Home wasn't meant to feel like a prison, and it hadn't always felt like that for the French woman. When she was younger, before that day when she'd discovered that there was a world so big and full of wonders, it had been the very thing that home was meant to mean to a heart. It had been her entire world all for her to make as she wanted, and while it was not the typical fantasy land that most little girls born of noble heritage would conjure up in their imaginings, it was still all her own. It had been a place where she could play to her heart's content, with or without the other children her age accompanying her or not - though nine times out of ten they would simply wrinkle their noses and tell her that they would get those expensive dresses or pants covered in dirt and sap before refusing to participate and going inside to play "house" or "knights and princesses". Why was it that most little girls her age then wanted to pretend getting married and having kids when they hardly even understood what it all meant? What was the appeal that they saw in designating who was the mother and the father, who was the child or children and who were the pets? The notion of being told that one of those boys were to be her husband, even back then, had been enough for Adelaide to glare with those glittering sage eyes that even so young had been almost as defiant as they could be in the present, and how she would be so bold as to tell those boys and girls that she thought this game was boring and silly before storming off to climb that favorite tree of hers. What fun was to be had in fake bickering and fake responsibility when one day they would all have to face that very same reality when they were grown and expected to fins their place in life? These things had been difficult if not entirely perplexing for the young dark-haired girl to even try and grasp an understand of and so she would play her own games of braving against roaring beasts and climbing the highest mountains. That was the world she lived in as a little girl and always wanted to make her true reality rather than some docile settlement for a husband to look after her, and when she finally did venture through those books she'd begun to read through one afternoon out of pure disinterest in everything else and discover with newfound excitement and desire that there truly was a world of adventure far beyond those iron gates, that was when home suddenly shifted and became a cage and she the yearning canary whose soft, feathered wings fiercely craved the baby blue sky above her, wanting nothing more than to fly far away from the only life she knew for one she could create for herself out her own hopes and dreams instead of those lackluster expectations beset by the nobleman and her mother.

There was nothing for Adelaide back on that estate that belonged to her father and family name. Perhaps the only regret that she felt in her heart was leaving behind her mother whose intentions had only ever been pure for her fiery, dark-haired child that longed for so much more than Paris could ever give her. She'd not wanted for her daughter to be secure and taken care of, even if it should mean that Adelaide would need to try and find love in a man that did not steal her breath away or capture her heart as Taylor seemed to do so quickly despite what little she did know of him. For that, the young woman could never truly fault the older woman, but when those pleas of hers to do as she saw fit with her own fate seemed to go unheard by both her father and her dear mother, she knew that she had no choice but to force her way away from them or else she would never get the chance to see all that she hoped to or feel what she could not ever dream of. If they would not open their eyes to see the independent and strong spirit that their daughter had grown into, then she would need to make them see it whether they wanted to or not. To think that she'd nearly fallen entirely for the charade that Julien and her father had subjected her to, it was more than enough or her to decide that this path she'd blazed for herself was the right one - maybe not the "right" one for what they wanted for her, but it certainly was the right one for what Adelaide wanted for herself. She hadn't made this decision to move nearly halfway across the world to wound them. No, despite how much she truly despised the man that her father was, such malicious and cruel intentions were never a part of the reasoning behind Adelaide's actions simply because she knew that her mother would become a casualty she never would have wanted. It was nothing more than an unfortunate aftereffect, serving as a price she needed to pay if she were to find herself and the happiness she was determined to recover once again with absolutely no plans of ever letting go once she found it. She understood that she would have to accept that consequence of her forced hand that had demanded for this chance to live on her own - well, mostly on her own anyway considering Townsend was here with her which she was happy for even if she hadn't wanted it at first - and just maybe one day she might try and make things right with her mother, but such a day was nowhere to be seen. Not yet. There was still so much that Adelaide felt she needed to do before daring to take that step. Until then, she would keep her back to that past determined to find her in all that she did here and there would be no looking back if she could help it.

She had since decided, when Taylor had first earned that which she hadn't placed in the hands of another for so long, that she wanted for him to know her in a way that not even Julien ever had. Already, the hard-working man with that sweat-soaked shirt had come to know those darker thoughts and feelings that she'd never even thought to make vulnerable to the one who'd only proved to be no more than a snake, and how thankful she was that she'd stopped herself back then for ever opening up that careful hidden and locked away part of her heart and soul. She'd shared with him those feelings that she hadn't even whispered off to the Englishman who was very much like a big brother to her from the day that they'd been paired together. Adelaide had yet to tell Taylor about that first heartbreak, about the name that so filled her with anger that she didn't want to feel, but it was not because she did not want him to know about Julien. Rather, she was waiting for the right moment... What moment it was that she was waiting for, she did not know, but what she did know was that she wanted Taylor to see all of her. In a way, the French woman felt that his reaction to the revelations that she had kept from him for the time being would be able to show her just what he would mean to her. It was hard to truly explain, but somehow she dared to hope that in telling him, in making herself more vulnerable than she would ever have wanted to do at the mercy of another, in practically putting herself before him at his and only his mercy, she would find what it was that she meant to him. A part of her wanted to know, despite the hesitation and against her better judgment from all that her past lessons had taught her was a sure-fire way of only ending up hurt and jaded against the world moreso than she'd been before Taylor. What was it that he saw in her? What was it that caused those hunter greens to soften when he would look at hee, had urged him to lean in towards her for that small moment before reality brought them back to realizing they were not alone, that had made him want to reach out for her help in finding that part of himself that was missing just as she was searching for a part of herself? It was almost unbelievable that two people still left not knowing so much about the other could be so drawn in and so captured, but it was hard to say that it was impossible when it seemed so very real even as he went about those laborious tasks. She didn't know if he would do the same when that moment came, but that wouldn't stop her or change her mind. When that moment came that they were truly alone, she would take it upon herself to give him all that he asked of her and all that he didn't need to ask of her. It was all a matter of finding that moment.

In reply to her suggestive remark, those keen sage depths of hers hardly miss that teasing look that Taylor gives her, those tenor tones clearly playing along and causing that coy smile of hers to grow despite the distress that Townsend clearly found in the simply fact that the French woman would come up with such an idea that she silently found to be quite the scene in the back of her mind."That would hardly bother me, dear Taylor. I can assure you of that", she answers almost mischievously. Sweaty or not, there wouldn't be the slightest hesitation no matter how much the Englishman would surely insist on waiting for those sirens and emergency vehicles to find their residence in Dupont Circle."Really, Miss LaBelle!", scolds the Englishman with stern eyes on Adelaide though she not gives him an innocent shrug. Her gaze shifts back to Taylor curiously as he runs his hand through those damp locks of his as a sheepish expression plays across his chiseled features and that amusement only shines brighter in those sage eyes, particularly when he clears his throat beneath her gaze as he places his empty glass on the tray before seeming to collect himself beneath those ever watchful and suspicious eyes of Townsend acting almost every bit like a teacher about to place a ruler between the two of them to keep from inappropriate interactions. She only gives him an impish smile in wordless to his nod and smirk followed words of assurance that she could manage just fine herself, turning then and moving back to her seat where a tired and lightly panting Reginald now lay beside Rose with that stick at his paws, black tail swishing back and forth against the cool concrete of the covered seating area. She does not look up as Taylor and the Englishman resume their work after a new list of tasks had been supplied. Taylor wastes no time in moving to retrieve those branches and placing them in the fire pit as he strides back across the yard and into the shed almost at the same time that Townsend disappears into the greenhouse to tend to those growing plants.

When Taylor makes his way back by, Rose watching him like a hawk as he pushes the limit on how closely she needed appropriate for the man to come to her mistress, he takes the matches and lights the branches and while the warmth and crackle of flames coming to life were pleasant to for the young woman as she once again finds herself pausing in her reading to watch the man, a quiet sigh ushers from Taylor and the next thing she knows, he is slipping off that shirt to reveal gleaming and sleek skin, showing those defined pectoral muscles and toned abs that send her heart into an involuntary flutter as sage eyes appreciate every defined muscle that was so much better than the image she'd pictured herself. His tenor tones whisper to her as he gives the dark-haired woman a playful wink that awakens that impish grin to those dusty rose-colored lips."Of course, though I can't promise I won't be distracted from that task with something... much more appealing", she purrs at him in those decadent and accented words as again that impish smile changes into something more sultry and suggestive as she watches him move away to rake those leaves. She keeps that book of hers open as it rests on her lap, but those sage eyes do not find those pages again as she openly allows for her gaze to flicker over those muscles that flexed with every raking motion, appraising the strength of his back and those broad shoulders. She notes those scars and amidst all the thoughts of what he felt like, she finds herself storing away those curiosities for another time."Those are some curious scars you have there, mon cher. You should muse me with their story one day when you might see fit", she remarks simply, not even bothering to look away from him, keeping an ear on that greenhouse door so that she could pretend she hadn't even noticed the half-naked man in her yard, too enthralled by those words to allow those eyes to linger openly and much longer than they probably should have, though something told Adelaide that Taylor wouldn't mind in the least as she appreciated him in an entirely different and more... intimate fashion without a drop of shame. Besides, it was her turn to stare as he had tried so hard not to last night.