Page 39 of The Viscount’s Vice

She dimpled. “Very.”

With a serious expression, he closed his mouth around a scoop of ice. Using her spoon felt intimate. Even more intimate than allowing her to steal a kiss back in the yew maze.

As the taste of cold, tart cherries lingered on his tongue,she smiled. Wide. And her smile popped inside his chest like a log in a fire.

Who could notice Lady Amelia’s beauty when Lenora Wainwright was smiling at you over a shared Gunter’s ice?

Here.

When he planned an outing with Lenora, he would bring her back here.

Chapter Five

On the morning of the Grand Visit to the Exchange, the sky was dark. As Asquith departed the Albany, greeting the clouds like friends—come! Throw my mother’s plans into confusion.

Alas, only a smattering of droplets fell in the few short blocks from his rented rooms to Lord Hampton’s home, where he was to join Lord Preston and Lady Amelia. Now, the pall had lifted.

Just his luck.

He cursed the sky, barely aware of a beleaguered young woman with a baby carriage careening around the corner. The governess screeched and skidded to a stop; he sidestepped the carriage just in time.

“I beg your pardon, sir.” She pressed a shaking hand against her chest. “If it weren’t for the young gentleman back there and his—his—unholy apparatus, I might have run right into you!”

Unholy apparatus. Asquith suppressed a smirk.

Preston must be riding his velocipede. While the two-wheeled balancing vehicle was certainly ungainly, “unholy” was a stretch.

“No matter,” he said.

Allowing the governess time to collect herself, he leaned over to coo at her charge. Babies liked coos, did they not?

What did he know?

He pulled a long face instead. The baby returned Asquith’s frown, puckering his tiny pink lips. Asquith transformed his expression into a smile. The child popped his fingers out of his mouth and giggled the purest little laugh.

Huh. Quite an accomplished feeling.

He held out his hand. Four tiny fingers wrapped around his glove.

“My stars!” The governess glanced at Asquith as if he were heroic. “He’s not smiled much these past few days. His teeth are coming in.”

Had he ever seen a baby up close before? He couldn’t recall. He avoided babies along with everything else related to domestic tranquility. But the wee little thing fascinated him. He made another face and was rewarded with a sweet, sputtering lip trill.

“You’re quite good with him. Do you have one of your own?” Instantly, she covered her mouth and drew back. “Forgive my impertinence!”

“Forgiven.” He hadn’t found her impertinent. Unusually inquisitive, perhaps. He noted the circles beneath her eyes. “The baby isn’t the only one who hasn’t slept.”

She hung her head.

“Well, then, that explains everything. And you have just survived a near-encounter with an unholy apparatus...”

She sent him a sheepish smile. “My tendency is to speak when I should refrain. I cannot grasp how I forgot myself, especially with a person such as yourself.” She gathered herself together. “I—I should be on my way. My lady is—” She stopped herself. “My lady needs me.”

“No harm done.” He withdrew his hand and smiled again at the child.

“Good day.” She set off at a brisk pace.

Asquith stared after her, bemused. What had she meant with such a person as himself?