Page 46 of The Duke and the Lady in Red
“Yes.”
“She appears unhappy.”
“I believe she was.”
She looked over her shoulder. “And now?”
“Disappointed in me, but other than that I believe she is quite delirious regarding the other aspects of her life.”
“Because you’re a scoundrel?”
He gave a brisk nod. “She doesn’t approve of my life.”
“And that bothers you.”
“Not really, no.”
He was lying, but she wasn’t certain he realized it. She refrained from pressing the point. Theirs was a surface relationship, one that involved flesh, sensations, and pleasure. It was best not to delve too deeply.
His steps matched hers. “What of your mother?” he asked.
“She passed when I was rather young.”
“Your father?”
“I’m not really sure. I left him when I was seventeen. Never looked back.”
“How did you manage at first? It had to be difficult.”
She trailed a finger over the edge of a gilded frame. Not a speck of dust. “How many servants do you have?”
“Here in London? Thirty or so. You’re avoiding the question.”
She leaned against the back of a tall-backed plush chair. “My father had stashed away some money. I stole it before I left. It was enough to see me through for a couple of years.”
“Then you began to survive by deceit.”
“I prefer to call it cunning. The world is full of fools.” Shoving herself away from the chair, she brushed up against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Some have very heavy pockets indeed. Although you turned out to be not quite the fool I thought you were.”
He lifted her into his arms and began carrying her from the room. “Oh, I suspect I’m fool enough.”
Nibbling on his ear, she relished his groan. He was not the only fool, it seemed. Because her heart sped up, her body thrummed with anticipation, and already she was wishing for more than a week.
“Why must you return to your residence?” Avendale asked, lounging in the bed, naked beneath the covers, sated and partially content. He would be completely content if she were still abed with him, but shortly after he’d taken her, she’d rung the bell for Edith. It irritated him that she could dispense with him so easily and quickly. Irritated even more that he could not seem to do the same with her. He should desire her less now that he’d had a taste of her, but he discovered he only wanted her all the more.
Watching as Edith dressed her, he’d cursed every bit of clothing that had begun to hide her flesh from his view. Now the servant was putting up Rose’s hair and all he wanted to do was remove the pins and watch it tumble back down.
“I want to ensure that everyone is well after my abrupt departure last night,” Rose finally said.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No,” she snapped, at long last shifting her gaze from her reflection in the mirror to look at him. She softened her expression, her tone. “The condition was that I go alone.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s what I prefer.” She turned her attention back to the mirror.
“What are those men to you?” He despised that he sounded jealous. He wasn’t, but she was his at that precise moment. He wasn’t about to share her.
