“What will happen to them? To George?”
“I don’t know the answer to that. Because of their status they may be able to slip out of any charges if they assert they didn’t know the items were contraband. But Daniels is no fool, and the foreign office has also been involved in tracking this shipment. Plus, Bellamy has been making a big fuss about the missing items down at Whitehall. Daniels isn’t likely to let him off the hook after all his false blustering.” Malcolm ran a hand through his hair. “As for George, I gave him an opportunity to hand the items to me to return discreetly. I hoped to keep him—and you—out of it. But George refused to admit that they had them.”
“Foolish.” Adeline shook her head and walked over to the window. She gazed outside for a long moment. “It’s not just my concern for my idiot brother. I recently found out that I am not my father’s daughter. That I am, in fact, the product of an affair.”
Malcolm couldn’t see her expression, but he could see her shoulders droop.
She turned suddenly to face him. “I don’t know who I am anymore. Only that I have had this black mark against me for my whole life and never knew why. I feel like a fish out of water, unable to take in a proper breath. If I am not the Earl of Rawlings’s daughter, who am I?”
He moved to her and brushed away a tear that slid down her cheek. “You are Adeline Amberley. Daughter to a woman who loves alliteration, reader of Greek tragedies, astronomer, secret romantic, and a thief.”
Her eyes widened. “A thief? I-I am not.”
“Yes, you are. You have quite stolen my heart.”
Her expression softened as he had hoped. She batted him on the shoulder, but he grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. She looked adorable with her brows lowered like she was puzzling out his statement.
“Your compliments confuse me,” she said.
“They are the truth. The truth is that you have me thoroughly seduced.” He bent to kiss her lightly. “I too, want to touch you. To run my hands over the curves of your body. To bring you pleasure and to hear my name from your lips as you come all over my face.”
Her small gasp bled into a sigh as he ran his tongue over the delicate shell of her ear. “But perhaps we should start slowly,” he said softly. “I plan to pepper you with compliments until they all make perfect sense. Then I will make you mine, Adeline Amberley.” He gave her earlobe a slow suck before pulling away. “Rest. Today was an adventure. I will go down and order us dinner for six o’clock. Does that sound good?”
Adeline nodded.
Malcolm left and headed downstairs, whistling his favorite sea shanty. As adventures went, Adeline was going to be his best one yet.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Adeline once againbattled with her blasted hair. The best she had been able to do last night was a rather loose braid. The tie had come undone in the night while she slept, and her curls were like a halo of tangles this morning. She pulled the brush through another snarl and winced as it tugged at her scalp. At least she had awoken at a decent hour this morning.
Last night, she had shared dinner with Kingsbury and Mr. Bosely in the main dining room. It had been quite the experience as she had never been allowed to dine there before when she traveled with her parents. They had always had a private dining room. Clearly, Lord Kingsbury was not aware of the many rules that applied to ladies of quality, especially unmarried ones, and she was thoroughly glad of it. Adeline was done with following the rules society set. She was twenty-three years old, and she had been hiding out with her books, longing for adventures like the ones she’d read about inside them.
Besides, there had been nothing scandalous in the main dining room. Just families traveling through, a band of young men that sat together drinking ale, and one table of white-haired matrons laughed uproariously and shared a bottle of wine. Everyone looked to be having fun, and so had she. Kingsbury and Bosely had entertained her with stories from their travels throughout the dinner of country ham, potatoes, and gravy.
She had initially been anxious to see how Malcolm would treat her after his wicked declarations whispered in her ear. But true to his word, he had been a gentleman, which perhaps was a tiny bit disappointing but also a bit of a relief. Making love to him in her imagination was not at all the same as the overwhelming reality of being wrapped up in the embrace of the man himself. Did she have the skill to seduce a man like Kingsbury?
A knock sounded, and like the previous morning, Malcolm’s blond head poked around the door, a grin on his handsome face. “This morning, I was able to procure sticky buns for us.”
“That sounds delicious. Come in.” She paused tugging at her hair.
“Still taming your hair?”
“Always. It feels like an endless job. And it makes me miss Mary. Which makes me realize how utterly spoiled I am.”
He crossed to her and held out a hand. “Let me. It would be my pleasure.”
“Only if you hand me one of those sticky buns.”
He went back to the table for the bag. He opened the top, and Adeline pulled out a gooey honey-glazed sticky bun. It smelled divine. She took a bite, closing her eyes as the still-warm pastry all but melted on her tongue. Malcolm set the bag on the edge of the bed near them and then took the brush from her other hand. Coming around behind her, he began to unsnarl her hair.
“It is a damn shame ladies must coil up their hair. It’s so beautiful loose.”
“It is out of necessity. It would get into everything if I didn’t pin it back.”
“I suppose so.” His fingers threaded through her hair, and he gently scratched her scalp.
“If you keep doing that, I will become a puddle on the floor. It feels incredible.”
