“Good,” Emily answered. “You’ll be far happier without him pestering you. Who does he think he is using your given name?”
Ada shook her head. Emily was right. And yet, somehow, she hated to see him go.
* * *
Vice climbed into his carriage, tossing himself with a thud onto the bench. What irritated him so bloody much was Emily had been exactly right. He would never be good for a woman like Ada.
Hadn’t Camille taught him that already? He still remembered the words she’d tossed at him like balls of lead. “I need a man who will be stable, reliable. You’re very fun, Lord Viceroy but I can’t imagine raising children with you. You’d be at the club far more than you’d ever be home.”
He dropped his head into his hands. He’d sworn to give it all up but Camille hadn’t believed him. In the end, she’d married exactly the sort she’d described. Vice wondered if she was happy. Likely she was.
He rapped on the carriage frame signaling for his driver to start. The whip cracked as the reins jingled and he leaned back into his seat.
“Wait,” a small feminine voice called. “Lord Viceroy, please wait.”
Ada. He’d recognize her voice anywhere.
“Stop,” he barked, hitting the wall with his walking stick again. The carriage drew to a halt and the door snapped open. Ada stood on the ground, in nothing but her pale green gown, her exposed skin covered in goose pimples. While the spring sun warmed the air, today was decidedly cool with a stiff breeze. “You’re shivering.”
“I’ll only be a moment,” she replied. “I just wanted to tell you…” And then she stopped, nibbling on her lip.
He climbed out of the carriage again, and removing his coat, dropped it over her shoulders, pulling it closed about her chest.
Her arms wrapped it tighter about her from the inside and then she dropped her head, drawing in air through her nose. “Your coat smells delightful.”
He wanted to hold her close but he glanced up to the windows to see a crowd watching them from above. “I’m glad you like it.”
Ada lifted her head, her bright green eyes meeting his. “It smells of cigars, and pine and…you.”
He gripped the outside of his thigh to keep from touching her face. “You like the way I smell?”
She looked away again. “Tomorrow night, there is the Applebee ball we’re to attend. I think I mentioned it earlier. It’s Grace’s and my season to come out.” She drew in a breath. “His Grace will be there along with Lord Exmouth and Lord Effington, you needn’t attend.”
“You came out here to tell me not to attend?” He narrowed his eyes, dropping his head closer. Why did those words feel like a stab in the heart?
She shrugged, the large shoulders of his coat exaggerating the movement. “My words didn’t come out properly.” She looked at him again, her chin tipping up, exposing the long column of her neck. He’d like to trail kisses down that neck. “I came out here to ask you to come, despite my family’s words. But if you don’t wish to, I would understand and I’ll be safe, even if you don’t.”
He shouldn’t go. This was his chance to leave before Ada came to her senses and rejected him. Besides, she wasn’t even his sort of woman. “I’ll be there,” he answered.
She gave a quick nod, a tiny smile playing about her lips. It highlighted the soft kissable curve of them. The lovely shape of her cheek, the sweep of her chin. “Thank you,” she murmured, not looking away. “I appreciate your help.”
“It’s my pleasure,” he said. That was the truth. Emily had been right on several fronts and one of them was that Ada brightened his life. “I shall meet you outside the front doors.”
“I look forward to it,” she answered with a smile.
“Let me escort you back inside. I can’t bear to see you out here without your coat. There is a stiff breeze today.”
“Thank you,” she said as she turned to walk toward the door. He knew her entire family watched but he didn’t want to offer her his arm. She’d have to pull out her hand. Instead, he wrapped a hand about her waist.
She looked at him and then up at the windows.
His only answer was to keep pushing her forward. “Your family is an issue for another day. Today and tomorrow, we make sure to keep you safe. Do you think you will shop for ribbons in the morning?”
She shook her head. “I’ll convince Grace to postpone. We’ll wear white tomorrow, she’s got ribbon enough for that.”
He helped her back up the steps. Her small waist fit his hand so perfectly. Perhaps he should just marry her before she realized that he wasn’t good enough. He saw Emily in the window. Had that been Jack’s plan too?
Reaching the door, they stepped inside. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ada.”