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“And ices!” Millie exclaimed in excitement.

Beatrice turned to Millie, her excitement growing contagious. Except she was supposed to try ices with Adam! Of course, it was just one thing to cross off her list, but the more time she spent with him, the more chance to make him fall in love with her… or seduce him.

“Yes, right,” Lady Vane said with a smile. “Adam mentioned that you’ve never tried ices before.”

“Adam… uh… Mr. Lewis spoke of this?”

Lady Vane nodded. “Yes, he stopped by our house this morning, and when I told him that we were going out for ices, he mentioned that you’d always wanted to try one, and he suggested we seek your company.”

Beatrice’s heart dropped, and it must have shown on her face because Lady Vane hastened to add, “Not to say that we only came because Adam suggested it. What I said earlier is true. I would love to resume our friendship.”

Beatrice forced a smile to her face and nodded. She was crestfallen, but not for the reasons Lady Vane assumed. She’d thought—she’d hoped—Adam would be the one to take her to all the places on her list, but the bounder had asked his sister to do it instead. He’d delegated her. Like a chore!

“I would love to join you on your outing,” Beatrice said as enthusiastically as she could while on the inside, she wanted to weep.

She was excited to spend time with Lady Vane and her daughter. She would love to have more friends in London. But the fact that this was orchestrated by Adam so that he could spend less time with her cut, and it cut deep.

“I shall go change for our outing. Are you certain you don’t want some tea while you wait?” Beatrice asked with a smile.

“No, but thank you. We just shared tea with Adam before we came here.”

Adam. Adam. Adam.

Not only was she delegated by him like an unwanted task, but now she was bound to spend the entire afternoon with his sister talking about the scoundrel! This day could not get any worse.

* * *

Whack!

Adam’s face made a sharp turn under the forceful punch to his jaw. Blood and saliva spattered from his mouth and hit the floor. He stumbled two steps back before feeling stable on his own two feet, although he still saw stars in the deep, dark sky instead of a sunny room and his brother’s grinning face.

There he is!

Gage went at him with another punch, but this time Adam blocked it and counterattacked. The brothers broke off and circled each other, taking a break.

“You are getting weak, brother,” Adam said. “Your punches barely sting.” He blinked a few times, because although Gage’s punches didn’t sting—they hurt—the sweat running down his face did sting his eyes.

Gage let out a hoarse laugh and came at Adam with two more strikes. “I am just going easy on you,” he said when they broke off again. “I don’t want you walking around with your face all black and blue.”

Adam let out a huff. “Since when have you ever cared about my appearance?”

“I don’t.” Gage shrugged. “But if Sir Franklin Richardson sees you like this, he might decide you are a terrible fighter and take the offer back.”

Adam chuckled. “And here I thought you didn’t want me to leave.”

Adam had spent the entire week speaking to Sir Richardson about his upcoming expedition. It was a noble attempt at mapping the Northwest Passage. A few notable explorers would be joining them on their journey, but Sir Richardson needed more men and had limited resources from the Royal Navy to hire them.

Thus, he looked for people with an adventurous spirit who would agree to a nominal compensation. But those men had to be in good health and be useful for the expedition. Being fluent in a few languages and having a diplomatic background were some of the important qualities, as they would have to seek assistance from the natives once they reached Canada and make sure they did not make any enemies in the meantime.

With all that in mind, Adam made a perfect candidate. He didn’t need money, and the idea of exploring the unknown tickled his adventurous spirit. He had worked under the Secretary at War on conflict de-escalation and negotiations. He spoke five languages and could read seven. And he was ready to board the ship yesterday.

And all that sounded good and well, except for one thing…

Gage threw a few more punches, but Adam easily evaded them.

“See? You are getting soft,” he joked.

“You haven’t even hit me once, yet you’re talking,” Gage accused with another couple of punches. Adam countered and opened himself for another punch in the face.