Page 7 of The Gentleman's Seduction
“Papa, you have taken care of me all these years. Let me help you now.” She kissed his cheek and then fled the drawing room before he could stop her.
She rushed upstairs, trying to think of everything she must pack. When she got to her room, she took a valise from the closet and began filling it with stockings, chemises, three dresses, a small hand mirror, hairpins, black boots, and a pair of slippers. It would have to be enough. Then she carried her case downstairs and paused as she passed the library.
A book! She must take one. It would be her only ally, her only way to escape. She picked up the book she’d been reading,Lady Leticia and the Dark Duke, and carefully tucked it into her traveling case. Then she made her way to the front door.
Her father appeared in the doorway of the drawing room, his eyes misty and his face pale. She set her case down and gave him one last embrace.
“I will be all right, Papa. I will write to you once I’m settled.”
“Don’t go. Stay,” he pleaded again and cupped her face in his hand. She patted his hand once before she blinked away tears and stepped back.
“Tell Mama not to worry.” Then she dashed down the steps to the waiting coach.
A handsome young man caught her traveling case which he secured to the back of the coach before he opened the door and assisted her inside. She took a seat opposite Banks. He watched her with hooded eyes. She could just make him out in the dim light.
“So your father gave you up after all, eh? I always knew he was a coward.” His sneering words cut her heart even deeper. Without thinking, she leaned forward and slapped him.
“It was my choice to go with you. You will not speak of my father like that ever again.Youare the coward, blackmailing him like that.”
Banks touched his cheek, glaring at her. “Your father drove my mother to her death. I will say what I damn well please about him.”
His mother was dead? She bit her lip, unsure of what to say. She didn’t want to accept that her father had done something like that.
They were both silent for a long moment before he spoke, more softly this time.
“While you’re with me, we shall not speak of him.”
“Thank you.” She didn’t feel as though she had won a battle, but it made her brave enough to try to negotiate their situation further.
“I came with you by my own free will, and I wish to settle the terms of our arrangement.”
Mr. Banks leaned forward slightly. “The terms have been settled, but I will hear what you have to say.”
“You shall not tell anyone that I am staying with you. I need to save what little face I can if I am to make a marriage after this…interlude is over.” She paused, and when he did not interrupt she continued. “I know it is impossible not to be seen out in society, but I would ask that you do not parade me about like a prized pony. And if we are to go out in society, I will need some decent clothes. What I have brought with me will not suffice. I do not require anything expensive, merely serviceable, and only a few at that.” Her threadbare garments would draw far more attention than the man she would be accompanying. In some ways, an impoverished woman was worse than a fallen one. Men saw two very different kinds of desperation within those women. One could be preyed upon to mutual benefit, the other not as much.
“Anything else?” Mr. Banks asked.
“I ask that you not imprison me each day in the townhouse. I should like the freedom to go out, have fresh air, and not be trapped in a bedchamber all day.” She would not be treated like a bed toy for his pleasure. She needed to have some small measure of freedom or she would go mad.
“That isn’t unreasonable.”
“And my last request, after we part ways, we shall never seek each other out again. I want no reminders of our days together. Nor, should I think, will you.”
Martin held out his held to her. “Easy enough terms to live with. I accept.”
She shook his hand, relieved. The situation was more tolerable now that she had regained some measure of control of her life. He didn’t immediately release her hand and she was disturbed about how warm his hand was and how well their palms fit together. Finally, she pulled her hand away first and he let go.
“I will see you settled tonight. Tomorrow I will buy you some clothes that are more appropriate to your new position.”
As his mistress…Livvy closed her eyes, her heart racing. When she opened them, he was watching her again. She shifted restlessly.
“You should know that I have no plans to force you to share my bed.”
This took her by surprise. “But I thought…?”
“Yes, you are to be mymistress, but there is more to such a relationship than the bedchamber. And quite frankly, I have no interest in an unwilling partner. I find the notion…unpalatable.”
Livvy didn’t know what to say, but before she could get too comfortable, he grinned at her wolfishly.
