The Marriage Mishap. Judith Stacy

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      She smiled brightly. “I know you slept like a hound in the shade. Would you just look at this place? I talked to the other servants this morning and learned that Mr. Harrington designed this whole place himself and had it built just like he wanted it. Marble all the way from Italy, paintings from France. Why, those stained-glass windows downstairs came all the way from England. The whole other end of this floor is the nursery. And there’s four bathrooms—four! Can you believe it?”

      Haley gazed at the lace canopy over her head and the pristine white eyelet quilt covering her. A delicate blue-and-white print paper covered the walls, and a deep blue carpet stretched the length of the large room. The furniture was cherry. A new scent clung to everything, as if the room had been waiting for her.

      “You’d better get up, if you’re wanting to have breakfast with your new mister.” Chrissy approached the bed. “Everybody says he’s as fussy as a hen with one chick when it comes to his schedule. That Bernard fella? He’s got the mister’s whole day written down on paper—carries it around with him all the time.”

      “Lovely…” Haley got out of bed and stretched.

      “Over there, that’s a bathroom.” Chrissy pointed across the room. “And the other door is a sitting room. It’s got a big ol’ desk in it, and chairs softer than goose down. Your mister’s bedroom is on the other side.” She giggled. “But you probably know that already, huh.”

      Haley headed toward the bathroom door, ignoring the maid’s insinuation. She knew nothing more of her husband than she had when he abandoned her in the foyer with Bernard. If he’d come to her room with romantic notions during the night, she’d slept through them.

      Her feet slowed on the thick carpet. What if he had come? She remembered little of the night before, at the Madison. Had he been here last night and she’d forgotten that too? Haley shook her head. Surely, one of these nights she would remain alert and aware of his overtures.

      She stepped onto the cold tile of the bathroom floor grinding her fists in her eyes. She yawned loudly and stretched, rising on her toes, reaching toward the ceiling.

      “Good morning.”

      She squealed and spun around. Adam. He stood before the mirror at the sink, his shoulders twisted so that he could look at her. A white towel wrapped his hips; long, muscular legs showed below it, bulging arms above it. Foamy shaving soap covered half his face.

      The breath went out of her. “I—I didn’t know…”

      A shudder passed through Adam, reverberating until it slammed low in his belly. Oh, God, she was beautiful, all tousled and rumpled and disheveled. Just the sight of her made him want to—

      He grabbed another towel from the rack by the sink and held it in front of him, trying to look casual. He gestured with the razor in his hand. “The bath joins our rooms.”

      She glanced through the open door and saw the same rich blue carpet as in her own room, and a heavy cherry four-poster bed made neatly with a blue quilt. Adam’s bedroom. She felt her knees weaken.

      “I designed it that way. I designed this whole end of the house as a suite for my wife.”

      He gestured with the razor again, and she saw the dark hair beneath his arm, the curls across his chest, the line that arrowed into the towel below his navel.

      “It’s…magnificent,” she breathed.

      “That tub?” He pointed to the claw-footed white porcelain bathtub. “I had it specially made in Philadelphia. It’s seven feet long—the only one like it in the country. The whole house is wired for electricity. As soon as Sacramento Electric Power and Light figures how to generate current more than five miles at a stretch, we’ll have it.”

      “Sir, it is now 6:42.” Bernard appeared in the doorway to Adam’s bedroom. “Oh, begging your pardon, sir.”

      “I’m going to work,” he explained to Haley.

      “I see.” She thought she might actually explode at any second from the extreme heat boiling inside her.

      “I’ll be finished here in—”

      “Seven minutes, sir,” Bernard intoned.

      “Seven minutes.” Adam gestured toward the tub. “Unless you’d like to go ahead and…”

      Her skin tingled, and parts of her felt suddenly heavy. “No, no, I’ll wait.” She backed toward the door.

      He took a step forward, clutching the towel. “I’ll have Bernard work out a morning schedule for us.”

      “Fine.” Haley escaped into her own room. As she closed the door, she caught sight of Chrissy craning her neck.

      “He’s quite the looker, if I can say so, ma’am.”

      Haley frantically fanned herself with her palms. Why was it so hot in here? “Open a window, Chrissy.”

      “I’m going over to your aunt’s house this afternoon to get the rest of your things.” Chrissy hoisted the window and gave Haley a look over her shoulder. “Edward is taking me.”

      “Edward?”

      “Mr. Harrington’s driver, the one who brought us over here last night.” She smiled. “We got to talking and all. He lives right here, got a place all to himself over the carriage house. Well, now, let’s get you ready. I know you don’t want to keep your new mister waiting.”

      But he didn’t wait. Haley found Adam in the foyer, talking with Bernard, readying to leave.

      “Have the gardener continue on the rose beds.”

      Bernard nodded sedately as he assisted Adam into his jacket. “Yes, sir.”

      “And notify the staff that all decisions concerning the house should be directed to Mrs. Harrington.” He nodded toward Haley as she joined them.

      “Of course, sir.” Bernard cleared his throat quietly. “Today is the twelfth, sir.”

      Adam tugged down on his starched cuffs. “Yes.”

      “Tomorrow, sir? Master Kip?”

      He nodded. “Of course. Take funds from the household account, Bernard, and get him something. Have it sent over.”

      “Suggestions, sir?” He passed him his leather valise.

      “Whatever you think is appropriate. How old is he now?”

      “Thirteen, sir.”

      Haley felt like an intruder eavesdropping on an old ritual. “Somebody’s birthday?” she ventured.

      Adam and Bernard both looked at her, unaccustomed to the interruption in their routine.

      “My brother, Kip. His birthday is tomorrow.”

      Haley brightened. “Really? Is your family having a party for him?”

      Adam paled СКАЧАТЬ