Page 82 of The Perks of Loving a Wallflower

She hurled something small and pink over his shoulder.

Rather than catch it, the lad flinched and ducked.

The reticule exploded against the rough brick lining the alley, sending a half-dozen guineas and shillings flying.

The lad dropped the basket into the dirt and scrambled to collect the coins.

“Over here,” came a distant shout from the street behind them. It was Graham, hanging out of a hackney, with Jacob at the reins.

Philippa scooped up the basket and ran toward him.

Tommy sheathed the sword as she sprinted to the carriage. The wheels had already started moving when she leapt inside the open door.

Her last glimpse of the boy was him on his knees in the dirt, scrabbling for silver and gold. She hoped he ate well tonight.

Tommy fell back against the squab, her heart still racing.

“Well,” Graham said. “That was subtle.”

Through the open curtain, Jacob’s broad shoulders could be seen shaking with laughter.

“If I did have apples in this basket, I would throw them at you,” Philippa muttered.

“That’s the spirit,” Tommy agreed. “Throw a shoe at him. We’ll deal with Jacob when we arrive.”

But the problem wasn’t her brothers.

They had come painfully close to executing a flawless mission, and Tommy had almost ruined everything by paying more attention to Philippa’s mouth than to their surroundings. Kissing wasdangerous.

“Might I inquire,” said Philippa, “why there appears to be a stray rabbit inside this carriage?”

“It’s Jacob’s,” Graham answered, as though that explained the matter.

If anything, they were lucky the carriage contained only a rabbit, rather than hawks or a Highland tiger.

“That’s Lord Fluffinghop,” Jacob called from the driver’s seat. “Be glad you don’t have apples. His Lordship would already be inside your basket, consuming them.”

“At least Lord Fluffinghop isn’t an attack rabbit,” said Graham.

Philippa rolled her eyes. “There’s no such creature as an ‘attack rabbit.’”

Tommy and Graham looked at her.

“Er…is there?” Philippa stammered.

“First rule of Jacob,” Tommy said. “Never assume anything.”

“He’s too old,” Jacob explained. “If you want an attack rabbit, you have to train them young.”

“Don’t ask how he knows,” Graham whispered.

26

Almost home,” Jacob called.

Home.For Tommy and her siblings. But as soon as she removed Philippa’s wig and cosmetics, it would be time to return her to Mayfair and to her real life as a proper young lady.

Philippa rubbed her hands together. “I cannot wait to inspect the new volume for hidden messages.”