Alice caught her breath. The last thing she had wanted to do was make Adam worry. By bedtime, he would find the letter she’d left on his pillow under the counterpane. In it, she’d told him of her decision to spend some time at Stonely and how she thought it best to put some distance between her and any trouble.
Naturally, she’d finished with “Love, Alice.” He would understand.
Barely twenty-four hours later, she heard carriage wheels and ran to the front door. In truth, she’d had her ears pricked all afternoon. Sure enough, the same horse-drawn fly she’d used from the station the day before came to a halt in the front of the house.
Running out the door, Alice thought it best to meet her husband head on. As he climbed down from his conveyance, his expression told her he most certainly didnotunderstand.
“Lady Diamond,” he said formally, making her cringe. “I am glad to see you are well.”
“Adam, please, don’t speak like that, as if we are strangers.”
“You behaved like a stranger. I would never have guessed my Alice would let the likes of Fairclough frighten her into leaving her home and her husband.”
She bit her lower lip. She had no defense. Running from Gerald had seemed the most natural thing in the world. Right up until the time Mrs. Georgie told her she was a mad fool.
“Won’t you come inside? It looks much better now, and I know it is because of you. I am so very grateful.”
He merely sighed and nodded to the driver, who had put down a rather small leather bag beside Adam, not the trunk Alice might have expected.
He saw her looking at it. “I am not staying long, only overnight,” he said as he picked it up and gestured for her to lead the way.
“We are returning tomorrow?” she asked, not in the least ready to go back to all the strife in London.
“Weare not.Iam going home tomorrow. I did not come with the intent of dragging you back to London as if you were medieval chattel.”
Suddenly, her fear of Fairclough shrank in comparison to her fear of having damaged her marriage to Adam. When she didn’t precede him into the house, he went first, leaving her to trail behind.
Barely glancing at the work that had been done, Adam wandered into the drawing room, dropped his bag, and waited.
Since the only place for her to sit was the single sofa, she sat there. Yet he didn’t take the space beside her.
“I need to stand a bit after the journey,” he explained. “If you don’t mind, we can talk while I remain on my feet.”
“I do not mind at all. I had the same feeling yesterday and went for a long walk. If you would rather —”
He shook his head, cutting her off. “This is fine. But I shall ring for a cup of coffee. Do you wish for anything?”
She ought to have offered him a refreshment herself rather than forgetting the most basic of good manners.
“No, I need nothing,” she said as he tugged the bell-pull. She simply wanted to begin the discussion for which her husband had come a long way.
All at once, she realized they were both waiting for someone who wasn’t coming.
Jumping up, she said, “Stay here, and I’ll go get you a cup.”
She saw when it dawned upon him, and he nodded.
“Ale will be fine and quicker.”
Alice fairly flew down the hallway.
“Mrs. Georgie, he came!” she announced as soon as she entered the kitchen where the cook sat alone reading the paper. “He wants a glass of ale.”
Then, without waiting, she dashed to the buttery and took one of the best glasses that remained, uncorked a jug of cool ale from the tile floor, and filled it.
“Is that why the bell went off?” Mrs. Georgie asked, pointing at the line of bells high on the wall.
“Indeed. We forgot momentarily that we don’t have staff.”
