He shrugged. “Gran put little reliance on men. Not surprising, really. Her own father went through two fortunes in under a decade. If her mother hadn't taken control of the finances, you would have been visiting a thatched house these past few days.”
Felicity nodded. “A woman after my own heart. I wish I could have met her.”
He actually shuddered. “I don't. Each of you is formidable enough on your own. Together, you might have toppled governments. Can I ask you something?”
“I don't see why not. My stage is not due for another hour.”
She knew he was watching her. Still she kept her eyes on the stage as it loaded. She was already afraid if she met those lovely green eyes, she would lose her purpose. Even looking away, she swore she could feel his gaze in her chest.
“You must see you cannot leave,” he said.
“I must?”
“It would be unfair to not even give me a chance to plead my case.”
She shook her head again. “If I stay in that house with you for a week, I will forfeit any respectable future.”
“Even if you're chaperoned?”
Blast him. She wanted to stay. She wanted to see what might happen that could save her from a life of tending other people's children. She wanted to believe in a miraculous place where she could live in the same world as her friends from Miss Chase's. She wanted to believe, even if she knew better. It had ever been her besetting sin.
Finally, she turned to face him. “Why me?”
He gave his head a slow shake. “That I don't know. The only information I was given was that you went to school with my cousin Pip.”
Those words changed everything. Felicity actually gaped. Her heart knocked into her ribs. Sitting abruptly upright, she stared hard at him. “Pip is your cousin?” she demanded.
Pip, who had championed the less fortunate among the students at their boarding school, especially orphans without a family name to protect them. Pip, who had brought whimsy and revolution to a place so grim the girls had nicknamed it Last Chance Academy. Pip, who had come from a close, extended family, a family who had often taken her in when her own parents traveled off to distant diplomatic posts.
Suddenly Felicity's heart lurched in her chest. “Sweet heavens. You're Igneous!”
He groaned. “Save me from smart women.”
She couldn’t seem to stop gaping. “Why didn't you tell me so in the first place?”
His scowl was playful. “You never quite gave me the chance.”
She shook her head. “You should have started with that fact. I would have been much more inclined to listen. At least I wouldn't have slapped you.” She paused a moment, considering. “Well. Imightnot have slapped you.”
Especially considering the tales Pip shared of her older cousin who’d acted as a fond brother every time she’d been deposited in the duke's home. Frog-catching, fishing, horse racing, knightly quests shared with the boys from the next estate. Pip loved her cousin. She painted such a picture of him that the young Felicity, with no family of her own, had fallen quite in love. At least as a lonely twelve-year-old.
This wasn't the time to think of that, however. She needed to steal herself against the pull of his charm.
“I wish I could help you—” she said.
“Then do.”
“I cannot.”
“Cannot or will not?”
“Both. Consider. Even though Pip has spoken of you and your family, what do I really know? You are an excellent whip, you can pip a card at fifty paces, and you will put a worm on a hook for a little girl...well…at least I suppose you still would.”
“I would. Would you like me to exhibit?”
She shuddered. “No, thank you.”
For a moment there was silence between them. The doors slammed shut on the stage and the coachie cracked his whip, sending the horses clattering toward the street, passengers still settling themselves inside. Felicity preferred to watch that orchestrated chaos than think of the mess of her own life.
