“In that case,” she said, “I recommend the couch in the library. It isn’t long enough for you, but it has leather cushions.”
“It will be my penance to pay.”
She tilted her head, those owl eyes of hers sparking behind her lenses. “I would have had something more in the line of fire and brimstone in mind. But I suppose I can settle for your being uncomfortable and sleepless.”
He managed a smile. “That’s my girl. I would also ask for a boon.”
She lifted that one eyebrow.
Beau took a breath. “Truce? Until we escape the confines of the Dower House, anyway? Until we are away from both fond spies and foes, I would rather not give them a show.”
For a long moment Pip just watched him, to the point he began to feel like a scrubby schoolboy being assessed by a stern nanny. Considering the fact that this nanny only came up to his chest, the image almost made him smile again. Almost. He could still see the hurt in her eyes, and he had never wanted that.
“Joyful will have the key to the bathing room so I am not surprised in my bath,” she allowed. “You get to ask her for it when you need to make your ablutions. Stumbling over you while either of us isen dishabillewill not help your cause.”
“Agreed.”
Finally, with a regal dignity he never would have anticipated from his Pip, she nodded once and simply walked on by, her skirts swaying nicely with her step, the silk whispering of seduction. He should not have watched. It was not part of any truce he knew. But he couldn’t help himself. And then he had to resettle his trousers yet again as he walked into the room to wash.
10
It ended up being a good thing that Pip did not make that promise. She would have had to break it by the next night.
She didn’t seek out trouble. In fact, she tried her best to abide by Beau’s restrictions, at least for now. She began by meeting him in the little brown salon where they shared a silent sherry before following Billings into the dining room.
Pip imagined the dinner was just as lovely as Mrs. Webb had promised. She bestowed lavish compliments course by course, since she knew how much effort the staff had put into the meal, into making the house as welcoming as possible for Pip and Beau on short notice. She even smiled at young Billings as he poured more wine with each course. She didn’t taste a thing. Her head was swimming, though, even as she and Beau discussed innocuous subjects like the house party, the weather, and the horses they planned to take out for a friendly race in the morning.
And then, because she couldn’t leave well enough alone, Pip asked Beau about his activities the last few years.
His eyebrows went up. “My activities?”
She nodded as she served herself some cheese and nuts. “Yes. I mean, of course we know what we see in the newspapers. Faithful member of the House of Lords, reliable representative for government business, irresistible guest and impeccable dance partner at various house parties. I understand that Lady A. P., I believe, threatened to sell certain bedroom secrets to the press if you didn’t invite her to the victory celebrations.” She chuckled. “I’m almost sad you were such a gentleman, although I also understand she looks quite dashing, especially with her new sapphire and diamond bracelet.”
Leave it to Beau to not be amused by his own peccadillos.
“Please tell me you had better things to do than read gossip sheets.”
She smiled. “Well, we haven’t seen very much of each other in the last few years. I had to keep up with my friends somehow. I understand, by the way, that you were in Vienna after we were. It’s such a lovely city.”
“And I understand you made a name for yourself with Russian wastrels.”
Pip couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Ivan could be labeled many things. A wastrel was not one of them. Dimitri, on the other hand, had some difficulty taking no for an answer. Fortunately, my brother Alex was kind enough to teach the girls at Last Chance Academy a few useful…shall we say, defensive moves. It was after he first helped us evict the original Miss Chase and replace her with our lovely Miss Schroeder. Miss Schroeder was far more practical about what a girl needed to learn to succeed.”
He frowned at her. “Is that a story, or a warning?”
Her smile was beatific. “Well, I mean, I already knew the basics from when we were children. But it never hurts to brush up on technique.”
“When we were children?” he retorted. “I never taught you that.”
“No,” she said, completely losing her smile. “You didn’t.”
But evidently that subject was back off the table.
And then, inevitably, dinner was over, and instead of sitting with the port, Beau ushered Pip into the salon where her after-dinner options were reading about the Plantagenets or staring out the window.
“Probably the time you wish you had taken up needlework,” Beau said with a wry smile.
Walking over to the window where all she could see was darkness and darker shadows, she shook her head. “Not even then. My needlework would inevitably look like a brightly colored mouse nest. There is no one I would torture by demanding they praise my efforts.” She tilted her head, considering. “Well. There may be one person.” Then she turned to consider Beau. “Maybe two. Perhaps I’ll ask Lizzie to send some of her extra thread down.”
