His Amiable Bride by Kasey Stockton

Author:Kasey Stockton [Stockton, Kasey]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2019-04-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Adam watched Cori mother her youngest sister with the greatest joy and satisfaction he had ever witnessed from a mother, natural or otherwise. More than he’d witnessed on his own, at any rate. He tried to give them privacy, leaving them alone in the parlor with their tea while he went to his study to care for his correspondence. But he quickly found he could not concentrate on writing letters with tinkling feminine laughter filtering down the hallway.

Drat Cori, and drat her little sister.

No, he did not truly feel that way. It was not their fault he had made a sort of game out of trying to guess which laughter belonged to which sister. He was fairly positive which one belonged to Cori when another sound came in that stumped him once more.

There was nothing else for it, he simply had to go and discover if he was correct or not.

Adam crossed the hallway, careful to enter the parlor right away. He did not want to make the mistake of lingering and hearing things better left unheard.

“Lord Arnett!” Marjie squealed. She was a fetching little thing, and while she did not resemble Cori greatly in the obvious ways, her smile was identical. He found he liked her smile very much.

“Yes, you little rascal?”

Marjie giggled. “I have an idea for a game, but Cori refuses to play.”

He looked at Cori. She was watching her younger sister with an indulgent smile. He was certain she would play anything Marjie asked.

“What game is that?”

“Archery!”

Adam chuckled. “I hate to bear the bad news, but that is not an idea for a new game.”

“With Annabelle!” she continued enthusiastically.

Adam shot Cori a questioning glance and she explained, “The dog.”

Oh. “You’d like to shoot your dog?” he asked, giving her the best haughty, judgmental look he could muster.

“Of course not,” she said, unfazed. “I’d like to tie a target to her back. A moving target would be so challenging to hit!”

“Yes, I could see that.” In truth, he admitted to himself, he wouldn’t mind trying it either. But not at the expense of an animal.

“Shall we get you home now, dear?” Cori asked. “Your governess is surely awake by now and is likely expecting your return.”

“That old hag couldn’t see—”

“Marjie.” Cori reprimanded sternly. She evidently had experience using authority over her sister in such a way. “You will respect your governess.”

“But you haven’t met her,” Marjie whined. “She really is horrid. And boring, Cori! She is so very boring.”

Cori stood at once. It was apparent that she took responsibility for Marjie’s poor manners and her blushing cheeks showed it. Adam found himself attracted to the Cori he was seeing. She was confident in the way she handled her sister, and even more so, she was competent.

For the first time in his life, Adam imagined a brood of little children running around, some with his red hair, others with Cori’s dark brown. A mix of brown and green eyes watched their mother lovingly while she told them a bedtime story and tucked them into their cots.

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