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“The young lady can join us if she wishes, but it will cost extra, milord.” The slurred voice interrupted them from the direction of the bed, followed by a loud cackle. He swallowed his antipathy at the perpetrator of this cruel joke. He could not believe his innocent bride was witnessing this depravity.
A hand crawled over his thigh toward his groin and he swiftly caught that hand with his own before the woman groped him in front of his new wife.
A clear voice cut into the drama of the moment. “Richard, pay these ladies their coin so they may be on their way.”
Had he heard her correctly? Perhaps his thoughts were befuddled.
Pay these women?Paythesewomen to leave.Paythese women toleave !
Shewas brilliant. His bride was a veritable genius! In retrospect, he was a fool. Why did he not think of offering them coin to be on their way? Inhaling in relief, he let the lightskirt go while he grabbed for a purse. Clutching it in his hand, he ran over to the bed.
“Time to go, ladies! I shall give you two—no, three guineas a piece to come downstairs with me!” The drunken women stared at him with bleary eyes before slowly rising from the bed. It was a fortune. Enough to pierce their cloud of gin-soaked stupor.
He would pay them more if they would move quicker. He handed coin into their hands, their fingernails chipped with grime underneath. What friend would think this humorous? Who would play such an ill-conceived prank on him? Had they known it was his wedding night—would Perry do this as a lark?He immediately brushed that thought aside. Perry would rather pull out his own teeth than come within speaking distance of these women. His brother abhorred lightskirts and favored licentious widows.Do I need to talk to Perry about what happened while I was away at university? What did Father do in my absence?
The welcome sight of Richard’s valet appeared at the door.
“Shaw, we need to show these young ladies out.” Richard wanted to personally escort them out of his townhouse to ensure that they left. And to question them downstairs. He swung his head in Sophia’s direction. She gave him a nod; it appeared she understood his need without him voicing it.
“You shall find me in my chambers when you are done, my lord.”
Richard was relieved, but also concerned. Why was she ‘my lording’ him?Ballocks!This day had been so promising, but now it was going to be a very long, very disappointing evening.
Courage, Richard.
He must deal with this. Only then could he return to explain the situation to his bride.
One step at a time.Onestep at a time.
He drew a deep breath.Take them downstairs, Richard. Then find out how they gained access.
Only then could the depth of his bride’s disdain be established.
One step at a time.
CHAPTER8
Once he had established very little—other than a cloaked, hooded figure had ushered the women through the mews and into one of the garden-facing doors before leading them to his rooms—Richard returned to his bedchamber. Which reeked.
The cloying scent of cheap perfume, stale sweat, and traces of carnal relations mingled to make his room smell like a bawdy house, or what he imagined a bawdy house would smell like if he ever entered the doors of a house of ill repute. Personally, he had never needed to risk disease, death by knifepoint, or thievery by paying coin for carnal relations. More fastidious women had been volunteering to care for his needs since he was a lad—one of the many privileges of being a handsome, successful peer with an easygoing charm.
Not that he felt successful or easygoing at the moment.
His valet arrived with a swarm of footmen to hurriedly provide a tub of bathing water and whisk away bedding to be cleaned. Richard had already thrown open the windows despite the chill of the evening in order to air the room out.
Once the bath was prepared, he quickly took advantage of the steaming hot water to bathe the stench off his skin and hair. In his imagination, the odor lingered still, but Shaw assured him that he currently smelt delightful. He was uncertain if the man was funning him with his droll words, but the servant stated it with no trace of humor.
Clothed in loose cotton trousers and shirt, he donned a dressing gown and approached the adjoining door to Sophia’s chambers. There he stood for several moments, his forehead leaning against the door. What was he to say to her? He could not explain what had happened because he barely understood what had happened. His bride must think him the very worst type of depraved libertine. Worse even than his own father.
All his hard work building a relationship with her, destroyed by some unknown figure … presumably a so-called friend who was utterly lacking in taste. Mayhap he had done too many terrible deeds in his past, and this was his penance. Perhaps his cousin was wrong, and it was far too late for him to amend his ways. Perhaps he should go sleep in a guest room and leave his bride alone. He dreaded entering the room to find her embittered toward him after their enchanting day together.
Inhaling deeply, he accepted he was well on his way to relying on her esteem, and he felt angry desolation at how their day was ending. Nonetheless, the problem would not evaporate on its own. He must confront it now before it worsened.
He knocked on her door.
* * *
It had takenSophia only a moment to register her groom’s distress when she entered his rooms. She quickly ascertained from his expression, and his general demeanor, that he was not involved in inviting the women into his chambers.
