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CHAPTER TWO

ADDING THE BILL TO the stack on his desk, Adam Darnell dragged his fingers through his chestnut-brown locks. He’d almost rather be back with Wellington, preparing to charge the French lines, than here in London trying to figure out how to salvage his estate from the depravations suffered during his father’s long, ultimately fatal illness.

Perhaps he’d best accept the inevitable, follow his solicitor’s advice and find an agreeable heiress to marry. A rapid series of knocks on the library door pulled him from contemplating that gloomy prospect.

“Adam, may I come in?” The door opened slightly and his stepmother peeked in, the ribbons on her ruffled mobcap dancing. “I hate disturbing you, but ’tis urgent!”

Wondering indulgently what new crisis had occurred to distress his flighty relative—a lost pair of eyeglasses, a dead sparrow on the garden path—Adam rose and waved her to one of the wing chairs beside the desk. “Do come in, ma’am, and save me from dealing with this pile of bills.”

“Oh, those!” Lady Darnell waved an airy hand. “Burn them! ’Tis what your dear papa always did.”

Which was precisely why the estate was now in such disarray, Adam thought. Biting back so unfilial a reply, he said instead, “How can you be distressed when you look so charming? Like the sun itself in that fetching gown.”

Lady Darnell smiled and her china-blue eyes glowed. “Aren’t you the gallant one! I must say, the moment the dressmaker showed me the yellow silk paired with this blond lace, I knew it would be perfect for me.”

His widowed father’s second wife, previously the relic of a baronet of very large fortune, was hopelessly extravagant, Adam thought with an inward sigh. But so tender of heart and unfailingly cheerful of spirit that it would be as churlish as it was useless to chide her for her expenditures. Nor, with him away in the army, could he ever repay the debt he owed her for abandoning all her cherished London pursuits to remain beside his ailing father during his long, slow decline into death.

Such a sunny spirit didn’t need to be burdened with the details of debts and mortgages. He’d just have to make economies in other areas—and look for an heiress whose dowry could refill the family’s financial well.

“The matter is urgent,” his stepmother said again, recalling him to the present. “Please let me do the proper thing!”

“What is amiss?”

Lady Darnell held out a letter. “I’ve just received this from the solicitor who manages the property of my late cousin Diana, saying that her daughter, now orphaned, is on her way to London. He writes that it was Diana’s particular wish that the child come to live with me.”

Adam frowned. “Your cousin was the girl’s mother? Surely it is the directions left for her care in her father’s will that shall determine her guardianship.”

“I suppose, but that is a matter for the solicitors to resolve. In the meantime, the little girl needs a home.”

It sounded like a muddle that might require several weeks to work out. Still, housing a child for that short a time shouldn’t put too much additional strain on his purse. “Do you wish to take her in? I don’t want you to let a sense of duty force you into playing nurse-maid.”

“Oh, I should love to have her! But—” Lady Darnell hesitated “—before you agree, I must inform you that Diana was involved in a rather dreadful scandal some years back. Not that anyone should hold the poor child responsible, but you know how people are. With you on the look for a wife and Charis’s Season beginning, I shouldn’t want some infamy committed by a connection of mine to…limit your choices.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about, as I’d not consider anyone who would hold the transgressions of a mother against her child. Nor, I am sure, would Charis. So how old is the girl, and when is she arriving?”

“Soon, the lawyer said. As to her age, I cannot say. You know I am hopeless with figures! After Diana and Vincent Lambarth married, he bore her off to the family castle in the wilds somewhere, and there she remained. Lambarth never again permitted her to come to London, not for the Season and not even to bring the child for a visit. So, although naturally one cannot condone what she did, ’tis hardly surprising, what with Lambarth keeping her a virtual prisoner in that dreary place. Right on the coast, ’twas bound to be excessively damp, do you not think?”

Adam’s lips twitched, but Lady Darnell was in such grave earnest, he resisted the urge to laugh. “Just what did this dampness lead her to do?”

“Well, first you must understand that in her debut Season, Diana conceived a passion for a most ineligible young man. Though ’twas nothing ineligible about his birth—the youngest son of Viscount Seagrave—but from his earliest years, he showed himself to possess the wildest, most ungovernable character. He was expelled from Oxford the spring Diana met him, and though Lambarth had been courting her for months, once she met Gavin, she had eyes for no one else. Her family tried to dissuade her, of course. Then after being challenged by a jealous husband, Gavin killed the man in a duel and was forced to flee the country. Diana was heartbroken. But Lambarth still wanted her, so she gave in to his urging and married him.”

“The union didn’t prosper.” And small wonder, Adam thought. What fool would torture himself by marrying a woman he knew loved another man?

“I suppose not. In any event, after more than a decade immured at Lambarth Castle, Diana…ran away. We heard she’d sailed in a fishing boat to Ireland, then taken ship to the Caribbean, where she joined Gavin at the estate he’d settled. Lambarth refused to divorce her, though, so they were never allowed to marry under English law.”

Lady Darnell paused, a pensive look on her face. “I sometimes wondered if she’d regretted leaving her husband, forced as she was afterward to live as an outcast and give up her daughter. We were close growing up, but when she married Lambarth, we lost touch.”

And what of the most innocent victim of this family tragedy? Adam thought. “The poor child.”

“Indeed. It must have been dreadful, losing her mama, then living so isolated before her papa died, as well.”

“And you want to comfort her?” Adam asked.

Lady Darnell gave him a tremulous smile. “It’s always been my greatest sorrow that I was never blessed with children. Not that you and Charis are not extremely dear to me, but by the time I married your papa, you were both nearly grown. Yes, I would very much like to care for my dear cousin Diana’s poor little daughter.”

This was not sounding like a “temporary” measure, Adam thought. Still, he could hardly fault his stepmother’s concern, and how much could a little girl eat? By the time she needed a wardrobe full of gowns and a dowry for her come-out, she’d either have moved on to her paternal relations—or he’d have the Darnell fortunes mended.

“So when do we collect this waif?”

A dazzling smile illumined Lady Darnell’s face. “Oh, Adam, I knew your compassion could not fail! I shall reply to the solicitor immediately to fix a time.”

Adam rose to escort his stepmother out. As he bent to kiss her fingertips, she pulled him close for a hug.

“Thank you, my dear,” she murmured. “Your kindness will be rewarded, I’m sure. A child is always a blessing.”

Recalling some of the exuberant students who had enlivened his sojourn at Eton, Adam made a noncommittal murmur. As his stepmother hurried out, he hoped the long-motherless child he was about to introduce into his well-ordered household would turn out to be a sweet, timid thing rather than an undisciplined hellion.

ONLY TWO HOURS AFTER FIRST learning of the orphan’s existence, Adam found himself driving his curricle into the city to the address supplied by Lady Darnell. To their surprise, the footman returning his stepmother’s note to the lawyer had brought back a second missive informing them the child had just arrived. However, as there were legal issues involved which might take some time to work out, Mr. Pendenning had suggested that rather than have Lady Darnell wait while the men un-tangled the niceties, the head of the household could come alone to fetch the girl.

And so, driving the open vehicle he hoped a child would prefer to the lumbering coaches she’d probably been shut up in during her journey and bearing the beribboned doll Lady Darnell had charged him to present as a welcoming gift, Adam prepared himself to spend the afternoon armwrestling with lawyers for the dubious privilege of adopting a child entirely unknown to him.

He certainly hoped his stepmother would be happy.

This unforeseen addition to his household underlined the imperative to get the Darnell fortunes in order, he told himself as he drove. But since he’d first considered the matter this morning, he’d had an inspiration that he hoped might spare him the humiliation of having to barter his ancient name and lineage for the hand of some newly rich cit’s well-dowered daughter. As long as luck and his old childhood friend Priscilla smiled upon him, anyway.

Having been abroad for the war with France and then having leased out Claygate Manor, the Darnell country estate that bordered her father’s lands, he’d not seen Miss Standish in some years. But she was still unmarried, he knew. If the plump, cheerful lass who’d loved to trail behind him on his youthful escapades, hanging adoringly on his every word, had not changed too much, he reasoned, he would have as much chance of finding marital harmony with her as with any of the other carefully coifed, capped and costumed chits about to be paraded on the Marriage Mart.

He’d have to look into calling on Miss Priscilla Standish as soon as he settled this business of the orphan.

Half an hour later he was escorted by a clerk to Mr. Pendenning’s private salon, where, the young man informed him, the lawyer would join him shortly.

Knowing there would be lengthy paperwork to sort out, Adam suppressed his irritation at the delay. The salon to which he’d been shown was dimly lit, the curtain of the single window drawn against the light. While his eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight of the brisk late-winter afternoon he’d just left, he scanned the room, his gaze settling on a newspaper left atop a side table.

He was striding to pick up the paper when a rustling noise in the corner of the room distracted him. His vision of welcoming a small, grieving moppet into the family embrace was shaken when what he’d dismissed as an assortment of black rags piled in a chair, suddenly unfolded its length and rose phoenixlike to face him.

The image of a woebegone child died altogether as the Creature approached. Sticklike legs and narrow bare feet protruded below a faded black gown more than a foot too short for her emaciated frame—which was nearly as tall as his own. Adam’s shocked impression was of a walking scarecrow, until the Creature halted before him and extended one bony hand.

The girl’s nose protruded beaklike from her thin face. With her sharp cheekbones, lusterless, tangled black hair and the feral dark eyes fixed intently upon him, Adam was put forcibly in mind of a bird of prey about to attack.

When the Creature’s lips curved into a mocking smile, he realized he’d been simply staring at her, mouth agape, his face no doubt clearly mirroring his thoughts.

Painfully conscious of having, for the first time in his almost thirty well-bred years, failed to summon polite words of greeting, he felt hot color flush his skin. Before he could get his lips working, the Creature withdrew the hand he’d not managed to shake and made him a curtsey.

“You must be Lord Darnell,” she said, her voice low-pitched and husky. “How…charming to meet you.”

CHAPTER THREE

THOUGH THE GIRL WAS the least attractive example of femininity Adam had ever beheld, her curtsey was graceful. Moreover, the sardonic look in those snapping black eyes and the irony in her greeting told him she was shrewd enough to have guessed what he thought of her appearance.

Rather than being embarrassed, though, she seemed to derive a scornful amusement from his discomfiture as he stood, still staring, the frilly doll in one hand.

Before Adam could decide whether he was more offended or diverted by the girl’s antagonism, the door opened and a short, bespectacled gentleman hurried in. Seeing the two of them facing each other, he halted abruptly.

“Oh, dear! Lord Darnell, I had hoped to discourse with you privately before…well, I see ’tis too late for that. Arthur Pendenning, sir, at your service,” he said with a bow. “You’ve introduced yourselves, Miss Lambarth?”

“His lordship and I have indeed met,” the girl replied. “As you insisted. Now, if you and I could finish our consultations, I’ll be on my way.”

“There’s no need to hurry,” Mr. Pendenning said. “Knowing that you have just finished an exhausting journey, I’ve ordered some refreshment. Shall we not sit together and chat while we partake of it? Please, Miss Lambarth. Lord Darnell, you will remain with us, I trust?”

Rather against his will, Adam murmured a polite acceptance. Far from appearing a grief-stricken waif in need of her relatives’ support, the girl seemed almost hostile—and entirely undeferential, either to him or the lawyer. He struggled to resist the urge to let his initial shock at her appearance turn to dislike at her rudeness.

He shouldn’t judge her too harshly, he reminded himself. After all, she’d had no mother to guide her for years and, Lady Darnell had warned him, by the time of his death, her late father had become practically a hermit. She probably wasn’t to blame for what appeared to be a decided lack of proper maidenly deportment.

“Ah, here is the tray,” Mr. Pendenning said. “Lord Darnell, Miss Lambarth, if you would both sit?”

While the servant removed the cover before bowing himself out, Adam deposited himself on the sofa and Miss Lambarth walked with obvious reluctance to perch on the edge of an adjoining wing chair.

Did she think he would bite? Adam wondered with a touch of humor, watching as she covertly watched him from the corner of her eye. She seemed less wary with the lawyer, who seated himself near her and began pouring tea.

Adam was about to make some light remark to try to set her at ease when suddenly she turned toward the teapot, sniffing the air.

Mr. Pendenning extended a cup to her. Cautiously she accepted it, holding the delicate china at arm’s length and inspecting the contents, then bending to sniff the liquid.

The awful suspicion that perhaps the girl was not all right in the head had begun to form in Adam’s mind when, just as suddenly, she smiled. A passionate intensity lit her face, briefly imbuing her thin features with an attractiveness Adam felt almost like a shock.

Before the shaken Adam could begin to wonder at his unexpected reaction, she turned her expressive eyes on the lawyer. “Tea, is it not?” she asked Mr. Pendenning.

“Yes, my dear. Have you drunk it before?”

“Not since Mama left. But I remember it was good.”

“Taste it and see what you think.”

She took a sip. “Oh, yes! It is good!”

“Some people prefer it with a bit of cake or biscuit. Should you like some?”

She put down the cup and inspected the tray he offered her. “Cake. It is…sweeter than bread, isn’t it?”

“Have you not eaten that, either, since your mama went away?” Mr. Pendenning asked.

“No. Is bread and water not the normal fare for prisoners?” she asked, a bitter note in her voice. “Augmented occasionally, when I managed to slip out and visit Mad Sally, with wild berries from the woods.”

“I think you will find the cake even sweeter than berries. Do try some.” Though Mr. Pendenning’s tone remained light, as Miss Lambarth reached for the proffered slice, he glanced at Adam and shook his head, outrage in his eyes.

Beginning to comprehend now what the lawyer was attempting to demonstrate, Adam watched her intently, astounded by Miss Lambarth’s delighted exploration of food so ordinary most Londoners of her class would scarcely have given it a second glance.

His heart contracted with pity as she tasted the cake. Once again he felt an odd sizzle of contact when another brilliant smile lit her face. “’Tis wondrous good!”

“Eat as much as you wish, my dear. You must be famished after so long a journey.” Something about the lawyer’s tone led Adam to think the man was referring to more than Miss Lambarth’s recent trip to London.

After nibbling the cake, she tasted the biscuits. Then Mr. Pendenning uncovered another dish and gestured to it. “Have one of these, too, if you like.”

Giving him a quizzical glance, she picked up one of the round objects and rolled it between her fingers. “So smooth,” she said, and lifted it to her nose. “Smells sweet, like berries. Does one eat the whole?”

“No, one peels it first.” Mr. Pendenning demonstrated how to section out the fruit. “It’s called an orange.”

Her totally unexpected, musical peal of laughter startled Adam. “Of course! Like the color. I’ve read about them, but the book had no illustration, so I didn’t know what the fruit looked like.”

“Take a bite, my dear. ’Tis somewhat sweet, like a berry, but different.”

Her dark eyes alight with curiosity now, she took the piece of fruit the lawyer sectioned off for her and bit into it, laughing again as juice spurted onto her chin and she brought up her other hand to catch the drip.

The hand that, until this moment, she’d kept within the folds of her shabby skirt. As she wiped her chin, Adam stared in horrified fascination at the jagged scar that ran from the base of her thumb to her wrist.

The lawyer, Adam noted, was staring, as well. In the sudden silence Miss Lambarth darted a glance at Adam, then Pendenning. Her smile faded and her face flushed as she quickly shoved the damaged hand back into her lap.

Adam heard Pendenning’s soft hiss of an explicative. “Please, do have some more, my dear,” the lawyer entreated.

“Thank you, I’ve had enough. I’ll finish the tea.”

“You’ve had barely half a slice of cake and only a bite of the biscuit. I thought you said you hadn’t eaten since arriving in London this morning,” the lawyer said.

“I’ve had nothing since yesterday, but this was quite sufficient. I’m used to eating…lightly,” she said, irony once again coloring her tone.

Lord in Heaven, Adam thought, glad that Mr. Pendenning seemed able to carry on the conversation without him, for the almost unbelievable conclusions flooding his mind rendered him speechless. Suddenly he was fiercely glad that Lady Darnell had been called upon to receive her cousin’s child. After what he’d just seen and heard, even if the girl had possessed two heads and a tail, Adam would have felt compelled to take her in.

Miss Lambarth finished her tea and set down the cup. “Thank you, Mr. Pendenning. That was wonderful.” She gave him a wry look. “As I’m sure was rather evident, ’twas more variety of sustenance than I’ve had in a decade.”

“That, my dear, is something we shall shortly correct,” the lawyer said, fervency in his tone. “As I hope you will agree, Lord Darnell?”

“Absolutely.” Adam spoke up at last. “Although your cousin had a rather imperfect recollection of your age, Miss Lambarth,” he said, indicating with a grin the doll he’d placed on the side table, “it is her most ardent wish, which my sister and I share, that you will do us the honor of agreeing to join our household.”

Interest sparked in her eyes. “You have a sister?”

“Yes. Charis is eighteen—about your age?”

“I’m turned twenty,” Miss Lambarth replied. “A sister…” she repeated, her gaze drifting off. “Oh, that would be wonderful,” she murmured, almost to herself.

“Since Charis is as sweet as she is lovely, I believe you would find it so. Won’t you make us all happy, then, and come live with us?”

Miss Lambarth looked up, staring straight into his eyes. “Are you sure you want me?” she asked bluntly. “You’ve seen what I look like and garnered some idea of how I’ve lived. I…I’m not sure I would fit into an elegant London household. As tempting as it is to contemplate living with my cousin, perhaps even having a sister, I think ’twill be better if I live on my own.”

Mr. Pendenning’s protest echoed Adam’s. “No, my dear, that would not do at all! In our Society, unmarried young ladies do not live alone.”

Miss Lambarth lifted an eyebrow and shrugged. “I am quite able to take care of myself, I assure you.”

“I expect you are. That isn’t the point. For a single female to live alone just isn’t done.”

Miss Lambarth stiffened. “You told me I could set up a household in every town in England, if I wished.”

“’Twas only a figure of speech. Having the means to set up a household and doing so on your own are two very different matters.”

“Mr. Pendenning, I have lived as a prisoner in another man’s house for the last ten years. I intend never to be restrained by anyone again. And I care not a jot whether society approves my mode of living.”

After what he’d seen and heard, Adam couldn’t help but understand her reluctance. But all his protective instincts aroused, he searched his mind for some other argument to persuade Miss Lambarth to reconsider.

Before he hit upon anything, the lawyer said, “I’m sorry, I have not explained the situation very well. Naturally, one could not expect you to care about the opinion of persons you have never met. But as you are closely related to Lady Darnell, Society will expect her to offer you shelter and protection—whether or not you need them. If you do not reside with her, she will be considered shockingly remiss in her duty to you. So you see, if you choose to live alone, you will subject your cousin to severe criticism.”

Although Adam didn’t see why that should matter to the girl, either, her silence and the frown creasing her forehead indicated that, for whatever reason, this argument affected her. “I should not want to harm the reputation of Mama’s cousin,” she said after a moment.

Turning to Adam, she continued, “If I do consent to live with you, you must understand that if the…experience is not successful, I shall feel free to leave whenever I wish. Hopefully, we can rub together long enough for me to determine what I wish to do and where I want to live. I think I should like to travel, so perhaps if I leave you to set off to Europe, Cousin Lillian will be spared the censure of her peers.”

“We shall just have to make sure you find residing with us more enjoyable than the prospect of taking your own house,” Adam said, determined to show this waif who had been so badly treated what a blessing living with one’s family could be.

She regarded him gravely. “Do you have a large library?”

Surprised once again by her abrupt change of topic, Adam said, “As it happens, my father was a bibliophile, so I believe you will find it quite extensive.”

“I intend to have my books sent up from Lambarth. Will I have rooms to use at my discretion?”

“A bedchamber and private sitting room will be placed at your disposal. The library, drawing rooms and dining parlors you would share with the rest of the family.”

She nodded. “If I come, you must also agree that I will pay all my own expenses. No!” she interrupted when Adam started to protest. “I absolutely insist upon that. There are certain comforts I must have and I do not intend to be beholden to you for providing them.”

Thinking he’d never had so odd and blunt a conversation in his life, Adam couldn’t help asking, “What sort of comforts, if I might inquire?”

“I wish to keep a fire burning in my rooms night and day. I’ve been cold half my life and don’t intend to be so ever again.”

He had a sudden vision of a small thin girl locked in a frigid room. “You may keep your fires stoked as hot as you wish,” he promised, the urge to heal and protect once more tightening his chest.

A little smile played about her lips. “I want a bed with a feather mattress so soft, when I lie down I will feel like I’m floating on air. A turkey carpet on the floor so thick, my feet will sink up to the ankles, as if in a pair of fuzzy slippers. Oh, and speaking of slippers—” she turned to Mr. Pendenning “—if those instruments of torture that Jerry Sunderland provided me in the guise of footwear are representative of what I can expect in shoes, I shall remain as I am, barefoot.”

The lawyer chuckled. “Not knowing your size, poor Jerry grabbed the only pair the cobbler had ready. I promise you, my dear, that the bootmakers of London can put on your feet slippers so soft and supple you would swear you were still barefoot.”

“Very good,” Miss Lambarth said. “I shall feed those shoes into the first fire I kindle in my room. And this gown, as soon as a replacement can be found.”

“I’ve already summoned a dressmaker to wait upon you here,” Mr. Pendenning said. “She is bringing several gowns that can be quickly altered to fit. For the rest, I’m sure Lady Darnell will take you to her own mantua-maker and assist you in purchasing as many gowns as you like.”

Adam had to laugh. “I can assure you she will! My stepmother positively delights in shopping. I expect my sister will also petition to join such an expedition.”

“I want pretty colors,” Miss Lambarth stated. “No black. And soft fabrics, like the material of this sofa.”

“I’m sure Lady Darnell will be able to find you something that pleases you. So,” Mr. Pendenning said, “you will go with Lord Darnell, as your mother wished?”

Miss Lambarth looked back at Adam. “A big library?”

“Quite large.”

“A thick feather mattress?”

“Soft as a cloud.”

“Warm rooms?”

“You can make the wallpaper curl.”

At that moment a knock sounded and one of the lawyer’s assistants stepped in. “Mr. Pendenning, you wished me to let you know when the seamstress arrived.”

The lawyer looked over to Miss Lambarth. “Are you ready for that new gown?”

That smile transformed her face again. “Absolutely!”

“And you will accompany Lord Darnell to meet your cousin when it is done?”

After a pause she nodded. “I will go with him.”

“Excellent.” He beamed at the girl. “Show Miss Lambarth and the seamstress to the back office and see that they are not disturbed,” he instructed his assistant.

“I’ll wait here for you, Miss Lambarth,” Adam told her as she walked to the door.

She paused on the threshold to look back at him. “I hope neither of us regrets this.”

Something about her fierce independence sent a rush of awareness through Adam. ’Twas just compassion for her plight and anger at the unspeakable treatment she’d suffered, he told himself as he assured her, “I’m certain your stay in my home will be a pleasure for us both.”