“What will they say when they enter in the morning and everything is just how they left it?”
“They’ll say, ‘My work here is done. What an accommodating houseguest. Tommy should invite that wonderful Miss York more often.’”
“In that case…We should leave it fully untouched.” Philippa moved toward her valise. “I presume Marjorie has already made off with the manuscript.”
“Undoubtedly.” Tommy rushed forward to pick up the valise. “As soon as she scampered upstairs, I knew she had found it.”
“Does your overflowing dressing room have space for my valise?” Philippa teased.
“I will toss all of my wardrobes from the window if necessary,” Tommy promised.
“What will the neighbors say?”
“We’re Wynchesters. A flying wardrobe or two won’t be half as unusual as the acrobatics they’ve glimpsed Graham doing. They might even think it was part of his act.”
Philippa’s brows shot up. “Act?”
“He was a performer in a circus until Bean found him. I mean, Baron Vanderbean.OurBaron Vanderbean.” Tommy opened the door to her bedchamber.
“Isthere a Baron Vanderbean?” Philippa followed Tommy inside. “A current one, that is?”
Philippa was asking about one of the family’s most tightly kept secrets. But at this point, she already knew Tommywasn’tBaron Vanderbean, and had no doubt begun to suspect the truth.
“No,” Tommy admitted. She placed Philippa’s valise next to the bed. “There’s just me.”
Philippa’s eyes sparkled. “Exactly as I suspected. I admit I am delighted. Thank you for trusting me with the truth.”
“Trusting people is hard. And scary. For the longest time, I only trusted members of my family. But I trust you, too. And I…”
…want you to be part of my family.
Tommy crossed to the door before Philippa could see her face. After securing the lock, she left the key in the hole so that Philippa could leave whenever she pleased. But in the meantime, no maids would accidentally walk in on them.
“Now what?” Philippa asked. “Do we help each other into our night rails?”
“Ido not require assistance undressing, because I am wearing exceedingly practical trousers.” Tommy gave a ribald leer. “But I shall be delighted to helpyouout of any clothing you wish to shed.”
“You’ll have to.” Philippa’s voice was shy. “None of my gowns were designed for a woman to don or doff by herself. I’m beginning to suspect it’s all part of a plot to keep us helpless.”
“Or to make moments like these,” Tommy said. “Perhaps ladies’ clothing was designed with seduction in mind.Ishall certainly feel very seduced with each ribbon I untie.”
“And then we’ll do…anything I want?”
“Only what you want, and everything that you want,” Tommy promised. “You need merely say the word, and your wish shall be granted.”
Philippa paled. “Say the words…aloud?”
Tommy hesitated. Philippa thought she wanted more, but did she really? Reading Sapphic literature—in books that Tommy hoped to get her hands on—was not at all the same as doing the things it described. Perhaps they were moving too fast.
Kissing was relatively tame. What if the next step frightened Philippa and caused her to run away again?
“I shall remove my boots,” Tommy said, narrating aloud to show Philippa there was nothing to fear from spoken words. She sat on the edge of her bed. “I often do this in my dressing room, but today I’m dressed as me, so there are no cosmetics to remove, or a costume to put away.”
The wariness in Philippa’s eyes was replaced by curiosity. “Dressing as a man is dressing as you?”
“I’m not dressed as a man,” Tommy said. “I’m a person in trousers and a comfortable shirt. If I were dressed as a man, I would be wearing a neckcloth that could double as a picnic blanket, and side whiskers furrier than your kitten.”
Philippa snickered. “Yourkitten.”
