Chapter 10 #2
But as Adam gazed down into Madeline’s clear, wide eyes and regarded her gentle, innocent beauty, he felt his blood quicken and knew that with or without John Metcalf, this was more than a fleeting infatuation. He was dreaming if he thought a few days in Halifax would bring an end to it.
His horse restlessly stomped around. “May I join you?” Adam asked. “I have much to tell you about my journey.”
“Yes, please,” Madeline replied. “I have been wondering about your progress. Were your ideas well received?”
He dismounted and walked beside her, and told her of his meetings at Government House. Adam had been a guest at two formal dinners, where at one, he sat next to a future English duke.
“Oh, Adam, when you left Yorkshire, did you ever imagine such a thing?”
“No, I did not. I must say, however, that I was pleasantly surprised by the young man’s genuine interest in Nova Scotia and his eagerness to converse with local citizens, regardless of rank or wealth.
Life is different here, Madeline. A man without rank can rise to become whatever his ambitions will allow. ”
Adam felt a surge of pride for the decision he had made and the risks he had taken bringing his family to an unfamiliar land.
“And what about the marsh?” Madeline asked. “Did you discuss it with Lord Blackthorne? Was he sympathetic to your concerns?”
“He was, indeed. He intends to come soon to visit the Tantramar and see it for himself. I invited him to be our guest.”
Madeline stopped on the road. “Adam! A viscount will be staying with us? My word! What will I feed him?”
Adam laughed. “You’ll have plenty of time to think about it. He won’t be here for at least a week.”
“A week! Oh, you’re teasing me now!”
“How can I resist, when you squeal with such charm.”
It was a joke—they both knew it—but Adam saw color rush to Madeline’s cheeks and he knew that the compliment had unnerved her. The fact that she was not accustomed to compliments tugged at his heart, and he wished he could spend the next decade of his life showering her with them.
He attempted to fill the awkward moment with conversation. “I do know that he enjoys our local fiddleheads, as well as corn fritters and brandy snaps, and anything made with blueberries.”
“Well, that gives me something to work with. How long will he stay?”
“Only a few days, long enough to see the marsh and meet some of the local farmers. Then he will continue on to the Petticodiac.”
They spoke more about the events during Adam’s visit to Halifax, and he enjoyed this time alone with Madeline, for he knew he could never conquer how much pleasure he derived from their conversations, nor was there any need to conquer that particular aspect of their relationship.
They were supposed to be friends, after all.
Then he had to broach another subject, one that was a little less pleasurable for him. “By the way, I met John Metcalf this morning, on my way by the fort. He was riding to Jollicure. He’s still looking for land.”
“Oh?” By the tone of her response, Adam guessed that Madeline didn’t know anything about Metcalf’s current comings and goings, and Adam couldn’t help feeling a little glad.
“You didn’t see John while I was gone?” he asked.
“No, not at all. I’ve been very busy. Did you stop to speak with him?”
“Yes.” Deliberately, Adam did not elaborate.
“And what did John say?”
It was decidedly rotten of him, making her beg for information like this, but Adam wanted to see just how curious Madeline was about John Metcalf.
Apparently, she was curious enough to press him for the details, and he felt a twinge of disappointment even though he had not wanted to care.
“He asked about you, naturally, and wanted to know if he could visit again tomorrow afternoon and spend another hour with you.”
Madeline stared straight ahead. “And what did you tell him?”
“I told him that he would have to ask you himself, for I didn’t know what your wishes were, nor did I even know where you were in order to ask you.”
“But you found me.”
“Yes, I found you. Mary told me you had gone for a walk, and I took the chance that you might go this way, along the same route we explored together a few weeks ago.”
They walked in silence for a few minutes. The horse, still plodding along behind them, snorted in the damp air.
“In the future,” Adam said, knowing that he was the one now pressing for information, “if John asks me if he may visit you, what would you like me to tell him?”
Madeline stopped. Adam stopped, too, awaiting her answer.
“Are you asking me how I feel about John? If I want him to come calling?”
“Yes, that is what I am asking you.”
Adam felt a surge of impatience.
“Well then. Yes, I would very much like John to call on me again.”
Adam squared his shoulders. “I see. Very well, then.”
They continued walking, and Adam fought to subdue his displeasure. Why was this all so frustratingly confounding? His head was reminding him that he was engaged to Madeline’s sister, while his heart and body were refusing to believe it. There was a full-blown battle raging inside of him.
Just then, Madeline slapped her neck. “Ouch! What was that?”
Adam moved toward her to trap the insect in his fist. “A mosquito. Looks like they’ve found us.”
He inspected his palm, then wiped away the tiny corpse.
Another one came flitting about. Madeline took a few steps backward, but the insect followed.
Adam waved his hand in front of her face. “They must like the way you smell.”
“What do you mean, the way I smell?”
“The flower water you use.”
“Oh! Shove off, you nagging beasts!” She began to wave her hands about, then took off in a run along the path.
Adam couldn’t help laughing. “See? I told you! We must go home! It’s all this damp weather. It will be better up on the ridge.”
Not wasting another moment, Madeline ran back to Adam, who turned his horse around.
They walked quickly up the hill, where a welcome breeze began to blow. “You’re right, there aren’t as many up here.”
“Not at the moment, but I wouldn’t stand still for too long.”
“You mean we cannot stop to catch our breath?”
He shook his head, his brows creasing in a teasing way. “Not a wise thing to do on a wet day on the marsh.”
By the time they reached the top of the ridge, they were both breathing heavily with exertion.
Madeline’s voice was light and airy as she spoke. “That was a good walk. I feel quite exhilarated.”
“Exhilarated? I’m completely tuckered, Madeline. I need to rest my weary bones.”
“Well, don’t do it here,” she said. “Or the mosquitoes will have you for dinner.”
“You’re quite right, and we wouldn’t want that. Then I would miss the spelling bee you have planned for tomorrow evening—a wonderful idea by the way.”
They reached the gate, and Adam opened it for her. She brushed by him but stopped. “Ouch!” She slapped her neck and inspected her hand. “Another one! He bit me! Cheeky creature. I’m bleeding. Look.”
Adam inspected the squished mosquito in her hand, surrounded by a few drops of blood. “He certainly had a bellyful. Let me see.”
He moved a few wispy hairs aside and pulled back her lacy collar to examine the back of her neck. Sure enough, there was a red spot already swelling.
Madeline lifted her upswept hair so Adam could see the entire area. All at once, the whole world seemed to disappear, and all he could see and feel was Madeline’s presence…her feminine scent, her soft, smiling nearness.
Her skin was smooth, like peach cream. What he wouldn’t give to touch his lips to the warmth of her neck, then to spin her around and kiss her properly, to feel her sigh with amorous pleasure.
He jumped when Madeline spoke. “Well?”
Adam cleared his throat and stepped back. He broke into a sweat under his wool coat. “You will be itchy, but you’ll live.”
He thought of what day it was, and tried to anchor himself in reality. His proposal to Diana might be in her hands at this very moment. She might be scrolling her name to become his wife.
He certainly had his work cut out for him, and it wasn’t going to be easy—for if Madeline ever recognized his lustful thoughts, she would surely think him a low, faithless scoundrel who could not be trusted. And he could not allow that.
Whatever happened, however he decided to handle this situation, he had to keep his integrity and his honor intact. But how? What was the right thing to do?
Before he had a chance to answer that question for himself, he took hold of Madeline’s arm to keep her from going into the house. “Madeline, will you tell me something?”
“Of course.”
“Is Diana still the same? Has she changed at all?”
Madeline’s eyes met his disparagingly. “She is still very beautiful.”
“No, I mean, has she changed in other ways? Is she still the same person? Does she still like to ride?”
“She and Lord Thurston used to go fox hunting quite often.”
“They were close, then? Do you think…do you think she is over him, and ready for another marriage?”
A breeze blew a wayward lock of hair into Madeline’s face.
She closed her eyes, then gently pushed the hair away.
“I cannot say with absolute certainty, Adam, for we did not speak intimately with each other in recent years, but as I told you before, she once said that you would always be the man she dreamed of.”
A month ago, that news would have put him in the clouds. Today, it filled him with dread and confusion. “Do you believe, that when she receives my proposal, she will actually come?”
There was something intense in Madeline’s expression, as if the possibility of Diana’s arrival was unsettling to her, too.
“Why are you asking me this?”
“I need to know.”
Madeline stared at him for a moment, then she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “I am not a fortune teller, Adam. I don’t know.” She quickly went ahead through the gate.