Page 32 of The Duke and the Lady in Red
Normally he did. She was different. He didn’t know why. It irritated him, confounded him, but the truth was he wanted every aspect of her involved. Every hair on her head, every thought in her mind. “Pleasure can be much more intense when it is the sole focus of one’s efforts, when there are no distractions to plague us. So while it may seem I am being kind, it is pure selfishness on my part. I believe that bedding you will be a truly remarkable experience, but not if all of you isn’t in my bed.”
Her lips twitched, eased into a smile. “I believe what I like best about you is your forthrightness.”
“I like that aspect about you as well. So be forthright.”
She clasped her gloved hands together, knitted her fingers tightly together. “Will you extinguish the flame in the lamp? It is better said in the dark.”
Most confessions were, or so he’d heard. He was not one for giving them or listening to them. She was turning his world topsy-turvy. Perhaps he would have two nights with her. He blew out the flame, settled back, and waited.
“This is so difficult, so foolish,” she said quietly, her voice lyrical in the near-dark.
He could hear every subtle nuance, and wondered why he’d never noticed that she spoke in what seemed to be a mosaic of accents. Perhaps she was more traveled than he thought, her journeys not limited to India as she’d implied. Perhaps he would inquire again when this was done, but then what difference did it make?
“I can’t see you being foolish,” he said, truth in his words. She might be a lot of things, but he didn’t think foolish was one of them.
“Naive is perhaps a better word.” He heard her swallow, but he could see little more than the shadows dancing around her silhouette as light from the streetlamps flowed in and retreated. “I misjudged how long it would take for my husband’s estate to be settled, for all that he left me to come into my hands. I’ve spent quite liberally on credit, expecting to cover my debt with my inheritance. But it has yet to arrive and the creditors are losing patience.”
“Have they threatened?”
He thought he saw a nod.
“Yes, I fear so,” she said.
“What does Beckwith say?”
“That it shouldn’t be much longer, and he has helped where he can, has even lent me a tidy sum, but it’s not enough. I don’t want to run, I don’t want to be cowardly. I know I must face the consequences, but the thought of prison—”
“One can no longer be imprisoned for debt.”
“A few of them have banded together and are accusing me of thievery. I have only a day to pay what I owe or they have threatened to go to Scotland Yard.”
He couldn’t recall hearing of such a thing, but he supposed those who extended credit needed some recourse. At that moment, light filtered in and her gloves stood out in stark relief as she knotted her fingers. “How much do you owe?” he asked.
“I’m too embarrassed to say. I spoke with a bank this afternoon, but they would not loan me the funds I require. I can hardly blame them when my husband’s estate is still unsettled. Bless him. He was not the most organized of men. He has left me in quite the pickle. I am trying desperately not to resent him, but it is becoming increasingly difficult when he made such a muck of things.”
The man sounded like a blistering fool. Leaning forward, Avendale worked her hands free of the choking hold she had on them and wrapped his fingers around them. “Let me help you, Rose.”
“I would only be exchanging one type of debt for another.” Through the dim interior he could feel her sharp gaze homed in on him. “I know the sort of payment you would require.”
Her words stung. A first for him. He’d never cared what people thought of him or said about him. He’d made himself impervious to slander. He lived a debauched life, held no moral high ground because it was so damned difficult to defend. He’d never cared how his actions were perceived, but her belief that he would assist her in exchange for her coming to his bed...
It rankled.
Releasing her hands, he leaned back. “I am not so desperate that I have to pay for a woman to come to my bed. If you join me there, Rose, it will be because you want to be there and only because you want to be there. I have the means to lend you the money you need. It comes with no obligations, no expectations. If it will reassure you, we can wait until you have repaid me before we take things further.”
“You don’t think it will taint our relationship? I’ve heard the worst thing a person can do is loan money to a friend.”
“I’m not certain I’d label you as a friend, but I am quite certain that I can lend you money and not hold it over you. It’s not as though I need it. Pay it back at your leisure.”
He heard her take a deep breath. “I don’t know, Avendale. Am I not jumping from the pan into the fire? I like you, a great deal. I don’t want to take advantage of what you feel for me.”
“We can write out terms if you like, sign a contract.”
She laughed lightly. “I don’t think that’s necessary. Unless you do, of course.”
“No, I trust you, Rose.” He gave her a devilish grin. “And I know where to find you.”
She shook her head. “Still, I don’t know. It’s a ghastly amount.”
