Song of the Heart - Alexa Aston Page 0,53
long visit since she’d seen nothing of the countess and no mention was made of her. Not even Lyssa spoke of her mother.
“Odd, my lord?” she asked.
He sighed and Madeleine ached for the hurt that sprang to his eyes. “My wife left me for her lover four years ago. I searched every farm and manor between here and London but I never found a trace of her. She abandoned her husband, her home, and her daughter,” he continued, “disappearing completely. Lyssa was barely a year old, just starting to walk.”
His eyes glittered with a fierce bitterness like she’d never seen. “Even if Lynnette turned up this day, I could never, ever forgive her for leaving Lyssa.”
Shocked by his story, Madeleine suddenly wondered what Henri had told his friends about her disappearance.
Despite Lord Montayne’s notorious reputation, she doubted strongly that he had beaten his wife. He simply wasn’t that kind of man. No one could look so pained over his wife’s departure and be responsible for causing her to flee.
Without thinking, Madeleine touched his cheek gently, her palm resting along his stubbled face. He held his hand over hers for a moment, then slowly entwined his fingers with hers. Her heart skipped a beat and then began dancing wildly.
He drew her hand away from his face and studied it before bringing it, palm up, to his lips. The heat from his lips scorched her flesh. Time stilled. Only they existed in this moment.
He finally eased her hand away from his lips but he didn’t release it. He transfixed her with his warm, brown eyes and, for the first time, she noticed the flecks of gold in them.
“Can we go back to the faire, Papa?”
Lyssa’s question broke the spell of the moment. As the young girl entered with the kitten in her arms, Madeleine quickly turned, slipping her hand from the earl’s grasp. She crossed to Lyssa and stopped to rub Luke’s ears, his noisy purring filling the small room.
“I must return, Lyssa, you are right. I’d quite lost track of the time.” Madeleine smiled nervously. “Bring me my lute and you may come with me. We’ll find Evan, and you might be allowed to help him hand props to the mummers this time.”
“Did you hear, Papa? I get to help Evan.” She skipped over and retrieved the lute, handing the delicate instrument to Madeleine carefully.
She refused to look his way. Taking Lyssa’s hand, she said, “Let’s see if Annie wants to go with us.” They exited hurriedly from the chamber, but Madeleine still heard the nobleman’s low curse.
*
After that charged encounter, Madeleine had avoided being alone with him. Garrett saw she maneuvered situations so that someone was always present. Annie was invited to watch her lessons with Lyssa and Madeleine often brought Evan along for good measure. Madeleine had also been introduced to Edith and Lyssa’s grandmother was thrilled when she could sit in and hear her granddaughter sing or watch her paint.
That afternoon, Madeleine cut the lesson short. “There’s an added performance tonight, thanks to it being the summer solstice. Farley wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to squeeze in an extra show for the longest day of the year.”
“Will you be singing in the play, Madeleine?” Edith asked. “I’ve enjoyed visiting the mummer’s stage with Garrett and Lyssa. Your voice is quite charming.”
“Yes, my lady, and it’s a special show. Both York and I have a role. Afterward, there’s to be singing and dancing and a large bonfire will be lit. Would you like to attend, my lady?”
“No, but I’m sure Lyssa will want to be there.”
“I don’t know, Mother,” Garrett said. “She’s awfully young. It will be late before those festivities begin.”
“I suppose you’re right, Garrett. Mayhap we’ll watch it from my tower room. That way, if Lyssa falls asleep, I can easily put her to bed. But you go, Son, and enjoy yourself. Ashby, too. He told me he wasn’t leaving for London until after the solstice bonfire.”
*
Garrett and Ashby watched the mummers in their final performance of the day. As soon as the play ended, Ashby was all smiles.
“You’re all on your own now, Garrett. I beg my leave of you.”
“The ravishing Hannah?” Garrett asked.
“It’s a possibility. She’s lost none of her sweetness these past few weeks. If only I could look at her and not have to listen.” Ashby sighed. “Why the Good Lord decided to give the girl an angel’s face with a donkey’s bray, I’ll never understand.”
Garrett laughed. “And we all know it’s her