who had secrets of their own to conceal frequently formed a small court around one woman. Mine consisted for the most part of male friends rather than suitors, but since our shared experience last year, courtesy of John Kneller, Steven had paid more attention to me than previously.
Richard wanted me to dismiss him, but I saw a new sensibility in the man who’d courted me once, admittedly mainly for my position in Devonshire society and my modest fortune. Now he had a wealthy wife, but one whose behaviour skated nearer and nearer to unacceptable every year. It said something for my husband that he trusted me enough with a known libertine like Steven, but of course he did, just as I’d have trusted him to share a bed with Julia Drury and not touch her. He’d had the opportunity at one time and turned her down.
Steven bowed his powdered head over my hand, and his lips touched my skin. Most people only came close, and I preferred it that way, but Steven tended to make a point of it. He rose and met my eyes, his own dark and fathomless. Once those eyes had enchanted me, but now I knew they were only eyes. They didn’t draw me at all. But I smiled and acknowledged him.
“How are you, Rose?” He made the simple query sound tragic.
“Very well and very happy,” I told him. Not that he would believe it. Since our capture last year and his glimpse of what my husband could do with the power of Thompson’s behind him, he’d conceived an idea of me as downtrodden and overshadowed. It amused me, but to disabuse him would have been to give him more power. I was learning, and one of the things I learned was that misdirection could be a powerful weapon. Our private and close-fought battle with the Drurys was far from over.
“Of course.” He glanced at Richard, who was currently talking with an old friend on the other side of the room, but he stood so that he could keep me in his sights. At the least sign of my discomfort, he’d excuse himself and come to my side. “Is he treating you well?”
“As well as he always does.”
I began to stroll around the room, heading for Richard by a meandering route, but Steven kept by my side instead of taking the hint and moving away. At least my walk took me farther away from his wife.
“You seem well, Steven.” I deployed my fan. The weather was becoming warmer and the heat of the hundred or more candles that filled the room with blazing light didn’t help. When he moved as if to take my fan from me, I shifted slightly, enough to frustrate his attempt. In doing so, I met his gaze once more and I frowned. “You’re tired?” I had noticed the dark shadows under his eyes and put it down to dissipation, but I looked more closely, something I didn’t do as a matter of course. He’d lost weight. His face seemed spare, more lacking in flesh, and his skin too pale. Steven had dark hair and the shadow of his beard showed under his skin clearer than it used to.
“I’m not sleeping well.” He gave a harsh laugh. “No, Rose, it’s nothing to do with the way I live. I know that you disapprove, prude that you are, but it’s restlessness.” He shrugged. “I think my more unsavoury but pleasurable pursuits actually help me sleep better, but I haven’t increased what I do in that direction.”
“Has Julia?”
He paused, a telling moment of truth. Yes, she had, and most likely without her husband. They ran a club that drew the highest in society. Devoted to the pleasures of the flesh, mock worship of the gods of sexual congress. I knew more about it than they imagined, but that didn’t make me a prude. That made me more aware of self-respect and choice. I knew what pleased me, and I could find all of it in the well-honed body of one person.
“You should come to a meeting, Rose. Bring your husband with you or not, it doesn’t matter.” So they could have us under their control. If I went, they’d have Richard just as surely as if he’d gone by himself. They never stopped
Richard wanted me to dismiss him, but I saw a new sensibility in the man who’d courted me once, admittedly mainly for my position in Devonshire society and my modest fortune. Now he had a wealthy wife, but one whose behaviour skated nearer and nearer to unacceptable every year. It said something for my husband that he trusted me enough with a known libertine like Steven, but of course he did, just as I’d have trusted him to share a bed with Julia Drury and not touch her. He’d had the opportunity at one time and turned her down.
Steven bowed his powdered head over my hand, and his lips touched my skin. Most people only came close, and I preferred it that way, but Steven tended to make a point of it. He rose and met my eyes, his own dark and fathomless. Once those eyes had enchanted me, but now I knew they were only eyes. They didn’t draw me at all. But I smiled and acknowledged him.
“How are you, Rose?” He made the simple query sound tragic.
“Very well and very happy,” I told him. Not that he would believe it. Since our capture last year and his glimpse of what my husband could do with the power of Thompson’s behind him, he’d conceived an idea of me as downtrodden and overshadowed. It amused me, but to disabuse him would have been to give him more power. I was learning, and one of the things I learned was that misdirection could be a powerful weapon. Our private and close-fought battle with the Drurys was far from over.
“Of course.” He glanced at Richard, who was currently talking with an old friend on the other side of the room, but he stood so that he could keep me in his sights. At the least sign of my discomfort, he’d excuse himself and come to my side. “Is he treating you well?”
“As well as he always does.”
I began to stroll around the room, heading for Richard by a meandering route, but Steven kept by my side instead of taking the hint and moving away. At least my walk took me farther away from his wife.
“You seem well, Steven.” I deployed my fan. The weather was becoming warmer and the heat of the hundred or more candles that filled the room with blazing light didn’t help. When he moved as if to take my fan from me, I shifted slightly, enough to frustrate his attempt. In doing so, I met his gaze once more and I frowned. “You’re tired?” I had noticed the dark shadows under his eyes and put it down to dissipation, but I looked more closely, something I didn’t do as a matter of course. He’d lost weight. His face seemed spare, more lacking in flesh, and his skin too pale. Steven had dark hair and the shadow of his beard showed under his skin clearer than it used to.
“I’m not sleeping well.” He gave a harsh laugh. “No, Rose, it’s nothing to do with the way I live. I know that you disapprove, prude that you are, but it’s restlessness.” He shrugged. “I think my more unsavoury but pleasurable pursuits actually help me sleep better, but I haven’t increased what I do in that direction.”
“Has Julia?”
He paused, a telling moment of truth. Yes, she had, and most likely without her husband. They ran a club that drew the highest in society. Devoted to the pleasures of the flesh, mock worship of the gods of sexual congress. I knew more about it than they imagined, but that didn’t make me a prude. That made me more aware of self-respect and choice. I knew what pleased me, and I could find all of it in the well-honed body of one person.
“You should come to a meeting, Rose. Bring your husband with you or not, it doesn’t matter.” So they could have us under their control. If I went, they’d have Richard just as surely as if he’d gone by himself. They never stopped
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