“Yes. And hestilldidn’t offer for me. He thought I could do better.” Kitty laughed. “Can you imagine?”
“You deserved better,” Adams said indulgently, his eyes shining with love as he gazed down at her.
Heywood knew the feeling only too well. He still couldn’t believe he’d found a wife as special as Cass. He covered her hand with his.
She smiled up at him before looking back at Adams. “That doesn’t explain how you found us in Lincolnshire, sir.”
“Ah, yes, I’m getting to that. You see, as Kitty stormed off, I noticed Malet slip from the room. He’d apparently heard us talking. And when Kitty disappeared, I assumed he’d taken her. So I made sure to go to your aunt’s house, and when Malet showed up there with your aunt, and they’d already learned from Malet’s coachman that you and Kitty had been carried off by Lord Heywood . . . well, imagine my relief to learn that it was His Lordship. I knew Lord Heywood was a gentleman, and besides, he’d taken you, too, and you would watch over her.”
“I tried,” Cass said. “But how—”
“Lord Heywood had left his card at your home with his address, but Malet was convinced that you three had gone to Gretna Green, so he wanted to go there. I hoped that His Lordship was merely looking out for Kitty, so I took the chance that you might have come here. I was slowed down by the snow, unfortunately, but—”
“He asked to see me, said he was my solicitor,” Kitty put in, clearly too impatient to let him finish, “and the servant went to fetch me. But then my dear love spotted me in the drawing room, and the sleigh was unattended outside and—”
“We took it and ran,” Mr. Adams finished.
Heywood blinked. “That is quite a tale.”
“It is, isn’t it?” Kitty said, then glanced across the room and froze. “Oh, no, Mama has spotted us, and I can’t abide another lecture. Come, my dear, let’s go have some champagne.”
Adams happily let himself be pulled away.
“It’s like that ‘babes in the wood’ tale,” Cass said with a laugh. “Kitty always manages to land on her feet.”
“Not quite,” Heywood said. “She had you and your mother, and now she has Adams. We can only hope she appreciates him.”
“I’m sure she does. The same way I appreciate you.” Cass beamed at him, and his heart skipped a beat.
“And I appreciate you. Because I would never have had the humility to tell you I wasn’t good enough for you. Even though it’s true.”
“It is indeed,” she said lightly. When he blinked at her, she burst into laughter. “I’m teasing you. You should know me better by now.”
“Trust me, it will take me years to know you well enough.” He bent to whisper, “And I should really like to start now, upstairs in our newly refurbished bedchamber.”
“No, indeed, sir. There will be no sneaking around for us. Once I have you to myself, I mean to enjoy it and not have to worry about getting caught by your mother or sister or brothers.” When he groaned, she added, “But trust me, once everyone is gone, I will make it well worth your while.”
As his blood rose, along with another part of his body, he realized she was never going to be wide-eyed and demure like her cousin.
Thank God.
