A Lady Betrayed by Nicole Byrd Page A

have done, having most unkindly preceded their elder sister,” he said, his tone jovial, as they came out into the level ground. “I know I speak for everyone when I say that we are all happy for you.”
    Adrian felt his brand new fiancée stiffen. He knew that older sisters usually married before the younger; did she feel some hidden barbs beneath the churchman’s comment?
    â€œThank you for your good wishes,” he said, so that she did not have to reply. “I am the happiest of all, I think, having secured the promise of such a pleasing bride.”
    â€œIndeed, indeed,” the vicar agreed. “The most beautiful of all the sisters, and that is saying something, I must tell you, Lord Weller, as there is not a plain face in the bunch. Mr. Applegate and his late wife, may she rest in peace, produced a most handsome family.” The churchman leaned over to shake hands with the man in the wheeled chair, and they exchanged greetings, leaving Adrian free to speak quietly to Madeline.
    â€œAre you all right?”
    â€œOf course,” she said, but she didn’t quite meet his eye.
    He would have it out of her later, when they were in private, he told himself.
    Once Mr. Applegate had made his farewells, they walked at a leisurely pace back to the Applegate residence, pushing the chair along the wide path, leaving the conversation confined to innocuous subjects of weather and the church service.
    But Adrian still glanced about him at the thick copses and wondered uneasily which could hide a sharpshooter taking aim.

    Madeline saw her father to his own room on the ground floor to take a short rest before the midday meal, then went into the kitchen to see if Bess needed any help. One of their neighbors had sent over a couple of pheasants newly shot. Thomas had plucked the birds and prepared them for cooking, and the kitchen now smelled agreeably of roasting meat. Bess handled the delicate matter of the plum sauce, but she put Maddie to work on the potatoes. When the vegetables were ready for the cooking pot, Maddie was free to take off her apron, wipe her hands, and become a lady of leisure again.
    Presently she returned to the sitting room and found the viscount pouring himself a glass of wine.
    He raised the bottle. “May I?”
    Maddie started to shake her head, then paused. “Yes, thank you, I believe I shall.”
    He poured and passed her the goblet.
    She took a sip, then stared at the glass as if untold mysteries were hidden inside.
    â€œIs something wrong, Madeline?” he asked, his voice quiet.
    â€œYou told the vicar you would stay here the required four weeks, making the reading of the banns in your own home parish unnecessary. Is there some reason you don’t wish to have them read in your own church back in Huntingtonshire?”
    He tried to guess at the direction of her thoughts, and what might have created the furrow of worry on her brow. “Such as another woman who might have claims on my affections?”
    â€œPerhaps,” she agreed, her tone even.
    He thought of the spies paid by his cousin to send word of any news of his comings and goings, even as he shook his head. “I simply thought this would be easier and more efficient,” he told her. “I make no claims to have lived my whole life like a Turkish eunuch, but for some time, I have been unfettered when it comes to matters of love. I assure you, no other lady—no other female, for that matter—has any claim on my attention, Madeline. I leave behind no brokenhearted squire’s daughter, or innkeeper’s daughter, or farmer’s daughter. No lady of the evening expects me to call. I am free of entanglements, quite free to make a betrothal.”
    He sounded completely sincere, and some small knot inside her eased. What did she fear? She wasn’t sure, only that she felt he was holding something back. And yet, he had stood beside her in church and listened to the