Kitty looked up at him suspiciously, and he laughed. “You think my motives are suspect in keeping you by my side, and so they are. I shall miss you very much when you return to the undeserving Nash.”
Kitty sighed. “I went to fetch something from the theater this evening and there were three bouquets of flowers for me. He delivers flowers and notes to me every day.” She extended her arm to study the ruby-studded bracelet he’d gifted her to try and atone for his deplorable behavior. Strangely, she did not feel the leap of want and need she’d previously felt for him. Obviously, the trauma of his infidelity ran deeper than she thought. Or perhaps she was too caught up in what had happened tonight. She still found it hard to believe that her half-sister had passed by in a carriage, in the throes of labor, and Kitty, of all people, had rendered her assistance.
No, she couldn’t tell Silverton—or anyone—that part. About what Lady Debenham really was to her. But it was certainly pleasant chatting to him while he sat on the arm of her chair stroking her hair. He wasn’t shy about making it clear he liked her, and wouldn’t be averse to setting her up as Nash had set her up.
And although Kitty liked Silverton very much, that could never happen. Aside from the fact that Nash was her destiny, and that the dangerous, desirous glint in his eye communicated itself all the way to her lower belly in the most wickedly wanton way, Silverton was her friend. He’d been very good to her. And friendship was rare and precious, and something not to be risked for the transient pleasures of the flesh.
And, sadly, he was not all he appeared.
She sighed, and immediately he queried if there were some deeper reason for her reflective mood tonight. She opened her mouth to broach the rumors she’d heard about Silverton being involved in Debenham’s misdemeanors but then thought better of it. The rumors were too vague to even articulate. Besides, if wicked Debenham remained safe, unsullied and in full possession of his goods and chattels despite the myriad rumors that swirled about him, Silverton would be much safer even than that.
So she just smiled. No, she wouldn’t hint that she knew Silverton was not all he presented to society; she’d just enjoy what he offered her. And that was safety and friendship in an increasingly turbulent world. “I was thinking about how I’ll need a maid when I’m living in the little house Nash has leased for me, and that I wish I’d found Dorcas.”
“You plan to leave me so soon?”
She was surprised at the flash of genuine disappointment she thought she heard and hugged it close. She was not used to anyone evincing any form of real pleasure in her company.
“I need to make my mind up, soon. But you are very sweet to sound disappointed, Lord Silverton.” She sighed. “Tonight, as I stood in the quiet of the theater and read Lord Nash’s messages, I was touched by the growing desperation for forgiveness and the sweet words he wrote. He truly is so sorry and...of course men will stray when temptation is put in front of their noses. I’ve no doubt Jennie threw herself at him, and what man could resist? I think the time has come for me to go to him.” She hugged herself, conscious of the swelling of excitement inside her as she conjured up an image of the burning desire in Nash’s eyes. He’d learned his lesson. He’d not stray again.
Lord Silverton rested his hand on her shoulder. He started to say something, but then apparently changed his mind. After a long pause, he cleared his voice and said, “Kitty, I have something to tell you about Dorcas.”
She darted her gaze back to Silverton’s face. He looked and sounded surprisingly intent, considering they were only talking about a maid he’d never met.
“I found Dorcas,” he went on. “When you told me the name of her employer, I was horrified. You see, I know about Mrs. Montgomery; about her business, that is, and it’s not something a young lady should have any dealings with. So I found Dorcas and tried to persuade her to come back with me, but she refused.”
“She refused?” Kitty straightened on the little embroidered footstool and met Lord Silverton’s eye, suspicion at her friend’s true situation warring with pique that she should not wish to work for Kitty. “Is she so well situated, then, she has forgotten her old friend?”
Lord Silverton shook his head, his look grim. “I only wish it were so, Kitty.” He took her hands and began to gently chafe them as he proceeded to explain, as delicately as possible, the precise nature of Dorcas’s predicament.
And Kitty listened with growing horror, while at the same time she tried to be immune to the lovely warm and cozy feeling that was sweeping through her body, and which made her want to climb onto Lord Silverton’s lap and rest her head against his chest while he stroked her.
All over.
***
So now it was up to Kitty to save Dorcas. If the poor, ill-used girl wouldn’t accept the assistance Lord Silverton offered, she surely couldn’t refuse Kitty if Kitty begged her in person.
Standing on the pavement with her veil pulled down and wrapped up in a voluminous cape, Kitty felt safe from prying eyes as she watched the comings and goings to the large, four-square house in Soho.
Though it was dark, the gas lamp on the pavement just outside the front of the house illuminated each face clearly for one split second. What a variety of men were ushered in and out of that door. The majority appeared, by their clothing and the equipages that dropped them off, to be gentlemen of good social standing. But equally, there were soldiers, sailors, men of middling rank, even the occasional struggling clerk, casting a furtive glance over his shoulder before hurrying up the short flight of stairs and then, upon a hasty rap, being admitted through the imposing black front door.
Kitty made sure she kept to the shadows; her heart thumping with pained horror. It was as Lord Silverton had said. This was a house of ill repute, and her friend Dorcas was a prisoner there.
She knew she couldn’t rescue Dorcas by brazenly bursting through the doors and dragging her out, but she’d needed to see for herself where Dorcas was housed, and the kind of clientele Mrs. Montgomery’s abode attracted.
Fighting back tears, she turned away. What stroke of fate had favored Kitty, easing her path toward her achieving her long-held dream for fame, fortune, and love?
Poor Dorcas, whose dreams had been so much more modest, had become a pawn in a scheme that ruined young girls’ lives to line the pockets of an evil few.
Did Mrs. Mobbs know what her friend, Maggie Montgomery, was up to? Kitty wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She suddenly felt a great deal more grown up than she had such a short time ago, before Lord Silverton had pulled the wool from her eyes.
With her head bent, she shouldered her way through the evening crowds. If she were truthful with herself, she knew Lord Nash was not the smoldering-eyed Adonis ready to pledge her his heart and soul and everything he had to make her happy.
He was just a handsome, fallible young man with a straying eye who desired her, and whom she found attractive when she was ready to give her heart to the first likely contender.
No, that wasn’t true! she rebuked herself, as she rounded a street corner and sidestepped a child selling matches. If she allowed herself to be so downcast at the first hurdle, then how could she make a success of her career? She had beauty; she knew that. But now she needed to be strong and firm and handle matters with conviction.
She would rescue Dorcas, and she would extricate herself from Lord Nash. It was the only way to retain the independence and control of her life that was the central tenet of her running away at all.
So she reached the theater entering through the side door, ready to perform with a lightness of spirit she didn’t feel, for the tragedy that ended Romeo and Juliet better suited her mood right now.
Then it occurred to her that if Silverton had failed to persuade Dorcas to leave with him, Lord Nash would certainly use every device to get Dorcas out of Maggie Montgomery’s clutches. Lord Silverton was not madly in love with Kitty as Lord Nash professed to be. Naturally, Lord Silverton had merely done what he could to help a friend.
By the time she sat down at her dressing table and read the notes that accompanied the three bouquets of roses Lord Nash had sent, Kitty was feeling a good deal more settled in her mind. Her natural pragmatism and romantic turn of mind were now of one accord.
Lord Nash may not be her destiny, exactly, but he was easy to be in love with, and the most hopeful prospect on the horizon right now for giving Kitty the long-term security that would enable a single girl in her situation to sleep at night.
***
The performance was one of her best ever, and Kitty’s heart felt full to bursting as applause and flowers rained upon her as she took her bow.
It really did almost burst with excitement and happiness when she hurried backstage and found herself face to face with Lord Nash, whose tragic look of sorrow melted the last of her reservations. Into her arms, he thrust a large bunch of red roses and a black velvet box to which was attached a small card.
“Forgive me,” it read.
Kitty opened the box, then gasped as she held up the exquisite diamond and ruby earrings to the light.
Turning with a smile, she stepped into his open arms, while his cry of joy was truncated by his kiss.
“Come home with me, Kitty. Tonight and every night.” His impassioned murmur vibrated against her lips.
Kitty’s legs buckled. This was getting close to the proposal she longed for. Not quite, but she had him begging, realizing his need for her. Oh yes, she’d show him how much he needed her.
Nestling her head on his shoulder, she rocked happily in the carriage that took them back to his townhouse, and whimpered with pleasure as he undressed her.
Lord Nash needed her. She could feel it as he gently laid her upon the bed, trailing his fingertips delicately over her face and down her throat while he seemed to drink her in with his eyes. Lord Nash was her slave in love. It was clear with every soft breath that caressed her as he divested her of her clothes, gently massaging her breasts, kneading then suckling her nipples.
Lord Nash couldn’t live without her. This he told her in anguished tones as he tossed off his shirt, pulled off his boots and breeches, then trailed kisses over her breasts, down her belly, burying his face between her legs and pleasuring her with tantalizing strokes of his tongue.
Kitty squirmed with pleasure, believing him. She’d never felt such happiness. Nash had learned his lesson. He was hers now.
She hardly got any sleep that night. Twice Nash woke her, eager to repeat their incendiary lovemaking. When a knock on the door heralded morning hot chocolate, Kitty was exhausted, still on a cloud. And as they dined opposite one another in the window embrasure, he spoke of his plans.
“Today, I shall sign the lease on your little house, and we shall go shopping for all the accoutrements a lady needs for her wardrobe, eh? That’s once the mantua maker has come by to measure you.”
Kitty couldn’t believe his generosity. He loved her even more than she could have imagined.
“And I shall have my own maid to attend me?”
He nodded. “Indeed you shall. I’ve already made inquiries.”
“But Nash, there is someone I expressly wish to wait upon me. A friend from past days.”
He frowned. “I would rather I selected someone I could trust, my dear. You are young and may be taken advantage of.”
For a second, Kitty thought he feared she may be taken advantage of by other men. Then she laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I know what to look for in a good servant. Mama always had me interview the maids we employed at home.”
“What a curious past. You’re very secretive. Servants? In your home? Who are you really, Kitty La Bijou?”
Kitty dropped her eyes. One day, she would tell him, just not yet. “I have reinvented myself since coming to London, and that is my secret. But there may be some difficulty in prizing away the lady’s maid I wish to employ, for she has fallen into the clutches of a woman of ill repute. Oh Nash, please say you’ll help me rescue her?”
She’d expected the same willingness to please as he’d shown last night. Instead, his mouth pursed with the indelicacy of the suggestion. “Rescue someone from a house of ill repute? Darling Kitty, I really can’t imagine we’d have such a conversation the very morning after our wonderful reunion.” He rose, smiling to soften his words perhaps. “Let’s talk no more of such unpleasant matters. Are you ready to go forth with me and begin our frenzied round of purchases? I want to show you how much I’ve really missed you.”
Kitty was prepared, for the moment, to allow Nash’s wishes to eclipse her desires for finding Dorcas. Clearly, he needed careful managing, and she could not force him to do her bidding.
All she could hope for, now, was that Dorcas wasn’t working in the capacity Silverton presumed. Kitty would bring Nash around soon enough, for she’d accepted she was helpless in aiding her friend, alone, but she’d need to be patient.
Nevertheless, anxiety sapped some of the thrill of promenading along the fashionable shopping streets on Nash’s arm. After acquiring three pairs of Oxford tan gloves, a quantity of feathers, silk shawls, a pair each of dancing slippers and half-kid boots, they finished their expedition with ices at Gunthers before winding up at the sweet little bower Nash had secured for Kitty.
Kitty gasped and clasped her hands disbelievingly. Her own abode. She was equally thrilled when Nash turned her in his arms, kissed her nose and murmured, “Until it’s properly furnished and decorated, and we’ve found you a lady’s maid and a general cook and servant, you must let me look after you.”
“And what might that entail, my Lord?” She sent him an arch look and with a wicked rumble of laughter, he swooped to kiss her before taking her hand and hurrying her up the steps. “I’m afraid it’s not something I can explain to you for all the world to see.”
Chapter Fourteen
“M’lord, yer in all but darkness. Let me find a lamp.”
Silverton barely attended as the maid bustled about, banking up the library fire before fetching the Argand lamp. He was not prone to moods of black despair, but today had started with the very real disappointment that Kitty was not around to share his breakfast with her bright chatter, and had ended with news of the horrifying circumstances surrounding his friend, Lord Calder’s untimely death.
“Cook’s made a fine dinna an’ ‘ere it is, untouched. Are yer poorly, m’lord?”
“Just not in the mood to eat, Mary.” He waved her away. “Please don’t fret. It’s very good of you, but I wish to be left alone to think. And please, no visitors, do you understand?”
He therefore felt a frisson of anger when, an hour later as the snow fell outside and his gloomy mood was exacerbated by the whistling wind that rustled the embers in the fireplace, he heard footsteps in the passage and the door was unceremoniously thrust open.
“I said—” His cross words were arrested by the breathless greeting of his erstwhile houseguest, who hurried across the room and put out her hands in a gesture of entreaty, saying, “Oh Silverton, what a terrible day it’s been! I know I shouldn’t be asking favors of you when you’ve already been so good to me, but you just have to help me rescue Dorcas, even if you say she couldn’t be persuaded by you the first time.”
“And good evening to you, too, Kitty. What is this? You’ve left Nash?” He rose, gripping her fingertips as she was about to withdraw her hands, and was conscious of an unexpectedly strong wave of hopefulness that was immediately dashed by her response.
“Indeed not! Nash and I have never got along better.” Extricating herself, Kitty stepped back. The damp air that caused her bright hair to curl about her temples, and her heightened color, made her look like the most exquisite china doll. It was hard to resist the impulse to hold her tight and soak up her warmth and kindness. But she was chattering excitedly, her words not at all what he wanted to hear
as she went on, “It was quite the right thing to forgive him for he has been utterly darling to me, and my house is nearly decorated.” She threw her arms wide and did a twirl before him, her face suffused with happiness. “Have you seen the gossip sheets? Lord Summerton is to wed the woman who was his mistress, Mrs. Pinkerton? Yes, indeed! Do you not think I should take heart from a real-life instance of exactly what you say cannot happen to me?”
Silverton took her hand and led her to a sofa, pulling on the bell rope to order tea after Kitty declined what he had to hand on the drinks tray. While he felt ridiculously pleased by her intrusion, he wasn’t going to pander to her false hopes by pretending something other than he thought.
“Kitty dearest,” he said gently, “Lord Summerton is in his dotage with grown children. He cares nothing for society’s opinion—which will be condemnatory. He can afford to thumb his nose at society and do as he pleases.” He took a seat beside her and stroked her hair to soften his words. “Lord Nash might prefer you above all others, but he will marry for expediency. He will marry for dynastic considerations. You cannot blind yourself to the truth.”
Kitty’s sigh tugged at his heartstrings. She’d not objected to the hair stroking which he’d ceased, for he found it created a whirlpool of raging desire which he was clearly never going to be able to act upon; but now she gripped his hand, holding it upon her knee as if unaware of the effect this had upon him and said, “You shan’t dissuade me that it’s possible, but that’s not what I came here to talk about. I came here because I urgently need your help.”
“To rescue Dorcas? Why, Kitty, I’m not saying I won’t help you, but I’ve already tried once, and I can’t force her to go with me.” He knew he was resorting to low tactics to hear her say Nash wasn’t prepared to help her, while she believed Silverton clearly would. And indeed, Silverton would. Yes, he would try again. Any opportunity to be surrounded by her cheerful chatter was worth an investment of his time.
“You see, Nash is terribly busy right now, besides which he’s naturally wary of venturing near such a place in case it casts aspersions on his character.”
Beyond Rubies (Daughters of Sin Book 4) Page 13