ADELA WAS NOTused to all the attention now being foisted on her and quickly came to understand what Ambrose must have endured for most of his life. No wonder he held himself aloof and trusted no one.
It made the confidence he had shown in her all the more significant.
He seemed so content with his decision to marry her, she sometimes wondered whether she was trapped in a dream. But he was quite real, and she needed to do her best never to disappoint him.
Once his trust was lost, it would likely be lost forever.
Tonight was the night of Lord and Lady Knightly’s ball. Ambrose had arrived to escort her and Eloise to this grand affair. As they rode in his elegant carriage to the Knightly townhouse, he reached over and took her hand in his. “Adela, are you all right?”
She smiled at him and nodded. “Yes, just preparing myself for the crush of guests we are about to face. Life was much simpler when I was merely a wallflower and soundly ignored. But I will have my three knights in shining armor to protect me…you, Eloise, and Phoebe, so I will smile and bear up gracefully no matter what is said about me.”
“You shall have an entire army of protectors there tonight,” Eloise remarked. “John and Sophie Farthingale will be in attendance along with at least thirty of their family members. Some of those Farthingale girls are married to Brayden men. No one tangles with a Brayden unless they have a death wish. My grandsons are equally fierce, so do not be fooled by how gentle and loving they are toward their wives.”
Ambrose chuckled. “Satisfied, Adela?”
She nodded. “Yes, but I do hate the notion of others fighting my battles. Not that I am looking for trouble, however there are those who will attempt to cause mischief because this is in their nature. Is it awful of me to suspect Lady Felicity Rose will do her best to undermine me tonight? I suppose I will survive her insults. But I would be so much more at ease if she caught some inconvenient disease to keep her at home. Not life-threatening, of course. A splotchy, red rash of indeterminate cause along her arms and face would serve quite nicely.”
Eloise chuckled.
But Ambrose’s expression turned fierce. “I’ll stay close. No one will dare insult you.”
Adela liked that he could be apishly protective of her, for he did not usually show his feelings. He was always politeness itself and surprisingly indulgent of her, for who else would have agreed to digging up skulls in Devonshire on their honeymoon? But he could never be described as demonstrative in his affections.
For now, it was enough that he seemed to enjoy her company and did not tire of having her around.
Perhaps passion would come in time, for she knew he was capable of it. Had he not kissed her with fiery abandon? Those kisses could not count as true passion because he had used them as a means to an end, doing whatever was needed to gain her agreement to marry him.
Job well done.
Mission accomplished.
But she could not be angry with him for wanting to protect her.
She liked what she had seen of this private side of him. Had he not kissed her, she might never have known he had so much compassion within him. What he allowed others to see was the icier side of him, the one that required steady determination and cool calculation in order to effectively get his way.
Yet, it could not be overlooked that the kisses he had given her when convincing her to marry him had been exquisitely steamy and quite effective in rousing her desire.
One item she thought might be a problem was the matter of her father’s consent. But his letter expressing delight and giving his hearty approval had arrived this morning, which was not possible unless someone had written to her father days earlier to request it. She did not think it was Eloise, but would not put it past her partner in crime, Phoebe, to have done such a thing.
The woman’s instincts were uncanny.
Said consent was never in doubt since her parents had shoved her onto the marriage mart with precisely this objective in mind, although they never expected her to find such a prize as the Duke of Huntsford.
That he did not love her to distraction made Adela a little sad, but she was no enchantress and never the sort to steal a man’s breath away.
It was enough that he easily tolerated her and appeared to enjoy her company.
She and Eloise were seated across from him in his carriage as it drew up behind a long queue of carriages outside Lord and Lady Knightly’s splendid home.
“The house is ablaze in candlelight. How pretty it looks.” Adela peered out the window as their carriage slowly moved forward toward the elegant townhouse.
“Is all arranged with Lady Knightly?” Eloise asked Ambrose as their turn came and a footman opened the door to assist them in descending.
“Yes, she and her husband will make the announcement of our betrothal as they are about to open the ball. Of course, everyone knows of it already.”
“But this will make it official and irrefutable.” Eloise nodded her approval.
Adela’s stomach was in knots.
