Miss Winthorpe's Elopement (Belston & Friends #1)(33)

With her hand on the doorknob, she stopped and listened. But, no. There was no need to seek him. He was climbing the stairs, for she could hear him on the landing, and then he was coming down the hall carpet toward his room. She waited for the sound of his bedroom door, opening and closing.

It did not come. He had walked past his room, for she had been unconsciously counting the steps and imagining him as he walked.

And then he stopped, just on the other side of her door.

She waited for the knock, but none came. Perhaps he would call out to her, to see if she was asleep, though he must know she was not, for the light of her lamp would be visible under the door.

If she were a brave woman, she would simply open the door and go after the cup of tea she had been imagining. Then she could pretend to be surprised to see him, and inquire what it was that he wanted. She might even step into the hall, and collide with his body, allowing him to reach out a hand to steady her. Perhaps he would laugh, and she would neglect to step away, and she would know if he merely wished to continue their discussion, or if there was some other purpose for his visit.

But she was not a brave woman, and she was foolish to think such things, since they made no sense at all. There was a perfectly logical explanation for his being there, which he would no doubt tell her in the morning at breakfast. If she waited, she could save herself the embarrassment of making too big a thing out of something so small.

But all the same, she kissed the palm of her hand, and then silently pressed it to the panel of the door, holding it very near where the cheek of a tall man might be.

Then she heard his body shift, and his steps retreating down the hall, and the opening and closing of the bedroom door beside her own.





Chapter Ten




When she woke the next morning, she found herself listening for sounds from the next room and hoping for a knock on the connecting door. Surely Adam would come to her as soon as he was awake, and explain his behaviour the previous evening?

But she heard only silence. Perhaps he was a late sleeper, or simply did not wish to be disturbed.

When she could stand to wait no longer, she called for her maid. She would go downstairs and wait for him at breakfast. But when she arrived in the breakfast room, she was told that his Grace had been up for hours, had had a light meal and gone riding in the park.

Very well, then. If he had wished to speak to her, it had been nothing of importance. Or perhaps she had only imagined it, for things often sounded different through a closed door. Whatever the case, she would go on with her day as if nothing had happened.

She gathered her papers from her bedroom and returned them to the sitting room, where the morning light made working easier. And in daylight, with her husband nowhere about, there seemed to be fewer romantic fantasies clouding her mind. But to avoid temptation, she turned the figurine of the lovers to face the wall.

She had barely opened her books before there was a quiet knock on the door, and a servant announced a visitor, offering a card on a tray.

Lady Clarissa Colton.

The card lay there on the tray before her, like a dead snake. What was she to do about it? ‘Tell the lady that Adam is not at home.’

The servant looked pained. ‘She wished specifically for you, your Grace.’

‘Then tell her I am not—’

‘Hello.’ Clarissa was calling to her from the hall. She laughed. ‘You must forgive me, darling. I have viewed this as a second home for so long that I quite forget my manners.’

‘I see.’ Penny had hoped to load those words with censure. But instead they sounded like understanding and permission to enter, for Clarissa pushed past the servant and came into the sitting room.

She sat down next to Penny, as though they were confidants. ‘Adam and I are old friends. Particularly close. But I’m sure he must have told you.’ Clarissa was smiling sweetly again, but her eyes were hard and cold. She reached out to take Penny’s hands, giving them a painful squeeze. ‘And when I heard the good news, I simply could not stay away.’

‘News?’

‘Yes. He told us last night, at the party. Everyone was most excited.’

‘Party?’ Obviously, there was much Adam had not told her. And now, she was left to parrot monosyllables back to Clarissa, until the horrible woman made the truth clear.

‘Ooo, that is right. You did not know of it.’ Clarissa made a face that was supposed to represent sympathy, but looked more like concealed glee. ‘Adam came to our house last night after dinner. Not for the whole evening, as I had hoped. But he could not bear to disappoint me. The man is beyond kind.’

Far beyond it, as far as Penny was concerned.

‘We knew you would not mind, of course, for you did not wish to come. In any case, he told us about the ball.’

‘Ball?’ She had done it again. Why in heaven could she not find her tongue?

‘That you will be hosting, to celebrate your marriage. I am sure it will be the most divine affair. Your ballroom is magnificent, is it not? And Adam uses it far too seldom…’

Obviously, for she was not even sure of its location since her husband had neglected to show it to her. She nodded mutely, along with the flow of Clarissa’s words.

‘It is more than large enough to hold the cream of London society. We will begin the guest list this morning, and the menu, of course. And in the afternoon, we can see about your gown.’ She glanced down at Penny’s sombre grey day dress. ‘I do not know what fashion was like where you came from—’