She tilted her head and made a small smile that did not reach her eyes. “I am not certain how much my intended registered my presence.”
Ah. So she was somewhat aware of her future husband’s… proclivities.
“I am confident you did not escape the viscount’s notice,” Hudson forced himself to reply.
Lord Oldfield would never waste an opportunity to ogle his betrothed… or to angle after any other pretty young miss who wandered into his sights. At least whilst the marquess wasn’t around to witness his behavior.
Hudson was not interested in the other women. He could not look away from Lady Tabitha. Even when he closed his eyes, she haunted his dreams. Not that he could ever let her know. A highborn lady like her would never dally with a lowborn commoner like him. To pretend otherwise would be to open himself to heartbreak—and immediate dismissal from his post.
“I suppose the better question is whether you would wish to continue attending the festival,” he clarified.
“Do my wishes signify?” Lady Tabitha sent him a dry look. “I am informed that once I marry, the events I do or do not attend will be up to my husband’s discretion.”
And to think, such were the lives of Hudson’s “betters”. As far as he was concerned, it was better to be a peasant unfettered by such strictures.
If Hudson ever took a wife, he hoped she’d give him hell whenever he deserved it—and that by sunset, they would find their way back into each other’s arms.
“I hope that you find more control over your future than you feel you have at this moment,” he said. “No one deserves unhappiness.”
Lady Tabitha’s gaze snapped to his. “And what, precisely, do I deserve?”
A life of joy. A husband who worships you. Nights filled with torrid pleasure. The freedom to make your own decisions, for better or for worse. A husband who supports you in all of it.
“You deserve whatever it is that you want,” he answered simply.
For a moment, her eyes looked haunted. Then the expression cleared, and her face lit with a genuine smile that warmed him to the marrow.
“And if I want… an elephant?” she asked at last, her tone teasing.
He smiled back. An elephant had famously crossed the frozen Thames a few years ago during the most recent Frost Fair. “Simple enough to achieve, I’d imagine. If you want an elephant, save your pin money and purchase one. Or a trio of the beasts, if you’d rather.”
“I have saved quite a bit of pin money over the years. How much does a good elephant cost?”
“My apologies, madam. You appear to have mistaken me for an elephant broker. This poor man of business can only procure you a variety of wild hares and the occasional wayward mouse.”
She touched the ringlets tumbling from her coiffure. “I already have plenty of wild hairs, thank you very much. I should, perhaps, take you up on that mouse. I can always release it in defense, should my future elephant grow out of hand.”
“A wise plan,” he agreed. “You can carry the mouse in your empty reticule, since your pin money will have been depleted to purchase the elephant.”
“You vastly underestimate how spoilt the only child of a wealthy marquess actually is,” she said dryly. “I could fit an elephant inside a reticule large enough to hold my pin money. If you’d like, I could buy both of us each an elephant.”
“That’s a marvelous idea. We could race them on Rotten Row in Hyde Park.”
“Do elephants race?”
“They do when chased by wayward mice,” he assured her. “I’ll bring several along in my reticule.”
“Men ought to carry reticules,” she agreed. “They’re ever so practical.”
“And yet, pockets would be more practical.”
“Do you think my skirts have no pockets?” She fluffed her voluminous gown. “Dear sir, I might actually have an elephant hidden between the folds of all this material.”
Hudson wouldn’t mind diving beneath those skirts in search of it. Or any other treasures she’d like to direct him to.
“Let me know if you need help looking for it,” he murmured, then immediately regretted his flippant words. Bawdy flirtation was for barmaids at the local tavern, not the polished young lady promised to Hudson’s employer.
Lady Tabitha simply laughed. “I’ll keep my menagerie to myself for now, if you don’t mind.”
