Read Online The Courtesan's Secret by Claudia Dain - Free Book Online
Authors: Claudia Dain
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taken in and was currently under the protection of the Countess of Dalby, an ex-courtesan of rather legendary status, Anne had none of the flair of a practiced ladybird. At least that he could see. But could a girl fall that far from the proverbial tree? Didn't blood, after all, tell?
It was just such speculation, hovering dangerously near obession, that had driven him to kiss Anne in the privacy of Sophia's famous white salon. It had not gone as planned, not that he had worked up much of a plan. But, with most women, a heated look, a torrid kiss, and they were muddled nicely, primed for whatever he decided to do next either to them or with them. It hadn't turned out that way with Anne. He'd spoken seductively, kissed her decidedly, and waited for her to melt in his arms.
She hadn't melted. In fact, she became engaged to Lord Staverton, an old, wrinkled, cross-eyed gentleman of, by all accounts, a rather nice estate, the very next day.
It was difficult to remain pleasantly neutral about things of that sort, and in that particular order.
He had kissed her. He had expressed a most earnest interest in her. She had chosen another man.
Yes, very difficult to remain neutral.
Of course, he hadn't offered marriage, nothing of the sort, but she couldn't have expected that. Who was she? The by-blow of an indiscreet whore and the widow of a minor naval hero of a minor battle. No, marriage was not on the menu. And neither, obviously, was Anne.
Pity.
"Lady Louisa's pearls must be burning a hole in your pocket."
Dutton sighed and looked up from his slouch. Lord Henry Blakesley stood looking down at him, his blond good looks lit by a sardonic light that emanated entirely from the man himself. Most unwelcome.
"Hardly," Dutton answered in an only slightly drunken drawl.
One half of Blakesley's mouth tilted in a thin smile. "No? The word is that after Caro rejected your pearls in favor of Ashdon, you presented them to Mrs. Warren. And that she rejected you as well. Hard night, when a man can't give away a fortune in jewelry."
"In both cases, the women were previously engaged. Literally."
"That's what they're saying," Blakesley agreed, pulling up a chair and signaling for a drink.
Most, most unwelcome.
"You had your pearls rejected as well," Dutton pointed out.
Blakesley shrugged. "Entirely expected. Caro was all for Ash-don from the moment she set eyes on him. My pearls were merely a prod."
Dutton sat up straighter and pushed his hair back with both hands. "You let yourself be played as a mere pawn in a mating ritual?"
"I hardly care as long as I am not the one being mated. Besides, it was amusing, and I am hardly a pawn if I am fully aware of the game and my place in it."
The next sentence remained unspoken, but only because there was no need to say it out loud. Dutton had been played, masterfully, by Caroline. Which meant, obviously, that he had been played by Sophia. He was not the first man in London to have come to that conclusion, but that didn't make it any more palatable.
Sophia had used him to snare a husband for her daughter. How she had done so he could not imagine. It had been his idea to help Ashdon acquire a strand of pearls, just as it had been his idea to keep them for his own purposes, the first of which was to present them to Caroline at the Hyde House assemblie. How Sophia had arranged for him to do what he himself had decided to do on his own volition he could not fathom. But the results spoke for themselves. He had the pearls. He had given them to Caro, or had tried to. He had also tried to give them to Anne Warren. She had also refused his pearls.
Women were an odd lot, taken as a whole. The best that could be said for them was that they were fairly tolerable and occasionally amusing when taken one by one.
"The pearls were my idea," Dutton said stiffly.
"Of course they were," Blakesley said sarcastically. Blakesley had the rather annoying habit of speaking sarcastically whenever possible. "You
It was just such speculation, hovering dangerously near obession, that had driven him to kiss Anne in the privacy of Sophia's famous white salon. It had not gone as planned, not that he had worked up much of a plan. But, with most women, a heated look, a torrid kiss, and they were muddled nicely, primed for whatever he decided to do next either to them or with them. It hadn't turned out that way with Anne. He'd spoken seductively, kissed her decidedly, and waited for her to melt in his arms.
She hadn't melted. In fact, she became engaged to Lord Staverton, an old, wrinkled, cross-eyed gentleman of, by all accounts, a rather nice estate, the very next day.
It was difficult to remain pleasantly neutral about things of that sort, and in that particular order.
He had kissed her. He had expressed a most earnest interest in her. She had chosen another man.
Yes, very difficult to remain neutral.
Of course, he hadn't offered marriage, nothing of the sort, but she couldn't have expected that. Who was she? The by-blow of an indiscreet whore and the widow of a minor naval hero of a minor battle. No, marriage was not on the menu. And neither, obviously, was Anne.
Pity.
"Lady Louisa's pearls must be burning a hole in your pocket."
Dutton sighed and looked up from his slouch. Lord Henry Blakesley stood looking down at him, his blond good looks lit by a sardonic light that emanated entirely from the man himself. Most unwelcome.
"Hardly," Dutton answered in an only slightly drunken drawl.
One half of Blakesley's mouth tilted in a thin smile. "No? The word is that after Caro rejected your pearls in favor of Ashdon, you presented them to Mrs. Warren. And that she rejected you as well. Hard night, when a man can't give away a fortune in jewelry."
"In both cases, the women were previously engaged. Literally."
"That's what they're saying," Blakesley agreed, pulling up a chair and signaling for a drink.
Most, most unwelcome.
"You had your pearls rejected as well," Dutton pointed out.
Blakesley shrugged. "Entirely expected. Caro was all for Ash-don from the moment she set eyes on him. My pearls were merely a prod."
Dutton sat up straighter and pushed his hair back with both hands. "You let yourself be played as a mere pawn in a mating ritual?"
"I hardly care as long as I am not the one being mated. Besides, it was amusing, and I am hardly a pawn if I am fully aware of the game and my place in it."
The next sentence remained unspoken, but only because there was no need to say it out loud. Dutton had been played, masterfully, by Caroline. Which meant, obviously, that he had been played by Sophia. He was not the first man in London to have come to that conclusion, but that didn't make it any more palatable.
Sophia had used him to snare a husband for her daughter. How she had done so he could not imagine. It had been his idea to help Ashdon acquire a strand of pearls, just as it had been his idea to keep them for his own purposes, the first of which was to present them to Caroline at the Hyde House assemblie. How Sophia had arranged for him to do what he himself had decided to do on his own volition he could not fathom. But the results spoke for themselves. He had the pearls. He had given them to Caro, or had tried to. He had also tried to give them to Anne Warren. She had also refused his pearls.
Women were an odd lot, taken as a whole. The best that could be said for them was that they were fairly tolerable and occasionally amusing when taken one by one.
"The pearls were my idea," Dutton said stiffly.
"Of course they were," Blakesley said sarcastically. Blakesley had the rather annoying habit of speaking sarcastically whenever possible. "You
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