Page 3 of A Duke for Adela
“I am presently staying with Lady Eloise Dayne at Number 5 Chipping Way in Mayfair. I will happily show you any of my other work. I have a trunk full of notes and sketches of my findings on cave drawings my friends and I discovered in Devonshire. They are similar to the drawings found in the Lyme Regis caves in Dorset and those discovered in France.”
Her eyes lit up as she took in a light breath and continued. “I also think I have figured out what those mysterious dots and lines found alongside all of those drawings represent. The realization only struck me today, moments before Runyon– that lizard– stole my notes. Fortunately, I had not written down my hypothesis or he would have stolen it, too. Do you wish to hear it?”
“Perhaps another time, Miss Swift.”
“But surely, you must realize how important those symbols are.”
Oh, Lord.
Was she going to lecture him now?
“Another time, Miss Swift.”
“Oh, I see. You also believe I am just a foolish amateur. This is why no scientific journal will publish my monographs on the cave drawings. They are demanding proof the extinct animals depicted on the cave walls my friends and I discovered ever existed.”
“Any reputable journal would require such proof from someone lacking credentials in the field,” he said with a nod.
“I understand their concern that it might all be a hoax. This is why I hope to find bones in these caves to prove these drawings are real. But I have turned up nothing so far beyond a few shards of pottery. It is quite frustrating because I think I am very close to discovery. I am certain the proof is buried deep, I just have to hit the right spot. However, my family will not allow me to return to Devonshire. I am not permitted to leave London for the foreseeable future.”
“Why not?”
She cast him a wry smile. “Lady Dayne and her friend, Lady Withnall, are sponsoring my second Season. It is exceedingly generous of them, and my parents will disown me if I muck it up. They insist I put all thought of ancient bones aside and find myself a living prospect to marry.”
He chuckled, knowing it was quite perverse of him to like the fact this young woman admired dead things more than the unremarkable prospects one often found on the marriage mart. “You do not appear thrilled.”
“Would you be?” She shook her head. “It is humiliating to be paraded in front of all those gentlemen, most of whom consider me a country cow.”
Ambrose drew in a breath. “Has anyone called you that?”
She nodded. “Several people, in fact. I have a tiny dowry, lack social polish or significant family connections, and am too clumsy and bookish to be considered elegant. I am also no frail, thin creature, as I’m sure you noticed when I landed flat atop you.”
He cleared his throat.
Lord in heaven, he certainly had felt that lush bosom of hers mold to his chest and her slender hips grind against his thighs. “No, I had not noticed. I hit the ground hard and had the wind knocked out of me.”
Her eyes widened once again, for she was obviously dismayed. “Dear me, how thoughtless. Did I hurt you? Do you wish to see a doctor? George Farthingale is one of the best in London.”
He held up a hand to still her fretting. “I am fine. No harm done.”
He rose to signal their meeting was at an end and held out a hand to assist her to her feet. “Until we meet again, Miss Swift.”
He drew her hand to his lips and kissed it.
Botheration.
Why did he do that?
She was not wearing gloves and his lips had directly touched her surprisingly soft skin.
He could have just bowed over her hand.
But there was something inexplicably appealing about the girl. As she’d said, she was no wispy, waif of a thing, but neither was she built like an ox. In truth, she was nicely formed and her features pleased him. He could not figure out what it was about her just yet. Certainly not her clothes, for they looked like they had been borrowed from a dotty maiden aunt. Nor the style of her hair, which had no style to speak of, although the hair itself was quite spectacular.
She was full in the bosom…he liked that immensely.
And she had a beautiful smile, one that reached into her rather lovely eyes.
There was no way this young woman resembled a cow.
