Adam's Promise by Julianne MacLean

Author:Julianne MacLean
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2003-07-27T04:00:00+00:00

Early the next morning, Adam waited anxiously for Madeline, who was upstairs, dressing to go to the fort to greet the lieutenant-governor. It was not Lord Blackthorne’s arrival that was making Adam anxious, however. It was something much more profound than that, for Adam had a letter in his pocket.

He remembered sitting in his study the day before, deliberating over what to do about the situation with Diana. He hadn’t thought he could go one more day without somehow telling Madeline how he felt about her, and at that moment, he had known he could not marry her sister.

Yet, he’d already sent the proposal. It was on a ship bound for London. What if Diana had already received it and wanted to come right away? On the contrary, she might send a letter turning him down and he would be free, but could he wait six weeks or more to find out? Could he go on for that long, keeping his desires for Madeline in check? He sincerely doubted it.

So with a new sense of purpose, Adam had sat down at the desk, reached for a clean parchment, picked up his quill pen, dipped it deeply into the ink and begun his letter to Diana: the retraction of his proposal. And if necessary, the request for an annulment.

It had been a difficult thing to do, but he knew it was the right thing. For everyone.

Now Adam paced up and down the hall, still waiting for Madeline to come downstairs. He patted the letter in his pocket. He couldn’t wait to hand it over to the ship’s master.

Of course, Adam couldn’t actually propose to Madeline until he’d received a reply from his solicitor, affirming that Adam was free, but he could at least explain to Madeline what he had done, and assure her that Diana would not be coming to Cumberland.

He was eager and impatient to take the first step toward a life with Madeline if, God willing, she would ever have him. He supposed that after today, he would have plenty of time and opportunity to make it happen, for he had every intention of fighting for her. By God, he was going to give John Metcalf a good run for his money.

Just then, Penelope came running down the stairs. “Father, may I take Thunder out for a ride on the marsh this morning?”

Adam cleared his throat and cupped his daughter’s soft chin. “Have you had breakfast?”

“Yes. I had two eggs and a slice of corn bread.”

“Then yes, you may take Thunder out, but stay on the path.”

“I will! Thank you, Father!” She bolted past him and out the front door.

He heard a rustle of silk behind him and turned.

There stood Madeline, wearing a fine peach-colored floral gown, her hair pulled into an elegant bun and decorated with pearl combs, beneath a bergère straw hat trimmed with flowers. Her short, tight sleeves were trimmed with a triple layer of lace flounces just above her elbows, and at her neck, she wore a white crossed handkerchief to cover the deep, square décolletage.

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