“Are you going to spend the rest of your life withher?”Armenia nodded in the direction of Vittoria.
It was David’s turn to react, and he chuckled softly.“That all depends,mia donna.”
“On what?”she challenged.
David glanced in the direction of the barouche, not surprised to see Vittoria watching them with curiosity.“Well, first I have to make herlikeme,” he said.“I would really prefer a match based on mutual affection, you see.”He dipped his head.“Tell me, is it entirely inappropriate for a man to arrange for a pair of half-boots to be made for a young lady?”
Armenia once again blinked.“Have you already ordered them?”
He nodded.“I’m going to fetch them now.”
She displayed a grin of delight.“I won’t tell if you won’t, and might I suggest you sit next to her in the barouche?”
David nodded.“Grazie,mia donna.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it.“I hope you’ll give Mr.McAdams a chance to make you happy.”
Her eyes widening at hearing David’s comment, Armenia didn’t have a chance to put voice to an answer when he bowed and rushed back to the barouche.
When David reached the barouche, he murmured the address of the shoemaker to the coachman.Climbing into the equipage, he took Armenia’s seat next to Vittoria as the coachman closed the door.
“DonnaArmenia told me I should sit next to you,” he said, before Vittoria could put voice to a protest.
“She told me I was to allow you to do whatever you wished,” she countered.
David blinked.“Uh...really?”
“Almost as if shewantsyou to ruin me.”Despite hearing David’s scoff of disbelief, she allowed ahuff.“I cannot blame her.She agreed to help with my come-out and to see to it I was successful at landing a husband,” Vittoria said sadly.“The sooner that’s accomplished, the better for her.”
David shifted on the bench when the horses pulled the barouche out of the courtyard and into the street.“I don’t believe that’s her motivation,” he argued.“In fact, she has your very best interests at heart,mia donna.”
“How do you mean?”she challenged.
David pulled one of her hands into his and gave it a gentle squeeze.“If I give you the answer, I’ll sound like a braggart.I am a gentleman, and so you will have to ask her directly for her reasoning.”
Vittoria inhaled softly.“She is not wrong,mio don.You will one day be a marquess?—”
“Probably when I am well past fifty years old?—”
“—Your family is wealthy?—”
“Probably, but I intend to learn for certain when I take over as the man of business for the marquessate.”
“Marrying you would be a sort of prize.”
He turned to regard Vittoria with a look of confusion.“I’ve never thought of myself as a prize, but I suppose in a transactional sort of arrangement, I would be.”He said this last on a sigh of disappointment and followed it with a rude sound from his throat.
“I am only a prize because of my dowry,” she replied.
David scoffed loudly.“Hardly.You’re gorgeous.You are far wiser than most girls your age.Able to defend yourself against the worst of our sex.”He paused before adding, “And you’ve grown up in an aristocratic household, so you already know what’s expected of you when it comes to being a...a helpmate and a mother.”
Vittoria stared at him in wonder for a moment and seemed about to reply when she suddenly straightened on the bench, her gaze darting about.“Where are we going?”she asked in alarm.
“Oh, uh...I asked the coachman to stop at a particular shop so that I might collect an order I placed this morning.”
She slowly settled back against the squabs.“What sort of order?”
David shifted on the bench, turning his body so he was at an angle to better face her.“Before I answer that, might I ask about the half-boots you’re wearing today?”
