Courtesan's Kiss (26 page)

Ettie was dressed to perfection. She had used the time efficiently and well. Her hair was swept up in a confection that left her lovely neck bare, and a gorgeous egg-sized amethyst emphasized the deep décolletage of her gown.

Mia felt much too young beside her and wondered how a courtesan cultivated an air of superiority rather than the complete lack of sophistication that Blanche showed.

“You look lovely, and much more of a threat than you did this afternoon,” Ettie said, looking Mia up and down and shaking her head.

Mia did not know if the woman was serious or pretending. Well, this was one place where she did not have to worry about fitting in, so she decided to be honest and see what that won her.

“I should like to sit next to Lord Kyle this evening.”

“So I can have some time to converse with David?” Ettie asked. “Or to make him jealous while you flirt with Kyle?”

Before Mia could take offense, Ettie waved her hand.
“I will wager a guinea that I can make Lord David laugh before you can make Lord Kyle cry.”

Mia laughed and accepted the offer even though either scenario would be impossible.

“Neither of us will win,” Ettie said, echoing her thoughts, “but it will be fun to try.”

Mia nodded, and with a word to Mrs. Cantwell, she changed the seating at the dining table. She knew that even if Lord David noticed, he would not say a word.

When they reached the table, the only reaction from David was the searching look he gave her and then Kyle, as if he was not sure which of them had made the change.

She was now seated at the end of the table, with Kyle to her right and Franklin to her left, while Ettie was to David’s left and next to Lord Kyle. Not that much of a change except that Mia was no longer anywhere near Lord David. Let him think that Lord Kyle had developed an interest in her and arranged for the change. Perfect. Let the adventure begin, Mia thought at the exact moment that Cantwell led the footmen into the room.

Their party of six was presented a dinner that showed exactly how talented the cook was. A skill wasted on the visitors, as most of them were more interested in the wine than the food.

David did not touch his wineglass, which made him more sober, or was it somber, and his attention to Ettie was perfunctory at best.

“No wine, Miss Castellano? You will miss half the fun.” Lord Kyle held the bottle at the ready.

“No, thank you, my lord. Not tonight.” Her stomach
would be tested by so many courses. The last thing she wanted was to add wine.

Kyle set the bottle down with a wry smile. “Tell me, Miss Castellano, exactly what you are fishing for tonight?”

“Fishing? I don’t think that is quite the word, my lord.” She hoped she did not sound coy, but rather amused. “Fishing implies I am casting about for anything that fits a general description. One fish is as good as another,” she added in case he did not understand. “This evening my interests are very particular.” She said the last two words slowly while looking directly into his eyes, a sort of blue-green, she noted, and not nearly as commanding as David’s blue eyes were.

Kyle sat back, a dumbfounded expression lurking beneath his now somewhat forced smile. “Am I wrong to feel as though I have won the lottery when I have not even bought a ticket?”

“How flattering.” Mia laughed, not too loud, as she did not wish to draw attention to their conversation.

“I am the one who is flattered.” He sampled the fish and looked down at his plate. “This is so fresh.” Then he looked back at her. “You really have been fishing, in the river,” he clarified, “haven’t you?”

“Yes, and that should prove to you that every lady has a secret or two.”

“I imagine that you have more than two.” He leaned closer and offered her a taste of the fish that she had refused when the footman proffered the platter. She accepted the morsel and let her mouth slip slowly off the
fork. It was so obvious a gesture that she could not keep from smiling.

Mia risked a glance at David, who glared at them, as though he was irritated that she and Kyle were the only ones having a good time. At that moment Ettie said something to him. He turned to Ettie and away from her quite deliberately, and suddenly Mia realized a man could play the game of flirtation as well as a woman could.

“Miss Castellano.”

“Yes.” Mia turned her attention to Lord Kyle, who was not serious precisely, but no longer smiling. He had his elbows on the table with his hands folded and resting under his chin.

“If you are using me to make Lord David jealous, I cannot believe I have to tell you that is not a wise idea.”

“Oh please, Kyle, Lord David is like a brother to me. We have been together here for a week and have barely seen each other.” It took all her control not to blush furiously at the memory of the kisses they had shared or the complete happiness she had felt when in his arms.

Mia leaned closer to Lord Kyle. “He has been all day in the library studying the mill plans as though he would be tested on the subject. I have been fishing and then, if you must know,” she looked away, a little embarrassed, “I was ill. I am sorry to bring that up at dinner, but you would ask such a silly question.” And then, just in case he was not convinced, she added, “You do know that his brother is married to my guardian.”

“Oh, yes, I know that as well as I know my own
name.” He watched her intently, as if trying to make sense of her perfectly sensible conversation. “You’re almost twenty-one, are you not?”

“Yes, in fourteen months, right before Michaelmas.”

“And when you have your independence, what do you plan to do?”

He sounded just the tiniest bit patronizing. So she straightened. “I plan to live independently and establish my own salon for musicians.” She announced it in a voice just loud enough for all of them to hear, if they were listening.

Blanche and Franklin could not have cared less. He was busy licking some of the delicately seasoned fish from where it had fallen on her décolletage.

Ettie was laughing in an effort to draw at least a chuckle from Lord David. David, however, had heard what she said. He stopped chewing whatever he was eating, and his expression dared her to continue.

“For men and women who appreciate music. Not only those who play.” She spoke directly to David. He must remember her solo guitar recital for him the second night of their quarantine.

“At twenty-one you plan to have your own home.” Kyle patted her hand. “How intriguing.”

“Do not make me sound a fool, Lord Kyle. I know what most people will think. And I no longer care.”

“Music is that important to you?”

“Yes, it is.” Her anger evaporated at his understanding. “I want to be able to spend time with what I value instead
of what the ton dictates. I will make all my callers welcome.”

“Oh, Mia, it seems to me that you are walking a fine line between the life of a respectable woman and that of a courtesan. Or do I misunderstand you completely and are you thinking of establishing a music school?”

“My lord Kyle, I plan to do whatever I want. I have never in my life been able to choose more than what color to wear, and there were times when even that choice has been limited if I wished to be welcomed into society. When I turn twenty-one I will embrace the freedom to choose with joy. I will pay whatever price I must for that freedom.”

“L
ORD
D
AVID,
do not tell me there is no chance of anything but the most conventional conversation with you.”

David heard what Ettie said and nodded, as he watched Mia wrap Kyle around her finger.

“There is a charm about her, is there not?”

David closed his eyes. Charm? Is that what it was? The way she constantly drew his eye even when he was seated next to a courtesan who was that rare combination of intelligence and sympathy? He shook his head and Ettie went on.

“Yes, Miss Castellano is charming. She flirts with such naïveté, and I imagine she is as passionate as she is lovely.”

“Willful, spoiled, and she thinks of no one but herself.” Even as he said that last he knew it was not true.

“You are wrong, Lord David.”

“You’ve only known her for a few hours, Ettie.”

“And that is quite enough, with someone who is as open as she is. They are a rare few.” Ettie glanced toward Mia and Kyle before she spoke again. “Girls like that were the bane of my existence when I taught at the young ladies’ seminary, but they do know how to enjoy life.”

David took a bite of his fish, wondering if it was the one Mia had named. Then he almost choked when he heard Mia announce her plans to become an independent woman.

Damn it to hell times ten! She might as well have announced that she would become a courtesan. It was certainly how everyone here would interpret it. And he had been the one to put the stupid idea in her head that very morning. “If Kyle takes advantage of her I will beat his lordly face into a bloody mess.”

“David, look at me.”

He did as Ettie asked in an effort to control his anger.

“She is in no danger from Kyle. He is a rake, I will give you that, but he is your brother’s dearest friend. He would do nothing to Mia. Nothing but try to show her the truth.”

“Truth?”

The woman sighed as though she were trying to teach an idiot how to tie a foursquare knot. “Mia announced in the carriage that she has no plans to marry. And now she says she will live independently. Not to mention the fact that she is here alone with you. What were we to think?”

“That we were quarantined here by the threat of illness, as we said.”

“Ah, yes, the quarantine. Vouched for by the staff, right down to the grooms.”

He’d always thought Ettie Loughton a good judge of character, and sensible. If even she thought that the quarantine sounded suspicious, what was he to do? End Mia’s flirtation with Kyle for one thing. The sooner the better. Before David could jump up, Ettie tapped his hand.

“She’s doing rather well, if her blushes are to be used as a measure. Kyle appears vastly entertained. She would make a refreshing change in the demimonde. Though I doubt her guardian would approve of the venture.”

He was only half listening, caught between fascinated and infuriated at the way Kyle and Mia had their heads so close together. “It would be an adventure, not just a venture.” He could feel a smile and pursed his lips to erase it.

“What?” Ettie asked.

“Mia considers everything an adventure. Everything from runaway horses to kneading bread.”

“Oh, you lucky man.” Ettie fortified herself with a long drink of wine.

“Lucky?” Ettie was near lunacy if she thought acting as Mia Castellano’s escort counted as a stroke of luck.

“David Pennistan, you supreme man among men—and I do mean that as a compliment—Mia is willful and spoiled and argumentative when she is afraid. Women like her, the ones who are so flirtatious, use it as a protection.”

“I am no threat to her.” If anything it was the other way around. Her very presence tested all his control.

“Oh, for God’s sake, David, stop lying to yourself. You want her. Admit it. And if you do not act on it I will not hesitate to call you a coward.”

“I would not tolerate that word from a man.”

“Yes, I know, and I use it with care. What is the worst thing that could happen? That you would be compelled to marry her?”

“It would be a nightmare to marry her.”

“David, she acts as she does because she is afraid of falling in love with you.” The woman raised her serviette but he heard her mumble, “you stupid man.”

“Ettie, stop drinking the champagne. She flirts with every man she sees, including coachmen and surgeons.”

“Coachmen can be very entertaining, David. They have not learned the finer elements of lovemaking, but they make up for it with their enthusiasm.”

“I am not one of the circle that wants to hear of your conquests.” He was as annoyed as any man would be in such a discussion, while he tried to dispel visions of Mia in a close embrace with Novins or one of the footmen. It appalled him.

“I can’t say I blame Mia for being afraid,” Ettie went on. “Not to be cruel, David, but I cannot imagine the words ‘I love you’ ever coming from you. Not because you are unfeeling but because you are even more afraid of it than she is.”

He heard what she said, and it was the last bit of wisdom he wanted from this too-keen observer. Then he saw
Mia sit back with an expression of dismay on her face, and Kyle smiling like a spider beyond pleased with what had fallen into his web.

That bastard
. David threw his serviette on the floor and stood. It was time to sweep Mia out of the room, if only to protect her from her worst enemy. Herself.