Perilous Pleasures

Perilous Pleasures

Jenny Brown

Dedication

To everyone who has ever believed in magic

Epigraph

Excerpt from
Observations and Reflexions upon Afflicted Nativities
. Unpublished
manuscript found in the collection of Robert Montgomery, Laird of Iskeny,
tentatively dated 1792.

. . . among those who fall into the
latter category [the most severely afflicted] is the man whose horoscope is
ruled by planets in Pisces. Prone to brooding and melancholy, he is unworldly
and gullible. Should his Pisces Sun be poorly aspected or found in the close
company of other planets in this unfortunate sign, he will be prone to lose
himself in drunkenness, or in dreams and delusions from which he awakens only
after great suffering.

Should his Piscean planets be more favorably
aspected, they may confer upon him mystical gifts, insight, and compassion. No
man loves more steadily than the Pisces native, though the object upon which he
confers his affections is too often poorly chosen.

Such a man is most likely to end his life as
a victim or a savior. Should the wise astrologer encounter such an individual,
he would do well to give him a wide berth.

Contents

Chapter 1

London, February 21, 1803

“I
t is just as I thought,
ma petite
, the rent
will
be paid and I won't have to sell my rubies!”

Zoe's mother admired her still-beautiful face in the gilt and ormolu-framed mirror that filled one wall of her lavish withdrawing room before turning back to her daughter. “There was no need for your tiresome cheeseparing talk. I am still La Belle Isabelle, and there still are men of fortune who have wit enough to appreciate me.”

Zoe bit her tongue. It was hardly their wits to which her mother's florid beauty appealed. But if her mother had found yet another wealthy protector, it would explain the vase of hothouse roses whose blood red hue clashed with the orange damask on the wall and filled the room with their cloying perfume, roses that cost more than she herself earned in a month of teaching at Mrs. Endicott's Select Female Academy.

She repressed a sigh. If her mother had truly found another protector, she wouldn't listen to reason now, and her extravagance would ruin them both. It had been months since the wealthy Mr. Bradburn had given her mother her
congé
, and though her mother had been assiduously exhibiting herself in all the usual haunts of the demimonde, until now no one had stepped in to take his place. Their landlady had begun to hint, not so subtly, that unless she received her payment they would find themselves and their possessions on the street. But when Zoe had begged her mother to curb her expenditures, she'd merely laughed and said that something would come up—and then demanded that Zoe dip into her hard-earned savings to tide her over until her next savior appeared.

As now, it appeared, he had.

It was wrong to feel so irritated that her mother had found yet another protector, but how would La Belle Isabelle ever learn to manage on their tiny income if she persisted in the fantasy that she would always be beautiful and indulged? She was nearing forty, and even
her
legendary career must end sometime. What would she live on when her charms finally faded and no more men could be found to take care of her—her daughter's meager earnings as a governess?

Zoe sighed. Life was so unlike morally improving fiction. Virtue triumphed only in the copybooks she read aloud to the younger pupils at Mrs. Endicott's. Everywhere else vice was far better rewarded—or at least it was while it still retained its looks.

But, as always, her mother was oblivious. She languidly lifted one graceful arm, allowing her dimpled elbow to peep from the Valenciennes lace that trimmed her sleeve, and brandished the letter from her new admirer.

“Look at his handwriting,
ma petite
! Is it not most aristocratic? Lord Ramsay! No mere ‘Mister' this time. He writes he has something important to discuss with me, a private matter much to my advantage. See how wrong you were with your oh-so-serious sermons? If I had listened to you I wouldn't have bought this delicious coquelicot Swiss muslin and without an exquisite new gown, how would I captivate this Lord Ramsay?”

Zoe winced. “How could you have spent a hundred pounds on a single gown when you've owed the landlady far more than that since June?”

Her mother fixed her with an exasperated look. “Why should I throw away my money on the rent for a month that is already past? But a new gown—that is an investment! In return for the hundred pounds I paid for it, I will get two thousand pounds in jewels from this Lord Ramsay.”

“And gamble them away before the month is out. You'll be begging me for another loan by Easter.”

“What an unpleasant tone to take with your poor mother who has sacrificed so much for your welfare. I can't imagine where you got such a sour disposition.”

“From my father, the duke.”

Her mother heaved a dramatic sigh. “It's such a pity you inherited only
that
from him—and
his
looks instead of mine. If only you hadn't ended up with his enormous beak and those heavy features. It's so unjust, though the heavens know I do not complain. But even if your father
was
an ugly man, there is no excuse for the way you go on. Even an ugly woman can develop charm, and you make no effort at all.”

“Perhaps I don't want to be charming,” Zoe replied, but her words were cut off by a knock on the door downstairs.

“That will be Lord Ramsay,
ma petite
. Go hide yourself somewhere. I want to meet with him alone.”

Isabelle sent her maid to admit the visitor and arranged herself most fetchingly on the chaise longue, stretching out her legs so that their outline could be seen through the fine muslin of her gown. It was a pose that never failed to remind her admirers of why they admired her.

Zoe headed for the door that led out of her mother's parlor.

“
Imbécile!
” her mother shouted. “Not the bedroom! Find some other place to hide yourself.
Sacre bleu
, how can you teach in a school when you can't understand the simplest thing? It is bad enough to have no charm, but to have no sense—” she shook her head in exasperation. “Well, he's here now, so there's no help for it. I shall have to introduce you to him, but once that's done, you must go.”

In this, if nothing else, they were in perfect agreement. It would be a relief to return to the school, even if it meant abandoning her darling, spoiled mother to her thoughtless life of pleasure. She only hoped her mother would remember to repay her the many pounds she'd borrowed once she'd completed her negotiations with this new admirer. But it wasn't likely. Her mother would always need new gowns and new bonnets, hothouse flowers and expensive scents. That her daughter might need something never entered her mind.

Just then the door opened and her mother's visitor entered. At first all Zoe noticed was that he was unusually tall and that, despite the hint of warmth in the air that suggested an early spring, he wore a many-caped greatcoat of the sort that a gentleman would don this time of year only when preparing for dusty travel. In one hand he held a long, gold-handled cane with an odd device on the ferule that appeared to be some sort of serpent.

As soon as he entered, her mother rose to greet him, favoring him with a dazzling smile that displayed the shining white teeth of which she was, so rightly, proud. Her visitor didn't return her smile, but simply removed his tall beaver hat with a polite flourish and bowed toward both of them.

Zoe had assumed that this latest man her mother had dredged up would be well into middle age, for as her mother had grown older, her protectors had grown older, too. But the man in front of her looked unlikely to be much over thirty. Nor was he unattractive. True, his chestnut hair was cut unfashionably long, and there was the faintest haze of golden stubble on his cheek, which gave him an odd look—not at all that of a man of the
ton
. But his features were regular and fine in a way that marked him as the product of generations of good breeding. Even though there was something outlandish about the cut of his coat, she would never have mistaken him for anything but a gentleman.

But her examination of her mother's visitor came to an abrupt halt as she became aware that he was staring back at her, examining her with a curiosity equal to her own and making no attempt to hide that curiosity under a veneer of politeness. She tore her eyes away from his gaze, but not before realizing there was also something odd about his gold-flecked eyes.

La Belle Isabelle formed her lips into an inviting pout. “Your Lordship, how good of you to come. My young friend here was just on her way out.”

Zoe turned toward the door. Of course, her mother wouldn't reveal their true relationship. Why trumpet the fact that La Belle Isabelle was old enough to have a daughter who was almost twenty-one?

Lord Ramsay made a perfunctory bow in Zoe's direction. “Charmed,” he said, before turning back to Isabelle. “But let us get to the point. I am told you have a daughter.”

“What interest can you have in a child?” Her expression betrayed her surprise. “My daughter is a mere schoolgirl.”

“A schoolgirl? I must have been misinformed. I expected her to be the exact age of your young friend here.”

La Belle Isabelle struggled to maintain her composure. “No. You haven't been misinformed. Not at all.”

“Your daughter is a teacher, is she not, at Mrs. Endicott's Select Female Academy?” He pronounced the name in a tone heavy with sarcasm.

But how could he have known such a thing?

Clearly, her mother wondered, too. The vapid expression with which she disarmed her male admirers had been replaced for the moment with one more calculating. “How do you come to know so much about my daughter?”

“I've made it my business to know everything about you.” His smile betrayed no underlying good humor. “For example, I know that your daughter is not only of the same age as this young woman here, but shares her coloring—brown hair and eyes—and is of a similar stature. Indeed, a reasonable man might conclude this young woman
was
your daughter.”

Her bluff called, her mother threw down her cards. “You are very well informed, Your Lordship. Indeed. I won't attempt to mislead you. This young woman is my daughter.”

Zoe felt her cheeks burn as their visitor turned the full force of his gaze on her. She braced herself for what always followed, the surprise mixed with pity that so beautiful a mother should have so ugly a child. Her mother's suitor made no reply, but the tightening of his lips revealed what he was thinking.

Her mother hurried on. “I must beg you to forgive me for not introducing her to you, your Lordship, but really, what would you have had me say, in view of the delicacy of the situation?” She shrugged one exquisite, half-naked shoulder and then blushed prettily. “Zoe, darling,” she said in an unmistakably maternal tone, “make your
adieux
to Lord Ramsay.”

But before she could comply, he broke in. “There is no need for your daughter to make her
adieux
, madam,” he said. “I should like her to remain with us while I discuss my intentions with you.”

Her mother's perfectly plucked eyebrows rose. “That seems hardly the thing, milord. She is still a young and innocent girl. This discussion is a matter between the two of us,
non?
”

“
No
,” Lord Ramsay replied in an exaggeratedly English accent. “I am not French enough to dispose of a young girl's future without allowing her to be part of the conversation.”

“But surely, Your Lordship, it was
our
future you've come here to discuss. It is hardly appropriate for a young child to be present at such a time.”

“It is your daughter's future that concerns me.”

Zoe stopped dead, her heart fluttering.
Her future?

“Whatever could you want with my daughter?” Her mother's voice rose. “Surely you don't know her—or do you?” She stared at Zoe. “What mischief have you been hiding from your mother,
ma petite
? Lecturing me so severely and then getting up to who knows what tricks on your own.”

Lord Ramsay interrupted. “The girl is blameless. This is the first time we've met. But it is she who is the subject of my interest. I must apologize if my intent was not made clear to you in my letter.”

Zoe saw her mother's face fall, if only for a moment, as the import of his words struck home. What a humiliating mistake to have made! Though how understandable—until now no man had shown the slightest interest in paying court to her daughter—so ugly to start with and made all the more hideous after the smallpox had left her scarred—not that Zoe cared. She'd never had any wish to become some roué's plaything to be toyed with and later tossed aside.

But her mother was not easily flustered. Composing herself, she protested, “Your Lordship, this is so sudden. My daughter is still so young, such an innocent— I cannot bear to think of losing her.”

“Your daughter is twenty and lives for the most part at a school.” Lord Ramsay was no longer smiling. “Any arrangement we can come to can only relieve the anxiety you must have about her future.”

“That is so true,
milord
, but still, it is no little thing to dispose of the future of a child. I want the best for her.”

“I cannot doubt it.” Again that undisguised sarcasm in his voice.

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a small but ornate box, which he held out toward Zoe. Compelled by his rigid gaze, she took it from him. It was surprisingly heavy. As she slowly pried it open, the glint of gold and a shimmering green stone met her eye. It was a bracelet in the form of a dragon. A large emerald formed its eye. Magnificent, but barbaric, too.

Almost as barbaric as the transaction it implied.

But before she could react, her mother swooped down and grabbed the box, lifting the bracelet off the thick gray padding it rested on and examining it greedily with the eye of one well versed in the appraisal of jewelry. Only after turning and twisting the gem to catch the light and weighing it with one hand did she restore it to Zoe and give her judgment. “Quite a nice piece. But of course there must be matching ear bobs, too. It's impossible to wear such a bauble without them, and my daughter has led such a sheltered life that, naturally, she has no other jewelry.”

Lord Ramsay directed a look of annoyance at Isabelle. “The bracelet is but a token of what is in store for her, were I to find her suitable. There could be more.”

Suitable for what?
Zoe could barely believe what she was hearing. But her mother was taking it in stride. “She would have to have her own carriage,” she demanded. “And bank shares. A girl is only a virgin once.”

An unpleasant smile flashed across Lord Ramsay's gaunt features. “But that is the question, isn't it?
Is
she still a virgin?”