Offering them all a smile, hoping it wasn’t a pained expression, Henry said, “I must take my leave now. Again, my apologies for having turned up uninvited and my gratitude for the splendid meal you provided me upon such short notice.”
Madeleine slowly rose to her feet, and Henry crossed the distance to take her hand. Neither of them had on their gloves, and thus, he could feel her soft skin. Her fingers were quite cool, and he wondered if she needed to eat more. At least he could discern for himself she wasnotmade of porcelain as he had started to think.
Her extraordinarily beautiful eyes — a chilly blue, if he were honest — stared into his, and, for the life of him, he couldn’t fathom her thoughts. Yet her pretty lips curved up in a perfectly winsome smile.
Those flawless lips which he still hadn’t managed to kiss!
“So good of you to come, Your Grace,” Lady Madeleine said. “I hope to see you again soon.”
Did she really?He would have sworn, after that evening, that she couldn’t care less about anyone or anything, particularly not whether she would ever be in his company again.
As he got into his carriage, he knew he had better find a way to kiss her — and soon. What’s more, it had better be spectacular in order to chase away any misgiving as to whether she was actually the woman for him.
When he leaned his head back against the squabs and let his eyelids shut, it was Amity’s face which floated in his imagination. A sweet face and those deep brown eyes, so warm and welcoming. Naturally, his next thought was of the press of her soft lips against his. He sighed.
She had her Mr. Cole, he reminded himself, and he had his Lady Madeleine. Or, he would in a very few days.
He shook his head to try to make sense of his thoughts. For months, he’d had no doubt he wanted the earl’s daughter to be his wife. Now, a single week of knowing the chocolatier had caused him to question himself.Had she bewitched him with her chocolate?He’d heard tell her creations were magical, but he’d expected to use their delicious enchantment on another, not become captivated under her spell.
Herspell. Amity Rare-Foure was a difficult woman to get out of one’s mind. Should he try to kiss Madeleine again tomorrow, or should he go back to Rare Confectionery, beg Amity’s forgiveness for his boorish behavior, and continue with the plan?
Both,he supposed.
Chapter Twelve
The bell tinkled abouthalf an hour ahead of locking the door. Amity had already cleaned up, Charlotte had left, and Beatrice was finishing trays of toffee in the back.
All day long, on pins and needles, Amity had expected the Duke of Pelham to return. He might have come the previous day when she’d stayed home, her emotions in upheaval following an unpleasant scene with Jeremy in her Father’s study. She’d needed a day of solitude in her room to recuperate and come to terms with her feelings. And she hadn’t dared ask her sisters or her mother if the duke had stopped by in her absence.
Yet again, for the umpteenth time that day, at the familiar sound, her stomach clenched, and she looked up from arranging marzipan roses in a tin to see their latest customer. Again, her anxious anticipation was for naught.
Instead of the duke, in strolled Lady Madeleine, with her enviable, flawless complexion and her light blonde hair hanging in perfect coils from under a blue velvet hat. Her matching blue mantle and light blue eyes again reminded Amity of a doll. In fact, there was one of her exact likeness in a store window halfway down the street.
Amity had to admire the young lady’s beauty and swallowed her envy at such effortless grace.
Greeting her with a slight curtsey, Amity said, “Good day, my lady.”
