Page 6 of How to Lose a Dowry in Three Bucks
“I don’t think I will,” she said, trying to sound breezy. “Even old women with annuities are prey for evil-doers, so I suppose I’ll go somewhere new and live quietly, with the hope my neighbors never know who I am.”
“It sounds like a smaller life than you need to live,” he said.
Sophia thought of her cosseted childhood and layers of fear insulating her from the outside world. Her poor mama, handing down a cursed inheritance. For a brief time, she wouldn’t need to feel that way. Not in this house.
“That’s the truth for all of us, is it not?” she asked him brightly. “I’ll be twenty-five and independent soon. After that, I can puzzle through the rest.”
Chapter 5
The meeting of theGrand Bucks was not proceeding as Matthew had envisioned it.
“What do you mean,there’s no lady planning to join us tonight?” asked Matt, his cock hard and expression no doubt angry as he took in the quiet townhouse where the Grand Bucks met to wear stag masks and share willing women.
“The Rutlord usually handles communication with interested parties, but he’s resigned, of course, and took off for Shropshire with his wife before he could hand over the society’s records,” said Stagshade.
“I’ll handle communication from now on,” said the High Rutlord, who was glancing towards the area where musicians usually played.
Tonight, the Forest headquarters of the Grand Bucks was silent. It was an unwelcome turn of events for Matthew, who had restrained himself today simply because he knew he’d be able to enjoy the Bucks’ latest conquest.
“I suppose we could hire a lady of the town to join us if you’re so intent on bucking, Thorncock,” said Stagshade to Matthew.
He bristled. The constant reminders of his enormous cock bothered him; it wasn’t the first such nickname he’d received. In another lifetime, he hoped to be a decidedly average gent who didn’t need to duck at every doorway or consider whether a brocade made his generous midsection seem too plush. He longed, above all, for a penis in his next life that would be large enough to be enjoyable, yet not so large as to elicit tears, pleas for mercy, and, on one occasion, a swoon.
“Ehh,” said Matthew, uninterested in the experienced ladies at this point in his life. The joy of the Grand Bucks came when putting an ordinary woman through the paces, making her extraordinary for one special night. The untried wives of London made the most delicious noises when finally subjected to pleasure. Almost as delectable as the sound of a virginal spinster stroking her cunt.
Now, where had that idea come from?he thought, alarmed at the sudden recollection of Miss Stafford petting her kitty.
“We could hold a business meeting,” said the High Buckthorn, gesturing to the lounge where fine spirits awaited them.
But Matthew was out the door. Why, he was having more erotic experiences at home in his own library than at the Forest. What an ignominious end for a venerable sex society!
Matthew had just made a promise to assist Miss Stafford, and he’d already left her to navigate a ball without him. He’d rectify that immediately.
***
By the time Matt had changed his clothes, the Gamaliel ball was well underway. It didn’t take long to locate Miss Stafford and her chaperone in an area that seemed populated with dowagers and the dregs of early womanhood. What on earth was Sophia Stafford doing in this dim corner?
But when he saw Sophia, her expression blank and chin angled towards her chest, he recalled she wasn’t here to find a husband; she needed to go through the motions just sufficiently enough to collect her dowry while not attracting unwanted attention.
Her gown tonight was horrible, a mixture of high neckline and shapeless bodice that made him want to rend the nasty dress between his hands. He should whisk her away now and free them both from this ghastly gathering. He felt the eyes of the mamas upon him; he too was a prize to be captured.
“Up you go,” he said, taking Sophia’s hand before she realized he was even at the ball.
She looked up at him, surprise painted across her face. And then she broke into the loveliest smile he’d seen this decade. His heart thundered within his waistcoat; he’d really need to see a doctor about that on the morrow. The doctor would give him tonics and pills galore.
Rising from the little chair, she asked, “Have you come to dance with me?”
And what could he say to that when she said it so hopefully? “Of course,” he replied, as if that had been the plan all along.
Matthew gallantly swept her to the ballroom floor, though he’d not done such a thing at society events in years. Somehow, it all seemed so natural the moment he took possession of her hand.
Miss Stafford froze, looking around the room. “They’ve noticed me,” she said, her eyes wide.
Matt continued to hold her hand, then drew her into position for their dance. “Do they not on every occasion?”
She regarded him with a raised eyebrow. “Of course not. You’ve seen my fashions,” she said.
He took her in from his considerable height, puzzling over how a room full of impoverished aristocrats had written off the greatest heiress of the age when she was so…
