Page 85 of A Sight to Behold
“That’s not even a sentence!” Felix called out before his voice became indiscernible. There was a story about the love Felixhad lost and the woman he missed, but Pippa didn’t know the details. Not yet.
“So, how do we get your father in the same room with Nick?” Alfie asked, the last spectator who remained in the hall with Pippa and Nick.
“And how do we get a few doses of ipecac and charcoal in his system before then?” Nick asked.
She grinned. “The plan’s already in motion.”
Pippa was overcome with emotion; so much had happened. In less than twenty-four hours, she’d been threatened with her mother’s machete, run away from home, taken Isabel to the Langleys, and hatched a plan for her future, but truth be told, she didn’t know how to go about any of it. A little voice in the back of her mind told her that none of it might come to fruition. She knew how easily a carefully nurtured plant could not bear fruit in one year. It happened all the time. And if her plans didn’t work, she’d be alive but stuck, like a bare little fruitless shrub.
“I need the plans to work,” she whispered to Nick, who’d wrapped his arms around her warmly. He just held her in the hall. All the rules of the Ton didn’t apply here; matters of the heart took precedence, except that the Ton threatened Nick and the practice. If Pippa’s plan didn’t work, they would lose their livelihood.
“The Earl of Langley will help me, and I have nothing to lose at the Ton. The Langleys will throw a ball and we are the guests of honor.”
“You dread balls,” Nick said.
“I can weather a ball if it means being able to marry you. But are you certain you want to risk everything for me by announcing our engagement?” Pippa asked.
Nick disentangled himself from her and tilted his head toward hers. “I’d risk everything for you, Pippa. I already did.”
Her heart swelled. “I love you, Nick. So much! But I’m—”
He placed a gentle finger on her lips. “I love you, too.” And then his mouth took the place of his finger.
And just so, Pippa’s whole body soared with love for him. And need.
She opened her mouth, but it was nothing compared to her heart.
“I don’t even know where to go.”
“What do you mean?” They spoke into each other’s mouths.
“I ran away from home.”
“So, you come live with me.”
“I cannot live here with you, Nick. And you mustn’t lose the respect of your noble patients by keeping me here without my father’s consent. I’d be in the way of your success, Nick.”
“You’re never in the way as long as you are with me.”
“Nick, I cannot just move in here. We’re not even married.”
“So, we get married.” He stepped back. “Come with me.”
“I cannot elope, Nick. It will only fuel the damage Mr. Matthews and his daughter can do to your practice.”
Nick laughed. “I’m not suggesting we elope. It’s still my intention to request your father’s blessing.” He took her hand and led her up a flight of stairs.
When he turned the knob of a humble wooden door, Pippa realized that this was his bedchamber. It was small, with a bed centered against a wall and a window facing the alley. The room was neat, but the bookcase was overstuffed. An armoire in the corner, smaller than Pippa’s hat wardrobe, probably held all his clothes.
She stood in the room momentarily, and Nick closed the door. He walked to the armoire, turned the key, and opened the double door with a screech. He retrieved a box from a drawer at the bottom of the little armoire. And from the box, a small velvet pouch.
Then he approached her again.
“Pippa, I’d like to offer you my mother’s ring.” He untied the little pouch, and Pippa saw that the velvet had rubbed off the sides. “It’s the only jewelry she ever had and is probably not worth very much.”
Pippa’s breath caught in her throat. Nick took out a plain gold ring with a single round diamond on six prongs.
“This is a diamond,” Pippa said. “Your family heirloom?”
