Chapter 10 #2
Evelina nodded along with Harriet, even though the question about toes curling made her treacherous mind go to Vaughn and whatever would happen tonight.
She couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t be incredibly talented in bed.
His kiss alone had set her off kilter and she’d noticed he was a fine dancer over the years. That was usually a good sign.
“Why won’t you bother Evelina, anyway?” Matilda continued. “After all, she’s the one everyone wants to know about.”
“Oh Lord,” Evelina said with a playful roll of her eyes. “Go on with it, then. Ask your questions.”
They sat together, Evelina on the settee with Harriet beside her and Matilda across from them on a chair.
“It’s all the talk of London, of course,” Harriet said. “When you and Blackburn stepped out together at the opera…the shockwave could have brought down a building. With the very man whose wife your former lover stole?”
Evelina somehow managed not to flinch but didn’t have to speak because now Matilda interrupted, “It’s practically Shakespearian. What revenge!”
Evelina considered her next words carefully.
Revenge was, of course, the way of their plan, but to say it would give it less power.
She wanted this conversation to drift back through the ranks of both courtesans and those of influence, all the way until it burned the ears of Lady Blackburn and Southwater.
“Oh heavens, revenge is hardly the thing on my mind when there is such a man,” she said, lightly fanning herself with the hand that didn’t hold her drink.
“Of course I knew he was that woman’s husband, but that wasn’t why we began.
I’d always liked Vaughn, found him interesting, and of course he’s handsome as sin. ”
“As sin,” Matilda repeated with a little sigh. “Those eyes.”
“That arse,” Harriet added, and all three women laughed even though Evelina felt a shocking tremor of…was that jealousy? Great God, she was beginning to believe her own stories if that was cropping up.
“That everything,” she said with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrows. “He is…magnificent. And good company. I couldn’t be happier with my choice. In fact, there’s part of me that thinks I should write poor Harry a thank-you letter. If he hadn’t behaved so badly, I never would have had this chance.”
There, that ought to do it. She’d waxed poetic and a bit vulgar.
She’d implied Vaughn was a stunning lover and a good protector.
And it had been easy to do so. Too easy, perhaps.
After all, she did actually like spending time with him.
He was witty when one got past the dour emotions of his loss and regret.
And he was kind. She could talk about those things for hours and not have to make up a lie.
“Well, I must say I’m glad to hear it,” Harriet said, and sipped her drink. “Obviously this whole divorce business is shocking beyond belief. I read every single word about it in the gossip rags.”
Evelina felt her smile fade a fraction. “I suppose that’s to be expected.”
“Does he ever tell you anything about it?” Matilda pressed, and the light in both the women’s eyes made Evelina’s stomach turn. They both so wanted to take a strip of Vaughn’s pain and carry it around like a badge that said they knew more than anyone else.
“It doesn’t come up,” she said softly. “We’re too busy doing other things with our mouths than talk.”
“Oh.” Matilda sighed, and there was no hiding her disappointment at not getting any insider information.
Harriet was a little more subtle. “I’m glad to hear it, Evelina. After all, it sounds like the duke and his new paramour have moved on entirely, if the rumors of the reasons for their becoming public are true.”
Evelina drew back. “What reasons?”
Some of the color left Harriet’s cheeks and she exchanged a look with Matilda. “Oh, nothing.”
“No, you cannot imply something so enflaming and then keep it to yourself.” Her hands gripped at her sides, almost against her will. “What do you mean? Why would Harry—Southwater—and Lady Blackburn become public in their affair now?”
“I just heard a little rumor, nothing out in the open yet. But it might be that the duke and his lover may not be entirely…careful with their amour. That perhaps they have fear of a child and want to rush through the end of the divorce and marry as soon as possible in case his heir is about to become obvious.”
The lovely supper Evelina had so enjoyed now rose to her throat and she swallowed back bile and tried to maintain her composure in the face of such horrific rumor. “And where did you hear such a thing?”
“Maids talking to maids, you know how it is.” Harriet shifted. “It’s probably all nonsense.”
And at that, it might be. At the same time, courting the massive public disapproval of making their affair public had never seemed right to Evelina. But a rush to make the relationship palatable and use Harry’s influence to finish the long process of severing the ties…
A potential child would be a very good reason for that.
And so it might be true. Which meant that she now knew something devastating about Vaughn’s countess.
About her potentially giving another man the children he had so longed for.
That was yet another heartbreak on a pile of heartbreak so high that it teetered precariously. If it fell…
Well, she worried it might crush the man in its wake. And she hated that she might be the one who’d have to set that fall in motion.
* * *
Vaughn didn’t play billiards well that night.
When the marquess and the earl teased him about it, he kept saying it was for lack of practice lately, but in truth, he kept thinking about Evie.
She had been an amazing companion over the evening.
She was intelligent enough to keep up sparkling conversation, she had a kindness to her that drew everyone around her into her sphere.
And she looked a treat in that dress. Sometimes he caught himself watching and wondering how long it would take to remove it.
It was such a shocking thing. He hadn’t played the rake since before he was married.
He’d assumed that part of him was long dead and yet here he was, fantasizing in the middle of the billiard room.
Ravenscroft moved to stand beside him as they watched Thistlebury take a shot. “You look well, Blackburn. Better than I’ve seen you in months.”
Vaughn stiffened. Here it was. If the ladies were known for their gossip when the men went to have port, he knew for a fact that the gentlemen were often just as bad.
“Well, I’m rejuvenated, it seems,” he said.
Thistlebury glanced up from the table. “That’s good. It’s a rotten business, this. I still can’t believe Southwater would behave in such a manner. His wealth and influence will save him in the end, but it’s going to be a while before he goes into a room and everyone doesn’t turn away.”
Vaughn didn’t respond. Everyone did the same to him, after all, and he hadn’t fucked anyone’s wife. But that was the way of the world.
“And what a reason to be rejuvenated!” Ravenscroft said, clearly wishing to change the uncomfortable subject as much as Vaughn did. “A Comerford Courtesan, that’s a landing if I’ve ever seen one.”
“Yes, she’s lovely, isn’t she?” Thistlebury took his shot at last. “I’ve always been with another lady when she was available, so I’m desperately jealous. Now, tell us…how is she? Are all the rumors true? And have you convinced her to bring her sister in on the fun?”
Vaughn turned his head slightly at the lewd suggestion.
It wasn’t the first time over the years that he’d heard someone suggest that a man could bed all three sisters at the same time.
Now, though, he wasn’t just disgusted at the idea, but he felt protective.
How many times had Evie had to hear such a thing and hold her head up or smile even though it made her stomach turn?
“Evelina is charming in all ways,” he said evenly. “And I wouldn’t be so crass as to discuss private matters.”
“Oh, come on,” Thistlebury chuckled. “She’s a courtesan. It’s not like you’re discussing your wife.”
There was a moment where that sentence hung in the air between the three of them, a knife Vaughn didn’t think Thistlebury had actually intended to throw and yet here it was.
“I won’t be discussing her either,” he said.
Ravenscroft cleared his throat at the uncomfortable silence and motioned toward the door. “Well, I’m sure the ladies are missing us. Why don’t we return? We could play charades.”
Vaughn pushed his shoulders back and inclined his head. “I’m certain we’d enjoy it.”
He didn’t wait for the marquess to leave the room, but led the way instead. He could hear the two men whispering behind him and ignored it as he entered the parlor where the ladies had been left.
When they came into the room, both Matilda and Harriet went to their gentlemen and Evie got up from her place on the settee. She smiled, but it didn’t seem to fully reach her eyes, leaving him to wonder if the conversation in this room had been any more pleasant than the one in the other.
He moved to her, instead and she shook her head like she was waking from a dream before she lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. The feel of her eased a fraction of the sting and he smiled.
“Everything is well?” he asked so the others wouldn’t hear.
She shifted and he could see even further discomfort. “It’s…it’s fine,” she said, and touched his face briefly. “And you?”
“Eh, you know. They all want to wheedle their information out. But it was fine, as well.”
“Good.” She took his hand and they turned to face the others.
“Ravenscroft says that he suggested charades,” Matilda said. “That would be a wonderful laugh, shall we?”
Evelina tucked herself in closer to Vaughn and pressed a hand to his chest. “I believe the earl and I must cry off. I haven’t had him alone all day.”
“Ah, the romantic beginnings,” Harriet cooed. “Of course we understand.”
They said their goodbyes and when he found himself before Thistlebury, the earl shook his hand a little longer than necessary. “My apologies, Blackburn. I wasn’t thinking.”
He inclined his head. “Don’t trouble yourself, my lord. I’m accustomed to it. Good night.”
Evelina drew him away then and they found their carriage already waiting thanks to the quick actions of the marquess as the farewells were being drawn out.
They both waved from the window as they were driven away and then Vaughn collapsed back against the seat. She moved to his side of the carriage after a moment and took his hand between hers.
“What did Thistlebury say that made him apologize at the end?” she asked, her voice laced with tension.
He shrugged. “Oh, it was nothing. He made some offhand comment about my wife and froze the room. How was your evening with the ladies?”
“You’ll be happy to hear I let them know we can’t get enough of each other and you’re amazing in bed. That ought to get back to any interested parties.”
He laughed. “Well, I seem to have done the opposite. When they asked about you, I refused to tell them any details.”
She tilted her head and for a moment he could see her surprise that he would be discreet. “I think it’s rather romantic that you would demand privacy and that might be the worst thing to get back to those same interested parties.”
“It seems we did the opposite of what is perceived to be a societal norm,” he said.
She shrugged. “Oh, no. The courtesans always talk about the men. Compare notes. Compare cocks.”
His mouth dropped open. “You do?”
“What do you think the courtesan network is?” she laughed.
“It’s not just gossip, but information about all aspects of the men we partner with.
A courtesan might not refuse to affiliate with a gentleman who didn’t know how to use his hips properly when he fucks, but at least she’d know what she was getting into so she wouldn’t expect orgasms.”
“Well, I hope I end up on the correct side of that discussion in the end,” he said, and met her stare evenly. “Assuming you still wish to change the tenor of this arrangement.”
Her breath hitched ever so slightly. “I do. Vaughn—”
Before she could say anything more, he wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her flush against him. Her curves molded to his like they were meant to do so and she let out another shuddering sigh as his mouth took hers and he forgot every other thing in the world but this.