Page 16 of Tempting the Bluestocking
She flushed pink, but gave a swift nod. “I’m simply curious. I never knew male courtesans existed, so I find myself wanting to know how a man comes into such a profession.”
Slouching a bit in his chair, he reached for his wineglass. “I actually did not know male courtesans existed either, until very recently. I happen to be friends with a man who’s been at it for a year, and he told me it’s been quite lucrative for him. I decided it wouldn’t be such a hardship, bedding a beautiful woman for money.”
For a moment, he wondered if she would find such a sentiment distasteful. Bedding a man who’d been bought with a bank draft was far different than discussing it over dinner.
But, he ought to have expected her to simply peer at him through her spectacles with an inquisitive look and launch into her next question.
“So…I am your first keeper then?”
“You are.”
She took a sip of her wine and then smiled at him. “Am I what you expected?”
“No,” he replied. “You’re better than I expected, in more ways than one.”
“I do take pleasure in surprising people,” she quipped.
“Well, you achieved that the moment you burst out laughing after learning why I was naked in your bed. In all my twenty-seven years of life, I’ve never been more shocked.”
She winced. “That was not well done of me. I hope you didn’t take it as an insult to you as a person, Edward. Truly, I was convinced Aunt Helene was having me on.”
He waved away her concern. “That much was clear enough. Besides, I found your laugh to be as enchanting as the rest of you.”
“I’ve been told it’s too loud, not ladylike enough,” she said with a derisive snort. “Alice was always warning me that it would scare prospective suitors away. Can you imagine such a thing? A room full of men, intimidated by a laugh of all things.”
Edward could actually imagine it. He could see how everything about her might intimidate some men, and that laugh revealed more about her than she likely realized. It said that she cared nothing for the judgment of others, that she was as boisterous and free as that laughter, and that she could not be made to fit the mold of the other London chits. Most of all, it said that she would never be content to live under anyone’s rule, be it the dictates of society or a husband’s dominance.
“I think it ridiculous to stifle something as natural as a laugh just to keep from drawing attention to oneself,” she continued, her knife and fork clinking against the plate. “So I laugh as loud and as often as I want.”
“Well done,” he murmured, raising his glass to her before taking a sip.
They lapsed into silent eating again, but that did not seem to suit Clare, for she soon came up with another question to volley at him.
“The amount my aunt is paying for these thirty days. Will it be enough? I assume there’s a pressing need for it.”
Thinking over the pile of unpaid bills overrunning the office of Norton & Rivers, he experienced a bitter taste in his mouth. “Honestly, I am not certain. You see, my father recently died and left the family business in my hands.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she whispered, perusing his austere black attire as if just noticing it for the first time.
“It has been a difficult time for my family—or what’s left of it anyway. We lost my mother years ago, so I’ve been left with the care of my little sister as well as my younger brother, who has recently completed university.”
Her brow furrowed with concern, she reached out to lay her hand atop his. “That’s a devil of a burden for one man to bear alone.”
It was, and damn if he wasn’t already exhausted from holding it up. Between Caroline and her complaints over their diminished fortunes, and Jacob’s obliviousness to it all, he’d begun to feel as if he weren’t up to the task to taking over the family business as well. Even with his pockets filled for the time being, it all seemed so insurmountable.
Edward found it easy to confide in her due to the comfort they’d seemed to fall into, so he shared his thoughts without reservation.
“It might not be so bad if not for the fact that the business is failing. My father was a good man—a wonderful father, and a kind person—but he was abominable when it came to managing money. What I thought I knew about the state of the family finances turned out to be only a fraction of the truth. So, I am now the proud owner of a shipping company without warehouses to store goods in, ships that are incapable of carrying cargo, or a partner. There is also a mountain of debt, which has ruined the reputation of the line. In short, none of it could be mended without money—which I had very little of until your aunt hired me for you.”
Clare did not respond at first, folding her hands atop the table and staring at him with a pensive expression. When she finally spoke, her voice held not a trace of humor or artifice.
“I think what you’ve done is very admirable.”
He blinked, momentarily taken aback by that praise. “It is?”
This time, her smile was soft and small but no less genuine as she met and held his gaze. “Of course it is. You’ve been faced with a difficult situation, and rather than lament the cruelty of fate or allow everything to fall apart around you, you’ve found a way to turn things around. Quite an inventive way, and one that takes advantage of your talents.”
He grinned. “By talents, do you mean seducing scholarly women with the use of scientific terms?”
