Read Online The Prince of Ravenscar by Catherine Coulter - Free Book Online Page A

laugh, you see, so what am I to do?” She sat forward in her chair, eyes sparkling, yet she’d been violently ill only five minutes before. “So tell me what you think of my vampire.”
    Truth be told, Roxanne would have rather spoken at great length about Corrie’s husband, couching her interest in questions about his lordship’s work in astronomy, but it was not to be. Roxanne gave it up. “Ah, Devlin. He does enjoy shocking people, curdling their innards when he talks about otherworldly bloodletting, giving them little frissons of dread when he looks pointedly at their necks. All in all, I should have to say I find Devlin Monroe vastly amusing. How long has he been playing this role?”
    Corrie said, “I heard he read some ancient books at Oxford. There was a drawing of a vampire, and he decided he’d make a better bloodletter than the monster shown—he’d be more discreet.” She laughed.
    Sophie said, “Was he not one of your beaux before you married Lord Hammersmith?”
    â€œMayhap, but not really, if you know what I mean. I met Devlin when I came to London last fall for my practice Season. Unfortunately, I was not granted much of one, since—well, a number of strange things happened to spur James and me into marriage.”
    Sophie said, “Lady Klister confided in me that Devlin was brokenhearted when Lord Hammersmith got kidnapped and you went haring off after him and were ruined and thus forced to marry him, not Devlin.”
    â€œMarry Devlin? That brings strange sorts of images to the mind, doesn’t it? As for Devlin being brokenhearted, that is doubtful, since James told me he keeps three mistresses—yes, indeed, three mistresses—and all at the same time—at least he did last fall. I am being scrupulously honest here, since my husband assured me it was critical to our child’s future sense of morality.”
    Roxanne was riveted. “ Three mistresses? All at the same time? Are you certain about this? I mean, how could any gentleman have the time to go from one to the other to the other to the other? It is absurd. Surely it is one of those male sorts of exaggerations.”
    â€œTo the best of my knowledge, James has never lied to me. He said I couldn’t marry Devlin because when I found out the mistresses were still in the picture, I would kill him and then be hung, and he didn’t want me to end up dead because of Devlin’s excesses. I, of course, told him since Devlin is already dead, being a vampire and all, I couldn’t be hung.”
    Roxanne was shaking her head. “I simply can’t believe it. Three, Corrie? As in three separate and different mistresses?”
    Corrie gave a merry laugh. “Can you imagine? Three mistresses and a wife? The man would die of exhaustion, don’t you think?” Corrie tapped her fingers on her chair arm. “Forgive me for being indelicate. Since you are not married and do not know of marital sorts of things, I shouldn’t be speaking of—ah, but James—well, never mind that. I have known Lord Hammersmith since I was three years old. I know all his habits, good and rotten. Since the scales tip in his favor, I have no regrets. However, I envy both of you. You can sow wild oats until the bucket is empty, whereas I must be a proper wife and become fat.” She burst into tears.
    Roxanne quickly rose and walked to sit beside Corrie, and pulled her into her arms. “It will be all right.” Pat, pat, pat. “Surely your husband does not have all that many rotten habits, and since you know all of them, you must also know how to punish him when he backslides into them. There is another thing about your husband—you can also simply sit and look at him, and surely that would bring great pleasure.”
    Corrie pulled back. “Forgive me, it’s not the thought of being wedded to James that makes me weep, it is the babe. I burst into