He turned around and looked up at her. "She what?"
"Apologizes to you. She insulted you, Adam, and I don't want her to come inside my house until she tells you she's sorry."
"Oh, for heaven's sake, go on upstairs. You're giving me a headache. I'll deal with Eleanor."
Adam opened the screen door. Eleanor was sitting in one of the wicker chairs talking to Harrison. Their other houseguest wasn't sitting. He was leaning against the post with his arms folded across his chest, looking both irritated and bored.
Adam waited until Eleanor had finished complaining to Harrison about the heat.
"Miss Border, will you come inside to the library with me? I'd like to talk to you."
He raised an eyebrow over her reaction to his request. He hadn't raised his voice, but she acted as though he'd just shouted at her. She jumped to her feet so quickly, she toppled over her chair in the process.
Harrison reached down and straightened the chair back up again.
Eleanor started toward Adam, then suddenly stopped. She clasped her hands together. "I can't come inside, Mr. Clayborne."
"You can't? Why not?" Adam asked.
"Mary Rose told me I couldn't until I apologize to you. I'm sorry, truly sorry, if you were offended. I didn't believe that horrible driver. I thought he was lying to me so he could get rid of me. I certainly didn't wish to give you the impression that because you're… you know, well, that I couldn't… because that wasn't it at all. I didn't even believe that man had driven me to Mary Rose's house."
She eventually had to pause for breath. Adam hadn't blinked an eye during her explanation. Harrison was impressed. He couldn't stop smiling. He wanted to ask her to explain exactly what Adam was, just to watch her squirm, but because he was a gentleman, he didn't give in to the urge.
Cole didn't have any such reservations. Being a gentleman obviously didn't rank high on his list. He had just reached the steps leading up to the porch when Eleanor started her convoluted apology.
"Adam's a 'you know'? What's that?" he asked her.
She turned to frown at the brother. "I was apologizing because I didn't believe Adam was Mary Rose's brother. She only told me she had four older brothers and a mama who lived in the South somewhere, but she never gave me any details. I will admit, I never asked."
She paused to look Cole up and down. "Your sister was obviously jesting with me in the stagecoach when she said you and the other two were just like Adam. You aren't, of course."
She dismissed the brother from her thoughts then and there and turned back to Adam. "May I still come inside, sir?"
"Please," Adam said. "You're welcome to stay with us."
"Wait a minute. I still want to know…"
"Let it go, Cole," Adam suggested. His tone didn't leave room for argument.
Eleanor walked over to the doorway. She waved her hand in Harrison 's direction, in an action that reminded him of England 's queen.
"Fetch my bags out of the dirt and put them in my room," she commanded.
Cole grinned at Harrison. He smiled back at the brother. Then Harrison turned to Eleanor. "Sorry, Miss, but I can't fetch for you," he announced. "I'm not allowed on the second floor."
Harrison went down the steps. "Guess that leaves you to do the fetching," he drawled out on his way past the brother.
"Be sure to dust them off before you bring them inside, Kyle," she commanded.
Harrison heard a blasphemy and decided then and there that the day was beginning to look better. He spotted Douglas running out of the barn. MacHugh was chasing him. The stallion was obviously in one of his moods and was taking his bad temper out on the brother. Yes, sir, the day was looking better and better.
"Adam, I want to talk to you about something important," Cole called out. He had to shout at his brother so he'd hear him above Harrison 's laughter.
Adam let Eleanor walk past him before answering Cole. "I won't be long," he promised.
"What do you need to do?"
"Talk to Miss Border," he answered. "It shouldn't take any time at all."
Adam was partially correct in his estimation. The talk with Eleanor didn't take any time at all. It took three long hours.
The private discussion started out strained. An hour later Adam found himself in the most ludicrous position of getting the front of his shirt all wet again. Eleanor turned out to be a little like Mary Rose. After vehemently insisting she never, ever cried, she wept all over him.
Cole got tired of waiting for Adam to finish up. He was determined to talk to him about Harrison. Finding out their houseguest was an attorney had rattled him. He wanted to get Adam's take on the situation before he made a real issue out of the discovery.
He heard all the commotion inside the library, opened the door to find out what was going on, and then stood there watching in stunned disbelief. Eleanor had her arms wrapped around Adam's waist and was sobbing and trying to talk at the same time. Cole couldn't make out any of the words. It all sounded like gibberish to him. Adam's reaction was amusing to watch. He stood there in the center of the library with his hands up in the air, looking as though he'd just been told to reach for the sky. Cole's brother appeared to be horribly uncomfortable, and definitely helpless.
Adam finally reached down with one hand and awkwardly patted Eleanor on her shoulder. He noticed Cole watching from the doorway, glared at him because he was smiling, and then motioned him to leave.
Cole immediately closed the door.
Neither brother mentioned the incident during supper. Eleanor had chosen to stay in her room. Mary Rose had taken a tray of food up to her and a fresh pot of tea she hoped would calm the overwrought woman.
She was the last to join everyone at the dining room table.
"Sorry I'm late," she said. "Eleanor isn't going to come down and eat with us tonight. She's all tuckered out."
She took her seat adjacent to Adam. "She certainly likes you," she whispered to her oldest brother. "Of course, she doesn't realize yet how stubborn you can be."
"I don't believe she likes Adam at all," Douglas interjected. "Fact is, I think she might be prejudiced."
Cole shook his head. He had thought the same thing until he saw her with her arms wrapped around Adam. She wouldn't be holding on to someone she hated.
"No, she's just rude," he told the family.
"You sure?" Douglas asked. "I don't want her around here if you aren't sure."
"I'm sure."
"What do you have a bee in your bonnet about, Mary Rose? You're frowning like you're stewing over something or other," Travis asked.
"I refused to give her permission to ride up to the ridge this afternoon," Adam said.
"I am not a child. I don't understand why you think…"
"We have a houseguest," Adam said. "Kindly remember that."
She immediately closed her mouth and turned to Harrison.
"Can't we start? I'm starving," Douglas asked. He reached for the bowl of potatoes but stopped when Adam asked him to wait another minute.
" Harrison? Do you happen to speak French?"
"Yes. Why do you ask?"
"I'd like you to indulge us for this evening."
"Certainly," Harrison agreed without having the faintest idea what the brother had just asked of him.
Adam turned to the family. "We've been remiss, these past weeks and have gotten out of the habit of saying our blessing. Mary Rose, would you like to lead us in grace?"
She nodded agreement, then bowed her head and folded her hands together in prayer.
"Au nom du Pere…"
Harrison was once again astonished by the Clayborne family. Each and every one of them spoke French throughout the meal. Mary Rose, he noticed, had the strongest vocabulary, and he assumed she had studied the language while attending boarding school. Understanding French and Latin would have been requirements. She wasn't simply skilled, however. Both her accent and her ease in speaking the language indicated to him that she'd been studying for a long, long time.