Page 12 of A Lady to Reveal (Sherton Sisters 4)

Gil watched as Miss Jones lifted an eyebrow at his daughter. Suddenly, the girl’s cheeks brightened with pink, and she lifted her napkin to wipe her mouth.

“Sorry, Jonesy, I was too excited for the food and your answer.”

Miss Jones graced his daughter with an approving smile before she finally answered her question.

“I know how to cook a few things. If I was left on my own without a kitchen staff but a stocked larder, I wouldn’t starve. But nothing like what the cooks here can manage, that’s for certain. And it seems like they are always cooking enough for an army. I wouldn’t be able to manage that without some practice, I’m sure.”

“Well, I suppose there are a great number of people here that need to be fed, isn’t there?” Adelina grinned at the footmen who were milling about the room behind them. Miss Jones nodded her agreement.

Gil thought to join their conversation.

“Speaking of feeding an army, we’ve received word that Wickham and Easton’s terms will be ending in two weeks. They will be coming home shortly thereafter.”

It was as though he had said the most thrilling thing his daughter had ever heard. She stared at him with her mouth and eyes opened wide. Even Miss Jones appeared surprised by his words.

“Gardner and Easton are coming here?” Adelina breathed her question. “I can hardly believe it!” she practically squealed before she turned to her companion and added. “Can you believe it, Jonesy?”

Gil saw the young woman’s eyes alight with amusement, and he suspected it was due to his daughter’s choice of names for her companion. The duke wondered if he ought to reprimand his daughter for her casual address but decided to leave it in Miss Jones’ hands.

“I’m looking forward to meeting your brothers,” Miss Jones calmly replied.

“You ought to be a little more excited than that, Jonesy,” the girl reprimanded, bringing a smile to her companion’s face.

“I’m trying not to be, in all honesty, Lady Adelina.”

The child frowned. “Why ever would you do that?”

“You’ve told me so many fantastic things about them, I’m uncertain if they could possibly be the paragons you’ve portrayed them to be. If I try not to get my hopes up, I’ll not be disappointed.”

Gil had to school his features quite severely not to allow his amusement to show as he watched his daughter absorb the wisdom in her companion’s words. Her eyes narrowed, and her nose wrinkled before she finally rejected Miss Jones’ wisdom.

“But I like being excited,” she declared, a note of belligerence creeping into her voice.

“I can understand that.” Miss Jones nodded, unconcerned and taking another bite of the excellent repast.

After another long stare at her companion, Adelina finally picked her fork back up and carried on with her meal.

“Tell me what you’re looking forward to the most about seeing your brothers,” Miss Jones asked when she saw that the girl had subsided.

“I want to hear all about school, for one thing.”

“You do?” Miss Jones was surprised. “I thought you didn’t like school.”

Adelina shrugged. “I didn’t. But I like hearing about their school. It’s part of why I wanted to go to school in the first place. Gardner made it sound like it would be lovely. But I think perhaps it’s only boys’ schools that are nice.”

Gil watched as Miss Jones folded her lips over in an apparent effort to hide her amusement. “Perhaps,” was all she would reply. “I am certain your brothers will have plenty of stories to share.” She took another dainty bite before prompting again, “What else?”

“I just want to see them and play with them,” she finally answered, as though she didn’t have a solid answer besides that, but surely her companion should understand. It was all Gil could do not to laugh out loud as he watched the byplay between the two females. He wondered if it were something about every gently born young woman that gave Miss Jones such a familiar air.

“I suppose I can understand that,” Miss Jones replied calmly. “I didn’t grow up with brothers, but my older sisters were always so fascinating when they would allow us younger girls to be with them. That wasn’t always the case, but sometimes they would deign to allow it.” Her grin displayed how much she had enjoyed it. But without going into any further detail Miss Jones prompted Adelina to share more.

“Do you enjoy being in the middle? You are all so close in age. It must have been great fun before your brothers went to school.”

The child cast an apprehensive glance toward her father and didn’t answer beyond a nod and a shrug, causing Miss Jones to frown and glance at him before she quickly averted her gaze back to the contemplation of her plate.

Gilbert found her skittishness amusing. He wasn’t certain why she seemed to be so shy around him. He supposed it could be for the very reasons she had explained to Adelina about his position as a duke. But somehow, it felt different than that to Gil. For some reason, he found it both amusing and attractive, and he had to fight his compulsion to spend time with the young woman. Whenever she could get beyond her reticence, she seemed to be an interesting, intelligent young woman. And he certainly couldn’t be said to mind the warmth in her gaze when she could bring herself to meet his eyes upon occasion.

She surprised him suddenly by spearing him with her perceptive gaze. “What about you, Your Grace? Are you looking forward to your sons’ return? It will be livelier around here, to be sure.”

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