About Adam by Stella Cameron

Author:Stella Cameron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-10-14T04:00:00+00:00

21

Adam had left Desirée in Lady Hester’s care. The Princess had not wanted him to go, particularly since he’d been so vague about his reason, but she’d bowed to his wishes. They still had a number of hours before they would leave and their packed bags were ready in Adam’s flat. Verbeux had somehow managed to smuggle Desirée there.

Taking action helped, keeping busy until the two of them could leave. The encounter with his father would never be forgotten and had left Adam wanting to find out his parents’ whole story.

Edward, Adam’s coachman, was a discreet and devoted man. He drove through the gray afternoon toward St. John’s Wood where a neighbor of Rolly Spade-Filbert’s had said he and Lucas could probably be found. The man, older, garrulous and apparently lonely for an audience, had produced the address but sworn Adam to secrecy about where he got it. Adam was glad to agree and would not have revealed his source anyway.

St. John’s Wood looked graceful, regal even, in its mantle of white. When the coach turned the corner at Circus Road, the area was quiet and there were no other conveyances in sight. It was as if this place where married gentlemen kept their ladybirds, and kept them in high style amid neighbors who were writers and painters, had fallen asleep by the fires that burned brightly inside the pretty semidetached villas.

For the sake of discretion, Adam had Edward wait in nearby Abbey Lane, and went the rest of the way on foot. The only living soul he passed was so swathed against the cold that he resembled a large gray beehive on booted feet.

Adam walked quickly, wanting to keep this encounter short and to return to Desirée as quickly as possible. The address he sought appeared closed up. Not a window was uncovered, but the place was kept in good condition. At the door he rang the bell and waited, deliberately keeping his head down in case someone looked through a window and saw who he was—and decided they didn’t want his company.

Adam had rung several times before he saw light and heard rapid footsteps. The door opened a crack and a pale, oval face with dark eyes appeared considerably below the level of his own. Hair with a reddish cast was caught up inside a white linen maid’s cap. The girl’s apron and brown linen frock were spotless.

Then she opened her mouth and spoiled everything. “Watcha want then? Nobody’s expected so don’t try nuthin’ funny.”

Adam plastered on a smile and added a wink for good measure. The wink had the required result since the maid fluttered her lashes and winked back. “My brother and his friend are visiting here,” he said. “Mr. Lucas Chillworth and Mr. Rolly Spade-Filbert.”

That earned him giggles “Silly name, ain’t it? Makes yer think of diggin’ up trees.”

It had never made Adam think exactly that, but he agreed on the comical quality of the name. “I’m Adam Chillworth, Lucas’s brother and I have important business with him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.