“Thank you,” she replied, inclining her head ever so slightly, which caused a curl to dance over her temple. “I am finally allowing it to be free.”
“Is that because your brother is gone?” he queried, still struck by the fact he was naked while she stood near, apparently not quite ready to tell him her proposition.
She gave a tight nod.
“Then not all is miserable,” he breathed.
“It is,” she said with a frown. “Miserable. But I am hoping great things will come out of it. Some say the greatest things come out of the darkness.”
“Some people say a lot of things,” he growled. “Now, what the devil do you want?”
He didn’t like his growing interest in her. He didn’t like the fact that his body liked her too as he studied her defiant frame. It was her spirit that called to his. A spirit that did not seem in line with the present time.
“Get it done so you can leave me, and I can enjoy my bath.”
She swallowed so forcefully he could see the muscles in her pale throat work. But then she took a step forward and declared passionately, “I want to be your mistress.”
This time he did slip in the bath and water splashed over the side. He could not believe that he’d engaged in such a farcical moment and yet she wanted to be hismistress?
“I beg your pardon?” he demanded.
“You heard me,” she returned without shame or doubt. “I wish to become a woman of the demimondaine, and you will introduce me to it. You are a man of experience, so do not try to tell me that you do not have mistresses. I am sure that you have had scores.”
“Scores is perhaps an accurate number,” he allowed, “though a gentleman is not supposed to kiss and tell.”
The truth was, he wasn’t in the habit of keeping a mistress. It was impossible not to develop some sort of relationship with a woman over several months of intimacy. And he did not want a relationship of any kind.
“There you see, you are experienced, and I wish—”
“To make use of that experience?” he challenged.
“Yes,” she bit out. “Is that so very terrible? I don’t wish to marry into the ton any longer. If anyone would have me after my brother’s escapades.”
“I am sure someone would have you,” he said gently, realizing that her life had fallen into great turmoil since he’d challenged her brother to a duel. “You are, after all, from a great family and no doubt have a great deal of money set aside for a dowry, don’t you?”
“I do,” she gritted, “but my brother has abandoned us. There was no one to present us at balls and I—”
“Well, I could do that,” he said, though it pained him. “I’m sure I could scare up some female relative from some distant part of my family tree to take you to balls and show you about to find you a husband.”
“I don’t wish for a husband,” she cut in with brutal coldness.
The intensity of her words shocked him.
“You don’t.”
Her eyes shone with determination. “No. The behavior of my brother and his friends has made it completely clear that I should not wish such a thing.”
“It has?” he queried, his spirits sinking. She, like he, had come to accept the way of the world and had lost any sort of delusions about mankind.
“You drove my only male family away, horrible as he was, and now you will take care of my sister and I. Until I can take care of us.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I don’t follow.”
“Oh, I think you do,” she countered. “You will introduce me to those who can give me power, and I will protect my sister because of it. Once I have enough coin and the power that I wish, we will never have to be at the mercy of men again. We will retire to a small house on the coast and live our lives in peace.”
And yet, there was regret in her tone, as if she would give up the great annals of history that her life had been dedicated to.
He hesitated. It was tempting to tell her that if she became a mistress, she would always be at the mercy of men like him. But the truth was that there was some honesty in her words. Many courtesans had gone on to a power of their own and independence, far more than they would have had as a wife.