Page 23 of A Courtesan Countess Worth the Scandal
Chapter Ten
Days and nights blended together in a blur, as a fortnight passed since Nora had first decided to wage war against the gentlemen of London. Holed up in the small room that she had requisitioned for her study, she toiled endlessly with quill and ink, trailing her memoirs across page after page.
Forgoing the gambling halls, dinner parties, gentlemen’s clubs and various soirees where she could usually be found, she poured every shred of her concentration into her story. Julia came by from time to time to help her write more letters to former clients, and she paused to dine with her family at Lily’s insistence, only to resume her writing the moment she was done.
“How goes the work?” Lily appeared in the doorway, prompting Nora to throw a pile of clean paper onto her manuscript. A second later, she realized how foolish the action was, for her sister would not be able to read the toe-curling tales she had to tell.
“Endless,” Nora replied, with a smile.
Lily edged further into the study and sat down at Nora’s feet, wrapping her arms around her elder sister’s legs. “Mama has been talking about you to Mrs. Moston. I wasn’t supposed to hear, but you know what I’m like.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if you had tunnels in the walls,” Nora teased, ruffling her sister’s hair.
“Hey!” Lily protested. “Just because I’m blind doesn’t mean I can walk around with my hair looking like a bird’s nest.”
Nora chuckled. “Sorry, little one. I couldn’t resist.” She smoothed her sister’s hair flat again.
“Nora?” Lily’s milky eyes turned upward. “Are you in trouble?”
Nora hesitated. “What makes you say that?”
“Mama said there’d been threatening letters for you, and she was worried we might have to leave this house and go elsewhere.” Lily clung tighter to Nora’s legs. “Is that true? Did you do something to make people angry?”
Nora leaned down and rested her forehead against her sister’s, cupping the younger girl’s face with her hands. “I will always protect you and Ma, so don’t you fret yourself. Those letters weren’t sent to this house. No one knows where this house is. It’s the safest place we can be.”
The return address she had put on the letters to her former clients was that of a boarding house in Poplar. It belonged to an old friend of hers, Christine Davers, who had purchased the building after giving up the escorting business. Whenever the letters came in, Christine had one of her messenger boys deliver them to Nora, who paid them an extra coin to keep her address a secret.
“Do you promise you’re not in danger? I don’t care about myself. No one would be cruel enough to hurt a blind girl, but I’m worried for you,” Lily said, her tone sad.
Nora brushed her thumbs across Lily’s cheeks. “I swear to you, all will be well. I’m not going to get hurt.”
In truth, she did not know how her risky endeavor would pay off, in the end. So far, she had received several generous payments from former benefactors, in return for keeping them out of her memoir… but there had also been a handful of threats.
You were the ones who forced my hand, Gentlemen. If you’d been more cautious and believed in my intentions, you might not be panicking now.
Indeed, the initial threats had inspired her to publish the story of Sir Arnold Montgomery in the weekly gossip rag, for those who had written the most menacing letters had called her a fraud who would not dare to go through with her threat. Now, by all accounts, the men of London were in turmoil over the scandal sheets, and she could not even pretend that she felt sorry for them.
I gave you a chance. Some of you were sensible, and some of you were not. You merely got a taste of what I have planned, if you do not pay—
“How come you don’t go out anymore? You’ve been locked up in here for two weeks, gathering dust.” Lily’s expression seemed brighter, as though she were satisfied by her sister’s promise.
Nora rustled a sheet of paper. “I have more important work to attend to. Why, are you tired of me being at home already?”
“Never!” Lily cried. “I used to hate it when you went out all the time, in case there was one night where you didn’t come back.”
Nora’s heart jarred at the younger girl’s words.That used to worry me, too. But, hopefully, I’ll never have to go back to that life again.
There was another, sager reason she had published her first tale in the scandal sheets. Attempting to get such a memoir published was not going to be an easy task, considering men were in charge of that industry. They would not take kindly to a woman such as herself weaponizing the printing press in order to show all of London, and perhaps farther afield, what their men were really like. As such, the scandal sheets would be her alternative means of distribution, if she could not find a willing publisher.
“This is going to be a new start for us, Little Chick,” Nora vowed. “And I’m going to be here, watching you transform into a fiercely intelligent, breathtakingly hilarious, remarkable young woman.”
Lily canted her head. “Do you think you’ll ever get married? I think I’d like it if I had a niece or a nephew, or both. And it’d be so lovely if you found a nice husband, who loved you.”
“I don’t think such a man exists, Chick.” Nora furrowed her brow. “I used to, but that hope didn’t last too long. You will, though, I’m sure of it.”
She may have despised most men in a way that was rooted into her very being, but she did not want her own bitterness, or that of her mother, to ruin Lily’s chance for happiness. Out of the three of them, she was the only one who still had a hope of falling in love and building a functional, ordinary sort of life with a pleasant husband. Although, Nora knew she would always be suspicious of whoever that man was, in case he broke Lily’s heart.
Lily shook her head. “I’m not sure I’d want that. I hear the way Mama speaks about our Papas, and I don’t ever want to say things like that about someone who was supposed to love me always.” She shrugged. “Maybe it’s better never to have it, then you don’t feel the pain of what you’ve lost.”
