An Earl of her Own (Saints and Sinners 3)

“Agreed.” Samuel nodded sagely. “But I dread the day she marries again.”

“Why is that?”

Samuel’s jaw firmed. “It’s so easy for the boys to wear out our welcome. Warner never wanted any of us around really.”

“Oh, I see,” he said. Family was important to Rebecca. She would want her brother and the twins to visit her in any home she lived in. Adam liked Lord Samuel already and the boys—well he’d grow accustomed to them over time. “I’m sure you’ve nothing to fear.”

“Your girl has impressed my sisters with her pretty manners. They’d steal her away from you if they could,” Samuel told him with a laugh.

“I’m glad, but I assure you, my daughter is wanted at home. They cannot keep her.” However, he was not opposed to sharing his daughter’s affections. Rebecca had given him good advice already, and he hoped to hear more soon.

When he looked around, Adam spotted Rebecca standing at the hall doorway with his daughter beside her. Ava seemed unusually agitated, and Rebecca was trying to placate her. Ava should have been in bed at this hour. “Do excuse me.”

He made his way to meet them. “What are you doing downstairs, young lady?”

“I have a letter,” Ava exclaimed, waving a bit of parchment about. “My very first from a friend! See, it is addressed to Lady Ava Croft from Miss Olivia Hawthorne.”

“She’s very excited,” Rebecca explained. “The footman should have given it to you first. I’ve already spoken to him.”

“Let me see that.” He made a show of inspecting the letter, read the prettily worded thank you for visiting from the Hawthorne girl, and smiled. “I see you made a good impression.”

Ava beamed. “Can I invite her to visit us straight after the wedding?”

Adam glanced toward Rebecca and caught her tiny nod encouraging the idea. Going home was not in Adam’s immediate plans, though. “I’ll think about it,” he answered evasively.

“But Papa,” Ava complained, “I already promised to let her ride my pony. She doesn’t have one.”

Adam held up his hand to stop the flow of words. “It is late, Ava, and I will need to consult my appointment book before you can reply. I’m sure the girl can wait for an answer for one night. Her mother will understand.”

Ava’s face pinched with worry. “How long are we staying at Stapleton?”

He glanced at Rebecca and felt his heartbeat quicken. He would stay as long as he could manage it. He was not done with Rebecca Warner.

“Your father has given you a reasonable answer, my lady,” Rebecca told Ava in a soothing tone, taking over. “Your father is a great man, with many responsibilities.”

Adam couldn’t help but puff out his chest a bit at her praise. “We’ll talk about it soon,” he promised. “Now, shouldn’t you already be in bed?”

“Yes, Papa.”

Ava may have agreed, but she sounded so disappointed, Adam softened. “Would you like me to walk you up?”

“Mrs. Warner has promised to tuck me into bed tonight,” Ava told him, but then a worried frown appeared on her face as she looked between him and Rebecca. “Is that all right?”

“It is. Please don’t let me delay you,” he murmured. The quicker Ava was safely tucked into bed, the sooner Adam was free to be alone with Rebecca. He’d kept a distance since their kiss in the garden, determined not to give them away. Rebecca was quite particular about keeping up the appearance of propriety at all times.

Adam’s heart lightened as the pair bid him good night and moved upstairs together, holding hands. Rebecca seemed a good influence on his daughter, and Ava appeared to like her, too. Ava had had little to do with women beyond his own household and his own family, comprised of old aunts who pinched Ava’s cheek and gave terrible advice.

He returned to the drawing room, mingling with the duke’s family and guests. But the one face he really wanted most to see, the one person he felt most drawn to, was Rebecca Warner. The woman who was currently mothering his daughter upstairs.

Adam sighed, accepting that he would have to wait his turn for a little of Rebecca’s attention.

Whitfield strolled up and pulled him aside. “I’m off to bed.”

Adam grinned. “The last peaceful sleep of a single man.”

Whitfield shook his head. “What are you going to do when I’m married, Rafferty? You’ll have to find someone new to torment.”

Adam had already found someone. He was well ahead of Whitfield’s suggestion. He might even want to keep her.