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“Pippa—” Agatha began warningly.
“I like him,” she said softly. “Whenever I am around him, I feel…alive. I cannot explain it, for it is the oddest yet the most thrilling sensation. As if I am taking a dangerous risk but doing something that is most necessary. My heart races in his presence, yet I also feel calm, safe, and protected and…I want to know who he is. I cannot think such a need ordinary, and I admit I have never felt it before, and I should like very much to explore it.”
Her friends stared at her, then broke into smiles, nodding their support. They finished their fencing lesson another thirty minutes later, and Pippa searched the lower rooms for Lucinda, Countess Chisholm, who had taken her small bundle of joy—little Lady Elizabeth to the club so everyone might meet her.
Pippa hovered in the doorway of the smaller parlor on the second floor, smiling at the vision before her. Their fearless leader stood in the center of the room, her belly high and rounded with her own pregnancy, holding Lucinda’s three-month-old child in her arms. The cherub babycooed, and so did all the ladies, including Prudence and Charity.
A wistful sort of yearning went through her chest, and she found herself laughing along with the ladies, simply delighting in the joy of being around a baby. Charity went off with little Lady Elizabeth, and Lucinda sauntered over to Pippa.
“How are you, Pippa? I’ve heard that you’ve waded back into the season. I am so proud of you.”
She returned Lucinda’s hug with a laugh, an ache of happiness crowding Pippa’s chest. “I shall offer my congratulations again. Little Lizzy is beautiful.”
Lucinda beamed. “Isn’t she wonderful? Alexander and I love our Lizzy so very much. We are already avidly working on baby number two.”
Pippa blushed at the wickedly sensuous glint in her eyes, and Lucinda laughed airily. “Come, I can see you are up to some mischief. Tell me about it.”
Pippa grinned, tucking a loose wisp of hair behind her ear. “I need a chaperone who is a paragon of mischiefanddiscretion. I hoped you might oblige me.”
“Of course,” Lucinda replied immediately, her gray eyes twinkling. “I suspect it is a bit naughty?”
“Oh, yes,” Pippa murmured. “Very.”
They laughed and chatted while she shared with Lucinda how she planned to upend the world of a particular marquess.
CHAPTERSIX
“Ibeg your pardon?”
Branson cleared his throat again and replied in a very monotone way, “You have callers, my lord, a Lady Phillipa and the Countess of Chisholm.”
As he drew in a slow breath, steadying himself against the sudden lurch of his heart, William vented a low chuckle. They could only be calling for him since his mother and sisters returned this morning to Derbyshire.How impossibly daring and reckless you are. To so brazenly call upon a gentleman at his town residence. He lowered the quill and leaned back against the high wingback chair. William rubbed the back of his neck, easing the knot which had made itself present after almost two hours of him leaning over his estate ledgers.
“Show the ladies to the sitting room, and ring for tea and cakes,” he ordered as he stood, tugging at the cravat that suddenly seemed too tight.
“Yes, my lord,” Branson said and shuffled away.
William took a few minutes to orient himself before he left the study and made his way to the sitting room. It had been two days since he held Pippa in his embrace and kissed her. Two nights of restless sleep where the hardness of his cock taunted him with how much he desired to be inside Lady Pippa, riding her to one release after the other. When she’d not replied to his mocking note, William had surmised that he had perhaps embarrassed her, to so baldly remind her how inappropriate it was to send him flowers. Flowers that he had cared for and even damn well had them beside his bed in a vase, clearly to the amusement of his valet.
He entered the sitting room to behold two ravishing ladies engaged in animated conversation. He recognized Lady Chisholm, who had seemingly found grand success and happiness with her third marriage a few months ago. The countess glanced up, and the cheekiness in her eyes made him pause and cant his head. The two ladies were devilish indeed.
It took some effort to guard himself against the sensations that might rush through him when he looked upon Lady Pippa. When he finally did so, it was for William to find himself ensnared by a lovely pair of lavender eyes. That they even stared at him with some sort of shyness was laughable.
He arched a brow. “Lady Philippa, first flowers and now a morning call. I am astonished.”
The countess’s eyes widened slightly; however, Lady Pippa lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant yet elegant shrug and took a sip of tea. “Is it not the way of courtship, to first send flowers or some poem and then pay a visit for mild discourse?”
William damn well tripped.Courtship?The countess hid her smile behind her cup, before setting it down on the small table with a click. Both ladies stood and dipped into elegant curtsies and greeted him most charmingly.
“Lady Chisholm, Lady Phillipa,” William said, a bit too gravely. Especially given that his damn heart was racing like he was a lad about to discover something wonderful. He bloody well did not like the damn feeling.
“I do feel the need for some fresh air, Lord Trent,” the countess murmured, that mysterious smile about her mouth. “I shall of course, leave the door ajar while I take a turn about your garden. I trust that you find this satisfactory?”
“Very,” he said enigmatically, feeling some satisfaction when both ladies appeared a trifle uncertain.
The countess swished from the room, and William kept his gaze on Lady Phillipa, observing the way she smoothed the front of her pale yellow gown down the front, and that she bit into her lower lip several times. All nervous gestures. So the lady was not as unflappable as she seemed.
“Why are you here?” he demanded as soon as the countess was no longer in hearing proximity.
