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“I do?”
“Well, of all our friends, you may know him the least. That is why I came to you.”
Avis frowned. “Who is it?”
“Lord Ancroft,” she whispered.
“Ancroft!” Avis exclaimed with a broad smile. “That is wonderful!”
Sophie shook her head. “But it’s not. Avis, he is not the man for me.”
Avis released Sophie’s hand and reached for the tea. She handed a cup to Sophie and then sat back against the brocade sofa with her own cup. “Now, tell me why he isn’t the man for you.”
“I would know,” Sophie said, then sipped her tea. She let the flavorful liquid wash over her tongue and its warmth soothed her.
“Explain.”
“Just as I knew Selby was the man for you. And Blackburn for Jennette, Kendal for Elizabeth, and even Somerton for Victoria. I don’t see Ancroft for me.”
Avis sipped her tea and then pursed her lips. “Are you certain?” Before Sophie could reply, Avis added, “I mean, perhaps you are not seeing him for you because you don’t believe you deserve such a man.”
“What do you mean?”
“You are the daughter of an earl who won’t claim you. Your mother was an actress and mistress to several men. Is it possible that you do not feel you are worthy of a man who will someday be a duke?”
Sophie stared down at the tea in her cup. Was she intentionally blocking her sight for just those reasons? It was possible. But it didn’t explain why she had never seen his face before she knew who he was. Truthfully, she knew she wasn’t worthy of being a duchess but it was more than that.
Everyone she ever loved deserted her. Her mother left any time a man made her an offer. Her father had rarely ever visited her in twenty-six years. If she fell in love with a man like Nicholas and the
n lost him to either a wife or mistress, she doubted she’d recover.
“I don’t know, Avis.”
“You must forget all those worries. Ancroft is a wonderful man.” Avis leveled a wicked smile at her. “Do what you suggested each of us do.”
“What is that?”
“Seduce the man,” Avis replied with a laugh.
Sophie looked away as her cheeks burned. How did her friend know that seducing him was all she’d thought about from the first time she’d met him? Avis started to chortle.
“Oh, dear,” Avis said, laughing and trying to catch her breath. “You already have!”
“Yes,” Sophie admitted. “When you went away with Selby you knew you would be his mistress. Did you ever think you shouldn’t be with him?”
Avis giggled. “I was certain I shouldn’t be with him. He’d tricked me into choosing him. Plus, he was Jennette’s brother.”
“But you still went.”
Avis looked away with a dreamy stare and a slight smile. “I didn’t want to desire him as I did. I was certain it was very wrong.”
Sophie glanced down at her pale blue skirts. “Would you have been happy just being his mistress?”
“I wasn’t his mistress, Sophie. He was my lover and that was all I wanted from him.”
Could she be as bold? The idea of taking Nicholas as her lover seemed to have taken over her thoughts. She’d never met such a fascinating man. Why was she even questioning this? Her mother had been doing it for years. And she had never lost her heart over any of her lovers.
“I’m thinking of taking Nicholas as my lover,” she whispered as heat burned her cheeks. “At least until one of us becomes bored with the other.”
