“Make me complicit in your schemes,” Philippa begged. “I want to be an active part in your escapades. You Wynchesters are the most interesting family I have ever met, and I haven’t even met all of you. None of you has any idea what it’s like to be me.”

“I thought you liked being a bluestocking.”

“I love being a bluestocking,” Philippa answered. “But why should ‘clever’ and ‘curious’ be synonymous with ‘overlooked’ and ‘left behind’? Why can’t I translate ancient Latin texts for my own entertainment and also be the queen of the ball?”

“Do you want to be the queen of the ball?”

“No.” Philippa sighed. “It would involve one of my most abhorred activities: conversing with and dancing attendance upon an endless stream of strange men.”

“Coincidentally,” said Tommy, “also one of my least favorite activities.”

“I wish to be the heroine of my own story. I want to have adventures like you. My parents despair of me when I talk this way. They think the only things that interest me are reading books and spending all of my time with ladies.”

Tommy’s stomach fluttered at the latter. “Is that true?”

“Usually,” Philippa admitted. “But my favorite fruit is the pomegranate, and I wouldn’t wish to exclusively eat it at every meal. What if there’s something out there that’s even better than pomegranate? How will I know if I don’t try new things?”

This was by far the best of all the perspectives on life Tommy had dreamed Philippa might hold. Tommy would be delighted to offer many new experiences, if Philippa was open to the possibility.

That was—Tommy assumed an affair with a woman would be a novel experience for Philippa. What if it wasn’t? Philippa had famously received dozens of marriage proposals over the years, and had spurned them all. According to Graham’s network, Philippa’s father had rejected the suitors, but Philippa had never appeared dissatisfied with her unmarried status.

What if Tommy’s disguise as a gentleman was the only thing standing in the way of the kiss she longed to take? What if being Tommy would make the best possible future?

“I have an idea,” Philippa said.

Tommy swallowed. “As do I.”

“My mother wants me to use you as a stepping-stone to ensnare a higher-ranked lord.” Philippa bit her lip. “What if you did the same thing?”

Tommy blinked. “Ensnare a highly ranked lord?”

Philippa laughed. “No, I shall wed the lord. But if your brief acquaintance with me has already given you invitations to places you weren’t welcome before, I hereby give you permission to use our friendship to gain entrée wherever you like. We could be partners of a sort.”

Partners…of a sort. Yes, that was exactly what Tommy wanted, in exactly the opposite way.

Philippa wanted to marry a lord.

Tommy turned her gaze to the horses.