Page 57 of A Duke's Unwanted Bride
“I think I can manage that.” Warner moved to stand beside her. “Just tell me what you need.”
Adele listed off various ingredients, and with some searching, Warner was able to gather them and bring them back to the table — though he could not resist eating a blackberry as he did so which earned him a reproachful smile from Adele.
“There will be nothing left to go in the pie if you keep that up.” She gently batted his hand away as he reached for another.
“I have never been able to resist them. I ruined many a good shirt picking the fruit when I was younger. Well, picking them, eating them, and then wiping my hands on my shirt.” He caught himself about to do that and hastily wiped his fingers on a nearby apron instead.How long has it been since I picked a blackberry from the bush?
Adele arched an eyebrow at him. “I would have thought Eton taught you better manners than that.”
“Perhaps I missed that lesson.” He shrugged.
She laughed. “Or you were not listening particularly attentively.”
“It is hard to listen when the man lecturing you is about as lively as a corpse.” Warner shuddered, remembering the constant drone of some of his tutors.
“My own governess was not dull, but she seemed more interested in writing letters to her beaus than in teaching me anything.” Adele gave a wry smile. “Even if she seemed to have a new one every week.”
“I am surprised your parents kept her on.” Warner frowned. “Without a proper governess, your future would be at risk.”
“They thought I was lying just for the attention. After all, I nearly always had my nose in a book and seemed to know all manner of things, so clearly the governess could not be that ineffective.” Adele shrugged. “Those books were my escape though I could not very well tell them that.”
“They should have considered your choice of escape fortunate. There are plenty of other things you could have chosen.” Warner swallowed as he remembered his own choices.What would have happened if I had turned to books instead?
“Perhaps.” Adele gave him a small smile. “Though they may not have agreed. I spent many hours trying to tell them about all that I had learned, but they never seemed particularly interested. Inthe end, I used to arrange my dolls and teddies and teach them things.”
Warner’s heart twisted as he imagined a young Adele, full of vibrant curiosity, lighting up as she tried to tell distant parents of something that had captured her mind’s attention. It ached when he imagined the dejected look on her face as she had turned away from them, instead comforting herself with the rapt attention of inanimate objects.
“And what things did you teach them?” Warner asked softly, his eyes drawing hers back to him, away from the past.
“Everything,” Adele murmured. “Dressmaking, philosophy, novels, ancient Greek. The silliness of girls who pined for princes when they never even tried to rescue themselves.”
“No, that is what dukes are for,” Warner said without thinking.
Adele canted her head towards him. “I suppose it is.”
Warner felt a rush of warmth spread through him and checked it ruthlessly. He was playing a dangerous game, and he did not want to stop.
Twenty-One
“Adele!” Verity’s excited voice rang out through the gardens, and Adele looked up from her spot beneath the willow.
It had been nearly a week since Adele and Warner had cooked their dinner together, and her burn had nearly healed. Adele had decided to spend the morning outside to enjoy some of the beautiful summer air.
As soon as she saw Verity with a small spaniel at her heels, a broad smile split across her face, only growing larger when Cora and Rowen each appeared, and two children that Adele assumed were Rowen’s followed behind them.
“Verity! Cora! Rowen!” Adele ran to the women and flung her arms around them. “What on Earth are you doing here?”
“Did your husband not tell you?” Verity asked. “He invited us to stay for the week.”
“Warner invited you?” Adele’s heart twisted
“Yes, he thought you would be missing us and felt that it would be good to have us stay with you.”
“I must say, I did not expect him to be quite so generous. When I told him that I could not leave the children for that long, he insisted I bring them. And he sent his own carriages to fetch us all, including Verity and her dog.”
“He told me the carriages were in need of repair.”
“I wanted to surprise you.” Warner’s voice was full of amusement, and Adele whirled to face him. “I know how much you love your friends, and it seemed a shame for you to have to wait so long until we could see them again.”
