“Shall I find you after you dance with him?”

“Please,” Philippa said. After suffering through Northrup’s touch, she would need the comforting feel of Tommy’s arms about her.

Philippa was beginning to suspect she would always long for Tommy’s embrace.

Tommy had barely brought her back into her mother’s orbit when Mother snatched Philippa to her side with far more force than was seemly.

“That will do,” she seethed at Tommy. “No more sets with Philippa this evening.”

Tommy inclined her head. “As you wish, madam.”

“Humph.” Mother barely waited for Tommy to walk away before berating Philippa beneath her breath. “What were you thinking? I told you to use him as a stepping-stone, not cling to him like lichen. You’ll never attract Captain Northrup if you don’t put yourself in his line of sight.”

Yes. That sounded like a lovely plan.

Stay out of Northrup’s sight.

“Dancing makes me very visible,” Philippa murmured. “Everyone was watching. And I didn’t wish to be rude to the baron.”

“It is rude to disobey one’s parents,” her mother snapped. “For that insubordination, our parlor is hereby forbidden to the members of your little reading circle. There’s a bigger fish than Baron Vanderbean on the line.”

Philippa’s muscles twitched with panic. “But—”

“The entire house, daughter. No one but gentlemen callers shall cross our threshold until you are betrothed. And don’t think for a second that I mean Baron Vanderbean. He is limited to once per month, which means I expect four weeks of bliss before that foreigner darkens our door again.”

Philippa sucked in a breath. “But—”

“I am doing this for you,” her mother said. “You are clearly incapable of making a suitable match on your own. Three and twenty, Philippa. On the shelf, long in the tooth, ape leader. Do you think I want these things said about my child? Viscountess has a much nicer ring to it. No one will dare mistreat my daughter then.”

Philippa blinked. “People are calling me ‘ape leader’?”

“Why do you think your father and I have rejected all the proposals from common fortune hunters?”

“Because they’re…common fortune hunters?”

“Because they weren’t right for you. A wallflower as shy and awkward as you are needs a title as a shield. You won’t always have me to protect you. Your name has to be protection itself.”

“But Captain Northrup—”

“—is the first man that actually suits you,” Mother finished. “He’s new to the title, which means he’s not been drilled with a lifetime of expectations of what his future viscountess must be like. He’ll be honored by the Prince Regent himself, which makes Northrup’s reputation the opposite of those disreputable Wynchesters. Of equal import, Captain Northrup enjoys puzzles and books and illuminated manuscripts. Just like you, darling. It’s a perfect match!”

Of equal import.