Chapter 6
Susanna was up to her chin in lavender-scented bubbles, luxuriating in her first full bath since she had left England, when Corliss returned from downstairs with clean towels and an unexpected message from Adam.
“Mr. Thornton says he has time this morning to show you the rest of the plantation, Miss Camille. What do you want me to tell him? He’s waiting in the library.”
The tranquility of her bath spoiled by this intrusion, Susanna bit off a tart response as she glanced at the mantel clock.
Only half past eight! He had a lot of gall to bother her so early.
Clearly he was eager to begin their courtship, which made her all the more eager to frustrate him.
She wanted to spend no more time with him than was absolutely necessary to maintain her illusion of welcoming his advances, no matter what she had said to him last evening about seeing more of the plantation.
That statement had been merely for the servant’s benefit.
She could bloody well explore Briarwood on her own.
“Kindly tell Mr. Thornton that I won’t be ready for at least another two hours,” Susanna instructed, swept by a heady sense of mischief.
“Perhaps we should wait until another day. I know how busy he must be. I don’t want to keep him from his work.
But please thank him, Corliss, for his gracious offer. ”
“Yes, Miss Camille.”
As the maid set the towels on a low table pulled close to the tub and left the room, Susanna smiled to herself.
Adam had said that they had time for a proper courting, she thought, playfully flicking bubbles with her toes. It was her intention to make this the longest and most secretive courtship on record, at least until she had decided upon the man she really wanted.
The overbearing, overconfident lout! She still couldn’t believe how easily she had deceived him and how readily he had accepted her conditions to his preposterous proposal, especially the one about their courtship remaining a secret.
She didn’t want anyone—especially the servants—to know that there was anything between her and Adam; her reputation truly was at stake.
She had no intention of jeopardizing her chances of marrying the right man by having Camille’s good name sullied in any way.
In the letters Camille had shared with her, Mr. Cary had claimed Adam was intelligent, but he was a total fool when it came to women, Susanna decided.
He truly believed that she would consider him as a potential husband.
Had he no sense of what was proper? Why, it would be as if she, a lady’s maid, had come to Briarwood with the intention of marrying a wealthy planter’s son.
Impossible! Absurd! It simply wasn’t done!
Susanna shrugged, at a complete loss, and concentrated upon soaping her arm with long, languorous strokes.
If and when Adam realized her true intentions, it would be too late. He would find himself without an heiress and without his bloody job!
“Miss Camille, Mr. Thornton says he’ll come back to the house in two hours to fetch you,” Corliss relayed, stepping into the room and closing the door behind her. “He said it would be no trouble at all. He left his day free just so he could show you around.”
Hearing this, Susanna was tempted to fling the bar of soap across the room, but she let it sink to the bottom of the tub instead. Disgruntled that her plan to avoid him had failed, she leaned her head against the rim and defiantly closed her eyes.
Very well, then, the bastard. If he was going to be so persistent, she would make him wait even longer for her company.
She dawdled in the tub until her skin was thoroughly pink and puckered—explaining to a curious Corliss that she hadn’t enjoyed a real bath in ages—then she dallied in her room long after she had dressed in a burgundy riding habit, eaten her breakfast, and sent Corliss away, saying she wanted to read for a while.
Instead she re-hid Camille’s portrait, taking the rolled canvas from the writing table drawer where she had put it last night—and none too soon since Corliss had come upstairs soon afterward to finish unpacking her trunks—and placing it in a large oval hatbox in which she had fashioned a false bottom.
It would have to do until she knew the house well enough to find an even safer place.
Finally, when the clock read exactly eleven-thirty and she was beginning to feel restless, Susanna left her room.
She was not surprised to find Adam waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a black riding coat and snug-fitting buckskin breeches which emphasized the shape of his powerful thighs.
His gaze swept her appraisingly from head to toe, then his eyes caught and held hers as she descended.
She felt a nervous rush of excitement, unexpected and disturbing.
She wished he wasn’t so intensely masculine.
She would have to keep her wits about her in her dealings with this man.
He seemed to have the ability to make her feel very strange inside. Quite unlike herself.
“Please forgive my tardiness, Mr. Thornton,” she said with mock sincerity, noting the tightness of his smile.
It revealed his impatience, although his posture appeared relaxed, leaning as he was against the polished balustrade with his arms crossed over his chest. She felt a small sense of triumph.
“I was reading and…well, I lost track of the time.”
“Don’t trouble yourself, Miss Cary,” he replied with a husky emphasis on her name. “All that matters now is that you are here. I trust you slept well last night?”
“Yes, I did.” In truth, she hadn’t, her slumber disrupted by a vivid and familiar nightmare that had left her sweat-soaked and shaken, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. “And you?”
“Actually, my thoughts would not let me sleep until very late,” he said, the words laced with innuendo. “Yesterday was a very momentous day…for both of us.”
“Please, Mr. Thornton,” Susanna whispered, doing her best not to show too much irritation at his thinly disguised breach as her eyes darted to the young footman seated by the door. “We agreed…”
“I haven’t forgotten, Miss Cary,” Adam said quietly. “I haven’t forgotten.” As if to reinforce his words, he didn’t offer to take her arm as he had the night before, but merely inclined his head. “I have a great deal to show you today, and it’s almost noon. Shall we get started?”
Nodding, Susanna said nothing more except for a soft greeting to the footman, a mere boy, who grinned broadly as he jumped up from his chair and opened the door for them.
Her irritation was quickly replaced by enthusiasm at the bright sunny day which greeted her, and again she reveled in the fact that she was no longer aboard a confining ship but possessed the freedom to roam where she pleased.
As she walked with Adam to the circular drive where stable hands waited with two spirited mounts, one of them the same chestnut stallion she had seen yesterday, she was glad that Lady Redmayne had allowed her to learn to ride so that she might accompany Camille on occasional jaunts around the estate.
Competent, assured horsemanship would have been nearly impossible to feign.
“What a beautiful animal,” she murmured, stepping closer to pat the mare’s snow-white neck.
“Yes, Arabian bloodlines. The Cary stable has some of the finest steeds in Virginia.”
As if in firm agreement with Adam’s remark, the pretty mare nickered and tossed its finely shaped head, then stamped its hoof impatiently.
“She seems most eager for us to be on our way.”
“Has been for an hour now,” Adam said lightly, his face inscrutable. “If you would allow me…”
Susanna gasped softly as his strong hands encompassed her waist and he lifted her as easily into the sidesaddle as if she weighed no more than a child. He did not readily release her; instead, his fingers gently caressed her back.
“Are you well-settled, Miss Cary?” he inquired, a slow smile tugging at his lips.
“I am, thank you,” she replied, unnerved by both his touch and the almost conspiratorial look in his eyes, which seemed to say that yes indeed, they shared a wonderful little secret.
Despite her response, Adam held her for an instant longer, which further flustered Susanna, her skin feeling very warm beneath the weight of his hands.
Then he abruptly let go of her and mounted his stallion.
She was not pleased to discover that her fingers were shaking as she tied the ribbons on her wide-brimmed riding hat beneath her chin.
“I’ll show you the outbuildings first, then we’ll ride out to the fields,” Adam said, his tone becoming suitably deferential, as if to reassure her that their secret was safe with him.
“If you have any questions, Miss Cary, please don’t hesitate to ask.
” He fastened the large buckle on the full saddlebag behind his left thigh, then added, “I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of canceling dinner.
We won’t be back by three.” He patted the saddlebag.
“Prue packed us some food, so have no fear that you’ll go hungry. ”
Susanna didn’t reply, but nudged the frisky mare into a trot beside his much larger mount.
Just you wait, Mr. Adam Thornton, she fumed, thinking ahead to that happy day when she could tell him exactly what she thought about him and his courtship and his ordering of her life. Just you wait!
They had ridden a short distance from the house when Adam pulled up on the reins and waited for her to halt beside him. He pointed to a large one-story building not far from the river which was almost hidden by towering trees.