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He should’ve elaborated on why Lady L would have no clue about Reese’s townhome. However, Noel’s behavior amused him, and he wanted to tease her.
Noel nodded at the drawings. “I am sure she will recognize you drew the layout wrong.”
Ravencroft’s lips twitched, holding back his laughter. “No, she will not.”
Noel stood, placing her hands on her hips. “You underestimate a lady’s memory. Believe me, she will know.”
“First of all, she is no lady. And second, believe me, she has never stepped foot in your brother’s townhome.”
“But she was his mistress” Noel repeated.
“Noel, a gentleman never allows his mistress access to his home. He either visits her at her home or owns a house where they meet.”
“They don’t?”
“No.”
“Why?” Noel asked.
Ravencroft sighed. “Because even an unmarried gentleman keeps his mistress a secret from his family. They are two different worlds that rarely ever cross. In some cases they do, but most gentlemen prefer they don’t. Barbara Langdale would’ve only learned the layout of the townhome if she became Lady Worthington. That is why she will not remember or recognize we are providing her with false drawings.”
“Oh.” Noel bit at her bottom lip, debating if she should ask her next question. Never one to shy away from delicate topics, she felt she had the right to ask. “Where do you visit your mistress?”
Noel’s question caused him to break another pencil. “I have never had a mistress, nor do I ever plan on acquiring one.”
Noel scoffed. “Please.”
Ravencroft arched an eyebrow in question.
“You claim you never kept a mistress, yet how did you become skilled in the bedroom?”
“I never said I was a virgin. Nor have I denied the countless women I have bedded. I only state that I’ve never kept a mistress,” Ravencroft drawled.
“Oh.” Why was she incapable of saying anything witty to his comments this morning? Perhaps it was her lack of knowledge of how a gentleman caroused. One more question and she must finish for her peace of mind. And heart. She hated to hear of him with any other lady. “Since we are now intimate, will you cease with your other dalliances?”
Ravencroft sighed. “I haven’t bedded another lady for over two years.”
Noel’s mouth hung open in shock. “Two years?”
“Yes. You will not hear a word of gossip about my involvement with another woman since your brother announced our engagement because there has been no one.”
“May I ask why?” All right, she couldn’t stop with the questions. Her mother always said her curiosity would get the best of her.
“Because I disliked the man I had become. I wanted to redeem myself into the man I deserved to be. I spent the past few years involved in Lady L’s schemes and sullied my reputation,” Ravencroft explained.
“Is that what Lady L meant earlier when she commented on you charming a lady to spill her secrets?” Noel asked.
Ravencroft ran his hand down his face. “Yes. Lady L would scout out a widow or lonely wife who was ripe for seduction. Then my job was to charm my way into their bed. Since a lonely wife didn’t wish for her husband to learn of her affair, she would send the servants away, and a widow who didn’t wish shame upon her name would do the same. Then while I seduced them abovestairs, Lady L’s crew would ransack belowstairs for any valuables. Then we would leave town and move on to the next victim.”
He looked at Noel after his explanation and saw her look of disappointment. It was the last of his secrets to share with her. The other secrets he held weren’t his own to confess. He had made a promise to Dracott to keep the most valuable secret between them. And he wouldn’t betray his brother as much as he wished to tell Noel because it placed the person’s life at significant risk.
“That is the last of my morbid past to reveal. You must wonder why an earl would involve himself with such seedy characters.”
Noel reached across the table and wrapped her hand over Ravencroft’s fist. “To protect your brother.”
“Yes. And now I do what I must to protect you.”
“Then explain your drawings and let me help you. We are in this together.”
