Page 1 of Her Wicked Longing
Chapter1
Gillian Beaumont knewthe day was bound to be full of trouble. As she worked to tame the curls of her mistress’s hair, she fretted over the wicked gleam in Audrey Sheridan’s eyes. Gillian was used to this mischievous glint, but today it seemed doubly intense, and the way her lips curled at the ends in a little smile added to Gillian’s worry even more. The last time she had looked that way, Audrey had been chasing a rogue around a sofa, demanding to bekissed.
“There you are, my lady.” Gillian finished putting the last pin in hermistress’shair.
Audrey’s brown eyes twinkled as she met Gillian’s gaze in the mirror. “Perfect. I have to look my best today. The League is coming over for tea in an hour and…” A delicate blush bloomed in hercheeks.
“And Mr. St. Laurent will bethere?”
“Er… I suppose so,” Audrey repliedvaguely.
Gillian was all too aware of how her mistress felt about that particular gentleman. He was a fine man with green eyes and sun-kissed blond hair. Gillian supposed he was attractive, but he never made her feel the way she’d heard women ought to feel around a man theyfancied.
Gillian glanced at her own face in the mirror as she tidied up the vanity. Perhaps she was different from other ladies. She placed the ivory-handled brushes next to a set of exquisite tortoiseshell combs. Unlike Audrey’s dark chestnut hair, Gillian’s hair was an unremarkable brown and her eyes a soft heather gray. She’d never stood out as a beauty, but she wasn’t unattractive, either. She was, in short, the perfect sort of plain woman who worked best as a lady’s maid or acompanion.
As the bastard daughter of an earl, Gillian had been taught not to expect much of her circumstances, though her father had provided enough for her and her mother. They had lived comfortable if unassuming lives in a little townhouse near Mayfair. When she was fifteen, her father died and she’d been forced into service to support her ailing mother. She’d had no real experience as a companion, but she’d heard from a friend of her mother’s that Viscount Sheridan was searching for a lady’s maid for his youngest sister, someone close to herinage.
It was unusual to have a lady’s maid so young, but Audrey had insisted her maid be close in age. And that was how Gillian, almost sixteen by then, had become Audrey’s maid and loyal, protective shadow. A year later, Gillian’s mother hadpassedaway.
Now Mama is gone, and I’m allalone.
She frowned. That wasn’t true. In many ways, being lady’s maid to Audrey was a bit like being Audrey’s friend. They shared secrets and went on far too many adventures for Gillian to feel comfortable about. There was a familiarity between them that certainly wasn’t normal for a maid and a lady. Audrey had a large heart and a spirit that could not becaged.
“Gillian, could you run a few errands for me today? I believe we have a few articles to post in theQuizzing Glass Gazettethat will need to run in the next few weeks. Would you mind seeing to that for me?” Audrey was plucking at the waist of her blue cambric muslin gown, where it was fitted perfectly to her trim waist. The dress had ornamented designs on the bodice. Her dress’s style and its high waist made Audrey’s tiny body look longer. The full skirt was trimmed with lavender gauze that made it look light and almost feathery atthehem.
Audrey had exquisite taste, something she’d insisted her maid cultivate as well. Gillian wore a lavender muslin gown with more flair than a usual lady’s maid would wear. It was close in style to the gowns she’d worn when her father wasalive.
“Well? Do you mind very much?” Audrey’s voice pulled Gillian out of herthoughts.
“Of course, my apologies, my lady. I was woolgathering. Yes, leave me the articles, and I will see them placed in the properhands.”
“Excellent.” Audrey walked over to her escritoire and withdrew three carefully packed articles and handed them toGillian.
“Do you need anything else, my lady?” Gillianasked.
“Not at the moment. Oh, and remember, tonight we will be going to thathellfireclub.”
Gillian froze midstep, her spine stiffening. The hellfire club, how had sheforgotten?
“My lady, I really don’t think weshould—”
Audrey tapped a dainty foot and crossed her arms over her chest. “Gillian, you know that awful Gerald Langley belongs to that club. What was it called?” Audrey tilted her head, looking up as she seemed to search her memory. “Sinners and Sadists, no… Wait!” She lifted a finger in the air. “The Unholy SinnersofHell.”
Gillian flinched. “Must we go tonight? The men could be dangerous.” It wasn’t as though their lives were free of gossip and trouble, what with Audrey’s elder brother, Cedric, being a member of the infamous League of Rogues. Cedric and his friends had been in life-threatening situations more than once and caused scandals at least every other week. The last thing Audrey needed was to run off and find more trouble—at least that was Gillian’sopinion.
“Nonsense. We should be perfectly fine. They allow ladies to attend their unholy festivities, and if we bring along Charles and his valet as escorts, we shall bequitesafe.”
“Lord Lonsdale? He’s not exactly a man of sterling reputation. You remember the swans. Everyone was soscandalized.”
Audrey giggled. “Of course I do. I was there. Charles isn’t so bad. I had a bloody hard time trying to kiss him, you remember. He’s more of a gentleman than heletson.”
With a little hum that wasn’t exactly agreement, Gillian headed for the door, but Audreystoppedher.
“The dresses! I completely forgot. You must go to Madame Ella’s and retrieve the gowns. Try them on to make sure they fit,”Audreysaid.
Gillian sighed and nodded. It wasn’t the first time she had been asked to try on one of Audrey’s gowns. They were almost identical in stature, both short and full-figured. She suspected her mistress was trying to give her a little thrill of pleasure, but Gillian feared longing for things she couldneverhave.
From the moment she’d grown old enough to understand her place as an illegitimate child to a member of the peerage, she’d stopped oohing over the prettiest gowns and had given up dreams of finding a nice gentleman to marry. The acceptance of her fate as a domestic servant had been wearying, and while she adored working for Audrey, even when they were knee-deep in trouble, it didn’t stop her from wishing for a quiet life in a little cottagesomewhere.
