Page 35 of Her Scandalous Pursuit

She could, however, at least avoid the meeting for as long as possible. For the next few days, whenever she heard her grandmother’s voice, Thisbe managed to whisk Desmond out to the garden for a walk or remember that she needed to make a trip to the bookstore—Olivia was always able to provide an excuse for that—and Desmond, of course, accompanied her.

Another time, when she heard the strident tones of the dowager duchess on the stairs, she took Desmond to see her father’s collections room. Desmond had been happy to go, of course; though he knew next to nothing at all about Greek and Roman art, he was, as always, eager to learn, and they spent a pleasant hour meandering about, talking about potsherds, designs and the various periods of ancient art and architecture. Indeed, the duke was so impressed by the young man—though he called him Donald—that a few days later he happily hauled off Desmond to inspect his latest shipment.

One afternoon, Thisbe had been delayed at the apothecary shop and arrived home late. A look in the red salon yielded nothing but her grandmother and Kyria. Nor did a quick peek into her father’s study or the music room, where Olivia was reading. Finally she tracked down Desmond to the twins’ suite of rooms. Desmond sat cross-legged on the floor with the two boys, a toy lying in pieces before them.

“You see, this spring is what you wind up with the key, and—” Desmond looked up and beamed. “Thisbe! I was just showing the Greats how this clockwork toy worked.”

“Thisbe! Thisbe!” Con ran over to take her hand and pull her over. “Dezment is taking it apart.” Desmond was quickly becoming their favorite visitor.

“So I see.” Thisbe looked down at the collection of parts. “I hope this isn’t one of Grandmother’s toys.”

Both the twins’ eyes grew large as they shook their heads emphatically. “It’s Livvy’s,” Alex assured her.

Thisbe kneeled down on the floor beside them and said somewhat dubiously, “I presume you can put all this back together?”

“Oh, sure,” Desmond told her cheerfully. “I was showing them how the gears work.” He released the key and held out the mechanism. “See, boys, how the spring makes this gear turn, and mesh with this one, and it’s connected to this other little spring that moves the leg up and down.”

The boys watched, enthralled.

“It looks rather gruesome moving that way without part of its leg,” Thisbe commented.

Desmond chuckled. “Ah, but that’s part of the attraction for little boys.”

“Gr-u-uesome,” Con repeated, drawing out the word, and Alex was inspired to jump up and imitate the jerky march of the toy. Con joined in, and the two marched across the length of the room.

Desmond began to deftly fit the pieces back together. Thisbe sat down beside him, her shoulder close to his. She liked to watch his long, agile fingers move; it did something strange to her insides that was altogether pleasurable. She had never really paid attention to men’s hands before, but she had decided that Desmond’s were undoubtedly the nicest.

“How did you wind up here with the twins?” she asked.

“Your mother was downstairs with them when I arrived. Apparently the replacement nanny didn’t last but three days.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Yes. The duchess was less than pleased. She decided to talk to the agency in person.”

“Unlucky them.”

Desmond snorted. “I’d say. So I said I would stay with the boys. It sounded like Kyria had visitors, so we came up here.”

“Wise choice.”

“You know...” Desmond hesitated long enough that Thisbe turned her head to look at him. “Perhaps I shouldn’t put my oar in. I don’t know if she’s the sort your mother would want.”

“Who? The sort of what?”

“Nanny. For the boys.”

“You know someone?”

“It’s my landlord’s sister. Her husband’s dead and she had to come live with her brother, but I know she’d rather have some independence. She told me once the only skills she had were cooking and cleaning, and her brother doesn’t want her to hire out as a servant, says it would reflect badly on him. But I thought...a nanny wouldn’t be the same as scrubbing floors now, would it? She’s good with children—she raised three lads of her own, and I’ve seen her with her brother’s youngest. She likes little ones.”

“You think she could hold up to the twins?” Thisbe looked over at the two boys, who were now climbing onto the low schoolroom table and jumping off.

“She’s not old. I think she married young. I’m not sure how fast she is, but she’s strong. I’ve seen her shifting furniture about in one of the other flats. She’s not educated, of course, but she speaks well enough. But I didn’t know. I thought your mother might not want anyone that didn’t come from an agency.”

“I imagine Mother would value your recommendation more than that of an agency. After all, she trusts you enough she left Alex and Con in your care. There are any number of people whom she would not trust to look after them...probably including my father.”

Desmond laughed. “The duke might forget they were there.”