Bean was gone. Chloe had also gone. It hurt too much to lose someone she cared about. It would sting to be rejected by someone who didn’t know her well at all. And it would hurt even more to be rejected by someone who did know the real Tommy. It wasn’t worth it.

She might not feel like a woman, but she was one, physically. Which meant she didn’t have the same freedom to flirt and fail like would-be rakehells did at society balls. Not with someone like Philippa. Tommy wouldn’t want to be Horace Wynchester permanently any more than she wished to live her life as a lady, but indulging her masculine side afforded her the freedom to court Philippa openly.

A ride or two in Hyde Park as a baron wouldn’t risk much. Then Philippa could return to her vaunted world, and Tommy could return to the more shadowy corners, where she needn’t hide who she was behind a waistcoat and a title.

“I am perfectly happy just as things are,” Tommy told her siblings. “We have each other. What else could we need?”

“We love you, too,” said Marjorie.

Graham grinned at Tommy. “Wynchesters forever.”

All five siblings touched their hands to their hearts and raised their fingers to the sky.

9

9

At noon, Philippa found herself once again alone in the dining room. Usually, such meals were unbearable. Today, she was consumed with thoughts of Baron Vanderbean. What was he doing at this moment? Would he take meals with his scandalous wards?

Philippa paused with her forkful of sliced fruits halfway to her mouth. Did the Wynchesters ever take meals together? Were they ever home long enough for such a formal event to occur? Or were they always off on one adventure or another, like the chivalric knights in her illuminated manuscripts?

She could imagine Baron Vanderbean in gleaming armor. He had looked magnificent upon his horse, and of all the pretty maidens in the park, he had chosen Philippa to rescue from boredom. Why had he done it? Would he do it again?

Whatever his motives, she was certain he did not return his gelding to the mews and immediately question his equines about their literary preferences. The image brought a smile to her face. A smile! By herself in the dining room! The baron’s effect on her was magical indeed. He made her feel less lonely, even when she was all alone.

Philippa finished her dessert. She sipped her wine, but never more than that. She liked to remain in full control of her body. It was the one thing she did control.