In the Garden of Temptation (38 page)

“
Oh, my lady!” Edna turned
an alarming shade of red, but she gave a watery giggle in
response.

The next Lord Bourgeault joined the group at
that moment, and he smiled congenially. In all the years Catherine
had been married to Edgar, she had never seen him wear an
expression as pleasant as the one Edward now wore. Once again she
was struck by how differently she would have felt about her husband
had he been more like his brother.

“
I regret seeing you go, my
dear,” Edward said as he took his sister-in-law’s hand. He cast his
gaze about the great hall before bringing it back to rest on her.
“I have some memories to face before my family arrives, and I’d
better get on with it. Solitude is the best justification for
forcing a confrontation with one’s conscience.”

Catherine could see that he was suffering and
her heart welled with pity. “I’m sorry.”

The party moved out the front door to the
drive where a phaeton drawn by a magnificent pair of matched grays
awaited the travelers. The earl’s horse was tethered to a second
carriage that was being loaded with the luggage.

“
Sir,” Adam said to Edward,
“there must be some mistake. I appreciate the use of the carriages,
but surely you don’t wish to loan your brother’s grays. They are
too valuable to risk.”

“
There is no mistake,
Ashworth,” Edward corrected him. “The grays are a gift.”

“
No, no, we couldn’t
possibly accept such a gift.” The earl was adamant.

“
I see we have a
misunderstanding,” their host murmured, a twinkle lighting his
black eyes. He winked at Catherine. “I gave the grays to your
future wife. Since she is Edgar’s widow I felt it the least I could
do. I offered her more. She would take nothing.”

A rather protracted silence ensued as the
earl absorbed Edward’s words. Catherine could see Adam was torn
between ecstasy at the mere thought of having access to such
magnificent beasts and the certain knowledge he should not allow
this thing to happen. But as Edward had so aptly stated, she
thought in amusement, it was not Adam’s gift to refuse.

The earl must have come to the same
conclusion, for he nodded reluctantly. “You are most generous, sir.
I’m certain Catherine will enjoy them.”

“
Of course, she will.”
Edward laughed aloud as he took the younger man’s hand and pumped
it up and down.

Adam smiled a sheepish smile. He took his
daughter from Catherine and went to assist the wet-nurse and
Annabelle into the second carriage. Returning, he helped Catherine
into the phaeton and then climbed into the driver’s side of the
vehicle.

Catherine put her hand on his arm to stay
momentarily their departure, and she turned to Edward. “I’m glad we
were able to meet one another, even if was only for a short
time.”

Edward moved closer to the carriage. “I’m
glad, also, my dear. Do let me know how you fare,” he said, his
tone sincere. “And Godspeed.”

With that, Lord Ashworth snapped the reins
across the backs of the “most beautiful pair of matched grays in
all of England,” and the caravan pulled into the lane, leaving the
dilapidated castle and its sad owner behind.

“
We’re going to talk about
this tonight,” Adam said severely several minutes later as the
phaeton moved onto the main road.

“
About what?” Catherine
asked innocently.

“
The grays, of
course.”

“
You don’t like
them?”

“
That’s not the
point!”

“
All right then,” she stated
primly, “If I’m to listen to a lecture, I should be allowed to
choose the venue for that lecture.”

“
Meaning…?” Adam asked in a
cautious voice.

Her gaze slid to his face, and a sensuous
smile curved the edge of her mouth as she reached over to grip his
thigh with one gloved hand. She felt a muscle leap beneath her
fingers.

“
I choose to listen to your
displeasure with me in bed this night,” she said, goading him in a
provocative whisper.

The smooth rhythm of the ride was interrupted
as Adam’s hands jerked uncontrollably on the ribbons. “Witch!” he
growled huskily, and his eyes blackened with lust. “You would use
my desire for you against me?”

“
Naturally, my lord,” she
teased as she moved closer to him on the seat. “Though, to be
honest, I’d rather use it in a more positive manner. So much more
satisfying, don’t you agree?”

The Earl of Ashworth, caught in the web of
her bewitching spell, shouted with laughter as he gave over and
admitted defeat.

*****

EPILOGUE

“
When will we be there,
Mummy?”

“
It won’t be long now,
darling,” Catherine reassured her fidgety daughter.

She dropped a motherly kiss on the toddler’s
cheek before turning back to stare out the carriage window at the
shops they passed. Her interest was not engaged in the scenery,
though. Rather, she was occupied by the somber mood that had
overtaken the passengers of the traveling coach.

The morning had begun festively enough but,
once they had reached the outskirts of London, the atmosphere had
turned grim. Adam sat in one corner of the carriage, a baleful
expression on his handsome features.

His wife reached over and touched his hand.
“It can’t be as bad as all that.”

“
I still think it’s a
mistake,” he muttered dolefully.

“
We can’t stay away forever.
It’s been more than two years as it is.”

He sighed. “It’s time to test the waters and
see how forgiving society will be, I know that. We need to make a
place for Annabelle if it’s possible. But that is nothing compared
to having to face Mother. When I left the city to come for you, I
was convinced I never wanted to see her again. My feelings are very
ambivalent at this moment.”

Catherine understood how he felt. If she
could find some way to avoid seeing her mother-in-law, she would do
so. But she had decided that Adam’s attitude was an unhealthy one.
He needed to make amends. Long-term anger could be a very
destructive thing—Edgar was a prime example of that.

For two years Catherine and Adam had traveled
the continent, taking life a day at a time, enjoying their child
and basking in their love for one another. Now the time had come to
face reality. However, there was no way to gauge society’s reaction
to their reappearance on the town, for the ton was hypocritical at
its very best.

The talk had been rampant after Edgar’s
death, most of it unkind, yet they still had their champions among
the elite. Judith reported in one of her many letters that Viscount
Wimberly had nearly come to blows with one drunken gentleman who
could not be persuaded to keep his opinions to himself. And Lady
Richards had been known to give the cut direct to anyone who had
the effrontery to question Catherine’s character.

Still, the real surprise had come from a
certain little dandy by the name of Sir Sidney Alcott, not one
known to challenge the system, who had very vocally defended his
“close” friends, Lord and Lady Ashworth. Catherine smiled at the
memory.

The coach pulled up to the curb, and she saw
her new home for the first time. “It’s quite grand, isn’t it?” she
said.

“
It’s a house like any
other,” her husband stated in an uncompromising tone as he helped
her from the carriage. His attitude softened when he reached back
and lifted his tiny daughter to the ground. He leaned down and took
Annabelle’s chubby fist, and the trio proceeded to the entrance of
the mansion.

The front door was cast open. “My lord! It is
so good to see you,” an ebullient Ames greeted his master, ushering
everyone into the foyer.

“
And you, Ames,” Adam
returned, looking pleased by the butler’s animated welcome. He
introduced his family to the servant and then appeared to
hesitate.

“
Your mother is in the
library,” Ames said in a tactful voice, correctly interpreting his
lordship’s silence.

The earl picked up his baby and trudged
behind the butler, leaving his wife to bring up the rear. At the
door Adam stopped so abruptly Catherine crashed into him, doing
damage to her new poked bonnet.

“
Your son has arrived, my
lady,” Ames intoned.

A long pause ensued as the dowager, seated
primly on a metal-studded leather chair, exchanged glances with the
new arrivals. At last the old countess came to her feet, her manner
stiff and unyielding, but the discerning eye could perceive that
she was uncomfortable.

“
I’m glad to see you,
Adam.”

There was no reply and Catherine glanced
uneasily at her husband. He looked as though he were having a time
of it forcing a response over his frozen tongue.

“
Down, Papa, I want
down.”

All eyes turned to the toddler. Annabelle,
struggling from her father’s embrace, provided a welcome diversion,
for the tension in the room had begun to mount. Adam allowed his
daughter to scramble down from his arms, and the child sent a
dimpled grin to the haughty woman across the room.

The dowager countess watched her
granddaughter in open fascination.

Clearly pleased at being the center of
attention, Annabelle raced across the carpet, not stopping until
she had reached her grandmother’s side. She grabbed hold of the
woman’s skirt and gave it a tug.

“
Hello,” Annabelle said by
way of greeting.

She was a beautiful little girl, her head
covered with a mass of shiny, near-black curls. The dowager
countess stared down into a pair of enormous, liquid blue eyes
before raising her gaze to the child’s parents. Her inspection
shifted to her son as if trying to make some critical connection
then looked at the baby again.

“
How do you do?” the dowager
answered politely.

Annabelle beamed at her, displaying a
mouthful of tiny white teeth. “My name is Annabelle,” she said in a
most grown-up fashion.

“
So it would seem. I’m
pleased to make your acquaintance.” The dowager glanced at the
couple who watched from the doorway as she continued speaking to
the child. “I suggest your mother and father take a short rest
before dinner so you and I can become acquainted.”

Annabelle appeared more than agreeable to the
plan just so long as the resting did not include herself. As for
Adam and Catherine, they grasped the excuse to escape and quickly
retreated to their rooms in a transparent show of cowardice. This
first tentative meeting had been awkward in the extreme.

“
I didn’t handle it well,
did I?” Adam asked a short while later as he removed his neckcloth.
He flopped down on the small sofa facing the fireplace.

“
It won’t happen in a day,
but you’ve made a start, and that’s what is important.” Catherine,
now wearing a sapphire blue wrapper, sat brushing her hair until
the soft, gleaming waves crackled with static life.

“
Do you think we did right
to expose our baby to my mother’s tyrannical ways?”

Catherine stood up and moved to his side.
“Adam, she can’t be as bad as all that. She did marvelously with
you and Judith. And she does care, I’m sure of it, even though she
tries very hard not to let on.”

Adam looked up at her, a gratified smile
touching his sensuous mouth. He grabbed her hand and pulled her
onto his lap.

“
I do believe you become
more beautiful with each passing day. How do you tolerate my
temperamental moods?”

Snuggling into his arms, she placed a warm
kiss on his jaw. “Each morning I wake to the amazing revelation I
am your wife. There is no difficulty in tolerating the best thing
that has happened to me. You gave me Annabelle—for that alone I
would forgive you anything.”

“
That reminds me, my love,
how is the newest member of our family?” His hand came to rest on
the slight swell of her belly, his long fingers exploring the
tender lump that cradled his second child.

“
I felt movement yesterday
for the first time.”

“
You did?” he exclaimed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“
Quite honestly, you were so
preoccupied with today’s visit I didn’t want to share the news with
all the other things cluttering your mind. It’s a moment that
should be savored all by itself.” She smiled then. “It is exciting,
isn’t it?”

“
It is,” he said, his voice
thick with emotion.

He brought his eager mouth to hers, kissing
her so thoroughly her heart began to rattle in her chest like a die
in a cup. She moaned softly against his lips.

“
Do you suppose you might
feel inclined to share something else with me?” His hot breath
tickled her neck as he spoke, sending erotic shivers sluicing down
her backbone.

Now he mentioned it, she thought perhaps she
did feel so inclined.

*****

Lord and Lady Ashworth made a fashionably
late entrance to dinner later that evening and, though neither one
was rested in the least, they in no way felt their time together
had been misspent.

*****