Page 33 of The Best Marquess

A long silence stretched between them and Pippa cursed her wayward tongue. She hadn’t sounded like a calm, rational woman just then, but a sharp-tongued shrew. Gah. Why was she feeling so oddly possessive of Finn?

He cleared his throat. “I hereby swear, Princess Pippet and no other. But you are right about Byron and the other bad husbands. I wanted Bliss items to add spice to bedchamber antics. But so many people are just lonely or have been badly treated in the past. Which makes me ponder: do members of the ton trudge down the duty path because they are awful, or because finding the right person is too difficult?”

“I can’t help thinking awful. Far too many generations of noble families intermarrying. Without regular doses of decent common blood, they end up like the Spanish royals. Speaking of Bliss, though…when will I get a guided tour of the premises? In the eyes of the world, we are betrothed now.”

“Whenever you like.”

Pippa gave him a hopeful look. “Now? I would love to see the special toys you make. And the romance novels you’ve imported. It all sounds exceedingly interesting.”

Unaccountably, Finn hesitated. “We’ll arrange a time. Soon, I promise. But the staff there…I can’t just turn up unannounced with a guest. Not everyone is as broad-minded about the items as us, that is why orders go to a post office box rather than the actual address. Their privacy and safety are important to me.”

She sat back in the curricle seat, trying not to feel cut to the core. Others would say Finn was being a responsible employer; as he’d said, there were many who were foolishly puritanical about anything connected to pleasure. But she wasn’t just anyone. She was his best friend and his pretend betrothed for heaven’s sake, as well as an avid romance novel reader. Did his staff really need protection from her? It wasn’t like she was going to start a protest group outside and demand a magistrate close the business for lewd and improper behavior. “I…uh…very well. If that is how it must be.”

“We’ll go soon,” he said again, flashing her a relieved grin. “In the next week, certainly. I can’t wait to show you the items, I’ve worked hard on the design aspect and we’ve had some helpful comments from users for the next batches. Our first lot of nipple clamps were far too heavy; too much lobster grip not enough pleasurable pinch. I believe your hand after Amanda’s birth would have been entirely sympathetic.”

Pippa forced a smile. “Delicate areas require a delicate touch.”

“Exactly.”

They sat in silence for the rest of the journey back to Hanover Square, and she pulled the blanket higher as a chilly breeze whipped up and delved under her pelisse with great precision.

As soon as the curricle halted in front of Kingsford House, the door opened and her father trotted out.

“Pippa, your grandmother is looking for you. Some salon you are supposed to be attending to celebrate your betrothal?”

Her shoulders drooped. “I will be inside in just a moment.”

Lord Kingsford turned to Finn. “Knighton, I wonder if you are free to meet me at my club today? There is some important business I should like to discuss.”

“I can make time, my lord. Would two o’clock suit?”

“Perfect, lad. See you then,” said her father, disappearing back inside the townhouse.

Finn sighed. “While I am quite sure that my afternoon will be far more pleasant than yours, I don’t think anyone looks forward to a discussion of important business with a lady’s father.”

Pippa patted his knee, then lifted the blanket and got to her feet. “Buck up, soldier. He’s a kitten. As long as you talk about how wonderful I am and not the fact that you send me explicit romance novels with false covers, or just gave me two orgasms in Hyde Park.”

“Damn it, those were to be my two main topics of conversation.”

“Rake. Begone with you.”

“No farewell kiss, Pippet?” Finn said mournfully as he helped her climb down from the curricle onto the square’s graveled path.

Pippa peered at him over her spectacles. “After we tour a certain business, I will kiss you. Wherever on your person you would like to be kissed. I’m sure there is an antechamber or an office there that offers privacy.”

He groaned in a way that vastly improved her mood. “Soon. We’ll go very, very soon.”

“See that we do, my lord. Enjoy your afternoon.”

And with a jaunty wave, Pippa turned and entered Kingsford House.

“About time you returned,” said Grandmother, descending the staircase in a high-necked velvet gown as gray as Finn’s matched pair. “It would be the height of rudeness to arrive last at the salon, considering you are the guest of honor.”

Ugh. In the excitement of an outing, and the orgasmic aftermath, she had completely forgotten about it. Probably because the hostess was another of Grandmother’s cronies, rather than a friend her own age. In truth, she was treating the dowager with the caution of an ill person sniffing a new herbal elixir; the expected thunderous eruption after the soiree announcement had not yet occurred and that was highly suspicious in itself.

Her grandmother did not concede defeat. Ever.

“I’ll go upstairs and change gowns,” Pippa replied as she crossed the entrance hall, her half-boot heels overloud on the wooden floor. “I greatly enjoyed the curricle outing with my betrothed, thank you for asking.”