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“Dear Lord, Kitty, you’ve not allowed yourself to become—”
“What kind of a girl do you think I am?” Kitty bristled. “He’s done nothing more than try to kiss my cheek and,” she lowered her voice, “undo my top button but I refused him both, and now he’s wild to have me at his home, which gives me the best opportunity of any of us to actually find out what evil he’s been up to.”
“No, Kitty! I won’t allow it!” Lissa shook her head wildly. “As your older sister, I forbid it.”
“Don’t you understand, Lissa? You have always thought me…quite useless. Well, this time I’m going to prove how useful I can be. I’m going to make sure Silverton comes to no harm, and I’m going to help you and Ralph find the happiness you deserve. And you can’t stop me!”
She was out of the door before Lissa could say another word, running as fast as her slippers could carry her over the wet cobbles. But her heart was singing at the same time as it was skittering inside her chest.
Lord Debenham couldn’t best her. She’d held him off as much as she dared, but tonight she was going to show them all that Kitty La Bijou wasn’t London’s most self-centered darling. She wasn’t doing this because it would see her achieve her heart’s desire, or to rise up in the world. She was doing it because the chance had fallen into her lap to do something that would redress the balance. Lissa had worn her fingers to the bone—and for what? Yet she still looked down at Kitty for forging a life that included freedom and, for a short while, love.
“Dorcas, you’ve got to help me!” She was out of breath as she let herself into her townhouse, and for the first time, didn’t linger with a longing look at all the comfort she would soon lose together with her position of safety as Silverton’s mistress.
“I need a sleeping draft. Something strong and fast-acting. What do you know about such things? Where to find them, I mean.”
“Lordy, miss, wot are ye on ‘bout now? If ye’re feelin’ poorly yer should go straight ter bed. I’ll fetch yer sumfink.”
“No! It’s not for me. It’s for Lord Debenham. He’s waiting for me at his townhouse, and I’m going to use this opportunity to get the pewter box your friend Sal told you about.”
Dorcas looked as if she were about to fall over. She sat down on the nearest chair and fanned her face with her apron, shaking her head. “No, miss, I won’t let yer go. It’s too dangerous. The risk is too great.”
“The risk is great, but it’s worth it if I succeed. I’ve told Lissa and she’ll tell Ralph, and now you know so it’s not like I’m rushing into some hare-brained scheme. If I can slip a little powder into Lord Debenham’s wine—for he knows I’ll expect to be properly entertained—then I’ll be in no danger at all.”
Though she said it brightly, Kitty nevertheless felt a pang of pure terror. But then the excitement that churned in her stomach was bigger than that. For the first time in her life, she was going to be the one to make the rest of her family proud of her.
She put her hands on her hips and faced her maid squarely. “Dorcas, I shouldn’t have to say that I do not need your permission. Now, quickly, do I look the part? I don’t need to change my gown for I look well enough for what I’m about to do?”
“Wot is that, miss? Murder Lord Debenham or be seduced or murdered by ’im?”
Frustrated now, Kitty brushed past her, rummaging in her wardrobe for her most commodious reticule.
“Ye’re really goin’ inter the dragon’s lair, miss?” Dorcas sounded on the verge of tears.
“I’m going to visit Mrs. Mobbs along the way. I’ll ask her for a sleeping draft without revealing the nature of my mission. She’s used to my visits.” She did not need to put into words the fact that Kitty got her regular supplies of Queen Anne’s Lace seeds to prevent conception.
Araminta ran her palm the length of Teddy’s naked thigh and sighed. “If only it could be like this every night, Teddy dearest,” she murmured. She truly didn’t think she’d ever been happier.
The clandestine nature of their assignation had infused everything with an excitement that made up for what might have been lacking in Teddy’s performance. Of course, he wasn’t used to women, and he’d been so eager and adored her so very much so it was only natural that things might have seemed a little…rushed.
She glanced across to see him staring at the ceiling, a look of wonder on his face as he turned and met her eyes. “You are…exquisite!” he breathed. The most exquisite woman I’ve encountered in my entire life.”
He rolled onto his side and held her to him and Araminta closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of his chest, lightly dusted with fair hair, damp from their exertion and so dependable. Not like Debenham’s arrack-infused torso, coarsely coated with black hair, that was not dependable at all. Excitement was all very well, and her heart was still running a little fast at the risks she was taking, for there was no telling what Debenham would do if he discovered she was being unfaithful.
There was no telling what he’d do if he discovered he’d been cuckolded so, she reasoned, this was far less serious a crime, and since she was clearly already pregnant again, it was almost no crime at all.
“Oh Teddy, I wish we could be together like this all the time,” she said in a burst of feeling. Yes, danger and excitement were all very well, but her life was so dreadfully chaotic and uncertain, and Debenham could fly into a temper and do something dreadful if he learned of her misdemeanors.
“I wish to God my timing had been different, and I’d never left you a year ago. Then you’d be married to me,” he muttered, holding her as if she were the most precious creature he wanted to protect forever. That’s what she wanted. To be loved and nurtured, indulged and protected. Just when she hoped he might suggest they run away together to a far-distant land, where he had an endless supply of money and a handsome residence waiting for them, and where she could start afresh with no blemished reputation, he said, “Alas, we dare only risk such pleasures when your husband is away.”
Araminta had told Teddy that Debenham was up north shooting. She knew her darling would have refused to be alone with her if he’d known Debenham was in London, but time was running out. Araminta badly needed to secure Teddy’s affections at the earliest juncture. There’d only be a few weeks—six, at best—before her pregnancy started to show and Teddy would be repulsed and refuse to make love to her, since he seemed a stickler for propriety, even when it came to matters of the flesh.
“But don’t you want us to be together always?” she prompted.
“Of course, I do. But I don’t know how we can possibly do that.”
“We could if Debenham died.”
She felt him go rigid, and to ameliorate the shock, laughed and said, “Well, it’s true. Debenham is perfectly vile to me, and I don’t love him at all. He’s quite likely to drink himself into an early death, or have someone come after him since I know he blackmails people so one of them is bound to take revenge. No need to look so shocked.”
