Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Ido not care if they are inside or outside; I told you I do not want lessons!” Adeline answered.
Becoming used to the girl’s obstinacy, Deborah gave a careless shrug and still held out the summer hat. Deborah gave a careless shrug and still held out the summer hat.
“We are not going to have lessons today,” she announced.
One of Adeline’s furrowed brows rose curiously, and she unfolded her arms from her chest.
“We are not?” She asked, her tone still a little defensive.
Deborah shook her head and stepped forward, placing the light blue, wide-brimmed hat atop the girl’s head for her.
“No, we are not. I am exhausted from trying, and I believe that you are exhausted from denying me. So today we are not learning. We are playing.”
Both of Adeline’s brows rose this time as her mouth dropped open.
“We are?” She asked, her tone soft and hopeful now. “And we are going to play outside?”
Deborah smiled at her and tapped her finger playfully at the tip of Adeline’s nose.
“We are indeed,” she replied.
She’d decided on the new approach the night before. The girl obviously distrusted everyone around her, and that, Deborah realized, was where she needed to start. Not with lessons, but with friendship.
“Now come along,” Deborah urged, taking Adeline’s hand. “It is a beautiful day, and I have several games I should love to teach you.”
“I do not know,” Adeline said with uncertainty, even though she continued to walk along Deborah’s side, “Uncle says I should not play outside. It is bad for me.”
“What a preposterous thing to say!” Deborah answered with a laugh, “Sunshine and fresh air are good for everyone.”
She looked to Adeline then and found a tentative smile on the girl’s face.
“Very well then,” she agreed with a hint of hesitancy, “What sort of games are we going to play?”
In the large lawn behind Cedric’s estate, Deborah had organized several games.
She had set up the stakes for croquet and had even found a set of mallets and balls in one of the many closets.
She had also found hoops and wands, and old ribbon sticks; their ribbons were a little worn, but still shiny and colorful.
Deborah encouraged Adeline to pick the first activity, and Adeline chose croquet. She hesitantly asked Deborah to remind her of the rules, and after a quick refresher, they began to play.
“Did you play with this with your mother?” Deborah asked, keeping her tone casual as she watched Adeline line up her pink mallet with her ball.
“We had only gotten to play a few times before she passed,” Adeline explained, knocking her ball to her first peg.
She said it so conversationally, as if she were far older than her mere ten years.
“I am so sorry,” Deborah offered, lining up her shot, “It must have been awful.”
She hit her ball and missed. Adeline grinned and went to her ball.
“It was,” Adeline agreed as Deborah followed her, “But Mama always told me I needed to be strong. That I was stronger than anyone knew.”
She knocked her ball, and once again, she succeeded in hitting her peg.
“So that is what I shall be,” Adeline added, swinging her mallet up onto her shoulder with a smirk.
“Your mama sounds like a wonderful woman,” Deborah said softly.
Adeline’s smirk dropped as her gaze moved to the grass.
“She was,” she murmured.
Deborah took a moment to line up her next shot and frowned as she missed again.
“I am woefully out of practice,” she muttered.
“Do not worry, you will get the grasp of it again soon,” Adeline offered, walking toward her ball.
Encouraged by Adeline’s conversational tone, Deborah followed.
“You know, I lost a parent as well when I was younger,” she explained.
Adeline looked to her in surprise, then quickly turned her attention back to her stance and mallet placement.
“Who?” She asked, then took her shot.
Deborah couldn’t believe it as the ball tapped precisely into the stake. The girl was a natural!
“My father,” Deborah replied, giving up on her ball altogether. She waved for Adeline to continue, and Adeline did so without protest.
“He was a wonderful, kind man, but neither he nor my mother told my sisters or me to be strong. Their lessons were more focused on us being polite, pretty, and well-versed in womanly skills such as sewing, embroidery, singing, and such.”
She let out a weak laugh.
“Though looking back, I wish either of our parents would have encouraged us to be strong. We certainly needed to be once he was gone.”
Adeline turned to Deborah and gave a casual shrug after she gave her a brief look over.
“You seem strong to me,” she replied, then turned back to the game.
Deborah smiled.
“I do?” She asked.
“Well, you must be to put up with my uncle,” Adeline replied, and Deborah could not help the deep belly laugh. Even Adeline giggled.
“What is it like having sisters?” Adeline asked, lining up her final shot, “My mother said she always wanted to give me a brother and sister, but I guess that did not work out.”
A pang moved through Deborah’s chest, both for her and for Adeline. The girl was far lonelier than she wanted to admit.
“We fought quite a bit when we were younger,” Deborah explained. “My mother had her hands full. As we got older, though, we became quite close. Especially Hester and I. Grace and I’s older sister.”
Adeline’s brows drew down in confusion.
“If you were so close, why was she not at your wedding?” Adeline asked. “I only met Grace, and the only other lady there was your mother.”
Deborah felt another pang move through her heart, wishing more than anything that Hester could have been there. Then again, if she had been, Deborah would have likely not found herself married to the Duke in the first place.
“She is…staying somewhere else,” Deborah finally answered, “Somewhere far away. She could not make it in time.”
“Will she visit us?” Adeline asked.
Deborah felt a knot of emotion well in her throat; once more, she wondered where her dear sister had disappeared to.
She had received letters the first year of her absence, but then one day they stopped.
Deborah had sent a letter to the housekeeper at the estate where Hester had been working, and that was how she had discovered that her sister had left to take another job.
The housekeeper insisted she had no idea where Hester had gone to work next, and Deborah had not heard from her since.
“Probably not,” Deborah whispered.
Adeline took her final shot and once again hit the stake with ease. Wanting to change the sudden somberness of her mood, Deborah forced a wide smile, clapped her hands, and praised Adeline for her victory.
“Come along, Deborah!” Adeline yelled, “Do catch up!”
Her words were followed by a burst of laughter, and Deborah smiled as she put a hand over her hat and ran faster, doing her best to keep her hoop rolling by her side.
The day had gone far better than she expected.
Adeline had dropped her defiant nature almost immediately, and they had held many conversations through the games and picnic lunch.
She did notice how the maids had glanced nervously at Adeline as they brought them cool lemonade a short while ago, but if they had something to say, they had kept it to themselves.
“I am going to outpace you!” Deborah called back Adeline, nearly at her side now, “I may have lost three rounds of croquet, but I will win this game!”
Though sweaty and red-faced, Adeline laughed once again as they ran side by side.
They had made a wager. Whoever was the first to reach the stone patio steps could have a biscuit before supper, and it seemed both were determined to win.
Knowing they must be nearing the steps, Deborah looked away from Adeline and straight ahead, and stumbled as she saw Cedric on the bottom step; his arms folded, his face a mask of rage.
Adeline looked up as well, as if noticing how caught off guard Deborah seemed to be, and at once she stopped running; the hoop at her side continuing in the grass on its own until it hit Cedric’s shins and fell on its side.
Deborah slowed to a stop as well and instinctively took Adeline’s hand as they both caught their breath.
She watched warily as Cedric left the bottom steps and strode toward Adeline; his eyes so focused on the girl that Deborah was not even sure he noticed her presence as well.
Then, just as he reached her, his mask of rage shifted to one of worry, and he reached out and took hold of Adeline’s chin with great care.
“What on earth are you doing, child?” He whispered worriedly as his dark eyes searched her face, “Are you trying to hurt yourself?”
Adeline said nothing. She just stood there, glaring into Cedric’s worried eyes as she continued to catch her breath.
“Do not be cross with her,” Deborah urged, taking a step toward them. “It was my decision to come outside. Adeline tried to tell me you would not like it, but I insisted anyway.”
“Oh, look at you,” Cedric rasped, as if he had not heard a word Deborah had said, “You are positively flushed! And your breathing is shallow. You are trembling! Are you dizzy? Do we need to lay you down?”
Deborah, who had stepped back when Cedric had approached Adeline, came to her side again and tugged her away.
“Stop this!” Deborah insisted, “She was just having some fun! There is no need to treat her as if she is some delicate-”
“You have no idea how delicate she is!” Cedric snarled, setting a glare on her that made her blood run cold.
A low growl rumbled from Cedric’s chest, and he drew in a deep breath through flared nostrils as he let go of Adeline’s chin and stepped back.
“Go inside, young lady,” Cedric ordered, his tone still harsh. “Have a maid draw you a cool bath, and do not dare fight me on this! I am in no mood!”
Deborah waited, sure that Adeline was going to stomp her foot and refuse. Instead, the little girl bowed her head and fled up the stairs and past her uncle.
“Slowly!” He called.