Page 103 of Scandalous Heiress
His past challenge to kill the scandals brought by his first wife rose up like a dragon breathing fire.But she would not allow either of them to be consumed.She reached over to grasp his hand.“We will.”
“You can’t know.”
“Together, we will deal well with this.”
He smiled, but the effort cost him much.
“Come dance,” she said.“Tonight is ours.Tomorrow is soon enough to face what ever else comes.”
The six-hour train ride from Paris to Ostend was tolerable, but the four-hour steamship trip across the Channel was rough.Sick to her stomach, Ada was grateful to disembark at the London wharf.
“We’ll be home in bed in minutes,” Victor promised as he hailed a hansom.
They fell into their bed exhausted.
Rain washed the streets the next morning, but she was sunny.
“Shall we go to your mother’s and get the girls?”She asked at breakfast, aware he had no newspaper in his hand this morning.
His smile, as it had been the past two days, was a weak imitation of the ones she’d come to admire.“Their rooms are not finished.”
“They won’t care,” she assured him.“They want to be with their father.”
“And their new mother.”He reached over to kiss her on the forehead, then reached for his coffee.
She fixed her gaze on him.
He devoted himself to his egg and toast, but finally lifted his gaze to hers.This time he wore the mischievous smile she’d come to love.“What are you staring at?”
She fluttered her lashes, innocence far from her intent.“Do I take this absence of newspaper to mean the honeymoon is over?”Or is there something in the news you wish to hide from me?
“Ah, well.”He wiped the corners of his mouth with his serviette.Her stab of fear dissolved when he grinned.“Now that you mention it….”
She sighed, raised her face to the ceiling.It was then he grasped her hand and tugged her toward the door and the stairs.
“We’ll go down.”
“To the servants’ quarters?”
“Out to the yard.”
He led her down and toward the rear of the house.They passed the butler standing near his wine cellar and conversing with the new housekeeper.Both were very curious, but Victor only smiled.“Lady Cole wishes to see the yard.”
He opened the little door and out they walked onto the slate stones.A drizzle fell upon them but the day was warm.
She didn’t mind, especially when she saw the glassed-in cupola.“A miniature conservatory!”
She strode around the tiny little house.The structure he’d had built was an inch or two taller than she, and perhaps four feet wide.Inside a few wooden planks awaited pots and plants.
He waited outside, his arms folded, looking all too pleased with himself.And when she emerged and kissed his cheek, he said, “It’s all we can fit in the space, but I thought you’d enjoy it.”
“I certainly will.We need a kitchen garden more than flowers.But we shall see.I’ll start as soon as we hire a cook and learn what she’d like to hand.”
They walked arm and arm upstairs to finish their breakfast.
“I have an appointment this morning, my dear,” he said when he finished his coffee.And still no newspaper was in sight.
“Do go.”She would never keep him from his work.“I’ll go to your mother’s to get the girls, shall I?”
