Page 50 of To Tempt a Scandalous Lord
Alicia was immensely proud of it, of how she’d refuted popular claims about the need for additional reforms and given specific ways Parliament could address them. And, of course, it highlighted how beneficial it would be to have Niall helm such changes.
Effia had sent a note just that morning asking when Alicia would have her next article ready, because the last one had been so impactful.
She yearned to tell Niall about it, to hear his thoughts about the ways she suggested Parliament could enact worthwhile changes. Seeing how hard he worked every day to see to his responsibilities, whether it was reading proposals, crafting legislation, or conversing for long hours with his colleagues over all sorts of issues affecting the country, told her he would take great interest in her ideas. He’d walked in while she was editing yesterday, and when he asked what she was working on, the truth had been on her tongue. Instead, she swallowed it down and told him she was writing a letter to Flora.
Secrets had a way of coming out, though, and she would have to speak her truth sooner or later.
A soft rustle drew her eyes open, jolting her back to the garden, and she swallowed back a gasp when she spied the object of her thoughts sitting on a bench several feet away, his gray gaze intent upon her.
“What are you doing out here?” she asked, quickly rubbing her palms on her apron. “Surely you shouldn’t be here. You don’t want to overtire yourself.”
His chuckle was deep and hearty. “I’m perfectly hale. I’ve long since recovered, and a bit of fresh air never hurt anyone.”
Alicia pressed her lips together. Niall certainly did not look as if cholera had attempted to steal him away from her. He was dressed as immaculately as ever, but his dark locks fell loose about his face, softening the sharp slash of his cheekbones and the firm line of his jaw. Tucked into the shade and surrounded by the vibrantly colored flowers the gardener tended dutifully, Niall appeared relaxed in a way she had never seen from him before.
He’d yet to return to the normal, hectic schedule that used to leave him drained at the end of each night, but Alicia suspected it would not be much longer until he did. So far, he had managed just fine working from the study, committee members and colleagues visiting regularly for meetings. Alicia had become used to the steady stream of visitors traipsing through Campbell House visiting with her husband. But there was no denying Niall was itching to return to Westminster, and she could not blame him for wanting some portion of his life to return to normal…even as she worried the comfortable accord they had settled into would be no more.
“Your thoughts are quite loud.”
Alicia jerked her chin back, dropping her gaze, but not before she spied the small smile haunting his mouth.
Clearing her throat, she ventured, “And what, pray tell, do they say?”
“That you’re wondering when I’ll be returning to Westminster now that I have recovered.”
She scowled.
“I do believe you’ll miss me when I’m no longer underfoot for you to snipe at.”
“I do not snipe,” Alicia huffed with a glare.
His answering grin lit his whole face. “And I will miss how easily I can send you into a flutter.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’ll have plenty of opportunities to aggravate each other in the evenings.”
Niall was silent for a moment, but the manner in which he flexed his jaw told her he was mulling over a thought.
“Was there something else?” she asked, cocking her head.
“I believe you were also admiring my appearance.” He planted his hands on his thighs and leaned forward, a wicked glint in his eyes. “Do you think I’m handsome, wife?”
Alicia’s answering snort was indelicate. “Of course I do. I have two working eyes, do I not?”
His bark of laughter warmed her all over. “Indeed you do. You have the loveliest pair of brown eyes I’ve ever had the pleasure to glare at me.”
She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling, but could do nothing to stop the flush that swept across her cheeks.
They stared at each other for a long moment, neither saying a word. The air between them crackled, and her skin tingled with an unknown intensity. When she licked her suddenly dry lips, his gaze smoldered as it dropped to her mouth.
“Excuse me, your ladyship, but I have those seeds you requested.”
And like a popped bubble, the moment was over.
Alicia ripped her gaze away from Niall and willed it to focus on the gardener instead. “Thank you, Mr. MacGill,” she murmured, accepting the packet with a smile.
With a tip of his hat to Niall, the gardener ambled away, unaware he’d left a yawning tension in his wake.
Or perhaps the tension only existed in her mind, because Niall raised his brows. “What do you intend to plant in this little patch of earth you’ve cleared for yourself?”
