Adam’s Promise by Julianne MacLean

Author:Julianne MacLean [MacLean, Julianne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-08-25T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Dumbfounded and bewildered, Adam struggled to maintain his composure.

Lord Blackthorne appeared before him, looking all around at the vast green landscape. “Mr. Coates! What a magnificent countryside you have here.”

Adam forced himself to greet the viscount and make some audible response.

Lord Blackthorne gestured behind him. “As you can see, I brought another lovely flower to add to it, and what an exceedingly great pleasure it is to do so.”

Adam remembered a conversation he’d had with the viscount one evening at Government House when they were enjoying a glass of brandy together.

“Are you married, Mr. Coates?”

Adam had swirled the amber liquid around in his glass. “No, my lord. I am widowed, but I have recently proposed to a woman I knew in Yorkshire years ago—Lady Thurston. She, too, is widowed. Her younger sister is here now, and we are awaiting her ladyship’s arrival.”

“What is the woman’s sister doing here?” the viscount asked.

So Adam had been forced to explain the mix-up….

Lord Blackthorne slapped Adam on the back, shocking him into the present. “What are the odds, Coates! I have come on the same schooner as Lady Thurston! What an extraordinary coincidence, what?”

Diana moved to stand beside Lord Blackthorne, who seemed to enjoy the opportunity to bring two long-lost lovers back together again.

“Adam Coates, may I present your betrothed, Lady Thurston.”

Adam’s heart throbbed in his ears as he forced himself to meet her beautiful, sparkling gaze. Diana…

She looked as young and slim and perfect as the first day he met her, sixteen years ago. Almost nothing had changed, save a line or two around her eyes. Her smile was the same, her full lips were the same, her tiny, dainty nose…it was all the same.

Diana—his Diana—here in the flesh. The shock of it…. It was incomprehensible.

She smiled and tilted her head in that old, familiar way.

Adam was shaken by how well he knew her mannerisms, as if they were permanently etched on his heart, mind, and soul.

“Adam,” she said, “how wonderful it is to see you again. It seems like an eternity.” Her voice was the same, too—rich and velvety, like a song.

He felt everyone’s eyes upon them, as if they all knew the situation and were waiting to see what might happen next.

Of course, no one knew the real situation, that he had a letter to break off their engagement searing a hole in his pocket. He turned to look at Madeline, somewhere behind him, and felt a deep ache in his chest.

Madeline stood tall and unruffled, her hands clasped together in front of her. As he turned, Diana turned, too, then Madeline moved forward to greet her sister.

The whole scene was excruciating, like something out of a Shakespearean play. They hugged each other, and it was all Adam could do to keep himself from demanding an explanation. What was Diana doing here? She couldn’t possibly have received his proposal and arrived so quickly. It wasn’t feasible.

Madeline smiled warmly at her sister. “What are you doing here so soon? We didn’t expect you.

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