“So are you.” She smiled at him. “Look at all the orphans you’ve hired, and helped get their footing in this harsh world. I’ve never met anyone more loyal or considerate. But I will not reveal that secret to anyone.”
“Do not make a saint out of me. I am not softhearted. I protect the people that matter to me, and treat people the way they treat me. If that makes you think I am kind, then so be it. But I am not a kind person. Come along, let’s go to that warehouse. Do you have plans for this evening?”
“Yes, but it is just a dinner party with some close friends of Lord and Lady Berwick,” she replied. “You needn’t concern yourself about that. I know for certain Lord Hawthorne is not invited. The Berwicks will pick me up in their carriage around seven o’clock and drop me off at home again, probably aroundmidnight. Since Lord Berwick can be as apishly protective as you, he will walk me to my door and make certain I am safely inside before he walks away.”
“All right,” he said with some reluctance.
He could not imprison Berry just to assuage his own concerns. And wasn’t an intimate supper at some lord’s house safe enough? He could even get in a few hours of work at the Musket Club while she was at her party.
“Berry, I’m not sorry I told you of my feelings. It is vital that you know how important you are to me. I don’t want you ever hesitating to come to me or confide in me. I will do all in my power to protect you or help you work through a problem. But this is all I can offer you for now. Perhaps it shall always be this way. Only time will tell.”
“I know.”
She summoned Harriet, and the three of them rode in silence as his carriage made its way through the busy London streets toward the bustling dockside. Berry’s maid was so enthralled by this unexpected outing that she spent the entire ride peering out the window to view the streets, which were teeming with activity, and paid no attention to Berry or him.
Gideon could have hauled Berry onto his lap and kissed her senseless, and Harriet would not have noticed a thing.
Of course, he was not going to kiss Berry. Not now or any time in the near future. No matter how desperately he wished to crush his mouth to her soft lips.
He wanted to do the right thing. Hehadto do the right thing for Berry’s sake. But he was no bloody martyr.
Resisting her was going to be difficult. She’d asked him to kiss her.
He strained against the leather squabs, suddenly feeling too confined. How was it possible for a man to fall so quickly or sohard for a woman? Did everyone in love feel a similar physical ache from wanting the person they loved so badly?
They arrived at the warehouse, which was one of the largest along the docks. Harriet remained with the coachman, Brent, and the armed footmen while he and Berry walked inside.
The proprietor ran out of his office to greet them. “Lady Berry! A pleasure to see you.” Apparently, everyone knew Berry.
“Mr. Dunning, how are you? And your lovely wife and daughter?”
“Fine, fine. Excellent. How may I help you?”
Berry introduced Gideon to the man who appeared to be in his early fifties, judging by the sparse tufts of white on his balding head. Upon his hearing Gideon’s name, his eyes rounded in surprise. “Ah, welcome, Mr. Knight. I did not realize you and Lady Berry were acquainted.”
“Yes, he is my new neighbor and I insisted on bringing him here,” she said. “Only the best will do for the houses on Duchess Square. We are interested in seeing your malachite.”
Dunning led them to the back of his vast warehouse. “Here is my entire supply.”
Gideon watched as Berry perused the samples and then charmed the man into reducing his price, although he did not think it was quite the bargain she believed. After all, Dunning had to make a decent profit. And Berry, as sweet as she was, came from money. The man had probably raised his prices in order to appear as though he would then lower them as a favor to her.
But Gideon was not going to suggest this to Berry and disappoint her. She looked so proud of herself.
After selecting the quantity and ordering that it be cut in a particular design, even giving precise measurements that she must have taken at some point when visiting his house, they moved on to the wood flooring. She selected a dozen samplesthat Dunning assured them would be delivered to Gideon’s residence first thing in the morning. “Thank you, Mr. Dunning. And please give your wife and daughter my warmest regards.”
“I certainly will, Lady Berry.”
She walked out seeming quite triumphant about her accomplishments.
“How do you know Dunning and his family?” Gideon asked as they climbed back in his carriage.
“His wife is one of the orphans from St. Brigid’s that my grandfather helped place back in the day. She went to work as a cook in the Dunning household.”
“Ah, the way to a man’s heart,” he said with a chuckle.
Berry grinned. “Yes, precisely. Mr. Dunning fell in love with her cooking and then fell in love with her. It was a small household, and they were a family of tradesmen who did not find it necessary to put on airs. Mr. Dunning’s father was not enthralled about the match, at first.”
“Because she was an orphan and he had no idea about her family background.”
