Page 7 of The Dream of Love
She dared not breathe, not even move or blink.
She thought she might shatter when he kissed her on the cheek. “You’ll be safe here. But if your father causes you any trouble, summon me. Do you remember what I told you earlier?”
She nodded. “You’ll protect me.”
He drew away as Poppy and Nathaniel came running out and began to fuss over her. They helped her into their home, and while Poppy continued to fuss over her, Nathaniel led Adam into his private study and shut the door.
Remi was still reeling from his kiss. It was only a gentle kiss on the cheek, but her heart was still in palpitations over it. Did he like her more than he had let on?
Until this moment, she did not think he liked her much at all.
He had brought up her father again and offered to protect her.
Why was he so certain she would need protecting?
An ache tore through her heart.
What was her father planning?
Chapter Four
“Three days havepassed since you brought Remi here,” Nathaniel Sherbourne, Earl of Welles, said to Adam as he led him into his study and offered him a seat. “I’ve sent several messages to Lord Hartfield, letting him know his daughter is here and safe with us. The bounder has yet to respond.”
Adam raked a hand through his hair in consternation. Although, why should he be surprised? Hartfield had always treated his daughter wretchedly. “Remi’s been subjected to this all her life. It is a wonder she turned out as sweet as she has when both parents behave like infantile terrors.”
Nathaniel offered him a glass of sherry to warm his insides from the chill of this unusually wet and blustery June day. It was late afternoon, but the gathering storm clouds had darkened the sky, turning it an ominous grayish black. “Would you care to stay for supper?”
The storm was about to unleash its fury, and Adam wanted to return to the vicarage before the deluge descended upon them. “I’ll pass. But I did hope to see Remi. How is she faring? Do you mind her staying with you a little while longer?”
Nathaniel settled in a chair behind his desk and leaned back casually. “She can stay with us for as long as she pleases. We have plenty of room. Poppy and Lavinia enjoy her company. She makes no demands and is no trouble at all.”
Adam breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t suppose she intends to apologize to her father anytime soon?”
Nathaniel groaned and shook his head. “No, she will never give him the satisfaction. She’s a sweet girl, as you say. But she also has an obstinate streak, no doubt inherited from her father.”
Adam frowned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Lord Hartfield is up to something. He has been too quiet, don’t you think? I had better pay a call on him tomorrow to make certain he isn’t planning anything foolish.”
“Do you think he means to punish his own daughter beyond merely ignoring her? Has he said anything to make you think so?”
“Not in so many words. Just a vague threat. I dismissed it as the raging of an angry father. His continued silence worries me, however. It means he is sitting and stewing. I would feel more comfortable having him throw another of his apoplectic tantrums to get the anger out of his system.” He shook his head. “But this silence…he is like a volcano building up pressure inside of him. I fear what the eruption, when it occurs, will bring.”
“Poppy and I will be on our guard. We won’t let him be alone with Remi if he attempts to see her.” Nathaniel rose. “The ladies must be having tea in the summer parlor at this hour. Shall we join them?”
Adam nodded and glanced out the window again. “Yes, but only a brief visit for me.”
He was eager to see Remi for more reasons than simply to ask how she was settling in. When last he’d been with her, she had been going on about the importance of hugs and kisses. Tame kisses on the cheek and innocent, grandfatherly hugs. He had thought to be kind and give her those in parting, telling himself it was the sort of pious gesture a vicar ought to do for a member of his flock whose heart was aching.
What he had not expected was the effect a simple kiss on her cheek would have on him. And when he took her in his arms to hug her, the feel of her body pressed to his was not something he was prepared for. He had never experienced a surge of desire so strong.
Why for Remi?
Yes, she was beautiful…achingly beautiful.
Blast, he had better contain his thoughts or the heavens might open up and angry archangels start hurling lightning bolts down on him.
