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Harrow sat on the edge of the bed beside her. “If he had not already suggested raising the stakes tonight, I would have,” he confessed, again surprising her. “But I’m glad he did it without prompting. Allowing this to unfold the way it has means I won’t be forced to call him out—because the prize is being willingly granted rather than taken by force. Lean forward.”
She did as he bade, allowing him to unfasten the back of her gown as he continued talking.
“When he comes tomorrow, I’ll set the terms of your debt’s fulfilment. The first is that it will be carried out here. That will be non-negotiable. The second is that he will speak to no one concerning the details of what happens between you.”
The way his hands hesitated as he untied her sash told her there was more. “And the third?”
Harrow’s cheeks flushed as he leaned back to look her in the eyes. “Not to detract from the sentimentality of it all, but there are certain practicalities to be considered. He will discover you’re a virgin. He’ll guess why, and you’ll have to tell him the truth about René and I and your part in our lives. If a child should be born as the result of this wager, Blackthorn must claim responsibility for it. I will brook no dispute over Henry’s inheritance.”
The thought of bearing a child out of wedlock elicited all sorts of panicky sensations. “The herbs you spoke of to prevent conception, we must obtain some so I may begin taking them at once. But even they are no guarantee. Should it happen, there is no way to force him to acknowledge the babe as his own. You know this.”
“I beg to differ.” A grim smile thinned his lips. “If he should think to refuse, I’ll threaten to let slip that he was interested in more than just you when he made that wager.”
Alarm tightened her stomach. “But that would expose—”
“That was my foolish temper talking just now,” he said ruefully. “Pay it no heed, I beg you. I promise it won’t come to that. Blackthorn may have been willing to dance at the fire’s edge with regards to his reputation, but he won’t wish to leap into the flames direct. He would not survive the scandal of it. I would. I have. My reputed penchant for sharing your charms is widely accepted as debauched but within the law.”
“Because there are no witness accounts to say otherwise and because we’ve fed the assumption that your interest is in me and not our overnight guests,” she supplied as he eased the gown down off her shoulders.
He let out a dark chuckle. “They certainly won’t assume the same of Blackthorn after the way you had him chasing my coattails this month. Why do you think I was so friendly with him when we left tonight? Trust me—he’ll cooperate.”
Diana had to admit he’d tied it up rather neatly. “Your ability to manipulate others into doing your bidding is a little frightening at times, you know.”
“The man did this to himself,” replied Harrow, spreading his hands wide. “He was so eager for you that he was willing to take wild risks.”
Shifting the skirts of her gown out from beneath her, she settled back against the pillows in her chemise to await the arrival of her bath. “I should be flattered,” she said on a sigh. “Instead, I’m afraid. Afraid he’ll be wroth when he finds out I’m not really what he wants. I’m no courtesan—I have knowledge of love play, but no experience.”
Reaching out Harrow tucked a stray wisp of hair behind her ear. “My dear, I think he would want you no matter what your occupation or experience.”
“He did not want me when I was a debutante,” she retorted softly, fingering the fine linen of her chemise. “I was too boring for him then. I can only imagine his disappointment when he finds out I’m the same person I was when he first met me.”
“But you’re not,” he said, his voice gentling. “Not even close. You’ve learned more about yourself and the world in the last two years than most of your peers could even begin to imagine. If he is disappointed with you, then he’s a damned fool.”
A knock sounded at her door. Standing, he leaned over, planted a kiss atop her curled head, and whispered. “As soon as they’ve gone, I’m going to signal René to come through so we can fill him in on what’s happened.”
It meant bathing in her chemise behind a screen for decency’s sake, but she didn’t mind. The last thing she wanted right now was to be left alone with her thoughts and fears.
…
Watching Harrow carry Diana across the gardens made Lucas’s stomach do an odd little flip. He knows her feet are sore. That’s all it is. Still, it made all the appearance of a man determined to wipe out all thoughts of other men from his lover’s mind.
“I say,” said Westing, eyes bright with curiosity as he joined him. “You, my friend, have bollocks of solid granite. Congratulations. I cannot believe you managed it without getting called out.”
“Neither can I,” Lucas grated, snagging a glass of wine from a passing tray and downing it. “But don’t congratulate me quite yet. Nothing is final.”
“You think the lady may try to renege?”
“I don’t,” he replied, certain. “But the details must be worked out. With Harrow.”
“But you’re friends now, are you not?” murmured the other man with enthusiasm. “I saw the way you parted company—that was not an angry or jealous man. If anything, he looked pleased,” he added with a good-natured elbow nudge. “You’ve done it, my friend! O happy man, to have been welcomed into that elite circle.” Stopping, he faced Lucas and puffed out his chest. “I know you’ll make England proud.”
Laughing, Lucas brushed past him. Yes, he’d done it. But at what cost? Westing had known of his plan from the beginning, but he was the only one. Everyone else here must make assumptions based solely on observation—and what they’d seen painted him in a very questionable light.
His reputation as a gambler and lifter-of-skirts was one he’d built with great care and deliberation. Had he
just taken the first step in destroying the latter? He had won a night with Diana, but he’d also played the part of Harrow’s shadow now for weeks. He’d even gone to the man’s tailor with him, for heaven’s sake.
Then again, Harrow’s known vice was specific. Diana had told him her protector liked to watch. Well, he won’t be watching me. Of that much, Lucas was certain. He wanted her all to himself. No voyeurism would be permitted.
