Hyacinth caught her lower lip between her teeth—she wasn’t strong enough to maintain the perfect picture of composure. But she did manage to keep her back straight, and her chin high, and perhaps most importantly, her mouth shut as he pondered his options.
A full minute went by. Very well, it was probably no more than ten seconds, but it felt like a minute. And then finally, because she could stand it no longer, she said (but very softly), “You need me.”
His gaze fell to the carpet for a moment before turning back to her face. “If I take you—”
“Oh, thank you!” she exclaimed, just barely resisting the urge to jump to her feet.
“I said if I take you,” he said, his voice uncommonly stern.
Hyacinth silenced herself immediately, looking at him with an appropriately dutiful expression.
“If I take you,” he repeated, his eyes boring into hers, “I expect you to follow my orders.”
“Of course.”
“We will proceed as I see fit.”
She hesitated.
“Hyacinth.”
“Of course,” she said quickly, since she had a feeling that if she didn’t, he would call it off right then and there. “But if I have a good idea…”
“Hyacinth.”
“As pertains to the fact that I understand Italian and you don’t,” she added quickly.
The look he gave her was as exhausted as it was austere.
“You don’t have to do what I ask,” she finally said, “just listen.”
“Very well,” he said with a sigh. “We will go Monday night.”
Hyacinth’s eyes widened with surprise. After all the fuss he’d made, she hadn’t expected him to elect to go so soon. But she wasn’t about to complain. “Monday night,” she agreed.
She could hardly wait.
Chapter 9
Monday night. Our hero, who has spent much of his life in reckless abandon, is discovering the rather odd sensation of being the more sensible member of a duo.
There were a number of reasons, Gareth decided as he stole around to the back of Hyacinth’s house, why he should question his sanity.
One: It was after midnight.
Two: They would be quite alone.
Three: They were going to the baron’s house to:
Four: Commit larceny.
As far as bad ideas went, this stole the prize.
But no, somehow she had talked him into it, and so here he was, against all better judgment, ready to lead a proper young miss out of her house, into the night, and quite possibly into danger.
Not to mention that if anyone caught wind of this, the Bridgertons would have him standing up before a priest before he could catch his breath, and they’d be shackled to each other for life.
He shivered. The thought of Hyacinth Bridgerton as his lifelong companion…He stopped for a moment, blinking in surprise. Well, it wasn’t horrible, actually, but at the same time, it did leave a man feeling very, very uneasy.