Page 36 of Her Duke at Midnight
He nodded at Derwent, who focused his gaze on Adam and gestured for him to draw closer.
Lord Derwent escorted him into the hall. “Everton, the local inn is passable, and I wouldn’t suggest traveling any farther in this weather.” He glanced back toward the drawing room, where Bellwether was stumbling across the room with Whitlock’s aid. “I suspect I know who caused this, and I’m sorry to send you from Greenmere.”
The man was showing him the deference due his rank, but Adam understood his reasoning.
Then Fiona and Cecily emerged from the library, and regret washed over him in a sickening wave.
The two ladies approached quickly, Fiona’s brows arched high as she took in Adam’s bloody hand and cuff.
“What on earth happened?” Cecily drew too close, so near that Derwent’s eyes widened. “Are you all right?”
She reached for his hand, noticed their host, and then thought better of it.
“I am to prepare to depart from Greenmere tonight.” Adam refused to repeat what Bellwether had said. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies.”
He felt Fiona’s and Cecily’s gazes on him as he headed up the stairs. Then Bennett appeared at his side.
“If you’re going, I am too,” he said breathlessly.
“No, Bennett. Stay. Visit with your Lady Lara.”
“Bellwether deserved to be beaten to a bloody pulp.”
“I’m a duke of the realm now,” Adam told him tightly. “You and I both know brawling in public is beyond the pale.”
“What can I do?” he asked, his tone dripping with concern. He was the truest friend Adam had ever known.
And there was something he could do. Once they reached the top of the stairs, Adam turned to him.
“I take it Derwent wants me gone as quickly as possible, and he’ll no doubt send up staff to pack my belongings and see me off.” Adam pressed his uninjured hand to Bennett’s shoulder. “Talk to Cecily. Tell her I’m sorry and that I will call on her, if she’ll permit it, the moment she returns to London.”
“Hope isn’t lost, my friend,” Bennett assured him.
Adam offered a tight smile, trying to reassure Bennett, though his chest ached as if he’d been the one who’d just taken a pummeling. He pressed his fist to his chest.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?”
Adam frowned at Bennett. “Did Bellwether punch me?” He was embarrassed to admit he didn’t thoroughly recall the whole sequence of events. He’d been too blinded by red-hot rage.
“No, no,” Bennett said dismissively. “It’s your heart, you love-struck fool.”
CHAPTER10
There wasa clearness of thought Cecily never experienced except in the early morning hours just before the sun crested the horizon. Her mind felt sharper, her senses attuned.
Unless, of course, she’d had hardly a wink of sleep.
But even now, without rest, she knew what she had to do. The choice she’d made caused her no fear and not an ounce of regret.
She wanted to be with Adam. The rest would work itself out.
The Derwent staff did not balk when she rang the bellpull and asked for a bathtub to be sent up just after sunrise, and the maid who came up later to help her pack was the most efficient young woman Cecily had ever met. Jane, as the girl introduced herself, had all her clothing and belongings sorted and neatly stored in her suitcase within half an hour.
“Will there be anything else, miss?”
“Yes.” Cecily handed the girl a few coins from the pin money she’d saved over the years. “Could you ask that Lady Fiona’s carriage be prepared?” Cecily offered her another coin. “And please do not alert Lady Fiona. I’ll speak to her myself.”
“Yes, my lady.”
