Madeline squeaked in alarm, snatching up the baby and jumping to her feet. She spun around and found herself facing—of course—Tristan.
He stood by the door, hands plunged in his pockets, and regarded her with a calm smile.
“What?” she managed.
“You heard me clearly, I think,” Tristan drawled. “You promised to always put a smile on his face. Well, I say you should not make promises you cannot keep. A promise that you know you cannot keep is simply a lie, you know.”
Madeline tightened her jaw. She had planned to avoid him all day, and in a house of this size, she had expected it to be easy enough.
Apparently, she was wrong.
“What is that you want?” she managed at last.
Tristan tilted his head. “Well, to begin with, I want to hear you finish that quote.”
CHAPTER 13
Madeline stared at him, momentarily taken aback. Her surprised face was so very sweet that Tristan wanted to march over and pinch her cheeks. She was wearing one of the dresses he had bought for her—the gold-and-white brocade with the puffed sleeves. This made him happier than he could have explained—a thought best left unexplored.
He did not pinch her cheeks, of course. Instead, he stood there patiently waiting. She drew in a breath, lifting her chin.
“I thank God and the cold blood I am of your humor for that,” she responded, without even glancing down at the book. “I had rather have heard my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”
“Powerful words,” Tristan chuckled. “There is only one response to it:God keep your ladyship still in that mind; so some gentleman or other shall ’scape a predestinate scratched face.”
“Scratching could not make it worse, an ‘twere such a face as yours,”Madeline muttered under her breath. He suspected she could not help herself.
He tutted and took a step forward. “Ah, now, Madeline, I don’t think you believe that. I think that you rather like my face.”
“I do not!”
“Hmm. Well, we shall agree to differ, I think.”
She seemed to rally a bit at this. The baby had found a natural position, propped on the curve of her hip, with her arms wrapped around him. It struck Tristan that it all seemed very natural, veryright.
He was also aware that he wanted to kiss her again.Thatthought was best put away in the back of his mind, to be thought over later. Or never, ideally.
“I do not. I never lie. And by the way, what do you mean, I am lying tohim?” Madeline shot back, placing her free hand on her opposite hip. “I am not lying to a baby.”
“Aren’t you? It’s not possible to keep a smile on a person’s face forever, and if you think otherwise, you’re a fool.”
She flushed. “You are a pessimist.”
“And you are naive. Think of this. When our sweet Adam grows out of his adorable babyhood and past his precious childhood years and becomes an adolescent boy, do you think he will still be so sweet?”
“Well, yes,” Madeline answered, looking baffled. “Why not?”
Tristan bit back a smile. He glanced away, shaking his head. “I can tell that you never had any brothers, Madeline.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
He took a step toward her, and she flinched back reflexively. He stopped, the smile dropping from his face.
“I only wanted to hold the baby,” Tristan said quietly. “My brother’s baby. He is my nephew, after all. And yours too now, of course.”
Madeline reddened a little, glancing away.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she mumbled. “Of course you can hold the baby.”
