Page 19 of A Duke for Adela
He ignored her as best he could and scanned the room for Adela.
He thought he would have trouble finding her in the crowd because she was not very big and tended to blend into walls, but it took him no more than a few seconds to notice her.
It was as though his gaze was instinctively drawn to her.
She looked as lovely tonight as she had last night.
These lighter colors obviously suited her complexion, the soft pink of tonight’s gown enhancing the pink of her lips and the sweet, rosy blush of her cheeks. It also brought out more of the blue in her eyes and lessened the gray swirls in them.
He tried to look away, but quickly saw she was distressed and knew he had to be the one to make the first move and speak to her. This was one of the advantages of being a duke. No one got in your way or dared interrupt you when you strode off toward your purpose.
Adela cast him a hesitant smile as he approached her.
“Will you forgive me for being a lout to you earlier?” He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips, knowing it was going to cause a stir again. But it was more important to send a message to Adela that he was not angry with her.
Her hand trembled in his. “I was the lout. Can you ever forgive me?”
“For speaking the truth? I never considered your feelings, just assumed you would be honored by my attention. But you are shy in social situations and uncertain of your dancing skills.”
“Uncertain?” She arched her eyebrows and cast him a soft smile. “I am quite certain I have no dancing skills whatsoever.”
“You were fine. However, I completely ignored your concerns and dragged you in front of everyone who had previously subjected you to scorn. That was most unfair of me.”
“I was frightened out of my wits,” she admitted. “But you were not to blame. I have been hiding away and making no effort to come out of my shell. I needed someone like you to kick me out of my hiding hole.”
“Well, it is done. Fortunately, we have both survived. You look lovely tonight.”
“Thank you.” She glanced down at herself. “Lady Dayne and Lady Withnall have outfitted me in the loveliest clothes. Their modiste is a miracle worker, somehow managing to bring out my better qualities and hide my flaws.”
“You have no flaws, Adela.”
She laughed and shook her head. “No, Your Grace.Youhave no flaws. I have many. But we need not argue over that. How was Dr. Nordberg’s lecture? Did you sit through all of it?”
“Yes, and took copious notes for you,” he teased. “Well, I did not jot anything down. But I hope I did something better. I engaged him to speak at the Huntsford Academy next week.”
Her eyes widened in obvious delight.
“Will you be my guest, Adela? I hope you will attend.”
She nodded. “I would love to! This is the best news I could possibly receive. Did you do this for me? It is extraordinarily generous. How can I ever thank you?”
“Your smile is all the gratitude I need.” Indeed, her smile was as radiant as the sun and pleased him immensely. “Excellent. It is to be next Monday afternoon. I’ll have my driver pick you up at eleven o’clock. The lecture starts at two, but I’ll be hosting a private luncheon for Dr. Nordberg beforehand. Your two watchdogs are also invited, of course. I will send out formal invitations tomorrow.”
“Oh, Lady Dayne and Lady Withnall will find reasons to politely decline. Skulls and bones are not to their liking, but I shall be there. No one is going to stop me from attending this time. Do you suppose I will require a chaperone since I am not merely sneaking off on my own to work on my research? That is of no consequence. Lady Dayne will arrange for someone to accompany me if she believes I must be protected from you. My maid will be more than happy to take on that role.”
He doubted either of those dowagers would put their trust in a maid to guard her. Those two were too shrewd to be lax about this, especially since Adela was to be in his company and he had a reputation for seducing ladies.
In truth, it was the other way around. Women constantly threw themselves at him. Sometimes he resisted and sometimes he did not.
No, the girl would likely be accompanied by someone as formidable as either of them.
Nor could he insist their fears were groundless.
While he did not intend to bed Adela, he sorely ached to kiss her. It was no stretch of the imagination where those kisses might lead.
Well, nothing was going to happen tonight since there were too many people around and everyone had their eyes on him.
They said no more to each other as the dinner bell rang.
