The Reluctant Suitor (49 page)

pulled her arm through his and escorted her here or there. To see the smile that normally followed such services seemed to lift her whole being on airy wings.

Colton’s gallantry had been sweepingly evident even at the commencement of their courtship. The Sunday following the Autumn Ball, he had arrived at Wakefield Manor in the afternoon to formally initiate it. With a grin reminiscent of his boyish years, he had presented her with a lavish bouquet of flowers, admitting somewhat sheepishly that a servant had collected them from the conservatory, albeit with Philana’s permission. That unexpected awkwardness in so stalwart a man had touched her in ways she had never known possible.

Faced with the prospect of having every word he uttered in the manor being overheard by her parents, he had invited her to take a stroll with him through the gardens, which in late October had certainly not been at their best. Yet she had readily concurred, knowing there’d be enough of a nip in the chilled breezes to redden her nose and cheeks and disguise the blushes that were wont to sweep into her cheeks whenever she recalled not only her lack of clothing when he had kissed her the night after Roger’s attack, but her yearning to have him hold and comfort her.

The lofty hedges surrounding Wakefield gardens had afforded them cozy places of privacy, and her tensions had begun to ease soon after he had engaged her in conversation. Until that moment, Adriana had never realized what a complex individual Colton had become. He had talked candidly about his experiences in the military, and, in subtle ways, confirmed his streak of independence. During his military career, he had had several unexpected confrontations with the enemy wherein he had been forced to improvise and make decisions contrary to orders he had been issued rather than see his men needlessly slain. No one after hearing his stories could doubt his self-sufficiency, and she had felt honored that he had revealed things about himself that he hadn’t been inclined to tell his own kin, much of which had had to do with the rift he had caused by his departure from home and the difficulty in coping with the horrendous emptiness of his loss and his separation from his family. After being sent to Africa, however, he had been too busy to think of home and what he had left behind, and much of his remorse had faded from conscious thought.

When he had recounted humorous incidents that had happened during his career as an officer, Adriana had found herself laughing beyond measure at his tales and, in every respect, enjoying their repartee. He had a relaxed, compelling manner about him, and what seemed even more admiring in her estimation was the fact that he was capable of laughing at himself and openly jesting about his idiosyncrasies. Those he mentioned seemed far more charming than vexing. In short, she found him a truly remarkable individual, the sort she’d have chosen to marry had she been given a chance to make the selection herself.

Invited to stay for supper later that evening, Colton had assured her parents that it would not only give him great delight to do so, but would also please his mother who was no doubt hoping and praying that he’d enjoy his visit. He had sat across the table from Adriana, from whence he had seemed liberally disposed to peruse her for the better part of the meal. Much later that evening, as he was preparing to leave, they had stood together outside the front door of Wakefield Manor and held hands as they spoke of family and other things. Then, after snuggling the hood of her cloak close about her face, he had kissed her in a way that had set her heart to fluttering. It had been a sweet little morsel that had united their lips and threatened to engage their tongues as his own whisked tantalizingly across her mouth and slipped briefly inward. Quite abruptly, however, he had set her from him, cleared his throat as he overlapped his redingote in front of himself, and then had briskly taken his departure, leaving her smiling in secret pleasure as she wandered back into the house and up to her bedchamber. Long after snuggling beneath her bedcovers, she had still been reveling in the fact that their kiss had affected him in ways she would never disclose to anyone.

Since that first visit, her parents had been encouraged by Colton’s apparent eagerness to get on with the courtship and had remarked numerous times on his suave, impeccable manners. Adriana didn’t dare tell them that when it suited his purposes, Colton Wyndham could also be a devilish rogue and a bit of a roué at times.

Properly chaperoned by the Burkes, they had spent several days of the following week in Bath where they had shopped, attended plays, musical events, and other social gatherings. By the end of that same expanse of time, nearly everyone in England had become aware that they were
a couple
, or so it had been bandied about by numerous rumors.

As for Roger, her father had come close to killing him the night of his attack on her person. When the young man finally regained consciousness well after the guests had left, the elder had pressed a cocked pistol very close to the tip of Roger’s nose as he voiced his indignation. Such a display of paternal rage had left the apprentice quailing in terror and pleading for his life amid a profusion of frightened tears. It had only been her mother’s wise counsel that had caused Gyles to concede that killing the man would only arouse the curiosity of the gossips. Nevertheless, her father had warned Roger that if he dared approach within close proximity to her ever again while she was unattended that he

’d well rue the day. For that offense, he would either be chased down and gelded on the spot or be forced to face far more serious consequences, which would come upon him when he least expected it.

For the time being, however, he would allow Roger to go about his affairs without bringing charges against him. It wasn’t that Gyles had felt the least bit merciful toward the man; he had just had a sharp aversion to his daughter’s name being sullied by an avaricious band of talebearers who’d make much of her near-ravishment.

Concluding his apprenticeship shortly thereafter, Roger had assumed management of the mill and proved his potential by bringing in profits purportedly equal to those once reaped by the original owner, Thomas Winter, a feat Edmund Elston had failed to accomplish in spite of his inclination to laud his own ingenuity.

After cruelly maligning his son over his failure to win Lady Adriana, the elder had evidently received his just due, or so some of the mill’s employees had whispered, for shortly thereafter the elder had suffered a seizure that had left him bedridden and in something of a confused stupor. The fact that the rebuke had taken place in front of the workers had all but severed the tenuous rapport that for the last year had existed between sire and son. Still, there were those who had been cognizant of the fact that Edmund Elston had written out his will well before their rift and, because he had no other next of kin or close friends, had named his son heir of all his possessions and properties. Some had even predicted upon the man’s demise that Roger Elston would become a fairly rich man. Edmund’s constitution, however, had soon negated all the morbid predictions he would soon die. His housekeeper even went so far as to say that she saw daily improvement in the man.

Purportedly Roger was now wooing Felicity. For some unknown reason, Stuart had lost interest in the miller’s granddaughter shortly after the Autumn Ball, and, to everyone’s surprise and Adriana’s immense

delight, he had begun courting Berenice Carvell, whose proportions in the recent two months had diminished by a noticeable degree. As a result, her comeliness was becoming more and more apparent.

As for Riordan Kendrick, he had been rather reclusive since that same event, seeing no lady at all, only intimate friends, or so the rumors had gone. Hearsay had it that he was supervising repairs currently being made to his own private chambers at his estate on the far side of Bradford, and that both London and Bradford woodwrights had been engaged to create paneling beautiful enough to please a discriminating marquess. His housekeeper, Mrs. Rosedale, knew only that he had wanted to make some changes in the manor, for what reasons she wouldn’t even speculate. No one had been able to obtain further information, as much as the overtly curious were wont to query many of his household servants whenever they’d venture out to shop. They only repeated what Mrs. Rosedale had volunteered, and nothing else was forthcoming. Their inability to discover his lordship’s reasons left gossips all the way from London to Bath in a veritable quandary for fear they were missing some juicy tidbit.

It was upon Riordan Kendrick and his aspirations to have her for his wife that Adriana sought to turn her thoughts as she made her way from her bedchamber. To some degree, Riordan’s proposal of marriage served to reassure her that she was honorably desired by someone. Still, upon nearing the central hall where her escort awaited her, she hoped that just once she wouldn’t be able to liken Colton to some gorgeous phantom being who had come down to earth for the express purpose of stealing her heart and perhaps even her very soul.

“Good evening,” she greeted, forcing a cheery smile as she approached her handsome courtier and their chaperones. If truth be told, she yearned to return to the privacy of her bedchamber where she’d make a desperate attempt to forget that Colton Wyndham had ever returned to disrupt her life. Much to her regret, she had fallen in love with the man, and she despaired of the moment wherein he’d coldly kiss her cheek and terminate their parents’ agreement. It certainly didn’t help the pace of her heart to discover that her frivolous wish of an earlier moment had been to no avail, for he was the very epitome of a tall, flawlessly handsome, aristocratic gentleman.

Samantha hurried forward and fondly pressed a kiss upon her friend’s cheek. “You took your own sweet time getting down here,” she teased with a grin. “Why, if I were at all suspicious, I’d be inclined to say you have no wish to attend Mr. Gladstone’s Christmas party.” As her eyes searched the dark, luminous depths and found no hint of joy, she queried more pointedly, “Or is it that you wish to avoid Roger and Felicity, who’ll certainly be there?”

Though her closest friend and confidant had hit close enough to the truth to make her almost flinch, Adriana feigned surprise as Charles brought her velvet cloak. “Why should I wish to avoid them?”

“Because, you goose,” Samantha replied with warm, chuckling laughter, “Felicity is wont to claim to every sympathetic ear that you led Roger merrily along until Colton came home. Of course, dear Roger, bless his black heart, magnanimously nods in agreement.” She clasped the thin fingers and, finding them trembling and as cold as ice, searched the dark eyes with growing concern. “We don’t have to go to Stanover House at all if you’d rather not, Adriana.”

“We’re going,” the younger woman declared resolutely, taking herself firmly in hand. “We’ll be visiting Samuel Gladstone, not his granddaughter. After that, whether we stay or go will be entirely up to the three of you.”

As much as Colton sought to maintain a gentlemanly serenity in Adriana’s presence, he felt his vitals once again being turned inside out. It happened each and every time he laid eyes on her, for she was the very fabric of every lofty vision he had ever formed of the ideal woman. There had been many times while in her presence when he had felt like a simple lackey before a queen. This evening she looked no less than regal in a dove-gray, silk-lace gown that clung sublimely to her slender, curving form.

Having halted Charles with a hand upon his arm, Colton silently claimed the lady’s cloak from the butler and stepped behind her. Leaning near as he spread the garment around her shoulders, he murmured above her ear, “Your perfection leaves me besotted, my sweet.”

The warm, mellow tones of his voice undermined Adriana’s efforts to remain distantly detached from the man. His words seemed to resonate through her being, much like a lover’s caress stroking vulnerable areas. She felt doubly defeated when his lean knuckles brushed her bare shoulder. Although nearly dissolving in bliss, she managed a wavering whisper in spite of the tremor he evoked within her. “You’re very gallant, my lord.”

Her delicate scent was merely one of the many temptations Colton was forced to confront whenever he was near the lady. She always smelled as if she had just emerged from a swirling sea of rose petals.

Although he’d have greatly preferred to limit such delicious assaults on his poorly depleted restraint, he was beginning to suspect that in comparison, standing firm against Napoleon’s forces had been child’s play.

Although clearly capable of recognizing the folly of lingering overlong at such tasks, Colton couldn’t resist straightening her collar and smoothing the garment over her shoulders. Touching her even casually seemed far more stimulating to his goading desires than anything he had experienced heretofore with other women. So, too, the sights to which his gaze was privy as he stood behind her. His height gave him the advantage, for he could from that angle peruse her creamy breasts to a greater depth, a view he deliberately sought more than he cared to admit even to himself. He was always eager for a fresh glimpse of the pale orbs or their delicate pink peaks barely visible through the gossamer lace trim of her satin chemise.

From across the room, it had seemed at first glance as if she wore nothing at all beneath the lace scrollwork of her gown. As much as his manly propensities would have been greatly heartened by such sights, he knew Adriana would never have worn anything so risqué. She was a refined lady, after all. Still, whatever hopes he had briefly nurtured were dashed when he realized a flesh-colored silk facing lined her lace gown from shoulder to hem.

“I overheard Samantha teasing you,” he murmured for her ears alone, leaning near to catch the fragrance of roses wafting from her temple. It always seemed far more delectable in that area than any spot he had yet discovered, leading him to think that she dabbed a tiny drop or two of perfume there as a finale to her grooming. “You needn’t fear Roger while I’m with you. I won’t let him hurt you, Adriana.”