head. They saw the schooner still a distance away in the basin and decided to wait inside the courtyard until it reached its berth.
There was an entourage at the bottom of the hill, lined up at the wharf—buggies and carriages that must have traveled overland to meet the viscount here.
Adam and Madeline marveled at the pomp and ceremony of it all, and Adam felt a surge of pride to be Lord Blackthorne’s host in Cumberland. Then he thought of the letter in his pocket, and a sense of excitement joined the pride, for he would eventually—soon, he hoped—be free to pursue Madeline.
Finally, when the schooner drew near, Adam and Madeline drove down the cart road to meet the lieutenant-governor. They parked the buggy behind the others and walked to the gangplank, now lowering onto the dock.
The deck of the schooner was crowded with officials and footmen, and Adam could see the bright colors of ladies’ gowns. Good Lord, had Lord Blackthorne brought the entire population of Halifax with him? Adam hoped he would have room for all of them in his home. And food, and enough entertainment. He hoped they weren’t expecting a ball or anything of that nature. Cumberland was a farming community.
Lord Blackthorne emerged from the crowd and was the first to disembark. “Good day, everyone!” he shouted.
He was a portly man with gold-rimmed spectacles and a powdered wig with horizontal rolls. He wore a cream satin coat, trimmed with sham buttonholes and embroidered in blue lace. His breeches were also made of satin, with silk-clocked stockings and a shiny buckled shoe on one foot, but not the other, for it was a wooden stump.
He walked down the gangplank, his wooden leg tapping lightly, and Adam prepared to introduce Madeline. Adam froze, however, when he looked beyond the lieutenant-governor’s shoulder and met the eyes of the woman coming down behind him.
Dressed in silks and satins and fluttering her fan ridiculously in the driving wind, she smiled broadly at Adam.
He struggled to keep his balance, for the woman approaching, flashing her blue eyes at him, was Diana.
Chapter Twelve
Dumbfounded and bewildered, Adam struggled to maintain his composure.
Lord Blackthorne appeared before him, looking all around at the vast green landscape. “Mr. Coates! What a magnificent countryside you have here.”
Adam forced himself to greet the viscount and make some audible response.
Lord Blackthorne gestured behind him. “As you can see, I brought another flower to add to it, and what an exceedingly great pleasure it is to do so.”
Adam remembered a conversation he’d had with the viscount one evening at Government House when they were enjoying a glass of brandy together.
“Are you married, Mr. Coates?”
Adam had swirled the amber liquid around in his glass. “No, my lord. I am widowed, but I’ve recently proposed to a woman I once knew in Yorkshire years ago—Lady Thurston. She, too, is widowed. Her younger sister is here now, and we’re awaiting my lady’s arrival.”
“What’s the woman’s sister doing here?”
So Adam had been forced to explain the mix-up….
Lord Blackthorne slapped Adam on the back, shocking him back to the present. “I’ve come on the same schooner as Lady Thurston! What an extraordinary coincidence, what?”
Diana moved to stand beside Lord Blackthorne, who seemed to enjoy the opportunity to bring two long-lost lovers back together again. “Adam Coates, may I present your betrothed, Lady Thurston.”
Adam’s heart throbbed in his ears as he forced himself to meet her sparkling gaze. Diana…
She looked as young and slim and perfect as the first day he had met her, sixteen years ago. Almost nothing had changed, save a line or two around her eyes. Her smile was the same, her full lips were the same, her tiny, dainty nose…it was all the same.
Diana—his Diana—here in the flesh. The shock of it. It was incomprehensible.
She smiled and tilted her head in that old, familiar way. He was shaken by how well he knew her mannerisms, as if they were etched in his heart and mind and soul.
“Adam,” she said, “how wonderful it is to see you again. It seems like a lifetime.” Her voice was the same, too—rich and velvety like a song.
He felt everyone’s eyes upon them, as if they all knew the situation and were waiting to see what would happen next. Of course, no one knew the real situation, that he had a letter to break off their engagement searing a damn hole in his pocket.
He turned to look at Madeline, somewhere behind him. God, his chest was aching.
Madeline stood tall and unruffled, her hands clasped together in front of her. As he turned, Diana turned, too, then Madeline moved forward to greet her sister.
The whole scene was excruciating to Adam, like something out of a bad play. They hugged each other, and it was all Adam could do to keep himself from demanding an explanation. What was Diana doing here? She couldn’t possibly have received his proposal and arrived so quickly. It wasn’t feasible.
Madeline smiled warmly at her sister. “What are you doing here so soon? We didn’t expect you.”
“It was your letter, Madeline. Thank goodness, you sent it!”
“My letter?” Madeline replied, sounding confused. “It was Adam who wrote to you after I arrived, but you couldn’t have received that yet, and have traveled all this way.”
“No, no! Your letter! Don’t you remember? You wrote to tell me you were leaving Yorkshire to marry Adam, that father had arranged it.”
Madeline’s brow furrowed as she contemplated her sister’s explanation. Adam watched the scene with a sick feeling in his gut.
“Naturally I went to see Father about it,” Diana said, “for I knew something was wrong. I knew he must have done something absolutely beastly, for Adam would never have wanted to marry you. He would have wanted me.”
A hush fell over the small crowd. Madeline held on to her hat against the driving wind and her skirts whipped around her legs.
Adam felt Madeline’s humiliation as if it were his own. He stepped forward. “It was a misunderstanding, that’s all.”
He turned to look at Madeline’s profile in the sun, to try and see what she was thinking. Her eyes were downcast.
God, he wanted to hold her. He wanted to lead her away from here and take her into his arms and tell her that he wanted her, not Diana, and that Diana’s unexpected appearance—though a shock to be sure—only served to confirm that fact to him.
He decided firmly that he would do everything in his power to make it right.
Lord Blackthorne interrupted the awkward silence with his deep, booming voice. “Well, it’s all worked itself out now. Lady Thurston and I had a fine opportunity to get acquainted on the ship, and I say, you can imagine my surprise when she explained who she was and why she was en route to Fort Cumberland. Small world, is it not? For it was I who had the pleasure to assure her that her sister had not married Mr. Coates, and that if Lady Thurston had remained in London, she would have received a more recent proposal herself. Naturally, she was overjoyed to hear it.”
Diana elaborated, directing her words at Adam. “Yes, well, I was a bit concerned that you might have already married Madeline, out of guilt or a sense of responsibility for her, after what had occurred. As I’m sure you must know, that would have been devastating for me.” She looked around, her cheeks flushing.
Adam didn’t know what to say. She was gazing at him, waiting for something….
Madeline shook her head. “I would never have allowed such a marriage to take place, Diana.”
It was her pride talking, Adam knew it, and it only made him respect her more.
Diana hugged Madeline again. “Oh, you are the dearest sister in the world. There are none more loyal than you. Thank you, Madeline. My heart thanks you. You cannot imagine how little I slept during the crossing, worrying that I would be too late.” She faced Adam again and her gaze was intense. “For I have dreamed of this day.”
Lord Blackthorne interrupted again. “Well, we shall have a grand time over the next few days! I have much to learn about the Tantramar, and I’ll enjoy watching two lovers reunited, getting to know each other again. I could not have planned my visit for a better time.”
To Adam, however, the timing of everything could not have been worse.
During the trip home, Lord Blackthorne rode up front in the buggy with Adam, so that he might see some of the marsh and ask questions, which left Madeline to ride in Diana’s coach with her sister and her maid, Hilary.
Madeline realized that part of the entourage she and Adam had seen at the fort was as much for Diana and her maid and two grooms, as it was for the lieutenant-governor and his retinue. She supposed her sister was still an English lady—a wealthy one at that—and had certain expectations about how she should live her life.
Madeline wondered with some concern how Diana would adjust to the simple country life in Cumberland, where tilling and harvesting were more important to most people than keeping up with the latest Paris fashions.
The convoy of carriages descended into the woods along the narrow cart road, and the sound of sharp branches scraping against the roof of the coach unnerved Diana. “Heavens, I had no idea the land was so uncultivated here.”
“It’s not uncultivated,” Madeline explained, “maybe just a little thick here in the bush, but Adam’s farm is fully cleared, with fields of grain already planted, and hay almost ready to be harvested down on the marsh.”
<
br /> Diana smiled. “Father told me that Adam had made something of himself, that he’s grown quite wealthy. He said Adam owns more land here than anyone in the area. Is that true?”
“He has indeed come a long way since the days we knew him in Yorkshire.”
Her sister smiled and leaned back. “I always knew he would rise to something wonderful. And oh, he has grown even more handsome, don’t you think, Madeline? I thought I was going to fall off the boat when I saw him, dressed so finely in that embroidered waistcoat, his eyes so strikingly intense. The sight of him brought it all back—all the memories of my youth when I was so desperately in love with him.”
And when you jilted him to marry a baronet.
Madeline’s thoughts were full of acid and she knew it. She chided herself, of course, but at the same time accepted that she couldn’t help feeling resentful. Here was Diana, coming to take Adam for herself and make him hers. All she had to do was flutter her long, seductive eyelashes, and it would be done.
“You’ve been quiet, Madeline. Were you that surprised to see me? I always suffer when you’re quiet. Why must you do that to me, when I have come all this way and I want very much to talk.”
Why is everything always about you? “I’m sorry, Diana. I don’t mean to be quiet, it’s just that I’ve been working hard the past few days, preparing for Lord Blackthorne’s arrival. Of course I’m thrilled to see you.”
“Ah.” She gazed studiously at Madeline. “May I ask, what is your role at Adam’s house? You’re not…keeping house, or anything like that, are you?”
With that tone, she might as well have said, “You’re not eating dead worms, are you?”
Madeline arranged her skirts on the shiny blue leather seat. “As a matter of fact, I am. I’m also governess to the children, and I’m tending to the vegetable garden with my very own hands.”
Diana gazed out the window at the passing spruce branches, still scraping against the sides of the coach. She threw Madeline that look—that you-just-like-to-shock-me-because-you’re-hateful look.
Adam's Promise Page 12
