Free Dare to Kiss by Jo Beverley Page A

looking at her, but he wasn't predicting his own death.
    Lily rose. "I must go up and supervise the children's dinner, sirs."
    "Perry can join our afternoon walk," Ben said. "Give him a chance to meet them. He can only stay the one night. Always busy, always busy."
    "I'd have it no other way," Perriam said. "You must know how plants are different in their ways."
    "But none," Lily said, "are particularly mobile, sir, unless cut."
    She wasn't sure it made sense, but it was a good enough note on which to escape. She did hurry upstairs, but she paused outside the schoolroom door to collect herself.
    He knew. She wished she knew what he would do. What he was feeling, even.
    She knew his type, however, and she knew enough of the royal court and the highest levels of Town society to know dissimulation and conniving were the way of life there. She could never compete.
    All she could do was pray he would see how happy Ben was.
    And, perhaps, during the afternoon walk, he would realize how innocent her children were. How they should not be thrown out into the winter cold.
    ***
    As they sat down again, Ben considered Perry. "You're not quite pleased. I know the world would say I could do better, but I don't think so."
    "You could do better," Perry said in that pleasant tone that often concealed his more serious emotions.
    "That's rot. You speak as if I have the pick of the nation. Dammit, that sounds as if I've only chosen Lily out of desperation, and it isn't so. I love her."
    "Do you know her well enough to love her?"
    "Is there a required time for it? Let's not quarrel over it. I'll not have any incivility."
    "Good God, when have you ever known me to be uncivil?"
    "You can be uncivil whilst smiling and praising."
    "Oh, in that situation it's easiest of all. I promise not to be uncivil to Mistress Gifford. If she'll make you happy, that solves all problems."
    "Thank you. She does, you know. She's not of a scholarly disposition, but we talk easily on many subjects. Of an evening, we sit together here. Sometimes I read to her as she sews. It won't sound exciting to you, but I like it."
    "I can see how you might."
    "I'm not one for gadding about and frolics, but I've been lonely. I hadn't realized how lonely until she and her family came here. And..."
    "And?" Perry asked.
    Ben waved the question away, but he knew Perry must guess what he'd almost said, not least from his blush.
    "Certainly a consideration," Perry said. "Plus, of course, you would like an heir."
    "Yes, I would. My duty, in fact."
    "A man should definitely do his duty."
    "You're laughing at me. Very well, she's a damned desirable woman."
    "Very. It would almost seem the gods blessed you when they put the Giffords in your path."
    "It feels like that. Enough of my mundane business, what concerns you these days?"
    "Trivialities."
    "I doubt that. Speak. I may want nothing to do with your world, but viewed from a distance, it fascinates me. Who has dueled whom? What petty squabbles rock the nation? Is the king sickening in body, mind, or both? What evil schemes do the French weave?"
    ***
    Lily managed not to fuss at her children about being on their best behavior. It could make them awkward and would raise questions in Michael's and Charlotte's minds. If they saw Perriam as a threat or enemy, they might do anything. By now, life here was precious to them, and they'd fight to keep it.
    Her desperate mind was throwing up more details about the enemy. Noblemen lived only part of the year in London, but he was the sort of younger son who was a "Town man." Tom had been of the same sort, though lower in bloodline and fortune.
    In the heat of summer, when the London smells intensified and disease spread, Town men reluctantly left for country house parties, but they returned as soon as problems eased. They would often declare that life elsewhere was tedium, some even that all other places on earth were dull.
    In other words, they were idiots, but Perry Perriam was no fool. She'd heard