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“Indeed. Lord Nash would have married me had I gone through with it, and I would have married Lord Silverton if he had desired it. I do not give my favors lightly, my lord.”
His hands were in the vicinity of her throat, hovering as if he waited only for her to succumb and allow him access to the other buttons. Kitty clapped her hands and immediately Deborah, her dresser entered. “As soon as Lord Debenham leaves us, I shall require your assistance.” She sent Lord Debenham a pointed look but he remained seated.
He made a low noise, a little like a growl. “There is one important matter I wish to discuss.” When Deborah made no move to leave, he waved her away, saying, “It is a matter of privacy with Miss Bijou. Please!”
The girl scuttled away and Kitty raised her eyebrows. “You are a man who knows how to get what he wants,” she murmured. Just what he clearly liked to hear for his thin lips turned up, accentuating the strong nose beneath the cold gray eyes. It flashed through Kitty’s mind to feel desperately sorry for Araminta in that moment, but then her half-sister thrived on danger, so perhaps they were well-matched. Not that having a straying husband made anyone a good match, though Kitty had absolutely no intention of going beyond a necessary caress of the cheek in order to achieve what she had to.
Lord Debenham lowered his hand so it rested on Kitty’s shoulder. “Your information about Silverton was much appreciated. Indeed, it was as I had long suspected.” His nostrils flared. “Ha! He called me friend. If he’d been an honest enemy, I might have considered dealing with him more kindly.”
“What have you done to him?” Kitty thought she’d given herself away in that squeak, but Lord Debenham seemed to think she was his ally.
“I’m sure you’d be most interested, my dear. The man who thought you weren’t good enough to marry will soon rue the day he so disrespected you. I, on the other hand, respect you too much to see your future stretch before you in such a state of uncertainty.” He gripped her shoulders and drew her to her feet, lowering his head so it was less than an inch away from eye level. “Let us not disturb Deborah. Allow me to assist you to change, and we can discuss the plans I have to aid your future successes from the comfort of your abode.”
Kitty forced herself not to move back. “I have no abode currently, my lord, since I moved only yesterday from the townhouse Lord Silverton leased for me.” It was suddenly difficult to swallow. She was fairly certain she’d not be caught out in this lie. “I’m currently lodging with friends.”
A furrow appeared between his eyes. “Poor Kitty Bijou. Nowhere to go?” With slow, sweeping strokes, he caressed her arm. “I can offer you somewhere to go. For tonight, at least.”
“But your wife—”
“She’s away. I rarely entertain at home, but I should enjoy the company—and the novelty, Miss Bijou.”
Before Kitty had time to answer, he was swinging her around and engaged on undoing the second button before Kitty shrieked her outrage. “No, my lord! I told you my objections before.”
“But you will come to me tonight?”
Kitty moved away and began to pace. She truly was conflicted, but her creased forehead must have signaled a different kind of objection, for Lord Debenham clasped her in his arms and tilted up her chin as if he would kiss her, before muttering, “By God, you like to lead a man a merry chase. Come to me tonight, and we shall hammer out the terms by which I can secure you the future you desire, Kitty La Bijou. I am a generous man when my passions are aroused, I assure you.”
Kitty managed to only just twist her head away before his cold, unwanted lips might have landed upon hers.
“When we have an arrangement that is pleasing to both parties, I will give you all the license you could wish for, my lord.” Smiling, she gained the safety of the door, turning the handle as she called out into the passage for Deborah, before saying sweetly to Lord Debenham, “I shall think about what you propose, my lord.”
“And I shall arrange for you to be met at the back entrance.”
Kitty allowed him a glimpse of white shoulder as she shrugged. “It could be tempting, my lord, though I make no promises. I do have other offers to consider, you know.”
Chapter 24
So it had to be tonight.
Kitty literally flew through the streets toward home when the line up of carriages and hackneys suggested a delay. She didn’t live far, and besides, if she took a slight detour it would only add another five minutes. She needed to acquaint Lissa with what she was about to do.
Having gained admittance to the Beecham household, she had to wait in the kitchen and bribe the parlor maid who was drinking tea in the servant’s kitchen to send a note up to the governess, and she was on the verge of giving up when Lissa appeared.
“You shouldn’t have come, Kitty. Not dressed like that,” her sister whispered, drawing Kitty away from the curious gaze of her fellow employees. “I do wish you had not!”
“But Lissa, I’m your sister!”
“Yes, and a
n actress, too! Just look how finely dressed you are, but you cannot be a lady to have come here alone. That’s what they will whisper.”
“Well, let them whisper all they like. The fact is, you won’t be working here much longer, Lissa, because I’m about to go to Lord Debenham’s townhouse and find the locked box where he keeps his secrets.”
When Lissa looked at her as if she had taken leave of her senses, Kitty laughed. “It’s true! My maid, Dorcas, has a friend who works for Maggie Montgomery, whom Debenham took home, and it’s the honest truth. He does have a box of secrets, for she saw him lock it up and hide the key.”
“You can’t do it!”
“I’m going to.” Kitty removed her sister’s hand from her arm and turned to leave, but when Lissa looked at her as if she were going to either cry or shout, explained, “Lissa, I did a terrible thing earlier. I told Lord Debenham that Silverton was a spy because I truly believed he wasn’t, but that it would be a means for him to blackmail Silverton, and then Ralph would have all the information he needed to apprehend Lord Debenham. Then I realized how badly wrong I got it. But now Lord Debenham has invited me back to his home—”
