Philippa arched her brows. “You weren’t too concerned about that before you toldmethe truth.”
“I’m never concerned about temporary costumes,” Tommy admitted. “I’ll pretend to be Queen of Balcovia for the afternoon if it amuses me. I just hadn’t meant to make you complicit in my schemes.”
“Make me complicit in your schemes,” Philippa begged. “I want to be an active part in your escapades. You Wynchesters are the most interesting family I have ever met, and I haven’t even met all of you. None of you has any idea what it’s like to be me.”
“I thought you liked being a bluestocking.”
“Ilovebeing a bluestocking,” Philippa answered. “But why should ‘clever’ and ‘curious’ be synonymous with ‘overlooked’ and ‘left behind’? Why can’t I translate ancient Latin texts for my own entertainment andalsobe the queen of the ball?”
“Do youwantto be the queen of the ball?”
“No.” Philippa sighed. “It would involve one of my most abhorred activities: conversing with and dancing attendance upon an endless stream of strange men.”
“Coincidentally,” said Tommy, “also one ofmyleast favorite activities.”
“I wish to be the heroine of my own story. I want to have adventures like you. My parents despair of me when I talk this way. They think the only things that interest me are reading books and spending all of my time with ladies.”
Tommy’s stomach fluttered at the latter. “Is that true?”
“Usually,” Philippa admitted. “But my favorite fruit is the pomegranate, and I wouldn’t wish to exclusively eat it at every meal. What if there’s something out there that’s evenbetterthan pomegranate? How will I know if I don’t try new things?”
This was by far the best of all the perspectives on life Tommy had dreamed Philippa might hold. Tommy would be delighted to offer many new experiences, if Philippa was open to the possibility.
That was—Tommyassumedan affair with a woman would be a novel experience for Philippa. What if it wasn’t? Philippa had famously received dozens of marriage proposals over the years, and had spurned them all. According to Graham’s network, Philippa’s father had rejected the suitors, but Philippa had never appeared dissatisfied with her unmarried status.
What if Tommy’s disguise as a gentleman was the only thing standing in the way of the kiss she longed to take? What if beingTommywould make the best possible future?
“I have an idea,” Philippa said.
Tommy swallowed. “As do I.”
“My mother wants me to use you as a stepping-stone to ensnare a higher-ranked lord.” Philippa bit her lip. “What if you did the same thing?”
Tommy blinked. “Ensnare a highly ranked lord?”
Philippa laughed. “No,Ishall wed the lord. But if your brief acquaintance with me has already given you invitations to places you weren’t welcome before, I hereby give you permission to use our friendship to gain entrée wherever you like. We could be partners of a sort.”
Partners…of a sort. Yes, that was exactly what Tommy wanted, in exactly the opposite way.
Philippa wanted to marry a lord.
Tommy turned her gaze to the horses.
As a new bride, Chloe had told Tommy that she’d know when she found the right person because neither of them would rather be with anyone else. It was something Bean had told her, before Chloe found Faircliffe and fell in love. A lovely sentiment that in this instance gave Tommy no hope.
Philippa had an entirepeerageof men she’d rather be with.
She was offering Tommy an unprecedented opportunity to stand by her side…as Philippa met someone else, danced with someone else, flirted with someone else, chose someone else, and married someone else.
The thought of witnessing any part of that made Tommy want to crawl out of her skin.
Especially because Philippa did everything in grand style. Bookish? Meet the leader of a cadre of brilliant bluestockings. Feminine? Philippa could not be swathed in more ringlets and lace without wrapping an entire factory about her person. Beautiful? She could be the muse for a thousand artists.
On a mission to catch a lord? Philippa had caught the Duke of Faircliffe and let him go, like a fisherman tossing an unwanted runt back into the river.
If she wanted to marry a man, it was absolutely going to happen.
Did Tommy want a ringside seat?
