The Lady’s Christmas Secret by Ella Edon
CHAPTERFOUR
If anyone had informed Adam, when he had woken up that morning, that he would find himself ending his day in a silent carriage ride with Caroline White, he certainly would have laughed in their face. He still could not believe it himself.
Yet, there she was in the flesh, sitting right across from him in the small compartment. Her maid, Miss Grant, was sitting right next to her, and he had caught the young woman stealing curious glances at him every time she thought he was not looking.
Of course, he could not blame her. As an employee in the White household, she would have heard about the mutual enmity keeping the families of the two older men apart for so many years.
Adam was chastised severely by his father for spending time with Caroline that Christmastide night in the forest, and he had come to push the memory into the recesses of his mind. His young brain was unable to grasp the meaning of the strong feelings his father held against the Whites.
Even though it had pained him to say goodbye to young Caroline that night, he agreed never to see her again. Adam had learned to respect his father’s wishes growing up – even if the duke did not always explain his intentions or his reasons for his loathing and intolerance for their neighbours.
But looking at her now, Adam could not help but wonder if he had made a terrible mistake by agreeing never to see her; and if this irrational feud had been keeping him apart from someone genuinely missing from his life. He remembered how kind she had been to him that night when she had caught him crying.
Although he had buried that side of himself deep inside and would not allow anyone to see it ever again, Adam still missed his mother terribly, and the holidays were always a grim affair in his household. He had spent every Christmas since finding solace in the idea that his mother was visiting him through the falling snowflakes, as Caroline had suggested.
Briefly wondering if it would snow again this year, he pushed aside his childish thoughts and returned to the present. Caroline avoided his gaze throughout the silent ride. She kept her face turned toward the window, fixing her eyes on the vast pastures they passed.
Her refusal to look his way presented the perfect opportunity to study her once more. He still couldn't believe how beautiful she was. Her face, so deeply engraved into his memory, had maintained the vivid, inquisitive glow that he remembered so well. Her shiny brown hair appeared slightly dishevelled from the wind and the rain, but two glossy ringlets framed her heart-shaped face, stopping right below her pert chin.
Two tiny pearl earrings adorned her soft earlobes, dangling daintily over the smooth skin of her neck, and her rosy lips were full and inviting. Adam had to stop himself from allowing his eyes to drift downward where he knew her ample bosom and tiny waist would hold his eyes entranced. He had seen and, admittedly, held many women before, but drinking in the sight of Caroline’s body felt different.
Despite the womanly shape of her curves, the irresistible lines of her full lips, and the fiery defiant character she had displayed, Adam could see that Caroline had maintained the dewy aura of youth. He could recall the rosy hue of her cheeks and nose freezing that night in the snow, the hopeful glint in her eyes, the same pair of green eyes he now felt he could drown himself in.
Adam was remained lost in his thoughts with his eyes fixed upon her as he saw her stirring ever so slightly. Her petite frame shook momentarily as she hunched her shoulders and crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest.
The thought of her shivering turned his mind blank for a few seconds. All he could think of was how it would feel to have her shivering under his touch. If he were to reach out to her at that moment, bridge the short distance between them and touch her alabaster collarbone, he had no doubt her skin would feel soft under his fingertips, like delicious, milky white silk, untouched and unravished─
Steady yourself, man!He reprimanded himself as he adjusted his position in his seat. He could already feel sweat at the back of his neck, and he thought of opening a window to let the evening breeze clear his thoughts.
She’s obviously shivering because she’s chilled, and opening a window would be uncomfortable for her.
Almost instinctively, Adam started removing his coat. He noticed her eyes flickering over him and his body as he stretched in his seat to remove the garment.
“Please,” he said, extending his coat to her.
“No, thank you,” she looked away, her lips forming a defiant thin line.
Trying hard not to think about how badly he would have liked to make those lips full with a passionate kiss, Adam wanted to make her see reason.
“I insist,” he pressed on. “You’ve spent too long outside, and I won’t have you catching a cold in my coach.”
He could see the battle within her by the look in her eyes as she turned and looked at Miss Grant, who was pretending she was not paying any attention to their exchange, her eyes pinned to her hands resting on her lap.
Caroline gave a curt nod. “Very well,” she said quietly and tried to take the coat, and he pulled it back just in time to have her lean towards his direction. She shot an angry look at him.
“Allow me,” he offered as he extended his arms, holding up the coat again.
Her eyes locked with his as she turned tentatively in her seat to allow him access to her back. As Adam moved forward and covered her shoulders with his coat, he caught a whiff of her perfume. It was subtle yet feminine, and it smelled like lavender and jasmine. He inhaled deeply and kept his eyes closed a second longer than was strictly necessary, basking in the utter intoxication of her presence, richer and more dangerous than any alcohol he had ever tasted.
Caroline raised her small, gloved hands and wrapped her delicate fingers around the collar of his coat in an attempt to pull it tighter around her.
She turned to look at Adam as he leaned back, and he enjoyed the sight of her in his clothes.
She uttered a simple “thank you” and continued staring out the window. They were nearing her house any minute now, and she appeared more agitated and restless than before. Adam wished he could reassure her that everything would be alright, but all he could do was look at her, so small and unprotected in his huge coat. More than anything, he felt the sudden inexplicable urge to wrap his arms around her.
“Is there something amiss?” she asked.
This time, she caught him staring at her, and her voice startled him.
“Not at all,” he replied. “It suits you.”
The tiniest of smiles danced around her lips, which disappear before it reached her eyes. But Adam had seen it, and it had awoken something in his heart he had thought long dead.
* * *
Caroline thought her heart would burst in her chest. It was nearly impossible to remain calm in his presence, especially when she felt his eyes burning over her face, her neck, her hands, everywhere. She had endured almost the entire carriage ride without meeting his gaze. Still, it had been a challenge to keep herself from looking in his direction, no matter how feverishly her curiosity urged her to do so.
Instead, she had kept her eyes on the landscape outside and the diminishing daylight. As they crossed the familiar fields on the straight and narrow dirt road, she knew that there was no hope her father wouldn’t have noticed she was missing by now, and she anticipated the worst.
The scent of his coat now wrapped securely around her shoulders clouded her thoughts, but she was surprised to find it had a calming effect on her. It was rich and manly, and it smelled of wood and smoke. Caroline took it all in, inhaling discreetly and trying to memorize it as best as she could.
Now, fully aware of his presence and thinking about their impending arrival, she came up with an idea.
There may be a way I could try to salvage some of the damage, she thought.
“May I ask one favor, Lord Derby?” She turned to look at him.
Adam’s eyes lit up at the sound of her calling his name, and she felt a tug of satisfaction rise from inside of her.
“You may,” he said with a slight nod, a note of amusement shimmering in his voice.
Caroline found him perplexing and tried hard to focus on the task at hand.
“Please you ask your coachman to stop the carriage before reaching Linford and leave us a little further from the gate if it is not too much trouble?”
They were approaching her home very fast, and Caroline recognized the stone fence and the tall oak trees along the old dirt road that led to her father's estate.
“Wouldn’t it be more convenient to drive you to your door? It isn’t safe for you to be alone out there at this hour,” he said and frowned, looking genuinely worried.
“Thank you for your concern, but we will be perfectly safe. I’m sure you know how quiet these grounds can get this time of year.”
She wondered momentarily if his mind would drift to the night they met, and Caroline knew for a fact that she would not be able to stop thinking about it.
“Besides,” she added, “I don’t think my father would appreciate the gesture as much as we have.”
She hoped he would pick up on her meaning, and she would not have to go into much detail on a subject that already made her excessively nervous. Caroline watched him closely as he processed her statement confounded, until realisation dawned on his handsome face.
“Oh,” Adam said, “of course.” With a graceful move, he turned around, his hair rustling on the collar of his white shirt, and gave the signal to his coachman with three rapid knocks on the small window frame.
His man, accustomed to his master’s signals, received the order immediately, and he pulled the reins quite hard. Caroline felt the coach wheels grinding to a halt so sharply that she almost fell from her seat for the second time that day. She did not fail to notice how Adam’s hands had twitched instinctively at the motion as if he was prepared to catch her given the chance.
He cleared his throat as he adjusted his vest, stepped outside the carriage, and stood to the side. He held out his gloved hand to help Caroline down, but she ignored the gesture again and descended the little step on her own with her maid following suit.
“Here we are then,” he pleasantly said when they were both outside the carriage.
Mr. Adderton disembarked from the front seat and took his leave, running toward the house to assemble the stable hands so that they could retrieve the carriage with a new wheel before it went completely dark.
Caroline could see that they had stopped a few feet before the gate, but the light afternoon rain had turned into a thick fog which prevented her from seeing very far. In the distance, she caught sight of the faded lights coming from the windows of her house.
She turned to thank him, still unsure of what to make of their strange encounter after all these years. Adam looked down at her and smiled, a few specks of the mist surrounding them trapped into his long eyelashes and his hair. Caroline noticed how the dimples on his cheeks somehow made his eyes appear even warmer and more mischievous, and her breath caught in her throat. She opened her mouth to speak, but another sound─distant and frenzied – suddenly filled the air and the space between them.
“Caroline!”
She turned her head instinctively towards the gate of her house and squinted her eyes to see a man standing at the front, holding an oil lamp. As the old, rusty gate opened with a screeching creak, Caroline realized the angry voice piercing through the mist belonged to none other than her father.
