Chapter Four

M atthew never doubted he would be granted entrance when he presented his calling card to the Diamonds' butler and asked if Lady Purity was accepting visitors.

Their home on Piccadilly was immaculate and impressive, but he wasn't the least daunted. A long-held family title, a good upbringing and a university education, plus a head for growing his fortune with investments gave him all the confidence he could ever need.

Not to mention the way women were attracted to him.

Thus, when Lady Purity agreed to a visit, he awaited her entrance in the elegant drawing room expecting a warm welcome.

Instead, as soon as she entered, she was hissing and spitting-angry like the kitten he'd named her — if said kitten had been dunked in a barrel of frigid rainwater.

"What on earth can you mean by coming to my home?" she demanded.

He glanced at the maid who had entered with her. She didn't make eye contact before going to the other end of the room and taking a seat.

"It is customary, isn't it?" Matthew asked. "When a gentleman meets a lady in whom he's interested, he visits her at her home."

"He asks the lady ahead of time. You should have asked me at the Fenwicks' party, and I would have told you a resounding no."

"Would you?" Matthew felt puzzled. "But we got along so well."

At her surprised visage, he asked, "Didn't we have a pleasant dinner and enjoy the entertainment after?" A smile spread across his face.

"Stop grinning," she snapped. Then she dropped her voice so her maid couldn't hear. "You have taken liberties each time I have been in your company."

"Didn't you enjoy my kiss? You seemed to like each one."

He watched her gorgeous blue eyes open wide before she closed them and shook her head. Clearly, he had infuriated her. When her eyes popped open, she took a step closer.

"That is not the point. You are not behaving like a true gentleman."

"I am trying. However, I'm glad I didn't ask permission to come visiting now that I know you would have forbidden me to do so."

"If I had forbidden your visit, you still could have had a footman drop off your card."

"For what reason?" Matthew had not actually visited a lady's home with the specific task of courting since he had never before been ready to take a wife. When he occasionally visited one of his friend's houses instead of seeing them at the club, he sometimes didn't even present a card. Their butlers knew him.

"You have your man-servant drop off your card so that I may ignore it," Lady Purity explained, "which would indicate even more clearly that I am not interested. At the most, I would send you a missive telling you not to try to visit me again."

"I see." Could she really not wish to see him after they'd practically combusted in one another's arms? There was only one reason she would turn down such pleasurable sensations.

"Are you already attached to another man?"

She pursed her lips. "That is an impertinent question. When you visit, you speak of the weather and some common reference from popular culture, such as a book you've read. You most certainly do not ask personal questions."

"Am I then visiting with you? For if I am, I should like to sit."

She sighed. "Very well. Since you are here and seem to be like a wild creature."

Matthew watched her take a seat before she gestured for him to take the one opposite. It struck him she was a particular young lady, perhaps even persnickety.

"You really were merely admiring the Marquess of Lansdowne's art, weren't you?"

"Indeed," she said.

Matthew had not really thought it possible, thinking it certain she had an arranged rendezvous, which he'd interrupted before using it to his own advantage.

"I believe I have misunderstood your nature."

"You have!" she declared. Then she narrowed her eyes. "How so?"

He cleared his throat, not about to tell her his view of her had changed from an adventurous rule-breaker to a stickling, prim Florence. That would only anger her. Regardless, he had an idea.

"It's not important but due solely to my own ignorance. I understand you are fluent in all the social customs and niceties, which I clearly am not. And as I told you, I am ready to take a wife."

"You shall not accomplish your task the way you are going about it."

"Agreed," he said. "Hence, will you help me?"

"Help you?"

"Yes. For instance, I don't even know how long this visit should last. Do I spend the day with you? Will you offer me tea now and later invite me to take lunch with you?"

"No," she said. "This visit should be a mere fifteen minutes in case I have other suitors coming."

"Do you?" he asked.

"Again, that is a private matter. You will find out if one shows up."

He sighed dramatically. "Then there is no tea?" He fully intended to drag out the visit as long as possible and see if some other man did, in fact, come sniffing around.

"There can be tea service," she said, "but usually, it has already been prepared and is waiting upon your arrival because you were expected. That way, you can drink it within the fifteen minutes of your visit. If served now, you would likely have to stay longer."

Matthew thought her the most delightful creature he'd ever met, getting flustered over tea service.

"How about if I agree to drink quickly while we discuss your assisting me in my quest?"

Her hesitation indicated he had her interest. He intended to have a great deal more of her by the end of their association — if there was an end. If there wasn't, then she would be his baroness. It all seemed monstrously simple.

"Very well," she said.

When she stood, he too rose to his feet, watching when she glanced at her maid. Lady Purity appeared to be warring within herself whether to ask the woman for tea, which would leave them alone, or ask another housemaid.

Matthew could practically see the machinery of her brain working. Then she went to the bell-pull by the door and tugged.

Her beautiful slender fingers caused him a visceral reaction he hadn't expected. This kitten had him all hot without even trying. He hoped his plan worked.

In a few minutes, they were once again seated, he'd removed his gloves, and they were drinking good strong tea.

"Thank you for bending the rules," he said. "As I understand it, the next time I meet a woman I fancy, I should ask her whether I may call upon her."

"Yes, exactly."

"And if she says no, then I can still drop off my calling card, but if there is no response, then I must accept my fate and move on."

"Again, yes, that's for the best."

"And if I do get my foot in the door, then I should stay no longer than a quarter hour and speak of nothing but the blandest topics."

"Let the lady guide the conversation, my lord."

Matthew tried to imagine being so mild. "Then I should be as a chair or a carpet."

That made her smile, which he liked.

"Well, perhaps not quite that passive, my lord, but do not ask anything personal." She sighed. "Now I shall break the rules of politeness and ask how it is that you don't know the common courtesies involved with visiting."

"I wasn't taught." That was only partly a lie. Of course, he knew most of the rules, not from his long-dead father, but explained by his mother and added to by his peers when they were all figuring out the treacherous terrain of behaving well in public.

He knew the correct forms of address, he knew how to dance without treading on toes, and he even knew the best manners to have when a duke was seated directly across from him. Dukes were such tricky animals.

However, Matthew never thought for a moment he couldn't break some of those rules at will. He was titled and wealthy, after all.

Whenever he had stretched the boundaries of the acceptable, it worked out for him, usually gleaning him a night with a lady of the ton who also eagerly wanted to break some rules. But this exacting task of "visiting" was an altogether different matter.

When Lady Purity appeared almost sorry for him, he added, "The only people I generally visit apart from my family, all of whom live in Scotland at present, are my friends from university or from my club. They are all gentlemen, none of whom I wish to woo."

She laughed softly at his words, and he was shocked at his loins stirring in response.

"I understand," she said before sipping her tea and looking as though she wanted to ask him something else.

"Go ahead with your question, my lady, for I can see you have one in mind. Since this is not a real visit, I believe we can speak frankly with one another."

"Thank you," she said. "I am merely wondering how you think it acceptable to kiss a lady whenever you wish. That is no way to get yourself a respectable wife."

"Aren't you respectable?" he asked.

"Yes," she shot back. "And that is why I can tell you it is not a good method. Moreover, the more outrageous your behavior and the more you appear in the newspapers, the less likely you will make a good match. Unless of course, you don't care about the quality of your wife."

She had a point. Matthew did care, and most definitely, he wanted an upstanding wife whom he didn't have to doubt or mistrust. The thought of being cuckolded was beyond abhorrent. It was also rage-inducing. Moreover, he wanted a good mother to his children. In fact, he would be extremely satisfied with Lady Purity, for while it was a silly name, he now understood it indicated her nature.

And best of all, her lips had responded to his, inflaming his passions in a way he thought would be delightful when they were enjoying a little rantum-scantum.

Yet here she was, telling him he'd already ruined any possibility with her. Thus, his spontaneous plan was the only way to stay near her, woo her, and win her over.

"I have a lot to learn, my lady." He gave a doleful shake of his head. "I hoped I could express my interest with a kiss."

"Correctly, you should have given me a compliment, not a kiss."

"A compliment?" That was easy. "Your eyes are the most beautiful blue, reminding me of the sky over the Mediterranean Sea. Your dark hair is like obsidian silk, through which I wish to run my fingers. Your lips are like rose petals, perfectly soft and plump. Your voice reminds me of a softly played flute."

Those petal lips of hers had parted during his sweet speech. She sighed again, and this time, she rolled her eyes.

"Not flattery, my lord. That is vulgar. A true compliment is what you should strive for. Remember the lady with the ruby necklace at Lord and Lady Fenwick's party?"

Matthew tried to recall, but he'd had eyes only for Lady Purity. He almost told her that but sensed such words were more of what she didn't wish to hear.

"I remember a lady with large teeth," he said. "Was she the one?"

"I don't believe so. In any case, if you do meet a lady with large teeth, you ought to tell her she has a nice smile and leave it at that."

"By a compliment, then, you mean a lie."

"In that case, yes. We should strive to make those around us at ease and happy. My older sister, Clarity, makes people happy simply by being in her presence. Most of us have to work a little harder."

" You make me happy," he said.

She paused and a little pink colored her cheeks.

"Thank you. That seemed a true compliment, albeit given the circumstances, perhaps inappropriate since we are not forming an attachment. Back to the lady with the rubies, she had perfectly styled hair, so you should pay her a true compliment by mentioning her becoming coiffure. Don't overdo, simply speak the bald truth without adding effusive adulation."

Matthew nodded. "I see. Nothing overblown."

"Exactly." She seemed to approve, which cheered him. He would love every kind of lesson she gave him and hoped to give a few in return.

She was spectacular. Strangely, Lady Purity didn't realize all the things he'd said about her were the truth, too. If he could get away with kissing her again right then and sliding his fingers into her shining hair, he would do it.

Not a word was flattery, but he hoped to have a chance to tell her all those things again when she was stretched out naked beneath him. Maybe then she would believe his compliments.

"I've finished my cup of tea," Purity told Foxford, hoping he would understand her intent. He'd taken up enough of her time, and she had promised to visit with Clarity for lunch.

"Now I am supposed to leave. Is that right?" he asked.

She nodded, half-wishing she'd had another suitor pay a call, not to seem the least unpopular. Curtailing her vanity, Purity reminded herself she didn't give a fig what he thought.

"When shall I return?" Lord Foxford asked.

"Return?" She rose to her feet, watching him do the same. "Why would you return?"

She gasped, nearly slapping a hand across her own mouth. What on earth had got into her?

"My apologies. That was rude. My only excuse is that we've been speaking so forthrightly without the veneer of social graces that I momentarily forgot mine. What I meant was, why would you return?"

Luckily, the handsome man before her laughed at how she'd purposefully asked him again in the exact same manner.

"I need to come back for you to help me learn the proper ways to behave with a lady whom I wish to woo. Since grabbing her and kissing her soundly isn't correct, I am at a loss. How else will I get a wife if you won't help me?"

Lord Foxford sounded sincere, which struck her as improbable. On the one hand, he was a known libertine. As a thundering buck by all accounts, he obviously had no issues being around ladies. His name had been in the early morning paper — "Lord F__ had been seen acting in a forward manner at the Fenwicks' latest dinner party."

The reference was to him touching a woman's face at the dining table, but luckily, Purity's identity had not been mentioned or even hinted at.

Still, it could have been much worse if someone with loose lips had seen them kissing.

On the other hand, he probably had very little experience with innocent women, the kind one married. Purity hadn't seen him at any of the previous Season's events, so perhaps he truly had no idea how to behave.

If she had a third hand, she would add it in and wonder what any of his problems had to do with her.

"I mean no offense," she asked, "but why would I do any such thing? Why would I help you to ensnare a woman?"

Lord Foxford brushed down his coat despite not having been offered a biscuit or any cake, and then he drew back on his gloves.

"I sense you are a fastidious female. And from all you've said, you prefer things done properly. Therefore, I am offering myself as a challenge."

"A challenge?" She had to admit she was interested.

"More than that," he continued. "Not only am I a challenge to polish and prepare so I can win a wife, but I don't want to ensnare anyone. I want a woman to fall in love with me, and in turn, I with her."

Purity considered this. It was no small admission. Furthermore, she might enjoy helping him. She was going out in society, anyway.

"Coincidentally, a family friend needed a little polishing because he had not been much in society, and I tried to get my sister to do so, but she refused."

"Why?" Lord Foxford looked interested.

Purity declined to explain how Clarity didn't wish to help her now-husband spruce up enough to find a wife since she'd always been half in love with the man.

In Lord Foxford's case, Purity had no reservations about seeing this scandalous lord ankle-chained by year's end. It would be amusing to see who ended up with him.

"My sister's business is not yours," she answered, rising to her feet. "While I believe you have no excuse for your ignorance as you have not been absent from society, I shall consider your request."

Lord Foxford looked dissatisfied.

"When will I see you again?" he asked. "In order to receive your answer."

"I shall be at Rutherly's ball next week. If you attend, we can talk more then. If I've decided to help you, then we'll start that night."

"Thank you, my lady."

"Don't thank me yet," she reminded him. "I may decide you are more trouble than you are worth."

He grabbed his chest as if wounded, making her laugh again. And then he correctly and gentlemanly took the hand she offered, bowed over it, released her, and departed. It was almost a disappointment not to be grabbed and soundly kissed.

Smiling to herself, Purity couldn't wait to get to Clarity's home on Grosvenor Square and tell her everything. Well, not everything. Not about the two kisses. But she was eager to hear her sister's thoughts on whether she ought to involve herself with the love life of a rake by playing his etiquette tutor. She had no idea if she could mold the baron into an upstanding example of husband material.

If she accomplished it successfully, she would be doing some woman a good deed.

After speaking with Clarity, who thought it an amusing pastime, Purity was looking forward to the next ball.