Giving him a quizzical glance, she picked up one of the round objects and rolled it between her fingers. “So smooth,” she said, and lifted it to her nose. “Smells sweet, like berries. Does one eat the whole?”
“No, one peels it first.” Mr. Pendenning demonstrated how to section out the fruit. “It’s called an orange.”
Her totally unexpected, musical peal of laughter startled Adam. “Of course! Like the color. I’ve read about them, but the book had no illustration, so I didn’t know what the fruit looked like.”
“Take a bite, my dear. ’Tis somewhat sweet, like a berry, but different.”
Her dark eyes alight with curiosity now, she took the piece of fruit the lawyer sectioned off for her and bit into it, laughing again as juice spurted onto her chin and she brought up her other hand to catch the drip.
The hand that, until this moment, she’d kept within the folds of her shabby skirt. As she wiped her chin, Adam stared in horrified fascination at the jagged scar that ran from the base of her thumb to her wrist.
The lawyer, Adam noted, was staring, as well. In the sudden silence Miss Lambarth darted a glance at Adam, then Pendenning. Her smile faded and her face flushed as she quickly shoved the damaged hand back into her lap.
Adam heard Pendenning’s soft hiss of an explicative. “Please, do have some more, my dear,” the lawyer entreated.
“Thank you, I’ve had enough. I’ll finish the tea.”
“You’ve had barely half a slice of cake and only a bite of the biscuit. I thought you said you hadn’t eaten since arriving in London this morning,” the lawyer said.
“I’ve had nothing since yesterday, but this was quite sufficient. I’m used to eating…lightly,” she said, irony once again coloring her tone.
Lord in Heaven, Adam thought, glad that Mr. Pendenning seemed able to carry on the conversation without him, for the almost unbelievable conclusions flooding his mind rendered him speechless. Suddenly he was fiercely glad that Lady Darnell had been called upon to receive her cousin’s child. After what he’d just seen and heard, even if the girl had possessed two heads and a tail, Adam would have felt compelled to take her in.
Miss Lambarth finished her tea and set down the cup. “Thank you, Mr. Pendenning. That was wonderful.” She gave him a wry look. “As I’m sure was rather evident, ’twas more variety of sustenance than I’ve had in a decade.”
“That, my dear, is something we shall shortly correct,” the lawyer said, fervency in his tone. “As I hope you will agree, Lord Darnell?”
“Absolutely.” Adam spoke up at last. “Although your cousin had a rather imperfect recollection of your age, Miss Lambarth,” he said, indicating with a grin the doll he’d placed on the side table, “it is her most ardent wish, which my sister and I share, that you will do us the honor of agreeing to join our household.”
Interest sparked in her eyes. “You have a sister?”
“Yes. Charis is eighteen—about your age?”
“I’m turned twenty,” Miss Lambarth replied. “A sister…” she repeated, her gaze drifting off. “Oh, that would be wonderful,” she murmured, almost to herself.
“Since Charis is as sweet as she is lovely, I believe you would find it so. Won’t you make us all happy, then, and come live with us?”
Miss Lambarth looked up, staring straight into his eyes. “Are you sure you want me?” she asked bluntly. “You’ve seen what I look like and garnered some idea of how I’ve lived. I…I’m not sure I would fit into an elegant London household. As tempting as it is to contemplate living with my cousin, perhaps even having a sister, I think ’twill be better if I live on my own.”
Mr. Pendenning’s protest echoed Adam’s. “No, my dear, that would not do at all! In our Society, unmarried young ladies do not live alone.”
Miss Lambarth lifted an eyebrow and shrugged. “I am quite able to take care of myself, I assure you.”
“I expect you are. That isn’t the point. For a single female to live alone just isn’t done.”
Miss Lambarth stiffened. “You told me I could set up a household in every town in England, if I wished.”
“’Twas only a figure of speech. Having the means to set up a household and doing so on your own are two very different matters.”
“Mr. Pendenning, I have lived as a prisoner in another man’s house for the last ten years. I intend never to be restrained by anyone again. And I care not a jot whether society approves my mode of living.”
After what he’d seen and heard, Adam couldn’t help but understand her reluctance. But all his protective instincts aroused, he searched his mind for some other argument to persuade Miss Lambarth to reconsider.
Before he hit upon anything, the lawyer said, “I’m sorry, I have not explained the situation very well. Naturally, one could not expect you to care about the opinion of persons you have never met. But as you are closely related to Lady Darnell, Society will expect her to offer you shelter and protection—whether or not you need them. If you do not reside with her, she will be considered shockingly remiss in her duty to you. So you see, if you choose to live alone, you will subject your cousin to severe criticism.”
Although Adam didn’t see why that should matter to the girl, either, her silence and the frown creasing her forehead indicated that, for whatever reason, this argument affected her. “I should not want to harm the reputation of Mama’s cousin,” she said after a moment.
Turning to Adam, she continued, “If I do consent to live with you, you must understand that if the…experience is not successful, I shall feel free to leave whenever I wish. Hopefully, we can rub together long enough for me to determine what I wish to do and where I want to live. I think I should like to travel, so perhaps if I leave you to set off to Europe, Cousin Lillian will be spared the censure of her peers.”
“We shall just have to make sure you find residing with us more enjoyable than the prospect of taking your own house,” Adam said, determined to show this waif who had been so badly treated what a blessing living with one’s family could be.
She regarded him gravely. “Do you have a large library?”
Surprised once again by her abrupt change of topic, Adam said, “As it happens, my father was a bibliophile, so I believe you will find it quite extensive.”
“I intend to have my books sent up from Lambarth. Will I have rooms to use at my discretion?”
“A bedchamber and private sitting room will be placed at your disposal. The library, drawing rooms and dining parlors you would share with the rest of the family.”
She nodded. “If I come, you must also agree that I will pay all my own expenses. No!” she interrupted when Adam started to protest. “I absolutely insist upon that. There are certain comforts I must have and I do not intend to be beholden to you for providing them.”
Thinking he’d never had so odd and blunt a conversation in his life, Adam couldn’t help asking, “What sort of comforts, if I might inquire?”
“I wish to keep a fire burning in my rooms night and day. I’ve been cold half my life and don’t intend to be so ever again.”
He had a sudden vision of a small thin girl locked in a frigid room. “You may keep your fires stoked as hot as you wish,” he promised, the urge to heal and protect once more tightening his chest.
A little smile played about her lips. “I want a bed with a feather mattress so soft, when I lie down I will feel like I’m floating on air. A turkey carpet on the floor so thick, my feet will sink up to the ankles, as if in a pair of fuzzy slippers. Oh, and speaking of slippers—” she turned