Yours Truly

Chapter Thirteen

"Adelaide," She heard Henry call her name and she turned away from her father and Mr. Brooks. She closed her eyes as equal amounts of relief and embarrassment swept over her. She could not bear to watch as Henry understood how horrible her father was. Could not bear for him to associate her with her father's cruelty. But perhaps it would be better to get it over with sooner. If they were ever to be married, Henry needed to know the truth about her. The complete and unvarnished truth. Which necessitated him meeting her father. The sooner Henry realized that Adelaide wasn't always like Mrs. Williams...the more time she would have to mend her broken heart and find another man to marry. Because she could not marry Mr. Brooks.

"Henry, I mean, Lord Devonshire," Adelaide stuttered not wanting her father to suspect her of impropriety. "This is my father, the Reverend William Fairfax. Father, this is Lord Henry Prescott, the Earl of Devonshire."

It seemed to shock her father that she knew an earl. Let alone that she knew him well enough to address him by his first name.

"And this is my father's friend, Mr. Brooks."

"Lovely to meet you, gentlemen." Henry bowed towards the men and they hurriedly reciprocated.

"It's a true pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord Devonshire." Adelaide's father began. "I have to admit that I am quite surprised that my daughter has managed to form an acquaintance with a man as eligible as yourself."

Henry stiffened in anger and she could tell by the tense set of his mouth that he was none too pleased with her father disrespecting her.

"Oh, Father! Lord Devonshire is actually close friends with Aunt Margaret." Adelaide quickly added, trying to head off Henry's anger.

"Oh. Well, that explains it."

Adelaide winced. If nothing else, this would convince Henry that he was better off with a daughter of a peer. At least when their parents made uncouth comments, there was also rank and money to make up for it. Her father had none of these advantages.

"Your daughter is one of the kindest and most intelligent women I've had the privilege to meet."

Mr. Brooks and Adelaide's father stared at Henry in stunned silence for a moment. Then, Mr. Brooks nudged her father and, with a lascivious grin, reminded him, "Remember what we said about intelligent ladies and becoming a wife, William!"

Mr. Brooks chortled and Adelaide's father had seemingly regained enough sense to politely demur in front of Henry. Mr. Brooks' laughter cut off suddenly and he turned pale before Adelaide's eyes.

"I'm afraid that I must be going, Miss Fairfax and Lord Devonshire." He whispered something harshly to Adelaide's father and her father's eyes widened in fear.

They bowed and quickly made their way through the crowd.

"I'm going to follow after them and you can't come with me or it will look too suspicious. So you have to stay here, Henry. Understand?"

"Damn it, what are you doing, Adelaide?"

She simply tossed a smile at him over her shoulder and continued hurrying the way the men had disappeared. She followed the heavy sounds of their footfalls and the murmur of their voices down the halls that lead towards the back of the house. Thankfully, even though her father had seemingly sobered, Mr. Brooks remained inebriated enough to have no consciousness of the volume of his voice. She glanced warily behind herself nervously as if she was being watched. Did she see someone lurking in the shadows? She did!

Adelaide opened her mouth to scream, uncaring about the questions it would raise and trouble it could get her in. She deemed it more important to live than to be scandal-free. Before any sound could escape her, a sliver of light illuminated the person's face. Thank goodness it was Henry!