Page 6 of Scandalous Heiress
Chapter 2
Ada Hanniford curtsied to the tall, somber gentleman who inclined his head in greeting to her and to her best friend, Esmerelda.From his piercing gaze to his stoic bearing, he was no man about town, no charmer of young ladies, no nobleman in search of an afternoon chat or a dalliance.He was all power, contained, reserved.A man who knew his own worth.And cold.
Good.I am so tired of men who look for the main chance.To despoil the uncouth American girl with a cut, a compliment or a tumble.
She extended her hand and he took it.His fingers strong, his grasp quick, he seized her own, then dropped her offering as if it were hot coal.
Still, his eyes—a lighter shade of his mother’s fierce turquoise—pinned her to him.
“I am delighted to meet you, Lord Victor,” she said in her affable mode.She smiled broadly.He was, after all, another person to examine, to probe, to learn.Not, thank heaven, a suitor.
What a welcome relief.She was bored to death of men who wished to pursue her and had nothing on offer but puppy-dog looks of love.
“Your mother has told us you have just come home from Shanghai,” said Ezzie.“We are ever so interested in your experiences.”
I am, certainly.
“I’d be delighted to tell you about the city and the empire,” he said.
“Please,” said his mother extending a hand toward the two wing chairs, “will you sit for a few minutes?”
“Of course,” said Ezzie who always liked the pleasure of meeting a new man.Over the years that Ezzie and Ada had been friends and traversed English society, Ezzie had been the first to plumb the depths of men’s characters.Ada had been the one they chased.But Ada had relished her friend’s abilities to draw out the true nature of the noblemen who sought brides among the American heiresses even as they denigrated them for their provinciality.
Ada wished to sit and watch Ezzie lure this reserved creature from his shell.
Her friend practically cooed at Lord Victor.“I’d love to stay.”
“As would I.”Ada nodded and sat.
“May we go to our rooms, please, Miss Hanniford?”Vivienne asked Ada, grabbing hold of her hand to force her attention on her.
Ada noted how Victor’s eyes widened at his daughter’s request of her.
Deirdre whined.“I want to stay.”
“No, Dee,” Viv insisted.“They want to talk.”
“I want Papa to see the garden.The chrysamums.”She set her chin and whirled to face her father.“Grandmama has chrysamums.Miss Hanniford says they’ll be big like ours.”
He reached over to chuck his daughter under her chin.“Those plants were from our gardens at home so they will grow big and strong.”
“And smell good,” she added.
He nodded.“And smell wonderful.”
“Miss Hanniford pinched them to make them big.”
“Did she?”He ran his fingers through the little girl’s golden red tresses.“She is wise to do that.”
Ada admired his care of his children.In that, he reminded her of her own father.But she had become attached to the little girls these past few days.She played with them.Archery.Croquet.Blind man’s bluff.Yes, I love them.They crave attention.
“What do you think, Miss Hanniford?”He stilled her with the gravity of his gaze on hers.“Should Viv and Dee stay with us?”
“I defer to you and the duchess, my lord.”
“Yes, do go, my dears,” said the duchess with an approving nod at Ada.“We will see you at tea.”
The two girls, perfectly mannered, had been welcome at afternoon repast the previous three days that Ada and Ezzie had visited here at the Hall.This largesse toward children Ada thought most wonderful, as the two had lovely manners and were adept at conversation far above their years.
