The School for Brides (17 page)

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Authors: Cheryl Ann Smith

BOOK: The School for Brides
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Eva knew Yvette was finding the transition from courtesan to wife most difficult. The struggle had left her withdrawn over the last two days. She’d sold her body for so long, she wasn’t sure if she would be satisfied with a simple life.
In spite of this, Eva had been positive Yvette was still willing to turn her life around.
Now she wasn’t so sure.
Had Yvette gone back to her abusive lover without telling anyone? From what Eva now understood, when he lost a purse gambling, he’d slap Yvette. When a business venture downturned, he’d give her a black eye or a bruised lip. He took any reason to vent his frustrations on her. Yvette had suffered greatly, making it impossible for Eva to understand how she could consider returning to the man.
Unfortunately, he was a mystery. Yvette had refused to name him when asked. Without the information, it was impossible to discover if Yvette had renewed their relationship.
According to Sophie, a woman of a certain age with her livelihood slowly coming to an end, Yvette had taken the abuse with stoic acceptance until she’d found her way to Eva’s door.
“I’m next!” Pauline pushed aside the pen and parchment and hurried to take a choice seat next to Rose. Soon the two women were chattering happily and perusing sketches.
Eva went to the window and looked up and down the empty street. As the young women giggled behind her, she felt darkness grow in the pit of her stomach. There was something not right about Yvette’s absence. She sensed it, felt it, and was certain that wherever Yvette was, she was in serious trouble.
In a city as large as London, where did one begin looking for a missing courtesan? If she did begin a search, would Yvette want to be found?
Eva knew she could do nothing at the moment and needed to keep her attention on the remaining courtesans. They weren’t worried yet about Yvette, and Eva knew they’d follow her example. If she exhibited calm and confidence that Yvette would return, so would they.
“This one is very handsome,” Abigail said, and Eva turned back, discovering a trio of heads bent low over the book. Parchment crinkled as they turned the pages. Sophie quickly finished her sums and joined them, leaning over the back of the settee.
“This one has an overbite but he has very kind eyes,” Rose said. “I do adore a man with kind eyes.”
“Look at that one.” Sophie pointed to a face. She squinted to read his information. “It says he’s a solicitor.” Her face brightened. “A solicitor? He must have a lovely house.”
Sophie lifted her eyes to Eva, who had joined her behind the settee. Eva peered at the book over her spectacles. They were clear glass and of no use.
“A solicitor he is,” Eva agreed. This was one of the men she had selected for Sophie. “He is looking for a woman of some maturity and without children, to run his household and travel with him when he visits clients. He is quite wealthy.”
“He would be perfect for you, Sophie,” Pauline interjected eagerly. “I’ll bet he cuts a fine figure in court.”
Sophie tried to hide her interest, but her eyes shone. Eva would send his invitation immediately.
“Why don’t all of you make a list of potential suitors and give it to me?” Eva walked to the desk. “I will send invitations next week.” She smiled at the women. “You have proven to be fine students. We should complete our lessons in the next few days.”
To look at the women now, one would find it difficult to recognize a former courtesan in the group. They were respectably dressed and free of face paint and gaudy adornments. Each had a lovely spirit that made her delightful to spend time with.
Eva suspected her male clients would be pleased to take any one of them as his wife.
 
 
H
arold took Eva home a few hours later, giving oneword answers and avoiding her questions about where he had been. He was still put out with her, and she with him, but at the moment she had more pressing worries than her disgruntled servant and friend.
Yvette’s absence nagged at her. Not once, since that day when they had gathered for their first meeting, had Eva believed Yvette regretted her choice to give up the courtesan’s life. Though she had not taken easily to instruction, she had settled in and satisfactorily completed her lessons.
And in the last few days, Eva had seen Yvette smile more easily and appear less resentful of her circumstance. Though Sophie assured her Yvette was just adjusting to the restrictions of her new situation, and would return to Cheapside very soon, Eva wasn’t so certain.
“Where is my mother?” Eva asked a passing maid, and was directed to the garden. She found Mother resting beneath a tree with her nurse hovering nearby. At Eva’s arrival, Mrs. Brown nodded and wandered back to the house.
“Good afternoon, my darling.” Charlotte smiled and took Eva’s hand as she settled into a chair beside her. Her hands were cool. Eva tucked her quilt higher around her lest she take ill. Charlotte buried her fingers in the folds. “I could not stand another minute in my room. I just had to get some air and watch the birds play.”
“Today is a perfect day to do so.” Eva agreed. Her mother was too pale. Months had passed since last Mother had allowed Eva to take her on an outing. She preferred to remain shut in her room with her memories. “The sun is hiding, but it is neither too hot nor too cold. I think summer will soon be upon us.”
Charlotte nodded. “It is almost time for the Season to start full swing. I used to love to attend the parties.” She let out a small sigh, and her eyes took on a dreamy cast. “There were so many beautiful gowns and such handsome men to dance with every night. It was glorious.”
The parties her mother was invited to were outside of polite society. Still, she had traveled on the fringe of the Ton. Those parties and balls could be just as fine, if not more extravagant, than those given by a duchess or a wealthy countess. Eva could imagine the crush of men who’d fought to dance with the beautiful Charlotte Rose.
It was during her first courtesan ball that Mother had fallen in love. One look at the dashing Lord Seymour, Eva’s father, and Mother had never again danced with another man.
“I do remember how you loved parties, Mother,” Eva said. “Father took you out many times, and you looked so beautiful . . .”
“You remember?”
“I do.” Eva squeezed her hand. Her parents had been a magnificent couple. “You had a blue gown with a sheer overlay sprinkled with tiny glass beads. It was the color of a summer sky. When you walked, it shimmered like stars.”
Charlotte nodded. “I still have that gown.” Mother looked into her eyes. “I saved it for you.”
Eva startled. The gown had to be very out of fashion. It was surprising that her mother had kept it. Perhaps it was the memories she savored when looking at the gown. It was what she wore to one of the last functions her parents attended before her father’s death.
“I would love to have it, Mother.” Eva blinked back tears, remembering their happiness. She’d envied their love at the time. Her mother’s suffering after his death had cast a pall over those memories. “Unfortunately, I have nowhere to wear such a treasure.”
“Oh, but you will, darling.” Charlotte smiled wistfully. “I believe one day a man will carry you off to his castle. Then you will wear my dress and remember how happy your father and I were, a long time ago.”
Eva sensed Mother slipping away, so she rushed to keep her in the present. “I met someone who claims to have known you before I was born. His Grace, the Duke of Stanfield.”
The name chased the shadows from her mother’s eyes. “Nicholas?” Charlotte’s mouth twitched, and she placed a hand to her cheek. “He was such a dear boy, so charming but a bit wild.” She peered at Eva, and light danced in her gaze. “He must be a devastatingly handsome rake now.”
It seemed to Eva that her entire body flushed. “He is handsome,” she admitted. Her mother did not need a description of the sculpted muscles beneath his clothing or how he used his body so expertly in the art of love play. It was a secret she’d keep to herself.
She resisted the urge to tug at her high collar and tried to forget His Grace’s magnificent mouth. When had the day gotten so hot?
A funny look crossed Mother’s face. A sly stare followed. “His Grace owns a house that is nearly a castle, Collingwood House, here in London. Perhaps you will soon have occasion to wear my gown after all.”
Eva struggled to retain serenity on her features. The mere thought of His Grace was enough to send delicious tremors across her skin. If her mother sensed the tiniest bit of interest in him, she’d never let it rest.
“Don’t be absurd, Mother, it isn’t a castle.” It was nearly as large, though, and a fit setting for a duke. “We do not travel in the same circles.” Eva traveled in no circles at all. “We have met twice quite casually. I would not sit by the door awaiting an invitation to join His Grace and the dowager duchess for tea and cakes.”
She hated to lie about their connection, but the hours she’d spent writhing with the naked duke in his bed was something she could not discuss with anyone. It was difficult enough to suffer Harold and his grim scowls. If her mother knew she’d briefly become the duke’s lover, Charlotte would have impossible visions of a summer wedding settling in her head.
“Well, I would not be so quick to dismiss him as a suitor.” Mother yawned behind her hand. “My daughter would make a fine duchess.”
Sighing, Eva held her tongue as Mrs. Brown came to retrieve her patient. The nurse helped Mother to her feet. “It is time for your nap, Mrs. Winfield.”
Smiling sadly, Eva gave Mother a kiss on the cheek and watched her make her way gingerly up the path. Eva could never be a duchess. The ridiculous notion was the product of her mother’s confused mind. A courtesan’s daughter could never become a duchess.
However, another idea came to the fore. If anyone could help her find Yvette, it was His Grace. His investigator had uncovered her secrets with very little difficulty. Perhaps Nicholas could be persuaded to allow the man’s talents to aid her in this matter. Yvette needed to be found, and quickly.
Suddenly feeling lighter, Eva hurried into the house to change into something suitable for a meeting with His Grace.
 
 
S
ince Harold was missing and Eva did not want him to know her destination, lest they have another argument, she chose to hire a hack to take her to His Grace’s town house. She hoped he had not yet returned to Collingwood House. She could not visit him where the dowager duchess resided.
He’d mentioned once, during a quiet moment, that he’d taken up temporary residence in the empty town house to get away from his mother’s fussing. She wanted him to marry and produce grandchildren for her to dote on. The duchess encouraged his pursuit of the young misses.
Eva had listened, silent, as the conversation left her oddly saddened that she would never experience the wonder of motherhood. Not once before that moment had she considered becoming a mother. Afterward, it was often on her mind.
The hackney coach slowed. Dusk had fallen by the time she’d set out to visit the duke, and she felt darkness lessened her chances of discovery. She was an unmarried woman visiting an unmarried man without a chaperone. Not that she had a reputation to ruin.
It was only after she knocked on the town house door that she realized he could be entertaining a woman, or women, if that was his predilection. He’d kept Arabella here, and probably a whole line of mistresses before her. And likely after her, too.
After their last encounter, he’d clearly been unhappy with her. It wouldn’t be beyond reason that he’d found a woman with a more agreeable temperament. A man such as His Grace certainly wouldn’t go long without female companionship.
The thought stopped Eva’s hand on the knocker before she could drop it again. She tried to untangle the sudden feelings of resentment she felt at the idea of His Grace replacing her so quickly. It irritated her that she cared, and that at this moment he could be nibbling the breasts of another woman.
An urge to flee had spun her around when the door was jerked open, and the duke himself glared at her, surprised.
“Eva?” There wasn’t a smile of welcome, nor a hint anywhere in his cold expression that he was even slightly pleased to see her. His dark hair was ruffled and his shirt untucked from his breeches. He looked like he had right before he’d shucked off his clothing and pushed her down on the bed. It was very possible a naked woman awaited his return.
Pained, Eva swallowed past hurt. “This was a mistake. I should leave.” She stepped back. His arm reached out to catch her wrist. He pulled her over the threshold and into the dim entryway. His housekeeper walked into the hallway. His Grace waved her away.
“You have already intruded on my evening,” he said tightly as he pulled Eva along behind him. “You might as well state your business.”
Annoyance welled. Three days ago he’d made passionate love to her. Now he acted as though she’d arrived at his door covered with oozing sores. She wanted to give him a set-down, but worry for Yvette stilled her tongue as she stumbled along beside him.
Once they reached the library, Eva twisted out of his grip and took a few calming breaths. She looked around the space and felt a touch of envy over his floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Though she had had little time to read of late, she enjoyed burying herself in worlds outside her own. If she had a library such as this, she might never venture outside its comforts.

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