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She smiled sadly. “Because I am a woman.”
Richard blinked. What did that have to do with anything? “You are one of the greatest actresses in London. Your plays are extremely popular among thetonif what my sister says is true. I can’t believe that you can’t persuade the theater manager to perform your play.”
She looked at him queerly. “Your sister is a sister of a viscount, and the wife of a marquess. She hosts the best house parties of thetonif the gossip is to be believed. Can she persuade the lords to change the law?”
He scoffed. “That’s different. Women have no place in politics.”
Her face changed instantly as she raised her brow. “Yes, and women have no place in writing or directing either. At least, not according to men. And although it is not against the law to be a woman playwright, men are still the gatekeepers.”
Richard grimaced. He’d clearly offended her. In all honesty, Richard had never thought of things like that. He had heard many times from other men that women had no place in politics, and it was just ingrained in his mind. He had never seen a woman in politics. He had never heard of one wanting to be in politics.
Well, there was the Duchess of Somerset. And according to her husband, she was the one running the estates and making all major decisions. She wasn’t accorded a seat in Parliament, though. Not because she didn’t want to… Did she want to? Richard realized that he didn’t know, and he’d never bothered to ask. “Apologies. I didn’t mean it like that.”
She started, then smiled. “I didn’t peg you as the type of man to apologize.”
A chuckle left Richard’s lips. “And usually, you would be right. But see, I have sisters. And they are brilliant and strong-willed. And I wager they could run Parliament, perhaps better than most men. I just always assumed they had no interest in the political scene. They never showed any interest.”
“And if they had?”
“If they had shown an interest, I would probably have told them to marry and then enact their will through their husbands.”
Miss Claremont’s face turned sour. “Is it because women cannot speak for themselves?”
“No, because it has never been done. Because it would be scandalous, and they would be forfeiting their chance to marry. Now that they are married, they can bring it up with their husbands.”
Miss Claremont tugged her hand from under his. “It is all about husbands, isn’t it? When I showed my plays to my theater manager, Mr. Hart, he didn’t even glance at them. He said it wasn’t an actress’s role to select our plays. He didn’t even look at them. When I told him that we perform at house functions, he laughed and said that my stories might be amusing for house parties but do not belong on a large stage. But if I were married, and my husband submitted the plays, they would probably be accepted or at least read. But it would also be assumed that he was the main writer and I was just an advisor. Even if my husband was a daft old man who couldn’t string two words together.
“Yet, I, an actress who has performed and written a few dozen plays, am considered incompetent by men who have done neither. And that is why I shall never do it. I shall not marry, and I shall not submit my plays to a manager with some other man getting all the credit. I would rather perform during these little house parties and maintain my voice.” She paused, then lowered her head. “Apologies for my outburst.”
Richard chuckled. “I didn’t peg you as the type of woman to apologize.”
She smiled sweetly. “And I usually do not. But I also do not vent my frustrations to a lord during a house party. My job is to entertain.”
Job? He was just a job, was he? Richard pursed his lips. He liked the fire behind those dark, coffee eyes staring at him, and he didn’t want her to apologize for sharing her thoughts and frustrations. He found it quite refreshing. He reached out and took her hand in his, running a thumb over her knuckles. “What if I offered you a reprieve from your job?”
She looked at him as if trying to solve a puzzle. “How so?”
“As a brother of the hostess, I give you leave to not feel the pressure to entertain whenever you’re around me. You are free to drop your facade and be yourself.”
She let out a chuckle. “You might not like me without my facade.”
He shook his head and brought her hand to his lips. “I very much doubt it.”
Her breath hitched, and her eyes darkened as he kissed her knuckles. Suddenly, their conversation forgotten, his sole intent became to keep her in this aroused state. He watched her as he kissed her wrist, then up her arm. Her breathing accelerated, her lips parted, and she seemed dazed.
“I have to tell you that I do not get involved with gentlemen,” she said breathlessly.
He smiled wolfishly. “Oh, I promise you. I shan’t act like a gentleman with you.”
