Not after the passionate way he had kissed her.
Do not think of it now,Addy, she inwardly admonished herself, even though those heated music room moments had furthermost occupied her mind every second since the duke’s mouth had left hers. He was excellent at kissing, which she supposed was to be expected since everything about the Duke of Marchingham was utter, unparalleled perfection except for the shabby state of his manor house. Addy rather wished he had been wet-lipped and oafish and that his breath had smelled of herrings and pickles and moldy cheese.
It would have made everything so much easier.
“Your mother decorates for Christmas more than anyone I know,” Aunt Pearl pointed out mildly, interrupting Addy’s thoughts. “With the duke the only one in residence, I can understand his not wanting the fuss. Besides, I sincerely doubt there are enough servants to contend with such a formidable task.”
That much was true. For such a grand house, Marchingham Hall was woefully lacking in domestics. Addy had noticed it at once. Of course, back at home, Mama kept more servants than any other household in the city as a point of pride and a symbol of the Fox family’s immense wealth.
“Mama would be horrified by the absence of trimmings,” Addy agreed.
“Speaking of your mother, what do you think she will say when she learns of your latest scrape?” Aunt Pearl asked shrewdly.
Addy bit her lip. “Do we need to tell her?”
Aunt Pearl gave her a meaningful look over the gold rims of her spectacles. “I don’t dare keep secrets from her. You know how she is.”
She sighed. “Yes, I do.”
Mama was notoriously unforgiving. Once, she had banished Aunt Pearl from paying calls to their Fifth Avenue mansion for an entire year because her aunt had failed to tell her mother in a sufficiently timely manner that Mrs. Richard Thomas Taylor had been spreading gossip about her. Papa had taken to visiting Aunt Pearl instead, and he’d graciously included Addy in his clandestine visits. She had kept her silence about the matter, naturally. No one wanted to be on the wrong side of Mrs. Cornelius Fox. Not even her own family.
“Then we must inform her that you were not invited to Marchingham Hall as you claimed,” Aunt Pearl said, her voice uncharacteristically stern.
“But Mama will likely be furious with me for my subterfuge,” Addy argued stubbornly. “Do you truly want me to suffer her wrath?”
“You are her flesh and blood. Better for you to suffer her wrath than me. Need I remind you of the incident with Mrs. Richard Thomas Taylor?”
She sighed, and Dandy opened one chocolate-brown eye to peer curiously up at her. “All is well, my darling sweet pea,” she crooned, petting Dandy’s silken head.
“Adelia Louise?” Aunt Pearl prodded her.
Addy blew out an exasperated breath and pinned her aunt with an aggrieved look. “You know I dislike it when you call me that. Adelia and Louise do not go together well. Not at all.”
“That is precisely why I call you Adelia Louise. It captures your attention every time.”
Addy grumbled beneath her breath.
“What was that, my dear?”
“Nothing,” she said, offering her aunt a bright smile.
Her aunt gave her a knowing look. “You never answered my question.”
“I recall Mama’s petty fury with you over Mrs. Richard Thomas Taylor. It was very badly done of Mama. She knows what a wretched gossip Mrs. Taylor is. The woman can’t open her mouth without saying something awful about someone else. And it wasn’t as if you indulged in her nonsense.”
“I put the terrible woman in her place,” Aunt Pearl agreed stoutly. “But I heard the gossip on a Tuesday, and I failed to tell your mother until a Thursday. It was an egregious sin she couldn’t possibly forgive.”
“So you see why we mustn’t tell her about my little fib?” Addy tried hopefully.
“I see why wemust. You are her daughter. She will forgive you before a year is over.”
Dandy raised her head and made a half woof that heralded someone about to enter the room. Addy glanced toward the door just as Marchingham appeared there. Dandy gave a full bark and leapt from Addy’s lap, racing across the carpets in her customary stiff-legged prowl. Although a small dog, Dandy possessed the bravado of a hound three times her size.
“Dandy acts as if she is a lioness about to tear apart her prey,” Aunt Pearl observed in a quiet aside.
“That is because no one has ever told her she is little, so she thinks she’s the size of a bear,” Addy said.
“Halt,” ordered the duke.
