Page 4 of Portrait of a Lady
“Like hell,” Dominick snapped. “I am not, nor will I ever be,thatdesperate!”
Benedict clenched his teeth, annoyed as ever with Dominick’s propensity for completely missing the point. “That isn’t what I’m talking about, you dunderheads.”
“No,” Aubrey said, eying Benedict with an astute pensiveness. “He isn’t talking about servicing men at all. Are you, Ben?”
While Benedict might have argued that his idea could apply to the men of thetonas well as the women, he did not care to debate that position.
Coming to his feet, he moved to stand before the hearth and face them with his hands clasped behind his back.
“You fools lack imagination,” he said. “Here we’ve sat about talking as if the men of thebeau mondeare the only ones with flush pockets and an appetite for carnal pleasures. Meanwhile, London is filled with wealthywomenwho might pay as much as any man to have a courtesan cater to their every desire.”
Aubrey met his gaze and smiled, giving him a little nod that indicated he’d known this was what Benedict had meant all along. “Well said, my friend.”
“Think about it,” Benedict implored the other three men. “Every Season the papers and the gossip mill are overrun with tales of women being caught up in some scandal or another. They have their own appetites, and they have ways of fulfilling them: affairs that often end in scandal or ruination if she’s a debutante, or ones that stir gossip and notoriety if she is a spinster or widow. But what if they could have the same pleasures as a man—the services of amalecourtesan to pleasure them in bed, escort them about Town, and generally cater to their whims?”
“Impossible!” David interjected. “Do you know how such a thing would damage a man’s reputation? He’d become a laughingstock once word made the rounds that a man had lowered himself to beingkeptin the style of a mistress.”
Benedict, who had already thought of this as the idea formed, merely grinned. “That’s the beauty of it. Despite those few scandals a year, women of thetonhave proven themselves to be far more discreet than men. They are better at keeping their secrets, especially when their reputations are on the line. If it were to become clear to them that this is to be kept a secret, you can rely on them to keep it quiet.”
“He’s right you know,” David supplied. “Damned mysterious, secretive creatures, women.”
“Precisely,” Aubrey said. “The idea has merit.”
Excitement had Benedict fairly vibrating as he mulled over just how successful this could be if done right. The more he thought on it, the more he began to realize he’d just stumbled onto the solution for all their money woes.
“If we approach this from the right angle, it could become a lucrative enterprise,” he told them. “All your money troubles would become nothing more than a distant memory.”
“Wait a moment,” Hugh said, giving him an incredulous look. “I thought you were merely being philosophical, but you are actually...you’re suggesting thatweought to go into business ascourtesans.”
“You are mad,” David grumbled.
“Completely insane,” Dominick agreed.
Aubrey stood now, his dark eyes taking on a familiar light. His mind was working, turning their problem over in his head and latching onto the solution Benedict’s idea offered.
“But he isn’t,” he argued. “Ben is right about the women of theton. If they could pay to have their pleasure and discretion as well, they would. They’d pay as much, or more, than a man.”
“And they won’t be paying for just any men,” Benedict added. “They’d be paying for the company of men with refinement, men with charm and wit…”
“Gentlemen!” Hugh filled in when he trailed off. “By God, I think you’re on to something!”
“He is,” Aubrey agreed. “If you are serious about beginning such an endeavor, then you may count me in. I’ve been worried about how I’ll go about securing a good match for Elizabeth. She will come of age in a few years. With the sort of income such an initiative could earn, I can outfit her with a trousseau and dowry fit for any London debutante.”
It came as no surprise that Aubrey would think of his niece above the needs of his failing business. The girl had come into his care as a babe of no more than two years, and it had always been Aubrey’s aim to ensure she had a secure and comfortable future. And he was right; with the money they could earn by becoming courtesans, Aubrey would not only be able to set his business to rights, he’d be able to provide that coveted future for Elizabeth.
“I could help my father pull our estate back from the brink of destruction,” David mused aloud, eyes darting as he seemed to finally warm to the idea. “I wouldn’t have to inherit a crumbling ruin.”
“No,” Benedict assured him. “No, you wouldn’t.”
“I could afford to feed myself while continuing at the Royal Academy,” Hugh said with a wide grin. “The money might be enough for me to live on between commissions.”
“It would be,” Benedict insisted. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Hugh sprang to his feet with a little huff of surprised laughter. “I cannot believe I am saying this...but I’m in also.”
“So am I,” David said. “We’ve nothing left to lose.”
That only left Dominick, who still appeared a bit apprehensive about the entire thing. His gaze fell on each of his friends one by one, as if he were trying to determine whether they’d all taken leave of their senses or had too much to drink.
