Clockwork Blue (42 page)

He handed her up into the carriage, his mouth drawn in a straight line, his expression stormy.

"
Tell me, when are you leaving?
"
Nicola
asked.

"
What? You are already anxious to be rid of me?
"

"
Don
'
t act so hurt, my lord. After all, it is you who wants to leave. I
'
m merely attempting to schedule my days around you until your departure.
"

"
I
'
m not hurt, and you don
'
t have
to schedule
anything
around me.
"

"
Oh, but I believe I do. You see, I
'
m a very busy woman. Independent, as you put it. I have to take care of my business as well as your requirements, too.
"

"
What requirements?
"

"
The bedding, of course.
"
She tapped her chin then looked off into the distance in order to gather her thoughts, determined to convince her conceited new husband that she would not wither on the vine without him.

She held up a finger.
"
I must talk to the hosiers about ordering new cloth for my hats. Then I need to make a turban for Mrs. Wiggs by Friday. Lady Kensington wants new gypsy hats
for her three girls by next week. Papa needs assistance at the
dye
house so that you can start marketing the
Clockwork
Blue
.
"
She counted off each item.
"
Between all this, I must produce a child for you. Now, just how many do you want and when do you want the first one?
"

He widened his
eyes
, clearly stunned.
"
You mean to tell me that you are atte
mpting to schedule our
intimacies
as i
f scheduling the dying of cloth?"

She threw him
a
determined smile. He was being ridiculous about this marriage, and she wanted to call his hand.
"
Of course. I
'
m a woman of business. Time is important to me, so I must schedule my life according to its restrictions.
"
She glanced out the window and realized they had almost arrived at Windmere.
"
Oh, I forgot to mention the tea at Mrs. Campbell
'
s next week. If I
'
m going to be successful, I need to be in attendance at every
social
engagement I can. To show off my latest designs.
"
She glanced at him and her heart skipped a beat.

His silver eyes held a coolness to them
. He contemplated her as if he
studied
a new loom.
"
You are one of a kind. I commend you on your savvy business skills.
"

"
Why thank you, my lord.
"

"
I see only one weakness in your plan, because you are new to the business of making children.
"

Her cheeks burned.
"
Ah,
ye
s, that is true.
"

"
Did you know that many newlyweds are not seen for a week? They must make love frequently during the month in order to conceive.
"

Her face heated to an almost painful degree.
"
A month?"

"
Mmmm. Do you know why?
"

"
Other than to get acquainted?
"

"
There is that; however, they don
'
t just converse.
"

She pulled the finger of one of her gloves.
"
I
'
m not completely ignorant of the mating process. After all, I live in the country.
"

"
Ah. Well, I promise to have more finesse than your average barnyard animal.
"
He rubbed his chin, contemplating her.
"
You must be at my beck and call. We
'
ll need to copulate
at least twice daily in the course of a month before we can produce that first babe.
"

Her senses reeled at the prospect.

"
Also, I suppose you won
'
t be shocked when I remove all your clothes.
"

"
Yo
u …?"
She had the sensation of flying high in the sky and was no longer sitting firmly on the seat.

"
And,
Nicola
?
"

"Y
-y
es
?
"
she
choked out.

"
You can remove all of mine.
"

Allegro sat in his preordained place on the dais at Anthem, the beautiful pink cloud at which all questing pixies gave their periodic reports, the same place they had been notified of this mission. A hot-air balloon could be seen traveling the rainbow path
leading up to the platform.
Glissando
. What had he really been doing in London? Glissando had
bruises. Someone had
been beaten
. Glissando claimed to have fallen out of the hot-air balloon, but he didn't believe it
.
I
n a few minutes
, Glissando would arrive
.
Allegro
glanced toward the glittering capital of Symphony situated on a huge bank of ice particles and arches of color that made up the pixie country of Jubilant.

Even from this distance, he could see the rainbow bands of highways that connected Symphony to the other cities. Soon now, because everything was going so smoothly with the mission, he would become mayor of Overture—his hometown and the city of his heart.

Glissando
halted his balloon, threw a glittering rope around a nearby column of clouds and ambled up the hill of mist to sit next to him.
"
I
wouldn
'
t get too comfortable if I were you, Allegro. You didn
'
t do too well down there.
"

He frowned, wondering why lazy
Glissando
was suddenly being so high and almighty.
"
What are you talking about? They
'
re married, aren
'
t they?
"

Glissando
huffed.
"
Ye
ah
, but
you
know that
'
s not all it takes.
"

"What's the matter with you? You're the one who said to get them together, no matter what it took."

"
What
'
s the matter with me,
"
Glissando
continued,
"
is you.
"

"
What about me?
"

"
I warned
you
not to take advantage of my forced absence by hurrying along this marriage.
"

"
I don
'
t think anyone will complain. Did you get a bad batch of wine?
"

"
Quit trying to sidetrack me.
You
'
re wrong about the complaints. Someone is
testy
about the way
you
executed the circumstances that led to this marriage,
"
Glissando
said with his
eyes
narrowed.

"
Who?
"

"
Me!
You
were in too much of a rush, and I
'
ll wager the Maestro won
'
t like it.
You
should have waited until I was released. Then we could have discussed it and done it my way.
"

"
I know your way. You would have saved Ramsey, but then the gel wouldn
'
t have tied the knot with the Black Falcon. She
'
s too independent. Believe me, this way is much better.
"

Glissando
scowled.
"
You
failed Article
I
6, which clearly states the heiress and her chosen must be in love before marriage.
"