You’d think I’d be used to the excitement by now. After all, it’s my third book. But I suppose it’s like having babies. You can’t wait for each one to be born!
I should have up-to-date information about the launch of The Regency Rose, my author newsletter very soon. I hope to launch it around the same time The Earl’s Enticement releases. I’ll be offering all sorts of fun goodies, so be sure you get signed up.
In this scene, Adaira is sneaking from the keep after her father has ordered her to stay in her chamber.
Though she thought she might go mad from the wait, Adaira delayed a full hour before daring to open her door and peek into the hallway.
Silence.
Boots in hand, she hurried along the hallway, listening for the slightest sound. Muted snores penetrated two doors she slipped by. Tiptoeing down the front staircase, she nibbled her lower lip. She couldn’t take the time to use the back stairS into the kitchen. The stables were much closer if she exited through the gatehouse.
The castle was silent as she made her way below. At least five and seven people lived here, but in the wee morning hours, it appeared everyone was nestled in their beds. An odd sense of loneliness permeated the keep.
The monstrous front entry whisked open and closed with nary a sound as Adaira slipped into the cool night air. She donned her boots, furtively watching the bailey for anybody that might be wandering about. Except for shadows contorted by the breeze, nothing moved.
Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, her breath caught. A meager light shone through a crack in the drapes covering the window of Ewan’s study. Raising her gaze, she spied two more lit rooms, one directly above the other. Not family chambers. It seemed neither Marquardt brother could sleep.
A guard on watch lifted his hand in a casual wave. Adaira waved back. No sense raising his suspicion. It wasn’t unusual for her to visit the stables at night. She squinted into the darkness. No light shown in the blacksmith’s cottage on the far side of the courtyard, but a dim light filtered from an open stable door.
She descended the stairs on silent feet. Sticking to the shadows, she dashed to the stables. No one had sent further information about Vala. Most vexing. All she knew was what Maisey had told her over an hour ago.
Was Niall still with the mare? Adaira prayed Vala wasn’t still in labor. It didn’t bode well if she was. Mares generally delivered in under an hour. Adaira slowed her pace just outside the west end of the stables. Apprehension gripped her. What if there’d been no word because something awful had occurred?
As she’d ordered for the past several evenings, the twin doors stood open to allow the chill of the night to cool the livestock. The days had been beastly hot, the heat lingering long into the night hours.
Adaira cast a worried glance at the keep. The study light had been extinguished. She’d sworn to stay in her room and couldn’t bear to add to her mother’s and father’s disappointment. Her impulsive actions had brought shame upon the entire family this time. When the earl announced he’d been imprisoned, the matching expressions of hurt disbelief on her parent’s faces had wrenched her heart wide open.
How was she to breech the chasm between them? There was no one to blame but herself. She’d made a mull of it. If she’d only gone to Father upon first meeting his lordship in the village instead of acting impulsively and letting her emotions rule her. Her misguided quest for vengeance had led her astray.
