by Amelia Grey
A mistress? Mirabella?
He supposed it was logical that she might think she was born to be a mistress because she enjoyed a man’s touch. From what Camden understood most wives were passive, not active in the marriage bed. It was a longstanding rule among some men that the finer pleasures of lovemaking were for their mistresses’ beds, not their wives’ bedrooms.
Perhaps it was a reasonable deduction for Mirabella to think that, because he didn’t want to marry her, the life of a mistress would be an acceptable alternative considering her erotically appealing side. But why did the idea of Mirabella as a wealthy man’s mistress distress him almost to the point of madness? The very thought of it wrenched his gut into hard knots.
He’d be a fool not to think about the possibility of Mirabella becoming his mistress as she had all but suggested. Camden felt stirrings in his lower body.
No, he didn’t want to consider Mirabella as a mistress for himself or any other man. He wanted her because she was a beautiful, utterly engaging young lady. She matched his intellect and his desires. However, her inappropriate behavior with the other men made her unacceptable as his wife. So why didn’t he like the thought of her being his mistress any better than the thought of her being someone else’s courtesan?
Camden closed his eyes and remembered snippets from yesterday afternoon. He savored each image that came to mind: the chilling rain and the hot kisses. He’d never forget the smell of damp foliage, the taste of her wet skin, or the vigorous wanting and the denied ecstasy.
One minute she was teasing him with her banter; the next she was an impassioned woman, malleable to his manly needs and her own womanly pleasures; and in the next minute she was reminding him why she would never be his. By the end of the day, she was talking of mistresses and suggesting the name of a proper young lady who would make him a good wife. She was almost too much for him.
Almost.
Camden chuckled.
There was a knock on the door of his father’s small office. Camden opened his eyes and leaned forward.
“Having a good laugh all by yourself, are you?” Hudson asked as he walked into the room.
Camden cleared his throat and straightened in his chair. “Yes, I was.”
“Care to share?”
“I don’t think so.”
Hudson reached over and picked up the scandal sheet from the desk. “I saw this earlier. Good you can get such enjoyment out of being dragged through the muck.”
“No doubt the wretched souls have nothing else to occupy their time.”
“May I sit down?”
“Certainly. How was your afternoon?”
Camden gave his attention to his brother and brushed aside the papers he had been going through before his mind had wandered. Hudson made himself comfortable in the armchair on the other side of their father’s desk.
“Splendid when I called on Miss Pemberton and a holy debacle when I called on Lady Gwyneth.”
“Miss Pemberton, I understand, but what’s this about Lady Gwyneth?”
“I was hoping you would ask.”
“How could I not? It surprises me that things aren’t as serious with you and Miss Pemberton as I thought.” Camden breathed a silent sigh of relief, thinking it was good that Hudson wasn’t ready to offer for the young lady’s hand.
“Oh, I was astonished anyone would think that, too,” Hudson said. “It was made known to me last night, by an acquaintance, that Lady Gwyneth would welcome a call from me. So, even though I’m quite devoted to Miss Pemberton, naturally, I didn’t want to disappoint Lady Gwyneth, since she had gone to such lengths to gain my attention.”
“I should think not. No reason not to keep your options open until a match has been made. She is a beautiful young lady.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. If she asked someone to speak to you, she was most definitely interested in you. I’m glad you went, Hudson.”
Hudson expelled a heavy breath. “You may not think that when you hear what I have to say.”
Camden tensed and braced himself. He wondered if she’d heard something about Mirabella’s indiscretions or his fight with Sir Patrick Stephenson and decided to tattle to his brother.
Camden managed to keep his expression blank and asked, “What is that?”
“What, indeed. It was pure insanity. The wretched fellow who gave me the tip got me confused with you. She welcomed a call from Lord Stonehurst. Not his brother, Hudson.”
“The devil, you say?”
“It’s true. She was most outraged about the whole misunderstanding.”
“But she knows I’m betrothed.”
“But not married. People change their minds and lovers elope to Gretna Green. It is still as popular as ever for those who wish to marry without their fathers’ blessings.”
Camden laughed. “Well, I hope you set her straight. I don’t intend to leave Mirabella and run away with Lady Gwyneth Sackville.”
“She did most of the talking, I’m afraid. She’s quite adept at getting her point across.”
“Yes, she is a determined young lady.”
“At first she thought you had sent me in your place and, I swear, she was on the verge of throwing back the flowers I gave her.”
Camden thought about chuckling again but thought better of it. Hudson was truly in a dither over the matter. “What a scene that must have been.”
“Not one I want to repeat. When she walked into the parlor, and I was standing there, her face turned as pink as the gown she was wearing. She was quite annoyed that she’d spent so much time getting ready for the wrong person. I made my leave as soon as I could once I was aware a mistake had been made.”
Camden deliberately focused on shuffling through some papers on the desk to keep from smiling again. Beautiful and wealthy young ladies could be spoiled chits when they wanted to be.
“No worry now. It looks to me as if you made it out of the situation with your neckcloth in place. So all is well.”
“That remains to be seen. I think she’s set her cap for you, Camden.”
“That’s ridiculous. I have no interest in her and have shown no interest in her.”
“Be that as it may, consider yourself warned. Don’t be caught alone with her, or you’ll find yourself in a compromising position and end up having to marry the wrong girl.”
God forbid.
“Wise words I’ll keep in mind, Hudson.”
Camden wanted to marry someday and have an heir, but, blast it, he had no desire for a pouty eighteen-year-old who couldn’t bow out of a misunderstanding graciously. No doubt Mirabella had already heard about Lady Gwyneth’s intentions about him, and that was why she suggested the girl might be a good wife for him.
He had no doubts Lady Gwyneth would be a dreadful choice.
He could only hope that she didn’t get wind of any specific details of Mirabella’s rendezvous with the gentlemen in the gardens. She wouldn’t stop until Mirabella couldn’t show her face in Town.
Hudson rose. “Well, I’m going up to get ready for tonight’s parties.” He started untying his neckcloth.
“While you’re here, Hudson, I’d like a word more with you.”
“You sound serious.”
“No, not really. I need to tell you that first thing tomorrow morning our parents will be traveling to our estate in Lockshaven.”
“They are? Before the Season is out? Why? They never leave Town before the end of the Season.” Hudson leaned a slim hip against the desk.
“There are pressing business matters that need the earl’s immediate attention.” Camden didn’t want to tell Hudson that he was sending his father with the money to buy back the land he’d lost. Camden could only hope it would be enough. If not, he gave his father leave to ensure there would be more in the coming months.
“But I thought that land was mortgaged and lost—” He let the last word trail off, his hands stilled on his neckcloth.
“Yes. It was. Perhaps you know mor
e about the family finances than I realized.”
“I know our funds are limited but not all the reasons why. Father assured me all would be well in due time. And that it would not keep us from living the lives a titled gentleman’s sons should live.”
That was only mere days from being not true. Camden saw no reason to tell Hudson what he didn’t already know. With the money Camden had brought with him from America, he had stopped the foreclosure on the town house. There were still many other smaller debts to be paid. His main objective was to regain all the estates and lands that his father had lost over the years.
Only a day after his return, he had sent a letter to his solicitor in America asking him to sell his stake in the Maryland Ship Building Company. Camden knew selling meant he would take a huge financial loss. With the new steam engines that were being built, hauling cargo would be more profitable than ever, but he couldn’t keep his holdings there and let his family lose their ancestral home. And, of course, the dowry had to be repaid to Mirabella’s father.
“I had hoped that I would be able to talk to him about asking for Miss Pemberton’s hand before the Season was over. You know the truly exceptional girls are all matched their first Season. I’d hate for her to think that she’s not among the best.”
Camden felt a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t Hudson’s fault that their father had been so derelict in his financial duty to the family.
“Well, we don’t have to make a decision about that right now. There’s time left in the Season. Let’s wait and see how well things come along. I know you would want to wait until you could properly take care of a wife, and we are not in that position yet.”
“I see.”
“Don’t look so downhearted. We’re going to be all right, but it will take a few months.”
“Months?”
“Yes, it could take that long. We’ve enough to manage until the end of the Season. Don’t worry.”
Hudson seemed to consider Camden’s words. “I suppose I’ll just have to persuade Miss Pemberton to wait for me.”
“I’m sure she’ll understand, and that she will be happy to. She seemed utterly devoted to you when I met her the other evening.”
Hudson smiled at Camden’s words and slid his neckcloth from around his neck. Camden’s eyes zeroed in on a long, thin scratch on the side of his brother’s neck just above his collarbone. It was red and angry looking.
He immediately thought of Mirabella’s strange questioning about scars and birthmarks on Hudson’s body. There had to be a reason she asked about that. But what?
“You’re looking at me as if you’ve seen Lord Pinkwater’s ghost, Camden. Did I suddenly grow a horn?”
“No. A bad scratch. What happened to your neck?”
He put his hand up to the wound and winced. “Ah— at last, I think it’s healing. Wretched thing. I might have a scar. Two weeks ago I was riding like the wind, racing Lord Standbringer, when a low branch from a tree caught me. I didn’t see it because there were no leaves on the limb. It was really quite alarming. I was jerked off the horse and wrenched my knee, causing me to limp for a day or two. I was damned lucky my cravat didn’t tangle in the branches and hang me.”
“Damned lucky indeed.”
How could Mirabella have known about Hudson’s wound?
“Is Standbringer married?”
“The devil no. Swears he loves too many women to settle for just one.”
Camden wondered if perhaps Mirabella walked in the garden with Standbringer, and she had learned about Hudson’s wound from him. Camden shook his head in anger.
Damnation! Would he now suspect every man of having kissed Mirabella?
Why did it eat at him so that he didn’t know all the men who had kissed her? It was giving him a devil of a fit.
***
Mirabella sat at her dressing table, her eyelids drooping while Lily took care with pinning Mirabella’s hair on top of her head in a mound of curls. She was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. She didn’t know how Lily managed to hum after such a day. She must be dead on her feet, yet no one would know it from the way she went cheerfully about her duties.
Mirabella didn’t know how she was going to make it through the long evening of parties that lay ahead of her. If not for the longing to see Camden and spend time with him, she would have sent a note to him and Uncle Archer that she had a headache.
She thought back over her laborious day. She’d spent the entirety of it at the tavern with Lily. Her hands were red and sore from washing glasses, dinner-ware, large pots and floors. She was yelled at, cursed and pinched on her bottom more than once by the foul-smelling curmudgeon who had no smiles or kind words for any of the workers in his charge.
It had been gravely disappointing to discover that she would not be allowed to step one foot inside the gaming, reading, or smoking rooms as she had hoped. Only the male servers who were fashionably dressed were allowed in there. A fact that Lily knew but failed to make clear to Mirabella. She had managed to look through the doors several times, but couldn’t get close enough to see the necks of any of the men.
She certainly couldn’t consider the day a total waste of her time. She was able to mark Sir William Jackson off her list. Fate had smiled upon her when at the end of the day, as she was getting ready to leave, he came to the doorway of the kitchen and called for one of the servers. His collar and cravat were off, and his neck was clearly visible and clearly free of scars. She had only a handful of men left to inspect, and she was certain the man she sought had to be one of them.
Playing the part of the maid would not go as fast as the kissing and that had been painfully slow. What she discovered from one of the older maids who worked there was that most men seldom relaxed enough to take off their collars and neckcloths and if any of them did, it was usually late into the evenings, and never during the day.
At the rate she was going, the rest of the gentlemen on her list would be retiring to their summer homes before she found the one she sought.
Mirabella had to turn to her other idea. There was no choice really. She had to do it. She would gain entrance to the gentleman’s club her father belonged to as one of his relatives. She would dress as a proper gentleman. As a male, she could walk around the gaming rooms and check every man in attendance. She’d watch them and wait until she’d seen all who chose to bare their necks.
She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought about this idea before she spent all day at the men’s club doing the work of the lowest paid servants. Now getting men’s clothes was the key to her success. The only place she knew to go was her father’s wardrobe. She would have Lily pilfer a suit of his clothing and cut it down to fit her.
She looked at her maid in the mirror. Lily hummed as she arranged small flowers in Mirabella’s hair.
“Lily, I need you to do something for me tonight while I’m out.”
“Yes, Miss Bella.”
She took a deep breath. “I want you to obtain a pair of my father’s trousers, a shirt, waistcoat, neckcloth and a well-cut jacket from his wardrobe.”
Lily stared at Mirabella’s reflection in the mirror for a moment. “You know I don’t have anything to do with your papa’s clothes. He’s very particular about who takes care of his things.”
“I know. That is why you will have to sneak into his room tonight after he has gone to sleep and get the clothing for me.”
The maid’s eyes widened in shock. “Sneak into your papa’s room? Miss Bella, you know I can’t do anything like that. You want to get me put off?”
“That is preposterous. Why would I want to get you fired? With you gone, I would have no one to be my partner in this scheme. I need you to help me accomplish this. Don’t worry about yourself. I’ll protect you.”
“See, even you realize it is a misdeed for me to go into your papa’s room and steal his clothes.”
“Oh, it’s not stealing, Lily. I’m not going to keep them.”
“Then what do you cal
l taking what doesn’t belong to you without permission?”
“I’m merely borrowing them with no expectations of returning them anytime soon.”
“I don’t know why you keep having me do all these things that aren’t right. You are up to something, Miss Bella, and I don’t know what you are trying to do.”
Mirabella rose from her stool and looked down at her maid. “Lily, I don’t want you to question me on this. I know what I’m doing. You must trust me and do exactly as I say. Now, tonight, while I am out of the house, I want you hemming trousers and remaking one of Papa’s shirts to fit me.”
“If your papa wakes and finds me in his room, plundering through his private things, I’ll be thrown out into the streets before you even get home.”
Lily put the back of her hand to her forehead as if she was going to faint. Mirabella knew she was too stout a girl for a trick such as that, but she was trying to send Mirabella a message.
“Nonsense. Don’t be a weak-kneed ninny, Lily. That’s not going to happen.”
“I know, because I can’t do it.”
“Of course you can. Just stay calm. You know my father’s medication makes him sleep soundly and Newton seldom stirs in the night, either. No one will know you have been in Papa’s room.”
Lily picked up her apron and twisted the hem in her hands. “I have done a lot of things for you, but I don’t know if I can steal your papa’s clothing.”
Poor Lily must think her insane, and maybe she was, but she wasn’t about to stop now. “For the last time, it is not stealing. And you have to do this. I can’t explain why I must do this, Lily. I’m asking you to trust that I know what I’m doing.”
Lily huffed loudly and dropped her hands to her sides. “I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.”
Mirabella inhaled an uneasy breath. It would be simple enough. Tomorrow evening, she would plead to Camden that she wasn’t feeling well and needed to go home early. She would don her father’s clothing and head for the club and return home in the wee hours of the morning before the household awakened. Yes, that should work.