Chapter 19 #2
Sebastian had danced with countless women and desired many of them, but this felt different. As the night wore on, he became increasingly certain of one thing: He was no longer merely amused by Miss Darcy Whitley. He was becoming dangerously, irrevocably interested.
A full week had passed since the night of the ball, and on each of those days the earl called upon them.
His visits delighted her sisters beyond measure.
Sebastian spoke to them of their dowries and what such fortunes would mean for their futures.
He escorted them to performances at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
There had been another picnic in Kensington Gardens and a visit to the Tower of London.
Their last outing was an evening at Vauxhall once more; this time, they stayed out far later than before.
Above them, the sky had stretched wide and clear, the stars scattered in quiet brilliance across the dark expanse.
Sebastian had arranged for an ascent in a hot-air balloon.
The girls’ delight had been unrestrained.
When they boarded, the balloon rose with slow deliberation, its great silk canopy catching the glow of the lamps below before yielding to the vastness of the night.
A telescope had been secured within the basket, its polished frame glinting faintly beneath the starlight.
Sebastian watched them with a faint, contemplative smile: Sarah leaning eagerly toward the edge, her delighted laughter carrying on the wind; Jane calling out simply to hear whether her voice would echo; and Emelia casting aside her usual reserve to join Jane, their voices rising together in laughter and song beneath the open sky.
“Will you not look at the night sky?” Darcy had asked, laughter warming her voice.
He had told her then that his first ascent had been with his father when he was nine, and that the balloon was his own.
Yet for all his attentions toward the girls, he never spoke with any certainty of the place he intended to hold in their future.
Darcy knew his regard for them was neither whim nor idle generosity. There was genuine purpose behind it.
But how far did that purpose extend? She had come to understand that he was kinder and far more thoughtful than he allowed the world to believe, but would his interest in his sisters endure through the years, or would the demands of his own life eventually draw him away from them?
The thought troubled her more than she wished to admit.
Her sisters were already drawn to him, looking upon the earl with a fragile hope that bordered on longing.
They wanted to belong with him, and with Caroline, the sister they had yet to meet.
They knew only that she was not yet of an age to come out in society and was spending the Season in Bath.
Their curiosity about her was impossible to miss, yet they had restrained themselves from asking Sebastian too many questions, as though afraid that wanting too much might somehow endanger what little connection they had been given.
A tightness had gathered in Darcy’s throat, and with it came a fierce, protective resolve.
If he caused her sisters pain, if he allowed them to grow attached only to cast them aside with cold indifference, she would forgive him nothing.
There would be no mercy in her.
Rebecca’s carriage rumbled to a halt, drawing Darcy from her reflections upon the past several days.
She took a steadying breath, then alighted, accepting the footman’s hand before acknowledging his assistance with a small nod.
She raised a gloved hand to ensure her mask remained securely in place before proceeding toward the entrance of Aphrodite.
The familiar hush of the corridor welcomed her, candlelight flickering against gilded walls, the distant murmur of music and laughter weaving through the air like a promise she had already tasted and could not quite relinquish.
Yet tonight felt different. The weight upon her shoulders had eased.
Her sisters’ futures, once so precarious, were now secure in a way Darcy had scarcely dared imagine, and for the first time in years, their survival did not rest solely upon her.
She was free to consider herself. Marriage, once a distant expectation, held no urgency.
Instead, her thoughts turned to her art, to refining her skill and perhaps one day gaining recognition not merely as the hidden hand behind scandalous canvases, but as a painter of note.
Aphrodite might well provide the path to such independence.
Darcy moved deeper into the establishment, accepting a glass of champagne from a passing footman before she caught sight of Rebecca. She stood near a column, her presence commanding without effort, her gaze already fixed upon Darcy with quiet appraisal.
“You return,” Rebecca said, a faint smile touching her lips as she approached. “I had begun to fear Raine had frightened you away.”
“I am not so easily scared,” Darcy replied, inclining her head with a light laugh. “I would like to speak with you.”
Rebecca’s brow lifted. “Shall I be disappointed?”
Darcy allowed herself a small smile. “I hope not.”
Rebecca gestured toward a quieter alcove, and they moved away from the main thoroughfare, the hum of the house softening into a distant backdrop.
“The chief reason I accepted your commission was that there were people dear to me whose futures I was bound to secure,” Darcy said once they were alone. “Their futures are now secured, which leaves me in a position I have not occupied in some time.”
Rebecca studied her with renewed interest. “And what position is that?”
“One in which I must think of myself,” Darcy answered. “I have no immediate need to marry, and I believe I would rather avoid it for the present. I wish to continue my work here and perhaps expand it.”
Rebecca’s gaze sharpened. “Expand it how?”
“I would like to accept more private commissions from those who can afford discretion as well as art,” Darcy said.
“If I am to secure my independence, I must do so with intention. Perhaps, in time, when I have amassed enough to provide myself with a respectable marriage portion, I might consider marrying.”
For a moment, Rebecca said nothing, her expression unreadable.
Then she nodded slowly. “Ambition suits you, and I shall help you. I have interests in several other ventures and will give you the particulars so that you may decide whether any suit you. I also welcome suitable investors in Aphrodite. This is not merely a place where men of wealth and consequence seek pleasure; it is a refuge for the women under my protection and a means by which they may secure their futures.”
Darcy hesitated before asking, “How did you come to this place? To…all of this?”
Rebecca’s lips curved faintly, though the smile did not quite reach her eyes.
“Hard work,” she said. “Good friends. And a refusal to surrender what was mine to give.” She paused.
“I also learned very early never to confuse business with pleasure. Desire has a rather inconvenient way of clouding judgment, and affection is worse. A woman in my position cannot afford either when there is money, reputation, and power at stake.”
“You never make exceptions?”