Page 6 of His Scandalous Lessons
Caroline confessed that she had not seen her husband in seven years.
Seven bloody years, Richard thought, trying not to stare down at the attractive woman sitting in front of the easel.
If Richard had a wife like Caroline at home, he’d spend half of every day in bed fucking her, not gallivanting around the world ignoring her. Caroline put on a good performance, but Richard knew she turned to art and charity work in her loneliness.
And she was lonely very, very often.
“You still haven’t given me an answer about Miss Sheffield,” Richard said.
Caroline’s property in the country was the best solution for Richard to give lessons and have Miss Sheffield meet suitors. The cottage at the back of the property offered a discreet place for Richard to instruct the girl while Caroline kept the others busy with whatever the hell it was one did during house parties. Games. Gossip. Dancing. None of these things endeared Richard to these events.
His lip curled.
“Stop making that face,” Caroline demanded. “You look like you’re about to murder someone.”
“It’s a house party. I just might.”
Caroline laughed and shook her head. “Whatever Miss Sheffield is offering you to help her find a husband must be worth a great deal. I can’t imagine what it was, since she seems as daft as a post. She could talk for hours about her hat collection.”
Richard had never met Miss Sheffield before she showed up on his doorstep, so it surprised him that people claimed she had more beauty than brains. But he supposed being Stanton Sheffield’s daughter had forced her to hide the acerbic wit she displayed in his parlor. Her father was notorious for his ridiculous views on how women should act: meek, docile, quiet.
Stupid, Richard finished the thought with a scowl. Her performance must have chafed.
“She’s not daft, I assure you.”
“Oh?” Caroline paused her brush and looked up. “Well, that’s interesting. But I suppose it makes sense, now that I consider it.”
“How so?”
Caroline shrugged and leaned forward to make a few delicate strokes. “Her father hovers over her at events. Rather uncomfortably so. I’ve never forgot it.”
Now that Richard knew she was privy to political conversations, he wagered Stanton kept her close to make certain she never said anything incriminating. Paranoid bastard.
“Is that a yes, then?”
“Richard,” the duchess said with an impatient flash of her eyes, “you’re asking me to put together a house party with very little notice at the beginning of the season. Are you trying to drive me mad?”
“I thought you loved a challenge.”
“I didn’t say Icouldn’tdo it, you odious man. You know I am perfectly willing to do whatever you ask, short of murder.”
“Whatever I ask?” Richard grinned. “To the bedroom, then.”
Caroline didn’t even look up from her canvas. She was used to his flirting. “Still married, darling.”
“Didn’t stop you from asking me once before.”
It was how they’d met. Two years after her husband had left, she’d indicated a desire to sleep with Richard. Being a connoisseur of lovemaking in his free time, Richard accepted. After undressing him and sharing a brief kiss, Caroline had changed her mind. Boldly, she’d asked to sketch him instead. Richard laughingly accepted, but only after seeing her talent firsthand had offered his services as occasional muse.
Caroline’s smile was rueful. “I’ve had years to consider it, and I’m convinced I’d probably break you. You’re not for me.”
“Is that why the duke spends all his time away? Did you break him, Caro?”
Her lips pursed. “Something like that.” She set down the paintbrush and leaned back in her chair. “I’m done for today, I think.”
Richard set down the bow and arrow and shrugged on a robe as he started toward her. “I’m sorry. I said something wrong didn’t I?”
The duchess looked tired as she peeled off her gloves and set them aside. Though she often acted older than she was, Caroline was only a few years younger than Richard. She had been an incomparable beauty the year of her debut, but had no dowry to offer a husband. It had been a mystery how she’d managed to bring the Duke of Hastings up to scratch, and even more tongues wagged when he’d left shortly after their marriage.
