In the Garden of Temptation by Cynthia Wicklund Read Free Book Online Page B

company of the baroness was irresistible.
    Adam hesitated for only a moment before
accepting. He was stiff with disapproval, but he allowed as how he
would appreciate Lady Bourgeault’s company if she found it
convenient. He then spun on his heels and marched toward the
house.
    Over his shoulder he snapped, “If your wife
consents to go, have her send word when she is ready and I will
meet her in the stables.”
     
    *****
     
    “ Edgar, I can’t go. I don’t
own a riding habit.”
    Her husband smirked. “My love, after that red
gown, you could wear sackcloth and our guest will only remember how
you looked last evening. Damned, if he didn’t nearly spit his drink
on the carpet, he was that amazed.” He slapped his thigh merrily
over the recollection.
    “ Why not? He’s a gentleman
and used to people who know how to behave themselves. We came
across as having no idea how to carry on in company.” Catherine
sniffed at him. “The oddest part is that you go out of your way to
project that image.”
    “ Even so, I think Ashworth
was taken with you,” he murmured silkily. “I like that.”
    Catherine stared at her husband in appalled
wonder. “Edgar, why did you marry me? You paid my father an
outrageous sum of money when we wed, and for the life of me I can’t
see what you have gained from it.”
    She must have surprised him, for he looked
nonplused by her direct attack. Chuckling, he said, “Can’t rattle
you today, can I, my dear? Ashworth said he would meet you in the
stables. I’ll send word that you’ll be there in twenty minutes.” He
studied her for several moments before he continued. “I’m depending
on you, Catherine. Don’t disappoint me.”
    On that enigmatic note, he left the room.
    Perplexed, she stared after him. He wanted
something of her, but what? Why couldn’t he just explain and put
her out of her misery? He had given her a puzzle to solve, and she
wasn’t even certain she had all the pieces. Worse yet, if she
failed to discern his message, the consequence could be a dreadful
punishment that would make her existence even more wretched.
    She did know that Edgar wanted her to go
riding with the earl, and he had never asked her to ride with one
of his guests before. If obscure statements and innuendo were an
indication, he wished Lord Ashworth to be impressed by her. Did he
simply want others to covet what was his? Catherine was not
egotistical enough to consider herself a prize worthy of inspiring
that kind of boasting. She shrugged. Trying to understand what
motivated her husband was akin to analyzing the unknown—one might
wonder, but there was rarely an easy answer.
    Catherine smoothed the
creases in the skirt of the modest cotton gown she wore. She could
change into another frock, but it would be little different from
this one. Frowning into the mirror, she put on a small straw hat,
hopelessly outdated, and turned her head from side to side. Oh bother! She looked as
dowdy and plain as the wife of a tenant farmer.
    Nothing to be done now, she thought
resignedly. She had an appointment to keep. At least, she didn’t
look like a strumpet trying to seduce the entirety of the British
army, quite possibly all at once.
     
    *****
     
    Catherine would never know how charming she
appeared to Adam a short while later as she approached him in the
stables. Her beauty was so pure and refreshing, she took his breath
away. Surely, he must have imagined how lovely she was, but here
she stood just the way he remembered her. In her simple dress and
hat, a soft smile touching her lips, he felt as though she had
dragged the sweet, warm light of the early afternoon with her into
the darkened building.
    Unexpectedly, the simmering heat the earl had
tried to tamp the previous evening threatened to erupt full force.
He knew he was disrespectful to dwell on the vision she had created
in that explicit red gown, but he was unable to help himself. Her
fine long neck and gentle sloping shoulders, above breasts