“That’s why I’m always here,” he added, somewhat hastily. “I don’t have a library. Only an office. There are a few shelves, but nothing like this.”
“You should build one,” she said. “Then you won’t have to carry all your books back and forth between our houses.” She snapped her mouth closed. Whatever had possessed her to say that? She didn’t ever want Lord Thomas to stop visiting their house.
Then again, once she married, this would no longer be her house. There would be no view of his home. No watching him cross the street with powerful strides, his face so very serious. She resisted the urge to press a hand to her heart, to try to dull the pain.
“This is London,” he said. “I have neighbors. There’s no room to make my home larger.”
“Take some of the space from the ballroom.” She shrugged, and prayed the gesture hid her agitation. “You never use it.” She’d never once known him to throw a party of any sort, let alone a dance. If only he had, she would have gone, and danced with him.
“You don’t think that would be wrong, to give up some of the grandeur of the ballroom?”
“Wrong?” What an odd thing for an earl to worry about, especially one who never threw parties. “It’s your home. You should arrange it to suit you.”
“But ladies enjoy dancing,” he said. “If it were you, Liza, would you want a home with a large ballroom or a library?”
She blinked, startled by his use of her Christian name, his talk of what a woman might want in his home. He watched her intently. Her heart beat faster. He didn’t realize he’d called her Liza. The only other time she’d heard her name from his lips was the night he’d kissed her.
Her heart pounded so hard it constricted her throat, but she managed to whisper, “I…I would prefer a library, my lord.”
“I see,” he said.
Now, she thought. This is his chance. If he cares for me, even a little, this is the moment he will tell me.
A heavy tread sounded in the hall and drew nearer. Lord Thomas turned toward the door. He stood. Her father was coming and Lord Thomas hadn’t given her an answer. Not as to whether or not he knew any gentlemen, or to the question she held secret in her heart.
She leaned forward with the intent to seize his arm, then stopped. “Will you help me find a husband?” she asked. Her heart pounded. How could he not guess her true desire?
He looked back, face unreadable. “If that is what you wish.”
Mute, for it was not truly what she wished, she nodded.
“I’ll think on it and make a list of possible candidates.”
A wave of despair washed through her. She whispered, “Will it be ready tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?”
Tomorrow, to put an end to her misery. To make her give up her silly dreams of Lord Thomas. “It’s only, I can’t bear another party where I stand off to the side alone for hours while Mama glares at me.”
“Fine. Tomorrow.”
She forced a thin smile. “Thank you.”
He gave her a sharp nod, then strode toward the table. The library door swung open and her father entered. His eyes went to the tabletop.
“Liza, the papers are a mess,” he lamented. “And you aren’t even reading. Don’t tell me you kept Thomas from our work with your chatter.”
“I was, Papa,” she said, for there was no reason to lie.
Her father bumbled toward the table where Lord Thomas sat. “Nice of you to indulge the girl, Thomas. I know she can be full of ideas and questions.”
“I enjoy our conversations,” Lord Thomas murmured, and started to organize their papers.
“Liza, dear, why don’t you pick a book to read?” her father called. He pulled out a chair and lowered himself onto the seat. “Thomas and I have work to do now.”
“I am sorry, Papa. I don’t know what I want to read.”
Lord Thomas shot her an inscrutable look. “Why don’t you tryRomeo and Juliet?” he asked, then returned his attention to the pages.
Liza gaped. She snapped her mouth closed with an audible click. Her father’s voice filled the library as he pawed through the pages Lord Thomas was attempting to arrange. Liza stared, unable to look away from Lord Thomas’s familiar profile. Could he mean...did he remember she’d heldRomeo and Julietthe night... Heaven above, he hadn’t been too drunk to remember their kiss after all.
