Page 41 of Adeline

He’d be lucky if a suitable room could be found for him.

For a brief moment, he pondered returning to Lord Melton’s study and accepting his offer of lodging. But doing that would keep Jasper in very close proximity to Adeline, and that was something he must avoid. Keeping his hands off her for the entire carriage ride had been made possible only because Adeline’s maid had kept a vigilant watch over the pair.

He needs must remember who he was, and who she was. Where he belonged: Faversham. And where she belonged: London.

There was no more proof needed than their few moments outside after disembarking the coach. She’d stepped right up to command the servants in their duties and speak with those seeking her ear. He’d been happy to watch from the shadows.

Night and day, they were.

She shone brightest in the sun, while he was mostly hidden amidst the shadows.

Though, Adeline was different. She hadn’t pushed him into the darkness and demand he exist there as the villagers did. It appeared she desired him at her side.

An awkward silence stretched between them, both lost in their own thoughts yet continuing to stare at one another.

Finally, it was Adeline who spoke. “Will you meet me at Regent’s Park tomorrow morning? Ten o’clock? That is my usual practice hour. I will be there with my bow. I know you are adept at hunting, but I’d relish the opportunity to see how you fair with a true target.”

How could he deny her anything? Her hazel stare locked with his, and everything and everyone disappeared as she inched closer to him. He should instruct her to remain a respectable distance away as they were no longer at the Abbey. His trusted, loyal servants were not herein.

George waited by his coach, but other than him, Jasper knew not a soul but Adeline.

A sudden realization had him stumbling back a step. He trusted her.

He wasn’t remaining in London because of her brother’s invitation. He’d decided to stay in London for her. Part of him suspected he’d made the decision long before leaving Faversham Abbey that morning.

“Yes, I will meet you,” he conceded. Or at least he hoped she thought he agreed with reluctance. Because the alternative would be that he was willing to throw society’s rules out the window to have another day, possibly two, with Adeline. “How will I find you? I suspect the park is large.”

Her smile, coy but enchanting nonetheless, told him she’d known all along he would accept. Though his reasoning had little to do with competition and targets and everything to do with her. In the short time they’d been in London, Jasper had noticed a different side to her, a side she’d either kept hidden in Kent or, more likely, a part she hadn’t had need to express there.

Good or bad.

Jasper hadn’t decided.

“I am certain you will not miss me,” she replied with a soft laugh as a maid departed a room down the hall, and Jasper took a step away from Adeline. “I will bring a bow for your use.”

“That is appreciated, for I doubt I can throw an arrow and hit the target.” He leaned in close as the maid turned a corner and moved out of sight. “Fare thee well, Adeline.”

“And you, Jasper.”

He turned, strode toward the foyer, and departed the Melton townhouse with a grin that had been absent when he entered not long before. His coach waited in the drive, George in his place with the reins.

“Kebberstone Townhouse,” Jasper shouted, climbing into the coach.

“Kebberstone?” He ignored the surprise in George’s tone. “Right away, m’lord.”

Jasper had little doubt his servant knew the way well. He’d served his father for several years before his sire’s death and had even made the journey to London to collect Jasper’s solicitor when the need arose.

Settling back against the seat, Jasper turned his stare to the fabric-covered ceiling of the coach as it moved evenly back onto the lane and headed toward his townhouse on St. James, the magnitude of his rash—though conscious—decision settling heavily upon his shoulders.

Returning to a townhouse that had been all but deserted since his parents’ deaths, commissioning a proper wardrobe for his stay, and attending his first London ball. A few days prior, Jasper would have never thought to find himself away from the Abbey, let alone making the journey to town.

And it was as if Lord and Lady Melton hadn’t so much as noticed his scars—nor questioned Adeline’s arrival home in the company of a stranger. And how had Adeline not told him her birthday was only a few days off? Not that he’d have done anything with the information. For, certainly, it would be scandalous for him to buy her a gift: flowers, new hair ribbons, a necklace. That was not a stranger’s place.

Perhaps a note of congratulations would be appropriate, for he would have been in Faversham, and she in London.

He could not deny how drastically their situation had altered since that very morning.

“M’lord?”