“If I were your brother, I’d break my jaw and nose before blackening my eye for good measure for even giving your proposal serious thought and not immediately dismissing it.”
He was so incredibly somber, so serious. “I’m not going to tell Griff about this part of our arrangement. I’m going to tell him only that I’ll be residing here, teaching etiquette. I’m not even going to reveal it’s a brothel.”
Another sip of the scotch. She longed for the sherry but didn’t want to reveal that her fingers were trembling as she awaited his answer.
“I have a strict rule I adhere to, one I’ve never broken. The women under my protection are forbidden to me. I don’t take advantage of them. I don’t bed them. You’ll be under my protection.”
Disappointment slammed into her. “What if I didn’t reside here?”
“I would still see myself as responsible for you.”
Perhaps the ladies could teach her. Although how would she become comfortable with the touch of a man if a man wasn’t touching her? She didn’t want to admit that she was anticipating his caress, feeling the graze of his fingers along more than the underside of her jaw. “Surely, you could teach what I need to know without a full consummation. I should think that would be to my benefit. To be proficient but pure.”
He studied her as though striving to envision it. A woman who was a contradiction, who knew how to pleasure but had never been pleasured fully.
“As much as you want out of this business,” she said quietly, hoping her words could be heard over the thundering of her heart, “that is how badly I seek to master it.”
His magnificent jaw tightened, and she wondered if seduction might involve scraping a razor over it, listening to the rasp of the bristles as they were removed, then kissing the smooth skin that remained.
Finally, he gave a long, slow nod. “I have the ability to instruct you on how to be a temptress without violating my principles.”
He was rather certain that with those words, he’d just condemned himself to an early grave. Because satisfying the temptation of touching her without possessing her fully was going to kill him.
When she released a shaky, shuddering breath, slumped back against the chair, and jerked her gaze to the fire as though she wanted to spare him the sight of the relief that filled her eyes with tears, he knew for certain he had the right of it: he was a dead man.
He shot to his feet and strode to the corner in desperate need of more scotch. He would probably spend the remainder of his life wondering why the devil he’d agreed to her terms. Maybe it was because he couldn’t stand the thought of her seeking assistance elsewhere, and it had become increasingly clear that she was set on this path, and no argument he offered was going to sway her otherwise. Or perhaps it was simply that from the first moment his gaze had landed on her, he’d wanted her with a fierceness that defied all logic.
The irony was not lost on him. He wanted to get six women out of the business and to accomplish that, he had to introduce one more into it. At least she’d be more selective, more exclusive. He wondered if she’d change her mind if he paid her a salary of a thousand pounds. But then that would make him no different than the other men in her life, striving to control the direction she traveled.
He downed the scotch, poured some more, and turned back toward her. She’d returned to the window, the late-morning sunlight forming a halo around her. A delicate angel. That was what he’d thought the first time he saw her. But bloody hell, there was steel inside her, and a bit of a devilish nature as well.
“Would you like more sherry?”
“No, I have to report for work in a couple of hours.”
He wandered over to the window, placed his shoulder against the casing, welcomed the bite of its hard edge. “I’ll have my solicitor draw up the terms of our agreement.”
She peered over at him. “How will you word the additional arrangement we made?”
“Innocuously. I’ll give some thought to it. My main concern involves the financial arrangements so it’s clear and we can’t take advantage of each other.”
“I trust your word.”
He gave her an ironic twist of his lips. “Are you not the woman who just lamented that men are unreliable creatures when it comes to always doing good?”
She smiled, blushed, looked out the window. “I suppose I am. I’ll have to work tonight. They’re counting on me. But I’ll give my notice to Mac. Hopefully, beginning tomorrow, he can have one of the other girls step in for me.”
“I’ll pay five pounds for any of your shifts worked by someone else until he can find a replacement for you.”
Studying him, she bit her lower lip. “Could one of your ladies not take the position?”
“They earn more working here. That is one of the challenges you’ll face. Few occupations for women pay as well, so you’ll need to determine what each of them can be passionate about. Because if it’s not going to bring them as much money, it must bring them joy.”
“Perhaps I should have known that before I agreed to your terms.”
“Until the contract is signed, you can walk away.”
“I have no desire to walk away.” She glanced over at the clock. “I have to leave. I could move in tomorrow if that’s acceptable to you.”
“More than acceptable. I’d like to get the ladies started as soon as possible.”
“Good. Is there a particular time that would work best?”
“I could send a carriage round for you about ten.”
“You have a carriage?”
“No, but my brother does. I can borrow it. It’ll make it easier to transport your things.”
“I have very little to transport. They literally tossed us out with little save the clothes on our backs and a few personal items. I’ll take a hansom.”
He nodded. “Did you want to see your chamber before you leave? In case the sight of it changes your mind?”
“As long as it has a bed, I won’t change my mind.”
He hated knowing how little had been left to her. A duke’s daughter reduced to being content with scraps. She would discover within this residence there were no scraps. Anything she wanted, she would have. He would see to it.
In the foyer, he retrieved her cloak from the rack and draped it over her narrow shoulders. He shrugged into his own coat.
“You don’t have to walk me home,” she said.
“I don’t intend to.”
She looked both disappointed and pleased, as though craving independence but also a man to care enough to watch over her.
He did take satisfaction in her quick laugh when he hailed a cab. “I should have known you’d not let me walk home alone.”
“I didn’t think to ask. How is your head?”
“Better. The area is still tender, but the knot is not as large.”
“Good.” He gave the driver her address. “Wait for her to ready herself, then take her to the Mermaid and Unicorn. This should see your time well compensated.” He handed up the coins.
The man gave them a quick look, doffed his hat. “Very good, sir.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said.
“We have an arrangement now. Besides, haven’t you yet learned that when you tell me I don’t have to do something, it doesn’t stop me from doing it?”
“I do hope we won’t be at cross-purposes for the next three months.”
“I very much doubt we will be.” Although his cock was going to disagree with a vengeance.
He assisted her into the cab. “Send word if there is anything you need.”
“I require nothing more than what we agreed to.”
As the driver sent the horse into a trot, Beast crossed his arms and watched until she disappeared from sight. He was quite looking forward to proving her wrong.
Chapter 7
He didn’t come into the Mermaid that night. Althea had barely been able to properly attend to her customers with all the minutes she’d become lost in watchin
g the door, willing him to stride through it.
After catching Mac scowling at her several times, she was rather certain he was relieved she’d given her notice. With Benedict’s generous offer, he’d had no trouble finding a couple of the other serving girls willing to take her shifts. One even had a friend who’d been looking for an opportunity to work at the Mermaid, so that eased her guilt at leaving so abruptly.
When they’d closed for the night, and everyone began tidying up, Mac called her over and pointed at some coins he’d set on the counter. “Your earnings for the nights you were here.”
After counting it, she shook her head. “You didn’t take out for the beers I dumped on heads.”
“I never do. I just threaten to so a girl will think twice before drenching some bloke, but I figure if she still upends the tankard then he probably deserved it.” He gave her a wink. “Probably pinched her bum.”
She smiled at him. “I liked working for you. Thank you for hiring me when I had no experience.”
“You gave the place a bit of class. Good luck with your new venture.”
She hadn’t told him what it was, only that she’d taken a position elsewhere. Slipping the coins into her pockets, she went to help the others, sweeping then mopping the floor. She wouldn’t miss this.
When they were finally all in the alleyway, Mac gave her a gruff farewell. Perhaps he was going to miss her after all. Polly hugged her. Rob told her to come back for a pint sometime. The others just waved before they started off.
She walked to the street and smiled when she saw Griffith with his back to the wall, one leg bent, his foot pressed to the brick, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his coat, his head lowered. Hearing her steps, he glanced over, straightened, and returned her smile.
“Told you I wouldn’t be late again.”
She hadn’t seen him since he’d left for the docks before dawn that morning. That was how their days always went, with a long absence from each other from dawn until midnight. She had so much to tell him.
“Miss Stanwick?”
Looking past Griffith, she saw the hansom cab and the driver sitting atop his high seat. She shouldn’t have been surprised. “Yes?”
“I’ve been paid to see you home.”
“Trewlove, I assume,” Griffith said, not sounding particularly pleased.
“Probably.” Absolutely. She’d wager the two thousand quid she had yet to earn.
“How did you know it was me?” she asked the driver as she strolled toward his conveyance.
“Gentleman told me to keep an eye out for the beauty coming from the alleyway.”
That should not have pleased her, should not have made her cheeks warm. She had a feeling when all was said and done, she was going to resent that one rule he would cling to.
Griffith handed her up into the conveyance before settling in beside her. “Guess he didn’t trust me to keep my word and not be late.”
She suspected it had more to do with Benedict seeing himself as responsible for her now. As the driver set the horse into a trot, she sighed at the luxury of not having to walk home.
“His sister owns the tavern, doesn’t she?” Griffith asked. “The Duchess of Thornley?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll get word to him through her that you’re no longer in need of his assistance, that I’m fully capable of escorting you home.”
Her brother had so much pride. Having to sometimes rely on the kindness of strangers had been one of the hardest things for any of them to accept. She thought about telling him that no missive was necessary but decided to wait until they were in the residence in the event he began voicing objections to her plans. She had no desire for the driver to overhear an argument.
Once they were inside the small dwelling, with the lamp lit, she walked to the fireplace and studied the bucket filled with coal and could not help but think she’d surprised Benedict by appearing in his parlor that morning. If he’d been expecting her, he’d have not sent so much coal. Oddly, the abundance served to not only reaffirm his generous nature and that the decision she’d made was the right one, but also to shore up her resolve for wading into what might become an unpleasant discussion.
“I’m to bed,” her brother said, and she heard the weariness in his voice, but this could not wait. He’d be gone before dawn and matters needed to be settled.
She swung around. “Tonight was my last to work at the tavern.”
He was standing near the table, no doubt waiting for her to pick up the lamp so they could go through their nightly ritual. “Thank goodness. I never liked you working there, especially so late into the night. I’ll feel much better going about my day knowing you are simply locked in safely at the residence.”
“Actually, Griff, this morning Mr. Trewlove offered me a position as a tutor. I’ve accepted it. Tomorrow—or I suppose really later today—I’ll be moving into the residence where I’ll be teaching.”
“Teaching? You’re not a teacher.”
Neither was she a seamstress, a grocer’s clerk, or a very accomplished tavern maid.
“I believe I’m well equipped to handle the subject matter. Mr. Trewlove is assisting some ladies in bettering their lives, and part of that assistance involves learning refinement. He’s paying me a hundred pounds per annum, board, and lodgings. I could hardly refuse such a generous offer.”
His brow furrowed so deeply she feared he might hurt himself. “That is an exorbitant proposal. Why would he make it? What does he want of you?”
“I explained. To teach refinement, finesse, and etiquette.”
He shook his head. “No, he seeks to take advantage of you, to get you into his bed. I forbid this.”
She could not have drawn her head back more if he’d slapped her. “I beg your pardon?”
“You’re not to do it.”
“I have already agreed to it.”
“Send him a missive letting him know you have unagreed to it.”
“I bloody well will not.”
He looked as though she’d punched him. “I am your brother—”
“Yes, but not my father, not my husband, not my king. You do not reign over me. Besides, I want to do this. I’m excited by the prospect of it. I have the skills for it. I can make a difference.”
Even as she spoke the words, she realized they were all true, truer than she’d fathomed. Having been so focused on securing her future, she hadn’t truly taken the time to consider how she felt about what she’d be doing.
He appeared dumbfounded as he dropped into the chair at the table. “So you won’t be here any longer?”
It occurred to her that he wasn’t objecting so much to her position as he was to the fact that he would now be alone. He would awaken in the morning and return in the evening to an empty house. Joining him at the table, she lowered herself into the other chair and placed her hands over his. She needed to tend to his palms before they retired. After tonight, he’d have to tend to them himself. “I overheard you and Marcus talking last night. Griff, I don’t need a nanny.”
With a groan, he squeezed his eyes shut. “Althea, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”
“I know. Look at me.”
He opened his eyes, as blue as hers, and she saw so much regret there.
“I don’t know precisely what Marcus is doing, but I heard enough to know it’s incredibly dangerous, and I know he needs you at his side, more than I do. With my new position, I’ll be facing no peril whatsoever. No drunken gentlemen about to misbehave. No walking alone late at night. I’ll be sleeping in a bed. I’ll have a fire. I’ll be safe. If you decide you are better needed elsewhere, you are free to go without battling any guilt.” She squeezed his hands. “If you do decide to join Marcus in his endeavors, please, please, please take care. I cannot bear the thought of losing either one of you.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “I think we both see you as that irritating little girl who wanted us to join her for tea parties with those tiny littl
e cups that held no more than three drops of liquid.”
They’d never accepted her invitations, although she’d always assumed it was the small table and the dolls occupying the chairs to which they’d objected. “I’m far removed from being interested in tea parties these days.”
“Marcus probably won’t like it. On the other hand, I think you’re correct that this new position will create less worry for him . . . and me. It seems this Trewlove fellow has already taken it upon himself to shelter you, to ensure you are unharmed.”
“From what I observed when he came into the Mermaid and what others have told me, it appears he’s made it his life’s work to see that people are not treated unfairly.”
“No doubt comes from being born a by-blow. He can’t have had it easy growing up. Although, I daresay the Trewlove name has more respect these days than ours. Imagine that.”
It sounded as though imagining that left a sour taste in his mouth, and she wasn’t certain if it was because Trewlove had become synonymous with bastard or because Stanwick had become synonymous with traitor, and that the majority of the population would choose an association with a Trewlove over one with a Stanwick. Which had not been the case not so long ago.
He glanced at the hearth. “He sent the coal, I assume.”
“He insisted on having a fire last night, so he sent it to replace what he had used.”
“With interest, it would appear. It does seem he will see you well cared for.”
She decided against telling him about the additional money she would earn because she didn’t want him realizing this was only temporary, three months at the most. The knowledge might prevent him from assisting Marcus and might force her to reveal her future plans. Not only would Marcus most definitely not approve of those, but neither would Griffith.
“I do feel I’ve made the right decision regarding my employment. He’s expecting me to arrive at ten in the morning, so I’ll see you off at dawn.”
Beauty Tempts the Beast Page 8