The cherry bookshelves in his study and library had been set against the walls and secured. They looked quite splendid as the afternoon sunlight shone upon them and brought out their rich red tones.
All that was needed were books to fill them. He knew Berry would enjoy this task, and intended to ask her to join him when he went to the London booksellers to select the ones to complete what he hoped would be an impressive library.
Berry’s malachite stone, shaped in the form of a star, had become the focal point of his entry hall, the exquisite dark green standing out amid sparkling white tiles. The hall wouldlook even more magnificent in the evenings, for the malachite seemed to come alive under the amber glow of candlelight.
Of course, this was exactly the effect Berry had hoped for.
“Is Suzanna talking to you yet?” Gideon asked Bonham.
His friend winced. “Not yet, but she is warming up to me. I’m sure she is ready to forgive me. She’s coming back in a few minutes to help me put the finishing touches on your drainage system. And I rue the day I ever bothered with your shaft. How is it my fault an innocent lift system is called the same thing as a man’s vital male organ?”
Just yesterday, Miranda had explained to Berry and Suzanna the double meaning of the wordshaft, over which they were properly horrified and refused to call that shaft mechanism anything but a pulley system. Then Suzanna overheard Bonham jest with Gideon that Suzanna couldpull-eyon his system anytime she wished, which earned him a resounding slap from her.
But Gideon thought it must have all worked out, because as he wandered upstairs twenty minutes later to see how his friend was progressing on the drainage pipes, he came upon Bonham and Suzanna in a heated embrace.
Who else but Bonham would kiss a girl with all his heart and soul beside a commode and sink in a water closet?
Perhaps they were meant for each other. Suzanna did not seem to mind at all.
Well, who was Gideon to pass judgment when he had given Berry her first true kiss not an hour after she had thrown up into his chamber pot four times?
He heard Berry returning after seeing the last of her friends off. “Gideon! Gideon! They all loved your house!”
He hurried downstairs to greet her. “I missed you, love.”
She laughed. “For all of five minutes that I was gone?”
“It was a bit longer than that. Your friends are leaving impaired. It takes at least half an hour to get them to the door once they stand up and declare theymustleave. But come with me.” He led her into his study, closed the door for privacy, and then backed her against the wall.
She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling in expectation. “What are we doing in here?”
“Nothing yet, but I am going to kiss the daylights out of you and do not wish to be interrupted.”
She smiled. “That is excellent thinking. I love you, Gideon.”
“Ireallyneed to marry you or I am going to expire,” he said as he took her hands in his and gently held them to the wall. He pressed the weight of himself lightly atop her and kissed her breathless.
But for weeks now, all he had done was kiss Berry. The restraint required was agonizing. If it were up to him, they would both be shedding their clothes right now and exploring each other’s bodies as they coupled like wild monkeys. On the floor. Against the wall. Against the bookshelves.
Everything about her ravaged his senses and brought out his primal urges.
However, he had waited this long and would wait until they were husband and wife to complete this union.
Anyway, Berry was still on medical watch and restricted from heavy exertions.
Tonight was the night of Lord Stanhope’s ball and the first time they would be seen together at atonfunction since their courtship had become public knowledge. This was the night that would determine whether he truly stood a chance of being accepted by theton.
He did not care for his sake, for he still had no desire to become one of them. But this was important for Berry and her work on behalf of St. Brigid’s.
Horace made certain Gideon was dressed impeccably in his formal white cravat and coattails when he returned to the Musket Club to prepare for the ball.
Joss, Pudge, Bonham, Henry, and even William, the troubled lad newly sent to him from the orphanage, were there to look him over. He had placed William under Henry’s mentorship now that Henry had truly come into his own.
Saving Berry had changed Henry’s life, given him a sense of pride and an appreciation of his own worth. The incident had brought out his valiant nature, which might have stayed dormant forever had it not been for that fateful night.
There would be no cheap pilfering again. Henry was a reformed young man. He was a hero.
Horace frowned at Gideon when he complained about the stiffness of his collar. “And the cravat is too tight.”
