Page 16 of I Never Forget a Duke (The Night Fire Club #1)

“Yes, substantially,” said Lark. “A lot of it is family money, but you have a good head for business and have made some profitable investments the last few years.”

“Then I shall pay the countess for her hospitality.”

Adele nodded slightly.

“Perhaps I should move home tomorrow,” said Hugh.

“Your mother would appreciate that,” said Lark. “I will let her know so she can ensure your rooms are ready.”

“I live with my mother?”

“She stays at your London home when she is in town,” said Lark.

“She lives primarily at your estate in Surrey, but she likes to be in London for at least part of the Season. She has not been to many events in the last few weeks. I worried she was in ill health, but she looked to be in fine form when I called on her this morning.”

“All right,” said Hugh.

“Where is the Countess of Sweeney?” asked Dr. Willis.

“She said she felt too tired to socialize,” said Adele. “We managed to get her out for a short walk around the garden yesterday, but that seems to have worn her out.”

“I will check in on her before I take my leave,” said Dr. Willis. “I am encouraged by His Grace’s progress, however. Memory aside, how do you feel?”

“The headache is gone, but I still feel dizzy sometimes,” said Hugh, which was true. His head hadn’t bothered him much in the last day or two, but once or twice a day, he was struck quite suddenly with a wave of dizziness.

“That may last a bit longer,” said the doctor. “Head injuries can be unpredictable.”

“I’ll say.”

“All right,” said Lark. “I’ll bring the Swynford coach round tomorrow to collect you and we will move you back home.”

Adele stood quite suddenly. “Excuse me a moment.” Then she left the room.

Hugh hesitated to go after her because he didn’t want his friends to know he was so smitten with her, but then he realized that was his old self thinking.

One thought he hadn’t been able to escape since he’d learned his identity was that this was a new opportunity to take his life in a different direction.

His mother and various family reputations were things he’d have to deal with at a later date, but he wanted Adele at his side.

“I’ll go check on her,” said Hugh.

*

Across the hall from the gold salon was a dusty music room no one used anymore. The countess had been quite talented at the piano once upon a time but had not played in years. Old bedsheets had been thrown over the grand piano at the center of the room, but there was no disguising what it was.

Adele stared at it now from her perch on a threadbare upholstered bench at the side of the room. She had excused herself because she felt tears burning her eyes, and she felt like a lovesick child now as she wiped at her eyes and tried to school her features.

When the door opened, she turned away, guessing it was Hugh and not willing to let him see her cry.

“What’s wrong, Adele?” he asked.

“You are leaving tomorrow,” she said.

“You said I should.”

“Because I care about you and want you to recover your memories, not because I want you to leave.”

Hugh came to her side and put an arm around her. “I want to go home, but I do not want to leave you. You could come with me.”

“That is ridiculous. I must care for the countess. You must return to your life.”

His proximity, his strength and his scent and his very presence, were her undoing and she lost control of her emotions and began to cry in earnest. Hugh took her more forcefully into his arms, and she pressed her face against his chest.

Hugh pressed his cheek against the top of her head. “I am not willing for this to be the end of us. This cannot be our story’s finale. I do not yet know what the solution is, but I keep thinking about something Doctor Willis said.”

“What did he say?” Adele pulled away slightly and looked at Hugh’s face, which was a model of determination.

“That I should take things one day at a time. I don’t seem to have much control over how my memories return, nor did I have a plan for returning to my old life until today, so I’ve been taking each day as it comes.”

Adele leaned against Hugh, savoring the sensation of his strong arms around her. She said, “There is still so much. Your old life. Your family name. My responsibilities here. How can we be together under such circumstances?”

“I do not know yet.”

She pulled away slightly and looked up at him. “You care for me?”

He smiled. “I do. I am anxious to see my mother and return to my own house, but I am reluctant to leave you. The circumstances of my stay here have not been ideal, but you have made it pleasant. I have no regrets about anything that has occurred for that reason, except that I must leave you tomorrow. But let us not make any decisions right now. We shall take each day when it arrives and figure out what we must to ensure our own happiness.”

“You make things sound easy when you say that.”

“I am a wealthy duke, am I not? I should be able to move mountains, or at least pay someone to move them on my behalf.”

She laughed, although it was his status as a duke that felt like the biggest impediment, like a huge, immovable granite rock between them. He perhaps did not have the memories to understand how society worked, but she did.

“And who knows?” he added. “I could perhaps be the prince who sweeps poor Cinderella out of the drudgery of her life and into a grand new world where he spends the rest of his life seeing to her every whim.”

She shook her head. She knew better than to wish for that. “You should return to your friends,” she said, pulling away gently.

“I suppose I should. They are undoubtedly speculating about us now.”

“Does that bother you?”

He shrugged. “Let them speculate. I have nothing to be ashamed of. Do I?”

“No. I do not believe so.”

“Good. Are you coming?”

“I will be there in a moment. Just give me a moment to compose myself.”

After Hugh left the room, Adele walked over to a dusty mirror and peered through the grime on the surface to see if she looked terrible. She looked tired but all right.

She did wonder what exactly they had just promised to each other.

Marriage? No one had ever said that aloud.

Adele thought the odds long; she doubted his family would permit him to even offer for her, and even if they fell in love, it wasn’t like members of the ton married for such foolish notions.

They had strategic marriages, meant to bring together dynasties or create alliances.

Dukes tended to marry pretty, convenient young ladies with the right pedigree, not old spinsters from families that had fallen out of favor.

And Adele would not allow herself to be a kept mistress.

She had gotten to this point in her life by her own skills and resources, and she had modest funds after her time as a paid companion, so she could make her own way in the world.

Where did that leave them? Adele didn’t want Hugh to leave at all, as she’d just demonstrated in a silly, overwrought way. The fact that he did not laugh at or mock her meant he understood the depth of her affection, but it didn’t much matter.

Adele knew Hugh would leave the next day and that would be the end of their acquaintance. Oh, he’d put some effort into calling on her, very likely, but it would soon fizzle as his memory came back and he realized they had no future together.

She felt tears sting her eyes again as she thought about it, but blinked at her reflection and took a deep breath.

She’d come to expect this from life. She wasn’t sure what she had done to offend her maker in a previous life that He should continue to dangle happiness before her just to take it away, but she should expect no less.

This was her fate. No amount of hope would change it.

She took a deep breath and walked back to the gold salon.