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Chapter 12
In the event of any misconduct on the part of her husband, she should not blame him excessively, though she be a little displeased.
The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana
“It’s not what you think,” Nick said.
“Oh?” Alice was in no mood for lies. Not after she’d trusted him so fully.
Tonight, in the gallery, she’d touched herself for him. Exposed and wanton. Trusting him.
And now this sordid scene of... what was this exactly?
She’d heard the dark-haired man tell Nick that he had a female in his carriage. He’d also said that the female was to come and live here.
Nick opened his mouth but she cut him off. “You know what I think this is, Nick? This is one of your mistresses refusing to go quietly off to pasture. She’s demanding to come back and live here. Well, that’s not acceptable.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Recall the terms of our agreement.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” Nick said, shaking his head.
“Lady Hatherly?” The man at the door swept her a dashing bow. “Captain Lear, at your service.”
He was younger than Nick and nearly as handsome, with collar-length raven-black hair. Was that a gold hoop glinting in his ear? Trust Nick to have outrageous friends.
“Have you told her?” he asked Nick.
“Told me what?” asked Alice.
Nick sighed. “No, I haven’t told her.”
“I’ll go and fetch the delivery, shall I? While you explain to your bride what’s happening in this unusual household.” Captain Lear spun in a flapping of black cloak and a flash of polished black boots, and left.
The delivery?Oh, this just got more and more damning. Women were not deliveries.
Alice tapped her slipper against the entrance hall’s marble floor. “I’m waiting.”
“It’s difficult to explain.” Nick shoved a hand through his thick, dark brown hair. “I take people in sometimes. My servants.... they’re not really servants. More like... wards. It started with Berthold. Found him unconscious outside a public house. Left for dead. Prizefighter who fought one too many fights. He had a head wound. Could barely speak.”
“What are you telling me, Nick? That your servants are former prizefighters? And what’s that got to do with a girl arriving in the dead of night?”
“If you’ll allow me to elaborate—”
“You’ll excuse me if I doubt whether you could offer me a satisfactory explanation.”
“There is an explanation, if you’ll be quiet for a moment—”
“I will not be quiet. And I won’t have you referring to girls as deliveries.”
“Alice, for the love of God, will you—”
“I think they dosed her with laudanum.” Captain Lear reappeared with a slight, cloak-wrapped figure on his arm. The girl wove unsteadily on her feet, her face obscured by a hood.
When she saw Nick she emitted a squeak and broke away from Lear, running straight into Alice’s arms. She wrapped her arms around Alice’s waist and buried her head in her neck.
“Don’t let them hurt me,” she said.
“Are you injured?” Alice asked her.
The girl nodded.
