The Wicked Earl by Margaret McPhee

Author:Margaret McPhee
Language: ron
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

F ortunately the next day was taken up in hiding the clues that Madeline had written, and Mrs Babcock organising the kitchen for the preparation of the secret birthday lunch, so much so that there was little time to dwell upon such things. Madeline slumped exhausted into bed, wondering what Lucien would think of his birthday surprise.

The day of the birthday was fine and dry with a cold weak sun to brighten the morning room. She rose especially early so that she would be seated at the breakfast table before Lucien even entered the room. She sat quite still at the table, basking in the sunlight that flooded in through the large window. Tiny particles floated on the sunbeam, suspended like small specks of silver within the air. Everything was quiet, so quiet that Madeline could hear the sound of her own breath. She waited with a calm easiness, surprised at her own hunger. A whole plate of eggs, ham and mushrooms had been devoured before she heard the tread of her husband’s footsteps. She was sipping her coffee, with Max lounging at her feet, when he entered.

‘Madeline?’

She heard the question in his voice.

He glanced towards the clock as if to check that he had not mistaken the time. ‘You’re up early this morning.’

‘Yes,’ she said, trying not to look at the neatly folded note that lay beside his place setting. She smiled, a warm anticipation surging through her veins. ‘Happy birthday, Lucien.’

Surprise widened his eyes, and then he recovered himself to thank her most politely, and went to help himself to breakfast from the warming plates. It was only when he sat down that he noticed her scraped-clean plate. ‘You’ve already eaten?’

‘I couldn’t wait for a certain slug-a-bed or I might have starved.’

That drew the vestige of a laugh and eased the tension between them. He found the note beside his plate and scanned the contents. The severity in his face fled, replaced instead with something of the boyish delight she imagined he must have had all those years ago as a child. ‘A treasure hunt.’

‘I thought you might like it.’

Lucien laughed again, and she couldn’t help but notice how it transformed his face. It was like looking at two different men. One cold, handsome and remote, the other, warm and lovable. ‘And you were right.’

For the first time since arriving at Trethevyn Madeline saw a glimpse of the man who had swept her off her feet from a dance room and married her before a clergyman that same night.

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.