No, she didn’t. She needed a man with spirit, who could meet her on equal terms. A man to spar with, a man who set boundaries, then challenged her to breach them, with the lure of danger in his eyes if she dared to defy him.
A man such as him—the infuriating Scot who’d sent a thrill through her bones as he threatened to take her over his knee.
She closed her eyes to relive the memory of their first encounter—the faint aroma of earth and mountain air, clear blue eyes before which her innermost desires were laid bare. Her breath hitched at the memory of his hands on her skin—warm, commanding hands.
“Delilah?”
Lilah opened her eyes.
“I do believe you’re blushing!” Thea said. “Perhaps the prospect of Sir Thomas’s company is not so distasteful after all?”
Before Lilah could respond, the door swung open. Dexter stood in the doorway with Sir Thomas Tipton.
With thick blonde hair fashionably cut, perfectly proportioned features, and pale blue eyes, Sir Thomas looked every bit the fairytale hero. He lifted his lips into a smile, and Thea rose to her feet, her cheeks blooming a delicate shade of rose.
“Sir Thomas, how pleasant!” she cried. “Delilah and I were just saying how we were looking forward to your visit.”
Sir Thomas bowed and snapped his heels together.
“Miss Hart, a pleasure, as always,” he said. “And Miss Delilah.”
“Please, come in,” Thea said. “Dexter, will you be joining us?”
“I don’t think so,” Lilah said. “You’re too busy, aren’t you, Dex? And you’ve already provided your valet with enough work.” She turned to their guest. “Your suit is very elegant, Sir Thomas. The jacket goes very well with your breeches. It’s terribly important to wear the right colored breeches when taking tea.”
“Sir Thomas, if you’ll excuse me,” Dexter said, “I have some business to attend to. But my sisters will take the greatest care of you. Won’t you, Delilah?”
Dexter shot Lilah a warning look, and she gave him her sweetest smile. “Of course, dear brother,” she said. She gestured to the wing-back chair by the fireplace—the chair Dexter was always so very particular about being his. “Do sit down, Sir Thomas, and let me help you to tea.”
Dexter exhaled sharply and took his leave.
“Sugar, Sir Thomas?” Lilah asked.
“Four, please.”
She wrinkled her nose and dropped four lumps into a cup and handed it to him. Their hands touched, and he smiled and brushed his thumb against hers.
But try as she might, Lilah felt nothing from his touch. Not like…
“What news, Sir Thomas?” Thea asked.
“Nothing much,” he said. “Yet another duke has arrived to strut around London and declare himself master of the world.”
“And who might that be?” Thea asked.
“Molineux.”
“Molineux!” Thea exclaimed. “Hadn’t that line died out with the twelfth duke?”
“Apparently not, Miss Hart,” he said. “Though perhaps it would have been better if it had. The present incumbent is not what I’d call a gentleman. He’s a merchant. And a Scot.”
“Don’t you aspire to commerce yourself?” Lilah asked.
“Not at the expense of my estate, and not with illicit goods. Only a few decades ago, his countrymen were savages living in the wilderness. I swear I saw dirt under his fingernails. And he reeked of cheap perfume, most likely from frittering away the hours rolling around with harlots.”
In that respect, Sir Thomas was probably right. No man as potent as him would live like a monk.
Lilah swallowed the stab of jealousy. Her hand shook, and she set her teacup aside.
“Is something the matter, Delilah?” Thea asked.
Lilah flushed and shook her head. “N-no,” she said, avoiding her sister’s gaze. “Sir Thomas, you said he deals in illicit goods?”
“Moonshine, Miss Delilah,” Sir Thomas said.
“Moonshine?”
“Whisky. Disgusting stuff, by all accounts. The kind of liquor only good for etching into metal.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Lilah said. “I’ve never tried it.”
“I’d suggest you confine your tastes to a safer beverage,” Sir Thomas said.
“Such as tea?” Lilah asked.
“Yes, Miss Delilah. A man’s propensity to drink is his biggest failing. It renders him weak and incompetent. One can only imagine what it does to a woman.”
Thea nodded. “I agree.”
“Quite so,” Sir Thomas replied. He glanced at Lilah. “When I marry, I’d want my wife to refrain from indulging in liquor.”
Lilah rose to her feet, and Sir Thomas scrambled to do likewise. She crossed the floor to the bureau and picked up Dexter’s decanter of port, then returned to her seat and poured a little into her teacup.
“Delilah!” Thea said. “You forget your manners.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lilah said. “Would you like some port with your tea, Sir Thomas?”
He frowned, then smoothed his expression into a smile. “No, thank you, Miss Delilah.”
“Do you object to my indulging in a little?”
“No, Miss Delilah,” he said, “but I have no objection to anything you wish to do.”
Yes—Sir Thomas would be the perfect husband to ensure Lilah maintained complete control of her life. Handsome, titled, and biddable.
In short, what most men wanted in a wife.
He’d give her everything she wanted, everything she asked of him.
But would he give her what she needed?
Chapter Five
“You’ll like Dexter Hart, Molineux. Of course, the pertinent question is whether he likes you.”
Fraser turned from the window, which looked out over the Strand, and smiled at his friend. “You certainly have a high opinion of him, Pelham,” he said. “Perhaps that’s because he’s funding your business.”
“You could say I’m funding his,” Pelham said. “Hart’s a stickler over the repayments. And he’s not one to lend money out of kindness.”
“But he’s a fair man, yes?”
“You’ll find none fairer,” Pelham said. “But kindness and fairness are not the same. If anyone’s the living embodiment of that fact, it’s Dexter Hart.”
Pelham opened his pocket watch, then snapped it shut.
“He’ll be with us in exactly two minutes.”
“What do you mean?” Fraser asked.
Pelham smiled. “Hart’s a stickler for punctuality. He extols the virtues of arriving precisely on time. Lateness is to be abhorred, but an early arrival presents an equal lack of civility.”
“An early arrival shows eagerness, which is to be applauded,” Fraser said.
“Not if the other party is unready.” Pelham gave Fraser a wicked smile. “Of course, an unexpected early arrival has its benefits. I once paid a visit to my wife’s bedchamber a full half-hour before she was ready to leave for a soiree hosted by Countess Stiles.”
“And was your eagerness applauded?”